Poor Range in Toy superstores

[playmofirth]

I took my kids to the nearest Toys R Us this weekend to see if they could get ideas for forthcoming birthdays and for my son to buy the expensive LEGO Star Wars kit he has been saving up for.  (His choice.) I found it a rather dispiriting experience.  There is just so much expensive and unimaginative stuff filling the shelves.

I steered him down to the Playmobil shelves and really struggled to get excited about the large amount of ghost pirates and fantasy knights.    There was a lot of wildlife and vet sets too. The new Fire/rescue and construction vehicles don’t seem to compare well with previous sets either.

Does anyone else despair that the big retailers seem to stock the weakest products?     I had better find a better shop.  (Maybe Knowledge Magnet in Ripon, eh Playmofire?)

Playmofirth

[Martin Milner]

Do you mean the Playmobil itself carried by TRU is expensive and unimaginative, or the range carried, or the toys generally?

Your Knowledge Magnet sounds like our Learning Palace. 

[playmofire]

I steered him down to the Playmobil shelves and really struggled to get excited about the large amount of ghost pirates and fantasy knights.    There was a lot of wildlife and vet sets too. The new Fire/rescue and construction vehicles don’t seem to compare well with previous sets either.

Does anyone else despair that the big retailers seem to stock the weakest products?     I had better find a better shop.  (Maybe Knowledge Magnet in Ripon, eh Playmofire?)

Playmofirth

I was going to recommend Knowledge Magnet in Ripon to you before I read this post.  Hazel who owns the shop is keen to make it/keep it a traditional toy shop.  It has the Playmobil range, Schleich, Papo, Lego, Sylvanian Families.  She tries to steer clear of the more violent war toys.  Prices are very competitive and seem better than the Toymaster in the Victoria Centre in Harrogate.

I was sceptical about the new fire engines when they were first announced, but having bought them, I'm very impressed with them.  Here are links to my reviews of the ones I have:

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4263.0

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4135.0

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4455.0

And some minor customs on them:

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4866.0

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4867.0

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4345.0

We're pretty busy with the move for the next few days and then away for a bit, but if you come over to Ripon, let me know and we may be able to meet up.

[Andy R]

Realisitcally, the only reason to go to ToysЯUs is to get one of their “exclusives” (which are really just standard sets with different furniture and paint).

[playmofirth]

The stock of toys in Toys R US in general is expensive and unimaginitive.  It is also based on film and tv characters and is priced high.  In turn kids commercial TV plugs these sort of products. 

The selection of PM toys seemed limited as I mentioned. It has been better on other occasions and sometimes there are good deals.

The independent stores must find it difficult.  There was a good store in Wetherby (Horton & Hollander) that ran mail order/internet - Toys Express - but the shop closed and the web site changed hands.  Toymaster went into melt down a couple of years ago and a lot of shops closed (York, Leeds) but some are still going.  It is good to support the independents when one can, particularly as some are very good. (A rallying cry).

[playmofire]

The stock of toys in Toys R US in general is expensive and unimaginitive.  It is also based on film and tv characters and is priced high.  In turn kids commercial TV plugs these sort of products. 

The selection of PM toys seemed limited as I mentioned. It has been better on other occasions and sometimes there are good deals.

The independent stores must find it difficult.  There was a good store in Wetherby (Horton & Hollander) that ran mail order/internet - Toys Express - but the shop closed and the web site changed hands.  Toymaster went into melt down a couple of years ago and a lot of shops closed (York, Leeds) but some are still going.  It is good to support the independents when one can, particularly as some are very good. (A rallying cr

Horton and Hollander were the largest Playmobil dealer in the UK I was told and did mail order even to places like Finland.  It began to go down after the original owners retired.  The type of toys stocked began to change to more like the TRU type and after that it's history.

[gloobey]

I can tell you first hand that it's difficult to keep a good stock of toys in an independent shop these days. Playmobil itself is tricky to deal with. They have a very rigid ordering system with deadlines, and they have a tendency to NOT reply to faxes or phone calls. The shop that I work in only buys about $8000 USD worth of stock a year, so perhaps we are just small fish to them. It's also dispiriting to see TRU get sets that are still in Germany this year.

All this being said, there will always be people that actively search for independent stores so that they can buy stuff that isn't in TRU. The challenge for me is to always be on the lookout for good toys that are designed and manufactured by people that really care about quality and the kids/adults they sell to.

[gibbspaulus]

I saw a couple of small shops in Surrey, UK with quote good selection but my favourite place is called Downtown and is here in Grantham. It's a big department store off of the A1 and it has a small toy section but a huge playmo subsection - about 30feet wide. Prices are not cheap, maybe a one pound mark up on stuff.

[Heronimus]

everything is about bargaining power, and talk about TRU, which is enjoying monopoly or oligopoly, could easily ask for circumvention. I wonder why the TRU here in Hong Kong couldnt do the same, so I can as well share review with you guys, instead of reading the review and wait wait wait and WAIT

[Andy R]

All this being said, there will always be people that actively search for independent stores so that they can buy stuff that isn't in TRU. The challenge for me is to always be on the lookout for good toys that are designed and manufactured by people that really care about quality and the kids/adults they sell to.

and people like me who just don’t like ToysЯUs.