Great Britain and Northern Ireland 2018/19/20/21/22/23 Finds

[niftynigel]

Scavenger Hunt Metallic Snot Rod has been added to the Smyths website. A fellow collector found the case he was in, over-stickered 963Y.

There appears to be a quite a few around, whilst Smyths wait for their next case. It looks like all the 96AG cases have been distributed, so Smyths could be in line to get 96AH.

[niftynigel]

Disney Stores UK
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I had noticed that Romford and Bromley stores had closed earlier this year. I guessed it was just that leases had run out in shopping centres that have thrived - bucked the recent trend and have none / few empty stores.
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A fellow collector informed me that Westfield (Stratford) had recently closed and that Lakeside (Thurrock) is also due to close. A retail magazine reported that Disney Stores are in the process of closing all remaining stores except the flagship Oxford Street store. All the closures should be completed by September. The company is looking at enhancing their online shopping offer - they need the flagship store for brand awareness.
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This would explain why some stores have not received new products recently.
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Given that they don't currently sell Mattel Disney Cars online, it's unclear whether they would continue to do so from just one store? Maybe they could start to sell Mattel Cars online?
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Smyths UK/Ireland have managed to sell individual cars online, but then they have over 100 stores in UK and Ireland - Smyths don't sell Cars online in France or Germany!

[boogity]

yep, u right there nifty. bout them going on line ...not sure bout belfast branch,, i bet it a wee goldmine and its always worth a dander round when youre in the mood for walt
meanwhile,,,,looks like footy could be coming home......

[rossibutton]

A week after the 2021 2-packs showed up at The Entertainer for Ł12.50 each, toytown now has them at Ł7 each, same case

[niftynigel]

On my way to Wembley for the England v. Denmark game, I popped into Disney Store Oxford Street.
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Mattel Disney Cars were down to Ł5. I asked the staff if that was to make room for new stocks. They said that due to store closures, Mattel Disney Cars is now a discontinued line and no new stocks, apart from anything that's in the warehouse will come into stock.
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They confirmed that the current position was that all other UK stores will close. Although the Oxford Street store is being retained, they did question it's long term viability. They need the store for brand awareness, but given the rent (and probably the loss of some profitable stores), they probably can't afford to run Oxford Street store as a huge loss leader.
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It's a few years ago now, but most main towns had a Disney Store.

[VANDANCE]

Hey Nigel, glad you got tickets to the game and what a result! Must of been amazing to be there as the atmosphere sounded awesome on tv. Yes, I had read that Disney were closing all stores bar one. Quite sad as I managed to fill a few gaps over the years with Disney store finds. Back in the day they had Mattel exclusives like cars-toons and final lap (never did find race damaged mood springs!) I guess this just reflects the state of the high street today, with more and more big house hold names pulling out of physical shops and going on-line. It’s all about money!! On a slightly different tangent, dropped by Smyths this week, new DXV29 case code 96AF and scored racing red Sally, and Joe Don Jackson as well as the Saludos Ramone.

[boogity]

well football didnt come home, lads, it pains me to say

[cac1959]

Nice finds at Smyths, VANDANCE... Glad you got to see the game, niftynigel... sorry about the result of the game, boogity... and I'm saddened to hear that Disney Stores in the UK are closing... more of the Disney Stores in the US are closing as well... I had an acquaintance who helped me with some of the Disney Parks exclusives back in the day who was a manager at a Disney Store - his store just closed... the one in Indianapolis that was closest to me closed as well... yes, it's about the money... and I think the trend to fewer brick and mortar stores is here to stay and going to accelerate.

There are some things I'd never buy online... I want to know how a guitar feels in my hands and sounds... you can't get that experience without touching it... and while I order a lot of Cars online, it's still nice to see them in stores as opposed to empty pegs and shelves.

[niftynigel]

Although there were some downsides, some very well publicised events (not showing England / Wembley) in a good light, I thoroughly enjoyed EURO2020. I was privileged to get to four games - I had access to a fifth ticket, but the access code supplied by UEFA didn't work, so I couldn't purchase a ticket for that match!

There was another issue! Although I started to feel ill last Thursday, my daily tests were showing negative until Sunday when I tested positive! PCR test on Monday confirmed positive!

I'm getting better now, back to (home) work tomorrow - still isolating until next Thursday!

The only classic symptom I had was a fever. All others were typical summer cold / flu / runny nose / sinuses / sneezing / aches etc. Every day was different!

[niftynigel]

After the last, football and covid related post...

I just looked at Smyths website. Loads of new cars, case AK? on it's way? Also 3 for 2 at the moment, incl possible new cars!

[boogity]

sorry to hear you , uncle dick, nigel, hard to keep a good man down

[boogity]

bought mini racer patriotic sarge in tesco, he number 25, proper cars are now reduced to clear at 1.75... however there none about

[boogity]

good find on u tube, it a wee song by ritchie kavanagh, it called disney gravestone.....check it out...let me know what you think

[boogity]

was in disney store today, cars down to a fiver, got track damage cruz, didnt fancy anything else, well chuffed

[cac1959]

Nice find at a nice price, boogity... congratulations!