We can now reveal that Selfridges, Oxford Street London is set to open up a new department known as The Designer Toy Lounge. The space will be white with a modern museum feel. They have dedicated thirty square foot of space to the venture and it is set to be unveiled on October 12th. It will be located in the space next to Christmas Shop on the Lower Ground Floor of the store.
At the moment they are concentrating on what they feel are the six key brands, Momiji, Kid Robot, UglyDolls, Mimobots, Blik Wall Graphics, and STRANGEco, but will have over 300 items in stock. This should come to no huge shock to people in the UK, as we have seen Selfridges increasing using toys in there window displays, clever trick really!
I am not sure what effect this will have on the scene or the smaller retailers in the country, but it will certainly make the whole scene much more accessible. We are in the process of working on getting our magazine in there so fingers crossed! We'll keep you posted!
Thursday, 28 August 2008
London to get new vinyl toy store....
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5 comments:
Short term I don't think it will effect any retailers because of where it is. More likely it will bring in new collectors and fans who normally wouldn't notice these pieces but do shop in Selfridges. That includes tourists who I reckon will account for quite a few sales.
Long term it's tricky, you can already see in the art world rocketing prices and limited edition prints by 'street' artists selling out double quick. That could happen to vinyl too if it goes slightly more mainstream.
I reckon it'll bring in a lot of kiddos into the scene, as already happening in the US.
UK collectors are quite attached to their favourite online stores. :) And I am quite certain this new place will NOT be offering competitive prices.
Odd selection of brands in my opinion. Kidrobot, Ugly Dolls & Strange Co are fair enough, but Momiji? While cute, there's not a huge amount of artiness or designerness to those toys. They're just a bit twee and cliched. I like Mimobot and Blik Wall Graphics, but to me they just appear to be add-ons that have a level of practicality with quirkiness that will probably appeal to a more mainstream audience.
In terms of prices, I agree, I don't see them being overly competitive. Secondary market wise who knows? Street art has got stupid now. The bubble has to burst soon. Some great work being done by people, but a hell of a lot of bilge is being pumped out and unfortunatley it's being snapped up. Appears to be lots of money and not a lot of taste being thrown at the market. That said the same goes for the toy game. Muchos land fill is being produced.
I predict the only company to profit from this will be Kidrobot with its over-priced clothing line. Their garments will be featured in all the style mags as the trendy "new" brand to be seen in, celebs will slowly catch on and then the streets of London will be of full of rich kids called Tarquin and Henrietta strutting around in the clown-coloured hoodies. The result being Kidrobot will be able to charge even more for its products and the older members of the toy community will spend time lamenting about the good old days.
To be fair they have been selling Monsterisms and Qees for years in their art print shop in the basement,next to prints from Pete Fowler and Jamie Hewlet to name but two.
I think they are just expanding that a bit..
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