RDSUK My Balls

So RDSUK has closed its doors. Online since 2002 (ignoring its previous incarnation), reports of problems with the store surfaced on the Webboard a couple of weeks ago, when registration and ordering simply gave out errors. Now all that’s left is Norman Lovett’s face. It’s all rather a contrast to the excitement when the store launched.

Truth be told, the place always seemed rather a disappointment; and in sharp contast to the way reddwarf.co.uk was run. Yes, there was some good stuff – the skutter/logo T-shirts, for one – and in recent years there was some attempt to compete with Play. But there was times when the shop seemed neglected. My personal bugbear was the lack of communication – products disappearing without warning, for a start. And the only time I actually ordered from the store – the Starbug Playset – it arrived with the figures and launch probe missing.

When the USA shop also closed, GNP were originally thinking of combining all the stores into one; now, however, they seem to have decided that it’s all more trouble than it’s worth, and they’re better off just pointing people to places where you can buy the stuff. Which seems pretty sensible. Interestingly, it’s the first part of “a more major site overhaul that will go live in the coming months”. Oooh. I’LL RACE YOU.

Andrew’s also said on the Webboard that another section to disappear will the the Arcade: “The licensee, mForma, never fully developed the (very well conceived) games they promised, and now appear to have no intention to do so. We are, inevitably, very disappointed, as the work that was done was shaping up to be extraordinary.”

No Grav-Pool? Wah!