Many retailers are already warning customers that manufacturing and supply chain difficulties are going to lead to product shortages in the Christmas sales period. For dinosaur model fans and collectors, a number of prehistoric animal model ranges are going to be in short supply as the impact of COVID-19 is felt around the world.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A Global Problem

Dinosaur fans and model collectors have already encountered difficulties in obtaining some of their favourite brands. Production schedules at factories based in the Far East have been severely disrupted due to the global pandemic and problems have been exacerbated by shortages of containers to bring goods from Asia into America, Europe and the UK. Many new for 2021 figures such as the CollectA and Papo models have yet to reach outlets and numerous production plans have had to be postponed or rescheduled.

Shipping costs as well as the cost of raw materials have increased rapidly, so dinosaur models and toys, like many retail items are going to be more expensive and higher prices are going to be seen leading up to Christmas and beyond.

Gary Grant, the chairman of The Entertainer chain of toy stores, has been widely reported stating:

“What is unique to us is that Christmas is a fixed date, so we are under extreme pressure at the moment to move as much stock as we can, but are significantly behind with the shipment of products.”

A Shortage of Cardboard

As well as having to cope with a near doubling of shipping costs, Everything Dinosaur, like all mail order companies has had difficulties obtaining cardboard and other packing materials. The company uses double walled cardboard for their parcels, these are stronger and help to protect the items inside the parcel from damage. Everything Dinosaur has committed to using 100% recycled cardboard as part of their environmental policy and sourcing recycled cardboard has proved challenging with a global shortage of this material.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“The current supply problems are likely to get worse as we go into quarter 4 of the trading year, this is historically the busiest time of year for retailers as Christmas approaches. Difficulties with the supply of goods will also be compounded by shortages of cardboard and other packing materials that will affect mail order companies.”

Longer Delivery Times for Parcels

The limited number of flights has restricted the movement of parcels. Many courier companies report a shortage of lorry drivers and remain understaffed due to team members having to self-isolate due to COVID-19. It is likely that Christmas parcels will take longer to be delivered.

One thing customers can do to avoid disappointment is to shop early to ensure that parcels can be sent out in plenty of time.

The spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur added:

“We are doing all we can to help our customers and we continue to work seven days a week to ensure we can support our customer base. Product shipments continue to face delays and we think the situation will get worse as demand for containers increases in the run up to Christmas. We have done all we can to ensure that we have stock of parcel packaging and we have set up new delivery routes into our UK warehouse to help alleviate some of the logistical problems. Our advice is to shop early and to be prepared for product shortages.”

The Everything Dinosaur website: Dinosaur Figures and Prehistoric Animal Models.