Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop

[maxf]

I made the trip up to sunny Leicester on Saturday, to collect something from Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop.

I've been to a few 'vintage' shops over the years, and have generally left a little flat - travelling a decent distance to find a few overpriced vintage items in between lots of modern stuff is never great, but I'm happy to say the trip on Saturday definitely wasn't like this!

After a 2.5 hour drive I was greeted with a cup of tea and a couple of hours (!) of friendly chat and banter. The shop was crammed full of display cases of all things vintage - from Matchbox and Dinky, to He-Man and Ghostbusters, and everything in between. Of course, being located in the Palitoy heartland, there was no shortage of Star Wars, Action Force and Action Man - including some nice MOC pieces.

I went in for some SW, which I bought, but genuinely could have come home with about 5 newly started collections - as well as my main acquisition, I also came home with a loose Lumat, a 70's Matchbox Mini and a 60s? Dinky Bedford Van. The latter 2 will probably end up on my desk at work.

I have no affiliation with the shop, other than being a very happy customer. It's really easy these days to become spoilt and even a bit jaded by the amazing photos of super rare items we can see online every day, but these really don't compare with seeing a massive selection of vintage toy lines in the flesh. The shop is definitely worth a visit, even if it's a bit of a drive.

Some photos (loads more in the shop):

My buys (I didnt buy the Palitoys underneath )

plus

and

 

[lejackal]

Great write up Max, glad you made the trip. I've not been in for a while but the welcome is the same every time, hot drink, good chat and an easy transaction.

 

[Carl Waterworth]

Awesome! This is a shop that i have been meaning to go to for a long time, but nevergot round to it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[tobedesu]

I follow them on Instagram and been meaning to go for a while.
However, Celebration and LFCC last month means my trip will have to wait a bit longer...

 

[steve obi wan]

Great looking shop

Just out of interest how much was the Meccano Dark Vador ? :?

 

[theforceuk]

Wow looks like a cool shop, love the Ghostbusters stuff.

Yeah I was wondering about the Vader to.

 

[rdpla]

Do they have a website?

Rob

 

[Frunkstar]

I was in there last week myself Max having a chat with Joe, I wondered who bought the Dark Vader, great piece!!, longer trip for me :lol: luckily I have friends & family in Leicester, so I pop in when I am down that way, shop is always rammed, but the star wars side of things can be up & down a lot

 

[Joe]

Wow awesome shop! Nice size too, looks well worth a visit!

 

[maxf]

Wow awesome shop! Nice size too, looks well worth a visit!

Definitely! As Frank said, I think the vintage SW is probably up and down a bit, as I understand Joe mainly gets his stock through people selling directly to the shop, rather than buying online to stock up with - so I suspect it depends what walks in through the door. But for general vintage toy goodness, I havent been anywhere better.

 

[Caswellbot]

Joe is a great guy and really friendly. It's a super shop and just goes to show that some folk can make a living in a bricks and mortar shop in the UK. I've visited the shop once before but have seen Joe at plenty of fairs and have always thought what a stand up guy he is. If you haven't been to Leicester vintage and you don't live too far away, I'd say pop down there for sure.

 

[Alltooeasy]

Amazing! The ghostbusters certainly got my interest! How much was the vader and other mocs if you dont mind me asking??

 

[AL_Bundy]

I went in over Easter and I was very impressed.

 

[maxf]

You'll need to call him up or email for prices on the Palitoys - I think they started at about £250 and went up to £750 or so - but don't quote me on that. The Vader was more.

 

[punk_pat]

Met the proprietor at a fair earlier this year. Nice bloke & easy to deal with. Photos look great, would love a look around there!

Not been to a bricks & mortar since Comicville closed down in Leeds.

 

[Robstyley]

That's well cool, tons of vintage goodies in there. Great photos

 

[palitoyjunky]

Super mate 8) Gutted I couldn't make it :!:

Just so nice to walk into a shop of pure vintage and take a step back in time 8) The only shop that did that for me was the original "Modellers Loft" shop in Croydon that I use to visit in the late 90s.

Awesome

 

[Gorneesh]

I've watched and followed this shop on social media for ages now, still not got round to actually visiting it yet.
They always seem to get in nice looking stuff.

 

[laurencedyer]

As you said Max, Joe has a cracking shop.
I nearly turned into there Saturday on the way back from the office as I hadn't been in for a while but carried on instead as I was feeling iffy, wish I hadn't now.
It helps him being in a Palitoy hotspot with people occasionally wondering in with childhood collections and puts a lot of effort in countrywide to secure stuff.
If your this way again Max then give me a shout.

 

[Pomse2001]

Awesome Dark Vador moc :shock: