You know what it's like when a kid has their heart set on a specific toy, but it's sold out in every toy shop you try. Thankfully, online shopping has opened up a whole new avenue to help people secure rare and hard-to-find items.
It's not just kids on the lookout for the latest releases. A great many adults love reliving their youth by collecting certain toys and merchandise.
One store that specializes in toys from big brands like LEGO, Disney, Steiff, and Hasbro is Hamleys. On occasion, you might even find that Hamleys get exclusive products but depending on the country where you live, you might struggle to get them.
Hamleys toy shop is UK-based and ships to some European destinations as well as some locations in South Africa and India. Customers looking to get from Japan, Australia, and the US might think they are out of luck.
Thankfully, forward2me offers a simple solution. Find out more about how to order from Hamleys and ship internationally in our handy buying guide below, and discover how easy it is for you to get items shipped to your location.
Though based in the UK, Hamleys is one of the world's most famous toy shops, and its history dates as far back as 1760. It was launched as "Noah's Ark" by founder William Hamley. The store proved so popular that in 1881 a second store was opened near Oxford Circus on London's famous Regent Street, where it is still located today.
The Hamleys London store also has the distinction of being recognized for being the largest and oldest toy shop globally.
The flagship toy store has seven floors of incredible toys and products for all ages. The life-size animals, including elephants and giraffes, always prove popular among tourists looking for a good photo opportunity.
Hamleys now has a number of UK stores and a strong online presence that offers its customers a great selection of toys and collectables.
Although offering some fantastic products, the sad fact of the matter is that Hamleys does not ship to all places worldwide. Though offering shipping to a number of international locations such as India, Russia, and South Africa, Hamleys currently does not offer international shipping to the USA and is limited in its European scope.
As the world's oldest and largest toy shop, Hamleys boasts a vast selection of great products for customers to explore. Browse by category, age bracket, price, or brand to find the perfect gift or product. To give you a little insight, here are some of the excellent categories and products you will be able to shop at Hamleys.
While video games may be arguably far more popular than the traditional board game or puzzles, there is still plenty of space in the market for these fun pastimes.
Classic puzzles like the Rubik's cube, fun board games like Monopoly, or themed games and quizzes for fans of Harry Potter, The Goonies, or Paw Patrol will all fill an evening with fun for both the young and old.
Browse by age to find great games to help with development or search for a fun monster or animal game that will keep kids laughing for hours.
Hamleys offers some great construction products tailored for all different ages. For instance, building and construction toys can be great for development in younger children, but some pieces or construction sets are sought after by collectors of an older age. For instance, LEGO, in particular, has partnerships with major brands and films like Harry Potter and Star Wars, and these sets are often very popular amongst collectors.
There is a huge selection of action toys and vehicles available at Hamleys. These are broken down into several different categories, including figures, vehicle sets and accessories, robotics and RC, and dinosaurs.
Some notable brands include Hamleys own brand, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Disney, Hasbro, and many more.
Hamleys has a great choice of dolls, accessories, jewelry, and hair & beauty products for kids of all ages to enjoy.
Help your child expand their imagination and take their play to the next level with a great collection of clothing, accessories, and preschool sets.
Fun costumes and interactive props could have your children being superheroes one day to opening a shop the next.
The sports and leisure category is great for active kids and adults alike.
Browse the extensive range of bikes, scooters, and indoor sports games, as well as their outdoor sports collection that includes water toys. Skates, slides, footballs, skateboards, and much more are all available here. There is an excellent selection of ride-on toys available at Hamleys, including battery-operated products that can be driven about or scooters.
Hamleys' collection of creative products, arts, and books is great for development and interaction.
The arts and crafts products allow your child to show their creative side, and there is an excellent selection of paints, pens, pencils, crayons, pads, plasticine, playdough, and much more to choose from.
The selection of books will make story-time during the day and at bedtime an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. There are fun, interactive audiobooks, picture books, and magical Harry Potter collections to entertain.
Fuel your child's curiosity with the great selection of science equipment, kits, gadgets, slime, and kinetic sand.
If you have a budding scientist on your hands, you will want to ensure you can buy the best science kits to keep them entertained. Hamleys has a great selection to choose from.
Their great range of slime and kinetic sand is a wonderful option and keeps children entertained for hours. Just remember to keep it away from the carpet!
Pre-school development is largely play-based. Ensuring your kids have a good selection of toys that can help to develop core skills and entertain them is crucial.
As well as early learning toys that aid in children's development, Hamleys also has a great selection of baby toys and bath toys. Making bath time fun is easy when you have toys such as colorful squids and swimming frogs.
The soft toys available at Hamleys are arguably the most recognisable for the Hamleys brand. They have a huge selection, including animals, shakers, teddies, bears, plush figures, and puppets.
As well as Hamleys' own brand of soft toys, the store also has a great selection of Steiff, Jellycat, TY, Disney, and more.
Prices start from just a couple of British pounds, right up to almost £600, giving you plenty of choice depending on your budget.
Gaming has never been as popular as it is now, and the great selection of consoles, games, and accessories at Hamleys is great news for game enthusiasts.
Popular platforms include the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S/X Series, and Switch, and you will find everything from controllers and games to consoles and gaming seats.
Not only does Hamleys provide an extensive range of toys, books, and other products, but there is even an excellent range of chocolate and sweets to choose from.
Whether you are buying treats for a birthday, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, or any other holiday you will be able to choose from delicious chocolate bars and popcorn to lollies, sour candy, and mallows.
With so many great UK stores to explore, as well as the world-famous Hamleys store, the ability to use our UK parcel forwarding address to order items and have them shipped to the USA, Australia, Japan, and other countries around the world is an excellent service to take advantage of.
Follow these simple steps to find out how to enjoy our UK parcel forwarding service.
The first step is signing up for your UK forwarding address through forward2me.
After this, you will be able to browse and shop the Hamleys' online store to find the perfect products for you. Hamleys often offer great deals so keep your eyes peeled for pop-ups that might help you to save money when you shop.
After shopping, make sure you complete your purchase using your new UK forwarding address.
Your parcel will then reach us at the address you have provided. When we receive the order, we will send you a notification. We can hold your parcel for as long as 30 days, which is great for anyone who has ordered multiple items from UK sites as you can use our Combine and Repack service, so all your items are shipped together. You will then be able to select a courier for your parcel and pay the fees for their service. Packages sorted before 11 am will enjoy same-day shipping.
Your product will then be shipped to you, and you will be able to check with the service you have selected how long this should take. Most services will provide you with a tracking number for you to keep an eye on your parcel for updates.
We accept payment with PayPal, credit or debit card (Adyen), bitcoin (BitPay) and bank transfer.
We are now offering a personal shopper service to solve this. For instances where international payments are not accepted, forward2me will buy the goods directly and ship them to your destination address. Please get in touch with customer services if you can't see the facility in your account details on the website. For this service, we charge £15 or 10% of the value of the goods, whichever is the greater + VAT. Please note we can only purchase goods in GBP.
Please contact Customer Service within 24 hours of the receipt of your shipment with the following information so that we can submit a claim to the courier:
Where possible please sign for the goods as received damaged if noted on delivery.
UK online stores are extremely popular fashion destinations; however, not all of them offer international delivery. If you’re interested in ordering exclusive fashion, buying from small local businesses, or just shopping the best Amazon UK deals, a forwarding address can help you get any items delivered to your doorstep.
