The Future for UK Toy Fairs

[spock1]

:) This thread create to try and get some views to confirm or refute my suspicions that the UK Toy fai Scene is/has reached saturation point !!.... :confused:

[Clansman]

Toy Fairs seem a great thing if you live close to them, but in the North East of Scotland, they are rare occurences. How far are you prepared to travel for a bargain? I can only watch with envy the many threads that talk about going to toy fairs and picking up some really good bargains. I have one local dealer and the Internet.

[goonybird]

I think they will continue, but may downsize back to the 'old' days. It has the advantage over internet in that you can compare and view what you are buying. VERY important in my opinion. I hate buying something I havn't seen.
Especially when your on the receiving end of one of Corgi's bloopers. The QC there is atrocius.
Did think NEC sunday appeared noticeably quieter again, is this a trend?

BTW Good place to meet and have bacon butties as well!

[CFBC]

I tend to agree with G/B on this one in the fact that I do like the internet and that so called "evilbay" to "bag the bargains", but it is always better to see the product up and close and you can still bag a bargain at the toyfairs, but with a new policy supposed to be being adopted by a certain manufacturer (woof woof), I am not sure we will see the bargains from them? We will see if this policy does work?

As for other manufacturers, well... Perhaps time to have a re-think Mr Spock.. There ARE plenty of other manufacturers out there as we have highlighted to you and others that frequantly go to toyfairs.... Pleased we can be of assistance.... :)

One thing that does not help though is the close dates of some certain toyfairs and how frequant they also are, but I know you have three or four organisers, so I suppose they will compete as does everyone else... :D

[Agent Carr]

If you live in Middle England you can reach nearly all the major fairs and acquire corgis. In Scotland the only palce were we get cheap corgis is at the Lechars Airshow once a year. There is North side split when it comes to toyfairs. I suspect the reason for lack of fairs in Scotland is that we typical spend less money at them. Also alot of the good quailty items are now going on Ebay which leaves a lot of modern rubbish at toyfairs.

[The Defiant Man]

We recently have had a rash of fairs close together.....went to 2 but just couldn't afford the last NEC......

Around here we have a few "small" ones I went to last year and they were a waste of time.....Harrogate was the exception (although I understand that the dealers were not happy with the sales there).

I think they will continue but they need to be spread out more.....bit like the model release dates!

[minter]

Toy Fairs seem a great thing if you live close to them, but in the North East of Scotland, they are rare occurences. How far are you prepared to travel for a bargain? I can only watch with envy the many threads that talk about going to toy fairs and picking up some really good bargains. I have one local dealer and the Internet.

could have posted that meself, down on the south coast aint much happening :(

[NeilD]

I think e-bay does seem to be overshadowing them especially if youre trying to pickup some of the older releases... most of the fairs i've been to only seemed to have dealers selling the current range, apart from maybe one guy who has the older stuff, along with gemini jets and dragon wings.. ;)

Fairs are great though for having a wander around, a cuppa tea, a smirk at bods trying to sell stuff at RRP, trying to work out what the model train bods are all about, getting tempted by diecast tractors (!), and meeting other members of the forum and catching them browsing the model railway stalls!!!. :D :D
Neil.

[Seafire47]

I agree that the big toyfairs where we hear about amazing bargains are only worthwhile if you happen to live close to them or are prepared to kid yourself that the petrol to get there is free! It's all very well reading that I could have picked up (say) a Canberra at the NEC for £25, but as that would have meant a 200 mile round trip, it might as well be in Australia. The cheapest I've seen one yet was £39 at a toyfair in January.

I've been visiting toyfairs since the mid 1980s. Back then it was for Lledo Days Gone diecasts (since sold off to finance the AA habit). The number of local toyfairs (i.e. within 15 miles) doesn't seem to have changed - just the venues. They're still dominated by the model railway and diecast bus / lorry enthusiasts, but I can still find enough AAs to keep me coming back.

[Agent X20]

Toyfairs and AA's...

Well first thing is the %age AA's at Toyfairs.... at the most it is about 10%, so Toyfairs will exist... whether AA's at Toyfairs will be there.. most probably not as many as there were... judging by what some of the dealers are stating.

Other thing is despite the lower numbers, some models are hanging around.. and the dealers have more and more to sell, but sorry I dont think we are buying as many as we were.. its becoming well oversaturated..

Last point.. its all bix box stuff and sod all profit.. that will drive the dealers to ground faster than anything...

[minter]

absolutley flap all AAs at the last toy fair i went to ..so came away with 2 beano vans and 6 german soldiers

[Agent X20]

sorta one in each seat and two left over..?

[diecaster]

I'm probably fairly lucky here with toy fairs around the area, within a 25 mile radius I could do a lot more than I actually get to, of course they do come in clusters and you do get some familiar faces turning up routinely, plus some of them have a minimal AA presence, my sole interest, not into Trains, buses, cars etc just planes

The run-of-the-mill Toy Fair is still a bit of a novelty for me having only discovered one of the biggest, Sandown Park, towards the tail end of last year. Some of the one man dealers I know are reluctant to stop going to Toy Fairs but obviously they do deal much more on e-bay where profits are much better for them but I don't see any of them crying off , the ability to see their customers seems to be a big incentive and they do get people turning up as recent AA converts who can see exactly what is on offer, I personally can not see the web as being as good a starting point as a Toy Fair, unless like some you really are remote and the costs of getting to Toy fairs become prohibitive.

The other good thing for me is that being fairly near LHR the aviation enthusiast, read AA ? i'm well catered for with a couple of Feltham days, more recently a couple of LHR VC days and the one Crawley enthusiast day each year, it's just a pity that the guy that organises Crawley only does one per year as it's a good location and well laid out, that said they introduced a Tolworth location last month and given the number of stalls there I noted a greater %age of people selling diecasts than I would have expected.

Diecaster

[Martin Bull]

Having just bought my first ( only ? :unsure: ) copy of Diecast Collector I was struck by how many Toyfairs listed at the back are 'up North'.

OK, I know there are ones such as Kempton Park and Rayleigh but there seem to be loads in places like Clitheroe, Derby, Manchester, Stafford, Carnforth, etc etc.

Is it a Northern 'thing' ( like mushy peas) ? :confused:

( Looks like I might have to miss out on Model Tractor 2012 at Spalding : 'tractors on display outside' ! ;)

[DCRanger]

It may be a Northern thing but even here there aren't as many as there used to be. Of the ones that remain the Diecast aircraft content is much reduced and prices ain't what they used to be.

[Davidte2007]

Is it a Northern 'thing' ( like mushy peas) ? :confused:

:LOL: :LOL: :rolleyes:

:D Only if there "Low Saturated Fat" Peas..... ;)

[ACES]

Give me the PEAS anytime because the fairs are crap....:D

[jimbuna]

It may be a Northern thing but even here there aren't as many as there used to be. Of the ones that remain the Diecast aircraft content is much reduced and prices ain't what they used to be.

Must agree....never much on offer and getting harder to find that 'bargain'.

[the_old_un]

About the only fairly decent one around here is run by Hoyles and that's about it :wacko:

[The Defiant Man]

Is this the record for oldest thread resurrection ever?????:D

Not been to a T/F in about 3 years.....the last couple I went to were all trains and cars....it got to the stage where Mr Spock seemed to have more aviation on display than everyone else put together.....mind you, Spock's was always a rather impressive stall(s):cool ......and you did get to hear some good gossip:D ........

[Dan214sqn]

Donnington Park...gents...the only 2 words you need

last one was superb, the 1st of its return.on my doorstep also:D

[Martin Bull]

Is this the record for oldest thread resurrection ever?????:D



That's because recycling is soooooo on trend......:p :LOL:

[The Defiant Man]

That's because recycling is soooooo on trend......:p :LOL:
:rolleyes:
:D :D :D

[Agent X20]

...mind you, Spock's was always a rather impressive stall(s):cool ......and you did get to hear some good gossip:D ........

They still are.... although theres not so much gossip these days..:D

[corgi956]

Often go to the Reebok Toy Fair in Bolton and recently went to a new one at the Trafford Centre.

There are very few bargains to be had these days - well not compared to when I first started attending the Reebok about 7 or 8 years ago when there appeared to be that many bargains on offer, you could spend a fortune.

For example there were tons of 1/32 stuff at around £25/£35 and many 1/72releases at £10/£15.

The number of Corgi AA traders has diminished and those that are still going, often charge a "full" price.

And as for the cost of petrol getting there, you also need to add on the admission price, usually about £3.

[themostdangerousenemy]

Wonder why toyfairs seem to be poorly attended?? Look at the prices in the sale section of Js site,and thats the answer.You wont get a Dornier or a Lock spit at those prices at any fair. Simply click a button and you have em,no petrol purchase,no entrance fees,no overpriced cup of coffee,simple.

[Grizzly Adams]

Wonder why toyfairs seem to be poorly attended?? Look at the prices in the sale section of Js site,and thats the answer.You wont get a Dornier or a Lock spit at those prices at any fair. Simply click a button and you have em,no petrol purchase,no entrance fees,no overpriced cup of coffee,simple.

I kinda understand what you mean, but I still like going to the odd toy fair for the craic. Its good to chat to other collectors and put the world to rights. As to 'J's et als sales, yeah I understand again, but I only use those to pick up models that I didn't necessarily want on release and was quite happy to pick up if I could. I still pre order certain models and with ARD's 25% discount it makes it worth while.

[themostdangerousenemy]

I too enjoy going to toyfairs,its great to chat to the traders(and punters) for some gossip,views on models and the forum,but their attendance is sadly diminishing. Table rent too expensive,and travelling costs also contribute to this,real shame as I like to look at models in "the flesh" when possible. I think a lot of AA collectors purchased early corgi releases when they were dumped,and that aint gonna happen again with small production numbers,so they dont bother attending.Again petrol costs and entrance fees dont help the collector either.Sad demise of these fairs,but I would love to see more at Doni,one on in April then next in October - too much of a gap.

[Dan214sqn]

on the other hand....you aint gonna go to j's and get 'bit o lace' for £70 are you, like i did if Feb @ donnington, then sold it for £300 on ebay, :o

Toy fairs are hit and miss, but handy for the older stuff that you dont see that often,

Rare stuff on ebay is open to the eyes of the world, rare stuff at toy fairs are very exciting, plus the banter of trying to knock the prices down, and as grizz said, meeting and talking to collectors/traders is enjoyable

we have all gotta move on from the 'dump' days, they are well behind us, i made hay whilst the sun was out, those days were great but will bever happen again

[themostdangerousenemy]

You aint gonna go to Js and get brand spanking mint condition G for George Lanc for sixty quid or the 1/32nd Big Beautiful Doll mustang for 30 quid either.....and keep em:D Yep do love the toyfairs and they are a bit hit and miss,will keep going to most of em in my area as they are valuable mornings out.

[blackbird]

I enjoy the odd toyfair,especially the Reebok one,i recently went to a smaller fair at The George Carnell Leisure Centre in Urmston nr Manchester and picked up a Franz Gotz 1/32 Bf109 for the princely sum of £25 and the 20th anniversary Falkalnds Hercules for £17 both mint and the Herc had its sealed medal.

[Agent X20]

Poorly attendened as there are too many and of late we have seen duplication of dates with other events and at the likes of Huntingdon restricted parking.... let alone the 'creeping up' of entrance prices.... lack of product with pre-show dealing together with the general malaise then the toyfair aint as popular as it was, but its all cyclical and we will be back to beanie babies and black dustbin liners ...

[jimbuna]

I kinda understand what you mean, but I still like going to the odd toy fair for the craic. Its good to chat to other collectors and put the world to rights. As to 'J's et als sales, yeah I understand again, but I only use those to pick up models that I didn't necessarily want on release and was quite happy to pick up if I could. I still pre order certain models and with ARD's 25% discount it makes it worth while.

What is this 'ARD' you speak of?

[Agent X20]

Aviation Retail Direct

http://www.aviationretaildirect.co.uk/skelapp/w3store/store.asp

[jimbuna]

Aviation Retail Direct

http://www.aviationretaildirect.co.uk/skelapp/w3store/store.asp

Cheers and special thanks to Grizzly for the PM :cool:

A tad embarrassed when I realised I already had it bookmarked in my retailers folder :o