Theme park merchandise

[Dara]

Is it just me or has the merchandise in Tussauds parks really gone down hill recently?
I remember the mid 90s when nemesis opened they had the usual Nemesis keyrings, pens, T-shirts. etc but also Nemesis hand fans, Nemesis colouring books, Nemesis comic books, Nemesis fridge magnets, Nemesis games, Nemesis watches, Nemesis mugs, Nemesis postcards, Nemesis monster toys, Nemesis frisbees and pretty much any other item imaginable with the Nemesis branding.

It was the same with oblivion, but not to as much of an extent. So how come in a relatively short space of time the merchanise has been cut down so much that there is now hardly anything witht the park/ride branding on it?

At thorpe park the clothes on sale are now fashion names like Bench and Quicksilver which have nothing to do with the park. I can't think who would come to a theme park with the intention of buying clothes that can be bought on the high street.
But people obviously people do! I can't understand it myself.

So the point I'm trying to make is that in the 90s the public obviously wanted to buy park related items and now they don't and it has happened in quite a short space of time.

It's not just thorpe park, Alton now has hardly any park merchandise and in the shops at chessington it's all toys.

At what point did the public start to loose interest in park products and want to buy crap

[Adam]

I think it mainly comes down to, if the parks let companies like Quicksilver sell their clothing in park, they must pay the park quite alot. And i would think the park makes more out of that than if they just sold their own items, therefore i beleive it all comes down to money, as per.

*Adäm

[Thomas]

Most people don't want to be seen in a Alton Towers hoodie its better to be a named one, & also some of the time the Alton ones cost more money than the named brand ones. As well some of the ride merchandise can be seen as tacky & cheap, i remember my mum saying ' oh no don't buy that it will be broke tonight' as with like most things the cheaper you make the products for the lower the quality is

Thomas

[caffeine_demon]

I was stunned by the lack of quality in the thorpe gift shop! they even had the worst named toy ever in the "chokin chicken", press one of its wings to start it singing, and then squeeze it's neck to make it splutter and gag!

And don't get me started on the oversized sweets that you can buy in virtually every newsagent for half the price!!

[Anonymous]

[quote=""caffeine_demon""]I was stunned by the lack of quality in the thorpe gift shop! they even had the worst named toy ever in the "chokin chicken", press one of its wings to start it singing, and then squeeze it's neck to make it splutter and gag!

And don't get me started on the oversized sweets that you can buy in virtually every newsagent for half the price!![/quote]

Sounds like bird flu is now a marketing toy :P

[stokywolf]

[quote=""Dara""]
At what point did the public start to loose interest in park products and want to buy crap[/quote]

Nah, there was most definatly a point where people got fed up and didnt want to buy crap but wanted to buy out of park products to be honest.

There is no longer any quicksilver or theres very little Quicksilver clothes on sale this year in Towers trading and the most of it is bench clothing especially around the bottom of the shop near the collection point.

[X-factor]

you're rite.
i remember, when bubble works opened at chessington, you could actually buy fizzy made in the ride.

you've got a good point,

[Dara]

[quote=""Stokywolf""][quote=""Dara""]
At what point did the public start to loose interest in park products and want to buy crap[/quote]

Nah, there was most definatly a point where people got fed up and didnt want to buy crap but wanted to buy out of park products to be honest.

There is no longer any quicksilver or theres very little Quicksilver clothes on sale this year in Towers trading and the most of it is bench clothing especially around the bottom of the shop near the collection point.[/quote]

But at thorpe park this year there is alot more of it than last year.

I think that the big tubs of sweets that they sell are probably the best selling item. You always see people with them.

In terms of people prefering to buy branded clothes, I suppose thats fair enough but why is park merchandise so lacking? Even in 2000 when Tidal wave opened, there was loads of tidal wave/ amity cove themed merchandise. For stealth last year there was just half of the airstreem (the other half with the DJ) and it was, and still is, shut on most days.

I dont think CATCF really had any merchandise specific to the ride. Parks abroad such as Port Aventura and Europa Park, both of which I have visited in the past year, still have plenty of park merchandise. It's just UK parks that don't seem to.

[hex_appeal]

when you put all of these little things together, "the chart music on towers street, the non-existent park merchandise, the corporate branding on rides, the dissapearance of the magic"....its just really not good enough is it? a theme park should a completely immersive experience, and now instead, its like theyre trying to create something so commercial that all of its novelty gets lost along the way....and nobody seems to care,
i remember buying an alton towers fridge magnet and a lighter, they came to like a tenner or something, but i didn't care, i was buying a memory, theres no way in hell, i would buy a quicksilver fleece and hang it up to remind me of a thoroughly enjoyable day out in staffordshire...

[DiogoJ42]

I agree with you guys on this- I started collecting the Alton shot glasses, thinking I could get a nice collection going. I got as far as Nemesis, Oblivion and Air. and that's it! no more available.
I had hoped Thorpe would do some, but no!
My missus likes to collect cloth badges (a throwback to her guide days). I can remember the days when EVERY museum or place of interest had a sew-on cloth badge for sale. now she can't even find enamel pin badges at Thorpe!

[smeg_head]

The obvious answer is that branded stuff simply wasn't selling enough to justify producing it. A shame really.

I have two Alton hoodys (Oblivion & Rita) 2 fleeces (Air & General) I also have one of the old staff orange & purpley blue heavy rain macs. (Soo nice and warm!)

I'd still buy more, but sadly there just isn't the choice.

[jonathan leake]

Dont forget the nemesis drink and oblivion deodorants

[Ash]

I have a stealth hoody but thats about it, i like it its simple, pretty good quality and a reasonable price with a T-Shirt thrown in and AP discount

They need ride specific and generic stuff thats not too OTT.

I still fail to understand why Nemesis, the most legendary and popular ride in the park, still has no real merchandise or shop!? Bonkers!

[Wes]

Nemesis used to have a shop.

[caffeine_demon]

the merchandise at europa park, really puts alton. thorpe and chessy to shame!

Only decent stuff I've seen recently is:
a - the oblivion monkeys
b - the medals at chessy.

[Mankey]

A couple of months back... i went to Thorpe Park and was thoroughly impressed by the amount of decent looking ride merchandise and was very impressed with Nemesis Inferno so i bought the Nemesis Inferno Mug.



There it is in all its glory...

So... on Sunday and Monday I went to The Towers for the first time since 2005, and was pretty confused to see that mug for sale... now i can understand the Nemesis logo, but... for this mug just doesnt work for Altons Nemesis, the flames and all. I suddenly found myself thinking "wow, that is so lazy using thorpe parks merchandise..."

But... it wasnt just nemesis inferno mugs which i saw, i saw a few jumpers and t-shirts with the stealth faces on it (people should know what im on about)

Has anyone else noticed any of this?

^^ Chris ^^

[Johno]

Is it Alton defiantly using thorpes merchandise?

Or Thope using Altons?

[Adam]

Seeing as Thorpe have Nemesis Inferno and Stealth, I would say it's AT using theirs...

Adäm x

[Mankey]

Well the thing is... That mug just doesnt work for Nemmy... I can understand Nemesis Inferno ('cause of the flames) but not nemmy. Nemmys old merchandise used to be black.

^^ Chris ^^

[evil cod]

AT have been selling thorpe mechandise all season and most of last. Yup its lazy but it gets them money!