86 Dreams Come True shopping experience at Hamleys – 6th November 2016

Location
Hamleys Toy Store, Glasgow 10:00 – 12:00, erm… 08:00 – 10:00

Mission Report
There seems to be a reoccurring pattern of us turning up for events at St. Enoch’s when we’re not expected, the latest occasion of which was for this troop. Somewhere, amongst the Chinese Whispers between the chain of folks involved in us actually being allowed to turn up at events these days, the start time for this got mixed up with the equivalent event in Manchester, thus the majority of us arrived (an hour ahead of our start time) just as the Shopping Experience was coming to an end…

Due to our long relationship with the Hamley’s staff though they were happy to open the store to the public early and have us wander about for a few hours regardless. Although the place was quiet at that time of day there were a decent number of punters passing through the shop and even in the slower periods… well… the staff there are highly versed with keeping immature minds occupied and wandering hands from pulling all the stock off the shelves!

Cementing his place as most sickeningly talented member of the squad, Yee not only managed to knock out an accurate rendition of the Star Wars theme on the piano, but somehow did it using his feet. And while fully kitted up as a Stormtrooper.

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71.1 Exclusive Doctor Who Poster Giveaway – 20th September 2014

Location
Hamleys Toy Store, Glasgow 12:00 – 16:00

Mission Report
This was a slightly odd event, surrounded by confusion over the transport and arrival arrangements and most obviously not being under the UKG umbrella. Although the there was as a steady stream of people through the day there were none of the queues that previous Hamleys events have witness and it was probably a bit quieter than they’d have liked. Apparently the footfall in the whole centre was way down over the weekend though because people were wanting to avoid any post-referendum trouble and stayed out of Glasgow.

I hadn’t actually heard of the trouble on George Square at that point but the photographer that was there had said their studio had a large number of cancellations that weekend for the same reason. In fact apparently a fight broke out within Hamleys at one point, but being inside the Dalek at the time I missed it and didn’t hear the details till after.

Those that did venture out seemed pleased to see Barry though and I have to admit I wasn’t too fussed about the turnout personally. Come the last hour I was really done in anyway and it was about all I could do to muster up some feeble dome movement, and didn’t have the energy to do a lot of speaking so if it had been busier I’d probably have to had to call it quits earlier.

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Exclusive Doctor Who Poster Giveaway at Hamleys

Date: Saturday 20th September 2014

Time: 12.00pm – 4.00pm

 

ATTENTION Doctor Who fans!! As the Time Lord has returned to our screens, Hamleys is celebrating with an exclusive Doctor Who Collector’s poster event!

They have 250 Limited Edition Posters to give to some lucky fans!

These are so exclusive that your poster will be the only one of its kind in the world…just like the Doctor himself! Each poster is numbered and a true collector’s item.

If you are a fan of Doctor Who, then this is an opportunity that you do not want to miss out on.

They also have 25 goody bags to giveaway per store for super fans who come dressed as a Doctor Who! Only the best dressed will be eligible so good luck!

To get your hands on these unique posters come in store and purchase any Dr Who toy!

Additional information: Hamleys will be giving one limited edition poster to anyone that purchases any Doctor Who toy. There is no minimum spend. One poster will be distributed per transaction. Posters are subject to availability and can only be redeemed when a Doctor Who toy has been purchased. Posters are numbered 1 – 250. We cannot guarantee a specific number to anyone. Posters will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Customers will not receive a poster for any toy purchased prior to the date stated above. Poster cannot be purchased separately. Posters are exclusive to Hamleys Toy Shops in the UK and Ireland.

65 Hamleys Christmas Extravaganza – 17th November 2013

Location
Hamleys Toy Store, Glasgow 11:00 – 17:00

Mission Report
Perhaps it’s available as a Deleted Scene set a couple of hours after the opening fight with the Red Triangle Circus Gang, but I don’t recall a sequence in Batman Returns where Michael Keaton has trouble getting up or down the stairs in Wayne Manor. Then again that fight was over substantially quicker than the six hours I spent in the Batsuit for the Hamleys Christmas Extravaganza, so maybe that explains why he still had feeling in his legs afterwards.
Another curious oversight would be Alfred’s washing line of sweat-sodden underpants and socks stretching across the width of the Batcave but, I digress…

Positioned on the floor below Hamleys itself I didn’t get to see the others attending this troop, beyond Boba Fett or a Cylon in passing, however the was a near constant procession of kids, babies (and the occasional adult) all day for photos which meant the time passed pretty quickly. The demand was such in fact that I had to be retrieved having only had a couple of bites from my 15:00 sandwich lunch as a substantial queue had already built up in the time it took me to walk back to the Management Suite!

As a downside to this I did feel some of the kids were rushed through slightly, with the next set moving in to position before the previous lot had stepped out of frame. Judging by some of their Joker-like smiles the majority of them seemed happy enough though, even if my interaction was essentially asking them their names, introducing myself and asking the if they wanted a picture each time, making it slightly awkward when some were returning a second and third time.
Many were proud to display their Bat-related t-shirts and tops, the couple sporting Superman sweatshirts being reassured that I could totally beat him in a fight.
Also, I have to wonder what the babies that had their picture taken with Batman holding them are going to make of those photos in a few years…

As always the Hamleys staff looked after me well, wrangling the crowd and coaxing those brave enough to spend time queuing, but maybe having second thoughts when it was time to approach and thanks should go to our security guard escorts, who’s name I unfortunately did not catch for watching over me for the duration.

Might have to attach a pouch to my utility belt for the storage of gifts in future if my haul of a chocolate gold coin and two drumstick lollies is anything to go by. However the best gift of the day would not have fitted, being a small boy who turned back after his photo to reassure me that I was by far the best Batman he’d met and that my voice was really, real causing a momentary break of character as a grin broke out on my otherwise grim visage.

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56 Hamley’s May the 4th Weekend – 5th May 2013

Location
Hamleys Toy Store, Glasgow 10:00 – 15:00

Mission Report
You know you just can’t win with Astromech Droids…
Keen to get the little-barrel shaped buggers Five Year event out-of-the-way, the familiar turf of Hamleys was always going to provide a safe environment; lift access for moving him about, a level floor throughout and if worse came to worse and he failed to perform all that we needed to do was be able to man-handle him to the stage area and (nightmares about him picking up a stray frequency and taking off at speed through the glass barrier surrounding it aside) have him sit at the photo stand in the one spot all day.

On the day though he performed like a champ, with none of the battery problems which have plagued his previous outings, which is slightly unfortunate then that the number of members of the public who attended and the resulting size of the queue to have a photo with him mean that he was pretty much parked in the one spot for the reduced amount of time he was out in-between having to be shuffled into a corner to clear the shop floor lest a rammy break out.

With my single day attendance, being isolated from the other costumers, and even isolated from Sundays centre of attention by dint of standing at a distance with his remotes, I can’t really speak for how the weekend went.

Certainly on the handful of occasions I was free of my charge and could navigate round the snaking 2 hour queue for the prop talk to venture elsewhere in the shop, the crowd was massive for the opportunity to have a photo with Vader, his attendant TKs and Snowy and showed no sign of diminishing, so all credit to the members stood under that greenhouse-like roof for the whole day with the sun glaring through it.

As I say, you can’t win with Astromechs. Clearly he’d have performed happily for a much longer stint, probably even the whole weekend if it’d come down to it, but with his notorious unreliability in the past at events it seemed like a good idea to keep his attendance a minimum levels, but in hindsight it seems a bit of a waste to have spent the best part of three days charging batteries and have his Uncle Ian chauffeur him about for the small amount of hours. Sods law that he’ll get signed up for a full weekend at some point and explode within the first five minutes though!

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