Disney Shuts Its London Flagship After a 15-Hour Lorcana Queue Descends Into Chaos
Disney closed its Oxford Street flagship in London after crowds waiting overnight for the limited Disney Lorcana Curator's Collection: Heroines Edition turned chaotic, with collectors reporting that resellers jumped the queue and tried to storm the store. The in-store release was postponed and police were called.
Disney closed its flagship Oxford Street store in London after an overnight queue for a limited Disney Lorcana card set turned chaotic. Collectors said groups of resellers jumped the line and tried to force their way into the shop, and the in-store release was called off roughly 15 hours after fans first started camping out.
Key Details
- Where: The Disney Store, Oxford Street, London
- Product: Disney Lorcana Curator's Collection: Heroines Edition, six rare cards at 99.99 pounds per set
- Global availability: Five locations, including World of Disney at Disney Springs, Disneyland Resort, Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, and Grafton Street in Dublin
- Outcome: In-store release postponed, store closed until further notice, police called
- Wait time: Fans reported queueing for up to 15 hours
The Buzz
A Disney retail launch collapsing into a crowd-control failure, reported by the Daily Mail, has struck a nerve with collectors who feel resellers keep pricing them out of the hobby. The Heroines Edition was only ever going to be sold at five stores worldwide, which concentrated demand into a handful of overnight queues.
A 15-hour queue that ended in chaos
Fans of the trading card game began setting up outside the store the previous day. As the crowd grew, witnesses said single-file lines broke down and groups of young men pushed toward the front. One collector described the scene bluntly: "So we've gone from a single-file queue to complete chaos and gangs threatening to storm the store." Police were called to help security disperse the crowd, and the queue was eventually told to go home, including people who were disabled or had travelled across the country.
The Heroines Edition fans lined up for
The draw was the Disney Lorcana Curator's Collection: Heroines Edition, a set of six rare cards featuring some of Disney's best-known female characters, priced at 99.99 pounds per set. It was due to be sold at only five locations worldwide: the Oxford Street store, World of Disney at Disney Springs in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California, Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, and the Disney Store on Grafton Street in Dublin. That scarcity is exactly what drew both genuine collectors and resellers to the same doors.
Disney's response and the closure
Disney announced the closure on social media, saying the release had been postponed and the store shut until further notice, with more information on how guests could buy the product to follow. A spokesperson later added that the decision to open late was made alongside local authorities following the overnight disruption.
Following the disruption outside the Oxford Street store overnight, we made the decision, alongside local authorities, to open later than usual this morning. We know how disappointing this is for our fans and we sincerely apologise to those affected. We are working internally to review the process for future in-store launches.
Disappointed collectors who had waited overnight said they left empty-handed. One described going straight from work to the store for 12 hours and back to work again with nothing to show for it, and another, travelling with two wheelchair users as their carer, said the group ended up in a dangerous situation as the crowd was told to disperse.
Why this keeps happening
Limited print runs sold at a few physical locations have become a recurring flashpoint for trading card games, and the resale market that forms around rare cards rewards anyone willing to camp out and flip them. Fans had reportedly asked Disney to hand out tickets to people already in line to blunt the reseller advantage. For now, the question is whether the Heroines Edition returns as a rescheduled in-store drop or moves online to avoid a repeat.