Old Toy Shop discovery story

[poncho]

Great story ,

I bet there are still hidden gems out there , I remember where I was a kid there were 4 toy shops in our small town , all of them closed up in the 80's and 90's .


What did they do with their stock ?

Maybe we need a toy hunt

Steve

Im thinking we all do a toy shop hunt county by county who ever lives in that county and what ever we find is sold to forum members who participated in the hunt!

 

[steve obi wan]

Sounds good



Steve

 

[Frunkstar]

Well that will be a piece of piss in my county, theres **** all here :lol:

 

[steve obi wan]

Is that not where the shop was ! Lol

 

[Andyclarke]

I've been collecting a long time and it is commonly known that alot of the dealers went round the country in the mid 90's and bought up the old Star Wars stock from the last of the traditional toy shops. I'm sure there is stock out there, but maybe they're in lock ups or in houses/garages rather than shops. The chances of finding another shop like this are practically nil.
I always used to think if anywhere places like Scotland and Wales would be the best places to go. I think England is too well trodden.

 

[panastur]

I've been collecting a long time and it is commonly known that alot of the dealers went round the country in the mid 90's and bought up the old Star Wars stock from the last of the traditional toy shops. I'm sure there is stock out there, but maybe they're in lock ups or in houses/garages rather than shops. The chances of finding another shop like this are practically nil.
I always used to think if anywhere places like Scotland and Wales would be the best places to go. I think England is too well trodden.

It was fairly common practice in Europe during the 90s. I remember from 1992, I used to borrow my father's old Ford Granada during the weekend to scout the lands where i lived before(Belgium and Luxembourg) in search of small toy shops. There was always something to bring home; if it was not "Star Wars", it was "Action Man". But generally, there was always an unsold Falcon, AT-ST or a handful of carded Trilogos liying around. It was a great time where every trip was an adventure in itself. Today my search stops behind my keyboard... :roll:

JC

 

[stratpack]

panastur - that sounds amazing! Driving round looking for SW on a big treasure hunt

Certainly where I am (Ayrshire) theres none left. I'd go as far as saying theres nowt left in Glasgow too. I was in a model train shop a few weeks back that I hadn't been in for 15 years and they do get the odd piece but they get sold on quick. Certainly nothing thats been about for 30 years etc The internet killed most of them off a long time ago. Still get the odd place that will sell loose vintage figures etc but not old shop stock. People are just too clued up - even non SW fans think £ signs when finding SW stuff. Suppose this is why this find is so amazing!

If anybody does hear of anywhere up here, give me the address and I'll check it out for me.. i mean you! :wink: :lol:

 

[edd_jedi]

Well this just proves these finds are still out there, don't under estimate how much of these things were sold any equally how many hoarders there are! It's not all surprising as anybody hoarding during the 70s and 80s is likely elderly by now so probably don't have internet access.

 

[Bootyhunter]

I was talking to a couple of people who grew up in Hollywell today and they both had very fond memories of the old girl who owned this shop.
Neither seemed at all surprised at all that the figures had been found there, it seems all the locals suspected a treasure trove inside.

 

[_Lee_]

That is a great story, but ive got one question-

Why Vectis????

Nothing personal but they are rated way to highly IMO. Their knowledge isnt excellent in this field, the professionalism is poor and any auction company who keeps Palitoy carded in star cases should be should be overlooked. Remmber the way the VCJ was shown??? plus the fees are a rip off...

Anyways, great find

 

[walkie]

Why Vectis????

Plenty of other people we after it, and have been for years. it was all in the hands of the probate solicitors, so I'm guessing the highest offer won??

 

[edd_jedi]

and any auction company who keeps Palitoy carded in star cases should be should be overlooked.

Sorry but what's wrong with Star Cases? No arguments that acrylic cases look better on display, but a Star Case is much safer for storage and when being moved around. When in one a MOC is gripped along all four sides to keep it flat (acrylic cases only hold it on 3 sides because the bottom is removable) and due to the design the card is gripped in place so cannot move and therefore rub against the plastic.

Just search for all the threads about cards given severe edge wear by putting them in and out of acrylic cases.You can't beat star cases for storage IMO, there is nothing safer. I would never want a MOC to be posted to me in an acrylic case.

 

[_Lee_]

Sorry Edd, didnt mean it like that. Just seems that the presentation of their items could be better sometimes. I love starcases myself and as you said they are the better option for postage, but for my own collection i use acrylic

 

[edd_jedi]

Ah I see, yes I agree for a 15k figure they could afford an acrylic case to display it in

 

[Mr-shifter]

I wonder if this was what Craig was talking about when he alluded to other stuff he had seen.

 

[jedisearcher]

The regular FB "discoveries in the wild" threads (normally from the States) often makes me wonder why we seem to get a lot less of these finds in the UK. No doubt SW was bigger over there, there's more people over there and there must be more hoarders :lol: but nevertheless I'd have thought there would be more UK finds than we seem to get.

I thought Craig was complaining about the Rep find, rather than the ROTJ stuff from the Toy Shop which wouldn't have been direct competition to his 30 backs. He said he's seen what Vectis had, so you have to assume that he's seen direct competition to his auction (i.e. 30 backs), or something different in it's own right, like the sealed Death Stars. I'm just guessing really cos Id love to know what's coming up :lol:

 

[theguiltyone]

Has Vectis said to anyone when they plan to auction any of the recent finds?


Marc

 

[jedisearcher]

That is a great story, but ive got one question-

Why Vectis????

Nothing personal but they are rated way to highly IMO. Their knowledge isnt excellent in this field, the professionalism is poor and any auction company who keeps Palitoy carded in star cases should be should be overlooked. Remmber the way the VCJ was shown??? plus the fees are a rip off...

Anyways, great find

How else would you get shut of it though? There was 120 or so pallets of stuff to shift, and I'd have thought that's a tall order even for Vectis to deal with, plus the fact that most of the Auction Houses don't specialise in toys. It's not like only Vectis have the buyers commission, they all charge commission of 15-20%.

Surely if you're the family or the probate lawyers you simply go with the best/quickest/most trustworthy deal to get shut of the stuff.

But yes, nice find

 

[SNAGGLE]

This is incredible!!
I purchased a 'bin bag' full of figures from Dorothy around 2007/08.
I've posted on here about it, and showcased some, including an absolutely MINT ROTJ Snow Speeder and ATST walker.
Figs mostly Palitoy, including the likes of Luke Jedi, Ewoks, Klaatu (lol) Vader....
Always knew there was a gold mine inside, but like others have said, she was very suspicious of collectors low balling her.
I paid what she asked for my haul, which averaged £20 per figure, and £100 for SS and ATST.
As far as I'm concerned, she was aware of eBay and vintage starwars being very collectable. She also associated with toy enthusiasts, telling me once that she played train sets at a friends place who had an amazing model railway.
Eccentric?, yes, living in the past?, maybe, Naive?, no way!

 

[SNAGGLE]

Just to add, I work literally down the road from the shop. Haven't been in there since just before she closed up and the shop was boarded up.
I'm glad the treasures are now going to be enjoyed in people's collections. I'm also pleased that I don't have to drive past everyday and wonder what's rotting inside....
She did dangle the carrot big time when she said that she thought she 'might' have some original Leah's, as she explained that boys weren't interested in buying her!
In the end, I got fed up with being asked to 'come back in a few days'.
There you go, true story, all of it.