Massive crowd of scalpers swarm Disney store queue & push in front of those waiting hours who fume ‘it was chaos’

MASSIVE crowds of scalpers swarmed a Disney Store queue before barging to the front of fans who had queued for hours who fumed “it was chaos.” The dramatic scenes unfolded outside the retailer’s Oxford Street flagship ahead of a hotly anticipated Disney Lorcana release. MASSIVE crowds of scalpers swarmed a Disney Store queue before barging to the front of fans Credit: X @ItsaMeCooper The dramatic scenes unfolded outside the retailer’s Oxford Street flagship Credit: X @ItsaMeCooper Around 600 people queued for the limited-edition trading cards and an exclusive foil playmat. The line stretched for almost half a mile through central London. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Some devoted fans even camped outside from as early as 5pm on Thursday in a bid to secure the sought-after collectibles. But the orderly line descended into pandemonium at around 6.30am. At least 100 scalpers reportedly descended from all directions, pushing and shoving their way to the front. The disorder became so severe that the Disney Store was forced to delay opening and scrap the highly anticipated in-store release. Scalpers buy high-demand items to resell them for huge profits rather than collect them. Disney’s Heroine Edition Lorcana cards retail for £100, but are already being listed on eBay for as much as £650. Most read in The Sun Collector Amber Parslow travelled from Poole to buy the cards and claimed groups of scalpers “were being passively intimidating in the lead up”, while reassuring those waiting they would not push in. But she claimed everything erupted moments before the store was due to begin handing out tickets. She said: “They were obviously fighting between themselves. One was trying to get in through the front of the Disney Store. Another had stolen the tickets [from Disney Store staff] and was handing them out to his friends. “It was quite frightening. It was chaos. Any order was completely gone. They ruined what could have been an amazing experience.” Ms Parslow said the atmosphere had been completely different before the queue rush. She added that “the vibes were honestly amazing”, explaining people had been playing games together as they waited for the doors to open. The Disney Store had been due to open at 9am, with tickets set to be handed out from 7am. Instead, the retailer dramatically announced on Facebook that the in-store release had been cancelled. The Met Police are understood to have attended, while security eventually dispersed the huge crowds. Furious fans later demanded tougher crowd-control measures, with many calling for barriers and a proper ticketing system to prevent similar scenes. A Disney Store spokesperson said: “The safety of our Guests, Cast Members and the local community is always our highest priority and following the disruption outside the Oxford Street store overnight, we made the decision, alongside local authorities, to open later than usual this morning. “As a result, today’s planned in-store release of the Disney Lorcana Curator’s Collection: Heroines Edition will no longer take place. “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.” Comment now