There was a time not very long ago when it looked like Hornby had had its day. But the model railway and Scalextric maker has been rejuvenated in recent years and this week it said its results were set to beat expectations.
It's the boys who've done it. Hornby has been boosted by the revived interest in model trains, spurred in part by the success of 'Harry Potter' and his Hogwarts Express. Not to mention the hoards of twenty- and thirty-something blokes who now have the space and the cash to race Scalextric all over the house. The great news is that these days you can even stay on as you go around corners -- so I've heard.
Having cut its price to 拢129 prior to launch, Nintendo's GameCube finally arrived this week in the UK. Unlike Microsoft, the Japanese games company and home of Super Mario launched in style with 29 games, and some of the best yet seen on third-generation consoles -- including 'Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader'. The prospect of watching 'Attack of the Clones' and rushing home to take on the "Dark Side" can now be a reality.
Microsoft hit back by beginning a new ad blitz on GameCube's launch day, but it just seemed to underlined how badly wrong Microsoft got the launch of the Xbox. While it's launching late into the market, at 拢70 cheaper than the competition Nintendo might be the first to get it right: sell the box cheap and make the money back on the games.
Further down the toy shelf, high-street retailers Littlewoods and Argos and a number of distributors were told they may be fined millions of pounds for fixing the price of Hasbro toys including Action Man and Monopoly.
Hasbro, which controls around a fifth of the 拢1.7bn UK toy market, has also been named as a participant. Hasbro was quick to say that price fixing was against its code.
Elsewhere this week, Skoda has had something of a good week. The much-derided budget Czech car has put some of its rivals to shame in a recent survey. The former byword for automotive crap has put brands like Rover, Vauxhall and Ford in the shade (can this be because it's basically a rebadged VW these days, we hear you ask?). Two Skodas made the top 10 list in a customer satisfaction survey. Where they found so many Skoda owners is another question.
Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's had better watch out, British royalty is closing in. Prince Charles is to launch his own brand of luxury Cornish ice cream. The man who would be king plans to offer a range of flavours, which are due to hit stores in time for the Golden Jubilee.
It looks like arrivederci for Bella Pasta and Cafe Rouge. Whitbread, which owns Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee, says it's close to selling off the two loss-making chains, having already marked down the businesses it bought five years ago from 拢50m to 拢24m. What would Bridget Jones' say?
And, finally, England have a secret World Cup weapon, which is sure to lead to victory. As well as the boots and kit, the team will be packing a month's supply of... Jaffa Cakes. That's right, apparently the biscuits, which are only 8% fat and half the chocolate of a digestive, have become a firm favourite at half time with Manchester United. Of course, oranges are so 1966 and all that.
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