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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2018 17:47:33 GMT -5
With Toys R Us closing, this makes either Smyths or The Entertainer the biggest toy chain (depending on how you define it). There is still Hamley's (I'm not sure if this is independent or not, and whether they might expand their chain now TRU has closed, though they're mostly in Asia now). Apart from this, there are only independent chains and stores left (Toymaster, Toytown).
The issue with Smyths is that a lot of people don't live near one, but for them to be opening lots of stores in the aftermath of Toys R Us could be risky. I think they're going to have to play their cards right. The same with Entertainer, their stores are smaller, so they've got to get their stock right, which they seem to be doing with WWE at the moment.
I kind of refuse to believe that Amazon and eBay will exist forever. I feel like at some point in the future we're going to be tired of ordering online all of the time, and this will see a spike in brick-and-mortar stores returning.
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Post by newgenandy on Mar 8, 2018 21:36:01 GMT -5
I don't believe there are many people who "don't live by one" there are more smyths than people think
78 in England and Wales 8 in Scotland 7 in N.I
So 93 on the uk, toys r us have 100 but considering they're sometimes 'clustered together' (I have 3 in about a 10 min car ride in 3 opposite directions)
Most people are close enough by car or public transport to one
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Post by Lego Customs! on Mar 9, 2018 11:27:57 GMT -5
I don't believe there are many people who "don't live by one" there are more smyths than people think 78 in England and Wales 8 in Scotland 7 in N.I So 93 on the uk, toys r us have 100 but considering they're sometimes 'clustered together' (I have 3 in about a 10 min car ride in 3 opposite directions) Most people are close enough by car or public transport to one Closest Smyths to me is about a 45 minute drive away and I'm fairly central in Oxfordshire
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2018 11:58:47 GMT -5
I don't believe there are many people who "don't live by one" there are more smyths than people think 78 in England and Wales 8 in Scotland 7 in N.I So 93 on the uk, toys r us have 100 but considering they're sometimes 'clustered together' (I have 3 in about a 10 min car ride in 3 opposite directions) Most people are close enough by car or public transport to one Both my hometown and my university (Wiltshire and Buckinghamshire) are pretty deprived.
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wayneyb
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Post by wayneyb on Mar 9, 2018 13:17:16 GMT -5
I live inbetween Leeds and Bradford and about 4/5 years there were no Smyths near me, the closest was Sheffield
Now there are 4 within a 30 minute drive
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Post by alanpartridge on Mar 9, 2018 13:24:26 GMT -5
I'm lucky I have quite a few Smyths near me. Four I think (St Helens, Edge Lane, Speke and Wigan). If I didn't live near them then I'd just buy my figures from Smyths online.
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Post by Decky on Mar 9, 2018 13:53:02 GMT -5
My closest Smyths/TRU/Entertainer are about 90 miles away. I get the VERY odd figure in Asda (basic Mojo Rawley and Carmella in the past year is about it) Everything else is (very sadly) online. I will miss the idea of toy stores, and genuinely feel for the job losses but realistically I won't even notice. Sad but true.
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 9, 2018 14:22:54 GMT -5
I live inbetween Leeds and Bradford and about 4/5 years there were no Smyths near me, the closest was Sheffield Now there are 4 within a 30 minute drive Cool, whereabouts? My Mum’s side of the family are from Pudsey. Having lots of Smyths nearby is handy. One of them is bound to have what you want in stock (well, you’d hope!). Anyway, going with the original subject, I don’t see Smyths opening a load of new stores so soon after TRU’s demise, I think they’ll wait and see how the landscape will look. I still think they are the number 1 toy shop in the UK, especially for weestling figures. The Entertainer doesn’t keep up to date with their WWE range to often or reduce the prices enough or at all. Defining Moments is the only series where they seem to do both. Plus they have shorter opening hours than Smyths and don’t even open on Sundays. Plus their stores are a bit cramped 😆
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Post by Decky on Mar 9, 2018 14:30:23 GMT -5
I live inbetween Leeds and Bradford and about 4/5 years there were no Smyths near me, the closest was Sheffield Now there are 4 within a 30 minute drive Cool, whereabouts? My Mum’s side of the family are from Pudsey. Having lots of Smyths nearby is handy. One of them is bound to have what you want in stock (well, you’d hope!). Anyway, going with the original subject, I don’t see Smyths opening a load of new stores so soon after TRU’s demise, I think they’ll wait and see how the landscape will look. I still think they are the number 1 toy shop in the UK, especially for weestling figures. The Entertainer doesn’t keep up to date with their WWE range to often or reduce the prices enough or at all. Defining Moments is the only series where they seem to do both. Plus they have shorter opening hours than Smyths and don’t even open on Sundays. Plus their stores are a bit cramped 😆 I read on this forum a while back that the reason for The Entertainer's opening hours are due to the owner being religious.
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wayneyb
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Post by wayneyb on Mar 9, 2018 15:16:19 GMT -5
I live inbetween Leeds and Bradford and about 4/5 years there were no Smyths near me, the closest was Sheffield Now there are 4 within a 30 minute drive Cool, whereabouts? My Mum’s side of the family are from Pudsey. Having lots of Smyths nearby is handy. One of them is bound to have what you want in stock (well, you’d hope!). Anyway, going with the original subject, I don’t see Smyths opening a load of new stores so soon after TRU’s demise, I think they’ll wait and see how the landscape will look. I still think they are the number 1 toy shop in the UK, especially for weestling figures. The Entertainer doesn’t keep up to date with their WWE range to often or reduce the prices enough or at all. Defining Moments is the only series where they seem to do both. Plus they have shorter opening hours than Smyths and don’t even open on Sundays. Plus their stores are a bit cramped 😆 I'm in Idle/Apperley Bridge so not a million miles away, I pass by Pudsey when I go to the Smyths at Kirkstall Bradford Smyths is most convenient for me as I pass it every day going to work, and Kirkstall is usually my second port of call if something is out of stock at Bradford, Kirkstall usually has it. Seems a fairly quiet store
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Post by SmithyPlayz on Mar 9, 2018 15:19:36 GMT -5
It's not great, Smyths and The Entertainer hold a monopoly, especially Smyths. The fact that I can't go out and have a good selection of figures isn't great.
But, call me optomistic but it could have an opposite effect, before TRU here we had loads of independent toy shops. We could end up seeing some more of them start coming back.
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 9, 2018 15:35:20 GMT -5
Cool, whereabouts? My Mum’s side of the family are from Pudsey. Having lots of Smyths nearby is handy. One of them is bound to have what you want in stock (well, you’d hope!). Anyway, going with the original subject, I don’t see Smyths opening a load of new stores so soon after TRU’s demise, I think they’ll wait and see how the landscape will look. I still think they are the number 1 toy shop in the UK, especially for weestling figures. The Entertainer doesn’t keep up to date with their WWE range to often or reduce the prices enough or at all. Defining Moments is the only series where they seem to do both. Plus they have shorter opening hours than Smyths and don’t even open on Sundays. Plus their stores are a bit cramped 😆 I'm in Idle/Apperley Bridge so not a million miles away, I pass by Pudsey when I go to the Smyths at Kirkstall Bradford Smyths is most convenient for me as I pass it every day going to work, and Kirkstall is usually my second port of call if something is out of stock at Bradford, Kirkstall usually has it. Seems a fairly quiet store Cool! 😀
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 9, 2018 15:39:41 GMT -5
Cool, whereabouts? My Mum’s side of the family are from Pudsey. Having lots of Smyths nearby is handy. One of them is bound to have what you want in stock (well, you’d hope!). Anyway, going with the original subject, I don’t see Smyths opening a load of new stores so soon after TRU’s demise, I think they’ll wait and see how the landscape will look. I still think they are the number 1 toy shop in the UK, especially for weestling figures. The Entertainer doesn’t keep up to date with their WWE range to often or reduce the prices enough or at all. Defining Moments is the only series where they seem to do both. Plus they have shorter opening hours than Smyths and don’t even open on Sundays. Plus their stores are a bit cramped 😆 I read on this forum a while back that the reason for The Entertainer's opening hours are due to the owner being religious. I saw that too. I think someone also said in the TRU thread that The Entertainer is a really good compny ro work for.
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 9, 2018 15:46:59 GMT -5
It's not great, Smyths and The Entertainer hold a monopoly, especially Smyths. The fact that I can't go out and have a good selection of figures isn't great. But, call me optomistic but it could have an opposite effect, before TRU here we had loads of independent toy shops. We could end up seeing some more of them start coming back. Norwich had a couple of awesome independent toys shops; Kerrisons and Langleys. I remember Leeds had Beatties and there was Carters in Bradford. There’s Toys Galore here in Edinburgh, they just don’t sell WWE stuff 😞 I liked Toymaster too, they seemed to be in most town centres.
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Post by Decky on Mar 9, 2018 16:08:47 GMT -5
It's not great, Smyths and The Entertainer hold a monopoly, especially Smyths. The fact that I can't go out and have a good selection of figures isn't great. But, call me optomistic but it could have an opposite effect, before TRU here we had loads of independent toy shops. We could end up seeing some more of them start coming back. Norwich had a couple of awesome independent toys shops; Kerrisons and Langleys. I remember Leeds had Beatties and there was Carters in Bradford. There’s Toys Galore here in Edinburgh, they just don’t sell WWE stuff 😞 I liked Toymaster too, they seemed to be in most town centres. Getting Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles figures in Toymasters in the early 90s....Dear God the rush of excitement flicking through them looking for anything other than Pizzaface was unbeatable.
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 9, 2018 16:29:44 GMT -5
Norwich had a couple of awesome independent toys shops; Kerrisons and Langleys. I remember Leeds had Beatties and there was Carters in Bradford. There’s Toys Galore here in Edinburgh, they just don’t sell WWE stuff 😞 I liked Toymaster too, they seemed to be in most town centres. Getting Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles figures in Toymasters in the early 90s....Dear God the rush of excitement flicking through them looking for anything other than Pizzaface was unbeatable. Yes! I could even get them in Tesco back in the day! And Woolworths (‘Woolies’ as we all called it), they were good toy stockists too! I got loads if Transformers, He Man & Turtles from there. The only thing I remember TRU being the best rangewise was GI Joe Action Force, they loads of figures, but all the big playsets and vehicles too. Childrens World on Edgware Road in London was an awesome store too. They even had a slide for kids to enter the shop in! I used to get lots of Micro Machine stuff from there while it was still decent.
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Post by Decky on Mar 9, 2018 16:32:21 GMT -5
Getting Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles figures in Toymasters in the early 90s....Dear God the rush of excitement flicking through them looking for anything other than Pizzaface was unbeatable. Yes! I could even get them in Tesco back in the day! And Woolworths (‘Woolies’ as we all called it), they were good toy stockists too! I got loads if Transformers, He Man & Turtles from there. The only thing I remember TRU being the best rangewise was GI Joe Action Force, they loads of figures, but all the big playsets and vehicles too. Childrens World on Edgware Road in London was an awesome store too. They even had a slide for kids to enter the shop in! I used to get lots of Micro Machine stuff from there while it was still decent. Great memories of Woolies! I remember 'Pudface Morgan' from Robocop rotting on shelves for literally years haha! Action Force/ GI Joe was an amazing line back in the day. The articulation was ahead of its time.
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JimRiga
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Post by JimRiga on Mar 10, 2018 5:20:31 GMT -5
Yea, I remember when Woolies sold WWF videos for 14.99 except WrestleMania 4, which was 19.99 as it had 2 videos due to being four hours long! They had such a wide variety of toys though for a non-specialist store.
GI Joe figures were awesome with their articulation, whenever I misbehaved, my parents would take my wrestling figures off me, so I’d play wrestling with my GI Joes instead! They were perfect for doing the moves on each other! Destro was a top heel and several Vipers were tag teams. Imagine them in Mattel WWE fig size tho!
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wayneyb
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Post by wayneyb on Mar 10, 2018 6:36:56 GMT -5
I used to love Action Force figures. I had a handful handed down from my older brother who had loads plus a ton of Star Wars figures
We used to call the Action Force figures 'bendies' cos their arms and legs could bend unlike all the other figures we had at the time
I so wish i'd kept all my figures I had growing up - Action Force, He-Man, Thundercats, Ninja Turtles, WWF Hasbros, Bravestarr, but unfortunately most ended up either given away, swapped, broken, buried in the garden or shot to pieces with either a catapult or pellet gun!!
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Post by Lego Customs! on Mar 10, 2018 6:46:05 GMT -5
People should make GI Joes into wrestling figures...
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