Ephant Mon TRU UK

[Yu_]

I have no idea how they got it this quick because normally there is a massive delay in shipping to the UK but they did and I got one! Ephant Mon was just sat on the shelf looking at me and it was in the buy two get one free offer! All the Saga toys are at that price in the TRU near the metrocenter it was the only one that I could find but they had only recently re-stocked the shelves.

Even the specialty shops around here didn’t have them yet, anyone ion the UK after him should definitely try a TRU if you can, they seem to be getting things in very fast. To say I’m happy is an understanding, I thought I was going to have to pay scalper prices for this thing, and it was only £5.99 Considering that it’s not on the UK release list on hasbrojedi.co.uk I’m thinking we could be getting lucky. Also the guy at the shop said they had been told they should be getting a promotional starwars item soon, I think we could be getting the silver R2D2. Life is good, Hasbro seem to be treating us a bit better in the UK than they have on the past Anyone else found had luck finding this guy in the UK?

[Jargo]

Guess who was impatient and ordered from Toypalace in Germany and still hasn't had a delivery......

I shall be going Chevin hunting tomorrow... :happy:

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

ahhhhhhhhh!!!! (mike runs around searching for his inflatable boat) i should be getting mine from kebco in a few weeks. congrats on your find though!

[Turbowars]

Has collecting been that bad in the UK?

[Jargo]

Try a complete drought for the year starting xmas 2000 through all of 2001 until the birth of the SAGA line and all the AOTC hullabaloo. Not one single new SW toy in TRU - our only major national retailer of toys - in all that time. Lookin' good right now though even if the displays are just six feet wide. They've been doing a grand job this year while the movie is still hot but Hasbro UK have also been plugging away in the background and the fact that Hasbro UK now sell SW direct from their site where they never did before is just peachy. The beauty of it is being able to buy direct from hasbro at TRU low prices not independent retailer inflated prices. And they only ship to the UK so there's no way the stock intended for us can be sold out before we get to it owing to different time zones - sort of thing. It's a boom time for SW here right now. How long it will last remains to be seen, will it all dry up again next year? only time will tell. But Hasbro opening up a collector site for UK collectors is a good sign that things are improving. Just take that webchat they did recently and their plans for a second one soon. They recently conducted a survey to find out where people bought their toys, how much they collected and which lines, what people thought of the general state of the collecting scene and what people would like to see improved. Has Hasbro US done that? I don't know if it'll help us here but at least it's a gesture of goodwill. Maybe they will act on the findings and address some problems we still face like not getting the exclusives, The delays in stuff reaching us. But even that is improving. I do believe they actually listen.... astounding isn't it. Hard to believe they're a branch of Hasbro.

Or were you being sarcastic? In which case forget I spoke...

[JediCole]

Not to impugne the UK market, I would suspect that you guys have it tough finding the new things, but what is up with this news?!

Ephant Mon is one of the figures I want most of the line. I've been waiting for almost 20 years for an Ephant Mon figures. Bear in mind, finding new Star Wars figures in Texas is about the same as finding them in the UK, but I am reeling to imagine that the toys of a U.S. based toy company are nowhere to be found in the U.S!

And it is even more ironic that the TRU's in the UK seem to have their act together. The one's here in my area will have the initial Saga line-up until about mid-year 2003, then they will finally get the second or third waves on their pegs, much less even later waves like that with the E-Mon!

[Jargo]

It's really weird JC after having nothing whatsoever for so long to be bang up to date. There is absolutely nothing I haven't been able to find. Perhaps not in thundering great quantities but it's been around if you're prepared to do a little looking from store to store. I'll admit that i bought a lot of stuff from Toypalace in Germany this year but it's still Europe. I think the key was that people realised their mistakes with episode one and didn't really overstock on the intitial waves. Plus a lot of stock was bought up later by the kids which is also key. It takes a lot of nagging by kids to get UK parents to part with cash. I've seen more kids in this later part of the year buying SW than when the film was released. Parents here are more likely to go nuts on the stuff for kids nearer christmas and don't typically rush out when the film is released. Most people buying for kids tend to be grandparents. who haven't got a clue what they're buying but have a list.....

So there's been a steady movement of stock I think a slow trickle that seems to have worked. UK fans have sort of pulled together in letting people know where to find stuff. Much more so than before. There doesn't seem to be the scalping thing going on anymore although I have been mmade aware of it at certain stores by staff. We've had some good two for one and three for two deals going on, which moved some older stock. Vehicles sold really well. There are still stinky pegwarmer first wave stuff but not to the degree that it;'s harming the line. Also the price is good right now. People are able to buy more for their money. Whereas in 2000/2001 we were typically paying 8 or 9 pounds for a single basic figure we're now paying 6 pounds as standard it seems. Deluxe figures are 9 pounds. I think there may be a change in 2003 perhaps after the summer things will quieten down at TRU because after all they had to keep getting the stock in as a build up to the DVD release. it all ties in.
But even if things die down, the independents are also working with collectors much more now. Prices are lower and stock is turning over fast. They know what we want and work really hard to get it in stock. It seems a more harmonious time for being a collector here in good old blighty.

Wish you were here?