A bundle of joy or overstock tat?

If you haven’t been to a Flying Tiger store, you really should. Unless you hate stores where you are made to walk the entire way around, in which case you probably shouldn’t. Like a mini-Ikea-esque experience, Flying Tiger sees you following the slalom of shelves laden with toys, homeware and crafting goods all the way from the entrance to the tills. Everything is own branded, and pretty reasonably priced, meaning you are very unlikely to come out empty handed (my boring purchase of the trip – a weighted cello tape dispenser for £3. Tape included. I’m such an adult now).

But what happens to the stock that doesn’t sell? From my own travels to town, I have seen that overstock is sometimes donated to local charity shops (where sadly, they are labelled up at a higher price than you probably would have paid in Tiger in the first place). Sales are also infrequently held instore where all store stock is £1 for one day only (but never on a day I can make it to the shops, *sadface*). Whatever is left from that, it appears, is bundled into a mystery bag and sold off as a low price lucky dip.

At a low price of £3, these bags come in variations suitable for kids or adults (as pictured, the bag I picked was labelled “For Everyone”, although I had no intentions of sharing my goodie bag with anyone). After seeing the holographic pattern in the front window, I had to pick this bag up to find out more.

So, what did I get for my £3? In a pleasant surprise, I got 7 items, making the value of this lucky bag 43p per item. Ranking from my least to most favourite items:

7) Some Christmas socks in size 1.5. Too small for me, too big for the kids for at least the next 5 years.

6) A felt tip pen shaped like a fairy. This isn’t even weighted to stand up on it’s end, so kind of wibble wobbles about like me after hitting the Christmas Gin. An OK filler to puy away for the Xmas Eve box (if I can still find it by then).

5) DIY bottles. These are, erm, tiny empty bottles? That you can put things in? I am crafty, but I’m not yet sure what to do with these. Or if I would have paid 43p for them.

4) A golden mirror. This is a nice little mirror, well made, normal on one side and magnifying on the other so you can sufficiently terrify yourself first think in the morning, every morning.

3) Some metallic marker pens. These are the type you shake and prime, and from my brief testing leave a lovely pigmented paint on paper and a variety of other surfaces. Good value, and a nice fine nib compared to others I’ve purchased in the past.

2) A holographic folder. Basic, functional, holographic. I will put paper in these. Or something. But I LIKE.

1) A cute little man you can hook over your door. I’ve popped my little man to work on the hallway cupboard, holding my coat and rucksack for all eternity (well, for the foreseeable future). The best bit is I didn’t have to get the drill out, as it sits on top of the door itself (it didn’t fit on any of our other doors, unfortunately, so your milage may vary).

The conclusion? I definitely would purchase the Flying Tiger surprise bag again. There was a lot in there for your money (compared to some of the blind bag tat on marketed at kids these days – I’m looking at you LOL Surprise!), and the product is all good quality. Bear in mind if you buy one of these in January like I did, it is highly likely you’ll end up with unsold Christmas stock, so might be worth picking some up to put away as stocking fillers.

Have you bought a bag? If so, what did you get in it? Let us know in the comments below. To find your nearest Flying Tiger Store, click here.