Frenzy over Big W Toy Mania catalogue

Desperate parents have been posting to Facebook trying to get their hands on the hot-ticket product which doesn’t cost a cent.

The hottest item at Big W right now doesn’t come with a price tag or packaging, it doesn’t even cost a cent.

Ahead of next week’s annual Toy Mania sale, desperate parents have taken to Facebook to try and get their hands on the event’s much-coveted catalogue.

The Toy Mania catalogue has officially been released today and will be available in Woolworths and Big W stores as well as online.

While some parents have been able to pick up a catalogue early, others have desperately scoured their local stores for a copy but had no luck.

A spokeswoman for Big W confirmed to news.com.au there were “millions of copies” of Toy Mania catalogues available.

RELATED: Big W releases details of Toy Mania sale 2021

One mum shared how she had managed to get mulitple copies, drawing criticism from some who had been unable to get their hands on one. picture: Facebook/Big W Mums In Australia.

One woman shared to Facebook a photo of the bumper stack of catalogues available at Big W in the Perth suburb of Kwinana Beach.

“Is anyone able to grab an extra hard copy of the toy sale catalogue and post it down to me in Melbourne? More than happy to pay for postage,” one mum asked in the Big W Mums In Australia Facebook group.

“I called 3 stores in Penrith area today and they didn’t have them,” another person lamented.

“Anyone in Perth been able to get a catalogue from a Woolworths?” one mum also asked.

Others said they were struggling to access the catalogue online, claiming it “won’t load at all”.

RELATED: Rage over four-hour virtual queue in Big W toy sale

One mum shared how she had managed to get multiple copies, drawing criticism from some who had been unable to get their hands on one. picture: Facebook/Big W Mums In Australia.

“Christ can everyone get off it for a minute so I can get it to load,” one mum wrote in the Big W Mums Australia Facebook group.

“It won’t load because there seven thousand mums on there trying to load and look at the catalogue,” another complained.

Some mums that were lucky enough to pick up the catalogue early showed off their find online.

“Got my hands on a copy of the printed toy catalogue,” one woman shared on Facebook over the weekend, showing her trolley which had at least three copies of the coveted catalogue.

“Doesn’t look like ‘a’ copy,” one mum replied to the photo, prompting the woman to clarify she had picked up the extra copies for other people.

Big W told news.com.au they were not experiencing any technical issues with their website or catalogue and were delighted shoppers were so interested in the sale.

“We’re thrilled by the response for Toy Mania this year, and know shoppers are eager to get their hands on the catalogue to start building their toy wish lists ahead of next week’s launch,” a spokeswoman said.

“We have millions of copies available at both BIG W and Woolworths stores across the country, in addition to the full catalogue that is available online.”

Big W’s toy sale is one of the store’s biggest events of the year.

Big W Toy Mania sale to kick off online

This year’s sale will feature more than 1000 toys discounted by up to 50 per cent and big name brands like Barbie, Bluey, Lego and Fisher Price.

Like last year, there will be no midnight in-store kick off for the sale, with things instead starting online at 7am on Tuesday, June 15.

The sale will continue in stores from Thursday, June 17.

“We know how much Aussies families look forward to Toy Mania and the ritual of sitting down and circling favourites with their kids, and this year we’ll have plenty to choose from when over 1000 toys go on sale,” Big W’s chief toy buyer Christine Faulkner said in a statement.

As well as in-store lay-by, Big W will also give customers the option to place items on lay-by via their website.

Last year’s Toy Mania sale started online at midnight due to the coronavirus pandemic, with customers reporting hours-long virtual queues to get online and make their purchases.

A Big W spokesman told news.com.au at the time that most customers hadn’t experienced issues with their orders, but any that did were “swiftly resolved”.