[quarry2006]

I took my kids into the Forbidden Planet shop in Liverpool today. My stars, what a rip-off!

My son said it best when he picked up a Star Wars figure and said "Why is this three pounds more than the one in Asda?" Why indeed, Son.

It was nice to see a lot of stuff of which I was unaware (where else would you find all the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons manuals?) but I wouldn't pass my hard-earned over the counter, not as long as my arse looks south.

[Trollslayer]

Different folks, different strokes.
Is people getting into drunken fights on a Saturday ngiht better?

[quarry2006]

More money than sense is more apt, if we're throwing around cliches.

Care to explain the second sentence?

[captainarchive]

Are they making a profit? The one in our City Centre shut down years ago.

[quarry2006]

I'm surprised this one's still going, captain. I can't remember when it opened but it has been there for a while.

We weren't the only customers in there - a gaggle of emos were getting very excited over something and some people about my age were at the opposite counter which seemed to specialise in comics (although the assistant still referred to them as "graphic novels").

[Soundwave]

Originally Posted by quarry2006

My son said it best when he picked up a Star Wars figure and said "Why is this three pounds more than the one in Asda?" Why indeed, Son.

I think you answered your own question there ^^^

The reason they sell them for that much more is they are at RRP.
They are tiny compared to likes of Asda & Toys-R-Us so have to sell at what the manufacturer sets as RRP to be able to make any money.

Asda etc. have all the buying power & can make the money up on other items so they can afford to sell much cheaper whereas little specialists like FP just can't compete.

Just shop for mainstream stuff elsewhere & buy the specialist bits you can only get there from them...that's what they are there for.

Stop complaining & just be thankful you still have a store like them nearby.

Neil

[vtrmart]

I worked there for quite a while on and off over the last 15 years or so. What I can say is that those figures you see are often in FP a while before they hit the likes of asda and toys r us as there are people who like to own things as soon as they are available - a lot of the figures across many ranges are US/ japanese Imports thus carrying a higher RRP than asda and the likes. If you are prepared to wait,great but many people want things ASAP and are prepared to pay a bit more to have the item earlier. FP regularly prices things down too, from books to toys,DVDs,graphic novels etc. yes some things are more expensive,but conversely there are things that are cheaper. It's swings and roundabouts.

[captainarchive]

Originally Posted by quarry2006

We weren't the only customers in there - a gaggle of emos were getting very excited over something and some people about my age were at the opposite counter which seemed to specialise in comics (although the assistant still referred to them as "graphic novels").

Hey less of the condescension, that would me me and my friends about 30 years ago. I used to go to the Forbidden Planet in Birmingham during the 1980's, but it was called Nostalgia and Comics back then. We used to spend most Saturday afternoons there getting all excited by the latest comics to arrive. LOL

[quarry2006]

Originally Posted by Soundwave

Stop complaining

Er, no.

[quarry2006]

Originally Posted by captainarchive

Hey less of the condescension, that would me me and my friends about 30 years ago. I used to go to the Forbidden Planet in Birmingham during the 1980's, but it was called Nostalgia and Comics back then. We used to spend most Saturday afternoons there getting all excited by the latest comics to arrive. LOL

Sorry! (I'll bet you looked better in make-up than the kids I saw yesterday, though!)

[quarry2006]

Originally Posted by vtrmart

I worked there for quite a while on and off over the last 15 years or so. What I can say is that those figures you see are often in FP a while before they hit the likes of asda and toys r us as there are people who like to own things as soon as they are available - a lot of the figures across many ranges are US/ japanese Imports thus carrying a higher RRP than asda and the likes. If you are prepared to wait,great but many people want things ASAP and are prepared to pay a bit more to have the item earlier. FP regularly prices things down too, from books to toys,DVDs,graphic novels etc. yes some things are more expensive,but conversely there are things that are cheaper. It's swings and roundabouts.

There were very few exclusive figures there - I'd expected to see more - and I probably spent more time poring over the Star Wars section than my son! At one point I started writing an invisible shopping list for Christmas - I had to stop when it occured to me I was writing a shopping list for myself and not for my boy (who will no doubt have moved on from Star Wars by the end of the year).

[vtrmart]

When the figures come in (people seem to know when we get them,don't ask me how!), the same 3 or 4 people come in and snap them up right away. Unfortunately,the boxes tend to have one or two of the rare figures in and they invariably go first. Star wars figures used to be massive sellers and we used to get over 20-30 boxes in at the height of their popularity,nowadays it's more likely that 3 or 4 are sent to store from the warehouse meaning less chance of securing a rare or exclusive figure. Video game figures/ dr who outsell star wars massively. I know I worked for them but as Neil said,I'm glad that there are 2 shops in town that sell a wide range of items which appeals to collectors- whenever I go to a city centre in a different part of the country, I always look for shops like FP for a nose- without a specialist shop,how homogenous would city centres be? Also,there is a dearth of shops which cater for the older collector- toysrus and asda sell kiddie stuff mainly,whereas FP and their ilk sell sideshow,hot toys and other high end brands. Without them, we would be beholden to the Internet exclusively and not everyone shops on line as there are still customers who like to see and feel things in their hands before committing to buy.

[quarry2006]

I'm not too surprised that Star Wars items don't sell much in Forbidden Planet. Between Return of The Jedi, it became a bit of a cult thing to collect the original figures and ships - when The Phantom Menace hit, I imagine a lot of those old fans lost interest. I dare say Blakes Seven or Xena Warrior Princess gets more interest in Forbidden Planet these days.

I have to say, my interest was piqued when I saw the AD&D stuff, not to mention Call Of Cthulhu - a game I always wanted to get into but my fellow die rollers weren't that interested.

I retract my earlier curmudgeonly attitude. You're right - we do need shops like Forbidden Planet.

The one in Liverpool is situated in Bold Street, itself a thriving area for niche interests, with shops like Rennies Arts and Craft and Mattas International Foods. Go further up and you'll find Richer Sounds on Berry Street.

Still waiting for the ironically named Trollslayer to retract his cretinous remark.