Skylanders Giants

Kaos is back!

Thousands of years ago, the Skylanders Giants fought epic battles in Skylands but were banished to Earth. With a new threat looming, it’s time to bring them back to join forces with the Skylanders. Only you can put them on the Portal of Power® to unleash their strength in the ultimate battle to save Skylands.

A brand new sequel to the ground-breaking Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, Skylanders Giants continues with the same unique action figures, with one small change. They're giant!

Skylanders are special action figures that come to life! Just take a Skylander, place it on the Portal of Power and BOOM! the Skylander will come to life in the video game. There are now many more Skylanders to collect, from regular Skylanders to Giants - each with unique abilities and powers.

The Hub will be hosting a massive launch party on Friday 19th October.  We'll be demonstrating the game and have a whole host of competitions and activities.  Just drop by any time between 9.30am and 5.30pm to join in the fun.  

We've also developed a handy wee guide to the new Skylanders Giants range below.  If you have any questions or want to place an pre-order/order for any of the range you can get in touch with us via our website at www.thehubdirect.co.uk

STARTER PACKS –

Wii - £60.00
Nintendo 3DS - £60.00
PS3 - £65.00
Xbox 360 - £65.00

Starter packs contain everything players need to get started with Skylanders. For brand new players to the game who do not own any of the previous Skylanders products (e.g. Portal of Power, Figures etc. Each pack contains:

· 1 x Skylanders Giants game
· 1 x Portal of Power
· 1 Skylanders Giant "Tree Rex" (Life) figure
· 1 "Jet-Vac" (Air)figure (NEW)
· 1 "Cynder" (Undead) figure (REPOSED)

BOOSTER PACKS -

Wii - £45.00
Nintendo 3DS - £45.00
PS3 - £50.00
Xbox 360 - £50.00

Booster Packs are intended for players who already have a Portal of Power and at least one regular Skylander character (Players who have already bought the Spyro Adventure Starter Pack) This pack allows them to get started with Giants using their already owned Portal of Power. Each Pack Contains:

· 1 Skylanders Giants game
· 1 Skylanders Giant “Tree Rex”(Life) figure
· 1 Character poster
· 1 Trading Card
· 1 Sticker Sheet with secret code!

Please note: This product does not contain a Portal of Power; players who do not own one will need to purchase a Skylanders Giants starter pack instead.

FIGURES – 

All figures are compatible with XBox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, 3DS games. New Characters & giants are NOT Compatible with the original Spyro’s Adventure Game. Reposed Characters will be compatible with the original Spyro’s Adventure Game

Skylanders Giants - £15.00

Giants are larger than the normal figures, measuring 6 inches. These are more powerful in the Giants game and are not compatible with the Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Game. Wave 1 Giants will be Crusher (Earth), Bouncer (Tech) & Swarm (Air).

Skylanders Lightcore Figures - £12.00

Light Core figures light up when placed on the Portal of Power. They feature exclusive in-game abilities. Wave 1 Light Core characters will be Prism Break, Drobot & Eruptor .

Skylanders figures - £9.00

Single pack figures containing a mix of NEW characters and REPOSED characters from the Spyros Adventure series. Reposed figures feature increased powers, level caps and abilities. New characters are not compatible with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Game, Reposed Characters are compatible with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Game. Wave 1 Characters are:

New Characters Wave 1:

· "Pop Fizz" (Magic) figure
· "Chill" (Water) figure
· "Fright Rider" (Undead) figure

Reposed Characters Wave 1

· "Zook" (life) figure
· "Whirlwind" (air) figure
· "Terrafin" (earth)figure
· "Slam Bam" (water) figure
· "Ignitor" (fire) figure
· "Trigger Happy" (tech) figure

Wave 1 Battle Packs - £25.00

Battle packs contain 2 figures and a location piece which can be used to unlock an in game battle arena; allowing head to head battles between friends.

Each battle pack contains:

· 1 x "Shroomboom” (Life) figure (NEW)
· 1 x "Chop Chop" figure (Undead) (REPOSED)
· 1 x Cannon Piece

Wave 1 Triple Packs - £25.00

Triple pack of figures containing a mix of NEW and REPOSED characters from the Spyros Adventure series. Reposed figures feature increased powers, level caps and abilities.

TRIPLE PACK A: 1 x "Pop Fizz" (NEW), 1 x "Trigger Happy" (REPOSED), 1 x "Whirlwind" (REPOSED)

TRIPLE PACK B : 1 x "Chill" (NEW), 1 x "Zook" (REPOSED), 1 x "Ignitor" (REPOSED)

Countdown to Christmas

At this time of year our minds start to turn towards colder weather, cosy nights in by the fire and of course the start of the countdown to Christmas.  Traditionally most families use an advent calendar to countdown the month of December and over recent years the toy advent calendar has grown in popularity.  The idea being that instead of opening a door and finding a picture or piece of chocolate behind it, the lucky person gets a small toy.  The box design is normally integral to the toys, allowing a small Christmas scene to be built up as all of the calendar doors are opened.  

 

The most popular of these has always been the LEGO Advent Calendar.  Last years successes of LEGO City & LEGO Star Wars themed Advent Calendars have been produced again, with different characters to collect in 2012.  Simply open a door each day to discover a new LEGO Minifigure or LEGO gift.  

New for 2012 is the LEGO Friends Calendar for children who love the new girl focused LEGO theme.  This advent calendar will feature 2 exclusive friends characters dressed in their Christmas outfits.  

As well as LEGO Advent Calendars this is the first year that children will be able to buy a Moshi Monsters Advent Calendar.  Filled with 24 special winter moshlings, including 7 limited edition Christmas moshlings (our favourite is IGGY in his Santa's hat), as well as a sack full of twistmas codes.   

All of these advent calendars are proving to be incredibly popular.  In fact last year we sold out of the entire range within just 1 week.  This year we've made sure that we have more stock available, but they are still selling fast.  If you don't want to be one of the people paying over the odds on online marketplaces at the end of November now's the time to place your order and start your countdown to Christmas!

 

Murray Mania hits Dunblane!

It's been a roller coaster of a few weeks thanks to the success of our town's local celebrity Andy Murray.  We'll confess, when the Olympics first started a couple of months ago we didn't think it would affect us!  Boy were we wrong.  The moment that gold paint hit the postbox in celebration of Andy Murrays Olympic Gold medal our local town has been a hive of activity.  There have been locals and tourists flocking to the High Street to have their picture taken and to buy the limited edition Andy Murray stamps.  

We've had a much busier town centre which has meant it's felt a little bit like Christmas to us.  Of course since Andy Murray won the US Open on Monday Murray Mania has really hit!  There is a big "Golden Glories" event happening in the town centre tonight to celebrate his Olympic success, which couldn't have been timed more beautifully if they had tried.  Andy Murray is heading to Dunblane tomorrow for a walk-about and to meet & greet his fans.  We have been told that the organisers of Andy Murray's visit are expecting around 10,000 - 15,000 people to descend on the town tomorrow - so goodness knows how this will affect our usual Sunday trade!

Anyway - it just goes to show that you can never totally predict how a big event, such as the Olympics, will truly affect you.  Our business, along with other traders on the High Street has enjoyed it's Murray Mania boost over the recent weeks.  On a personal note we are tennis fans and have loved watching him play...and just want to say from the entire Hub Team... "Well Done Andy!"

*cartoon courtesy of The Sun

Back to School...

This week has seen the majority of children return to school after a mammoth 8 week summer break.  It's been lovely seeing some of our regular customers pre-school children dropping by in their smart new uniforms.  

This is the first year that we've really focused on "Back to School" as a range and introduced school bags, stationery and lunch bags into the store.  As we already stock big brands such as LEGO and Moshi Monsters it was natural to bring in back to school versions of these ranges.  However the big hit for girls has been the Style Me Up Color Freedom Bags & Pencil Cases.  We think that one of the main appeals of this range is the ability for each child to get really creative and choose their own personal look for their bag, even if their best friend has the same one.  

One of the highlights of the last week was the announcement of the winner of our Colouring Competition where local girl Amy won a brand new schoolbag, just in time for starting back.  

Of course we also know that the big issue with anything "back to school" is making sure it comes "back to home" afterwards!  As a result we've been delighted with the services of another local company Labels4Kids, based in Stirling, who make sure that parents can keep track of all their kids new belongings.  We've labelled everything our kids are taking into school only stopping short at popping a label on our their foreheads!  A must for making sure that brand new schoolbag and pencil case comes back home with them, no matter how unique they've made it!

 

The X-Factor Trigger

We've had a few people start their Christmas Shopping early...yes we know it's still technically summer.  However this weekend we've noticed even more people in buying early and putting away the big items ready for the festive season.  The reason why?  Apparently the start of the X-Factor on ITV tonight has reminded them that Christmas is on its way!  

It's amazing how the little things can trigger off our thought process.  Now where did I put that Santa hat?

Santa's Summer Shopping

Well that's it!  The first day of summer, the weather is slowly improving and later on today we head off to a trade fair to start looking at toys for....(deep breath)....Christmas!

We have already completed orders with some of our key suppliers.  By the end of January this year we had finalised our Advent Calender order from LEGO, and made sure that we'd picked out our top lines for the second half of the year.  We'd also had the chance to visit Toy Fair London - where many new lines and prototypes are showcased and we schmoozed with the whole Toy Industry.  

The trade fair we are going to this week is different!  It's focused purely on independent businesses, meaning we don't have to jostle for time and space against the big supermarket/catalogue/online retailers. The great news for us is that the suppliers will have the time to demonstrate all their fantastic new lines for Autumn/Winter 2012 and we'll have a chance to really play with the new toys and make the best decisions about which brands we think will be top of Santa's Wish List.  

We're also looking forward to chatting with other independent toy shops, and coming back brimming with ideas of how to make your shopping experience with us the best it can be!   So, although a heat wave is about to sweep the country, please don't think we're mad if you come into the shop to find us humming Christmas Carols - after all we are doing Santa's Summer Shopping!

And now for something completely different....

One of the big challenges we face as a toy shop is always trying to find products that set us aside from other toy retailers.  We think that we have done just that with our latest ranges from Djeco. 

This is a company that we've started dealing with in the past few weeks, as we love their exclusive design-led products and as an added bonus they don't supply them to large multiple retailers and grocers.  

Sometimes it's the simplest toys that have the biggest impact, and the marble range from Djeco does just that.  I played a lot with marbles as a child, but don't remember them having the wonderful array of colours and designs that we've found from Djeco.  With pinks, blues, blacks and reds as well as patterns from the traditional petal to spots, stripes, flowers and glitter these are no ordinary marbles.  Priced from £2.50, they come in fabulous little clear storage boxes - perfect to keep them tidy when not being played with!  There is also a complimentary range of marbles toys to inspire game play, each toy set comes with a few marbles and a handy carry pouch for fun-on-the-go!

 

In addition to the marbles collection we also stock other Djeco products including an inspiring collection of Magic Tricks and a design-led collection of collectable pirates, knights & superhero figures called "Arty Toys".  We love that Djeco have managed to turn very traditional toys into something completely different.  Their ranges offer a great modern twist on existing ideas, making them perfect for kids of all ages!

 

Good Deeds Get Rewarded!

Last week our son Jake turned into a local hero when he found someones lost caravan keys in the High Street.  Fortunately the rightful owners were found and they were returned to them, much to their delight and relief.  They were in such a tizz at the time and so pleased that they wouldn't have an expensive repair breaking into their holiday home, that they forgot to note the shop where they'd managed to get back their lost keys.

It was a wonderful surprise when they contacted us on our website via our virtual assistant, and managed to establish that The Hub was the shop where "the owners wee boy" had handed in the lost keys.  As he'd been such a hero, they wanted to say thank you and used the website and our free collect at store service to order some LEGO Hero Factory as a treat for him.  Needless to say, Jake was over the moon that his good deed was rewarded and of course next time the family are visiting their holiday home they'll be sure to take a spare set of keys with them everywhere!  

  

Spring!

What a week! Looking back at our Facebook page we go from posts about needing sunglasses and wishing for ice cream to driving to work through snow and rushing the sledges from our warehouse back to the shop.




The good news is that the bright weather seems to be back, and although it's cold, the snow is melting.
At least you can always be sure of a warm welcome from us at The Hub, even if the Scottish weather cant decide if it's Winter or Spring.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Dunblane

Birthdays Wrapped Up!

Just about every parent I know is busy.  Some are uber organised with calendars to keep track of every social event their little one is due to attend, others have fridge doors crammed full of handouts from school, party invitations, reminders for community events not to mention the latest paint splodged masterpiece from school.  No matter how organised (or how disorganised) we are though, at one point or another most of us have experienced the horror of finding a crumpled invite at the bottom of the school bag, or a forgotten party invitation hidden behind the car tax reminder stuck to the fridge!  That sense of panic is multiplied when you realise that in just a few hours you'll need to turn up at the forgotten party with a wrapped gift and card for the birthday girl/boy that doesn't look like it was a last minute thought.  

 

That's why we offer a one stop shop at The Hub to help you with party gifts.   From giving gift advice on the latest must-have toys to our fabulous range of retro cards & gift-wrap and personalised gift vouchers.  We have everything you need under one roof to make sure birthdays go smoothly, whether bought in advance....or on the way!

Scandalous Skylanders

Many of our regular customers will know that we have a policy in The Hub - we sell everything on our website and in store at the recommended selling price (or sometimes below).  Whether it's a large item like the LEGO Super Heroes Batcave or the latest collectable craze, such as Moshi Monster bracelets & charmlings we are careful to stay within manufacturer guidelines.  

LEGO Super Heroes 6860 Batcave

One of the latest, most desperately sought after toys of 2012 so far has been Skylanders.  We pre-ordered these a few months ago and finally received a  small shipment of wave 3 Skylanders earlier this week which we launched via our Facebook page.  They've been so hard to get hold of that in recent weeks we've seen other businesses selling them for scandalous prices way over the £7.99 & £19.99 suggested price points.  A pattern that we've seen repeat itself at various times of the year as the latest hot property gets snapped up.  As parents ourselves we empathise with the need to get your hands on the latest "must-have" toy, but also the desire to buy at a good price without feeling ripped off by someone trying to make a quick buck. 

Skylanders Triple Pack featuring Drobot, Flameslinger & Stump Smash - £19.99

One of our suppliers has commented recently that we are "the most ethical toy retailer they've ever dealt with" because of this policy.  This surprised us, we'd never really thought of this policy as being ethical - just an extension of our own core values as parents & consumers ourselves.  We guess this is one of things that sets us apart from some of the other places you can buy toys and will be one of the main reasons that our customers love coming back to see us again, and again, and again!

Its a strange talent!

Recently we've been getting a bit of a reputation!  You see we've developed a bit of a talent in The Hub, for being able to feel through the blind bags of collectable figures and know, or rather be 99.9% sure of whats inside.

LEGO Minifigures Series 6

In particular this strange talent lends itself very well to the current series 6 of LEGO minifigures.  We've lost count of the number of delighted kids who've left our shop overjoyed when we've felt through the bag and sought out Lady Liberty or the Robot to help them finish off their collection.  We're even getting feedback on The Hub Facebook page calling us "a true minifigure identifying genius"!  

Just in case we don't always get it right we have a little back-up plan.  We've set up a LEGO Minifigure Trading post using one of the fantastic LEGO Minfigure Display Cases we sell.  It has pride of place on our counter and kids can come in and trade the current series if they want to get a particular character. However, with our new found talent, it's not always needed!

Busman's Holiday

Today The Hub Team have utilised the half-term break to head down to Blackpool to see one of our main suppliers. The idea is to get ahead of things and get our Christmas order organised well in advance. We set off this morning full of promises of sea views and a challenge to go to the top of Blackpool Tower (not easy when one of the main members of them team suffers from vertigo). However, upon arrival we've been greeted with the thickest pea soup we've ever seen and a view from the room overlooking the car park.
Unperturbed we've had fun messing about in the hotel swimming pool and have plans for a seaside walk after dinner (even if we can't see the sea). Tomorrow we're all hoping it will brighten up and our two wee elves are looking forward to helping select Santa's top picks for 2012.




Whatever you are doing this half-term we hope it doesn't involve too much work & you get the chance to enjoy some of the holiday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hilton Blackpool

LEGO VIP Launch Event

As many of you will know we had a wee family holiday over the Christmas period heading off to sunnier climbs in Orlando, Florida.  Whilst we were away we really enjoyed the superb customer service offered by the various theme parks, restaurants and shops. 

This experience has really inspired us and we've made a number of changes straight away to our own business.  This has started with us organising our own wee "Thank You" event for our customers that have supported us over the past 20 months as we've expanded and grown.  On the 11th January we announced our first ever LEGO VIP event on Facebook and were delighted when the event sold out in less than 24hrs!  

On the 15th January we held our first invitation only LEGO VIP Event - with a resounding success!  Invitees got the chance to have hands on experience with some of the new LEGO sets, including LEGO Dino, LEGO Friends and LEGO Super Heroes.  Jake (chief toytester and No1 son) was in charge of the Ninjago demonstration area and delighted in showing everyone how to get the most out of the new green LEGO Ninjago spinners & booster packs.  We also has some competitions to win some great LEGO goodies and of course everyone left with a wee goodie bag to say thanks for coming!   

We had a fantastic day, and feedback so far shows that everyone who made it along had a great time (although we really do need more space).  It's spurred us on to do more of this kind of thing and keep changing and growing the products & services we offer.  It's also shown us that you never know where the next spark of inspiration will come from!

We want to make sure that you are delighted with your experience when you shop at The Hub, whether in-store or online.  So give us your feedback here, on our facebook page, on twitter or next time you are in store so we can keep giving you a local shop with customer service you love!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Welcome to the first post of 2012!  Happy New Year to everyone who reads our wee blog!

It's been the busiest Festive Season yet, and we had a marvellous time down at The Hub helping Santa to deliver all the finest toys and celebrating with the people of Dunblane.  It's hard to believe but later on this month we'll be heading off to the Toy Fair in London to start planning Christmas 2012!

To kick start the New Year we have some fantastic new ranges in store, including the latest designs from LEGO.  Their new play themes for 2012 include LEGO Dino, LEGO Super Heroes and LEGO Friends (girlie LEGO at long last!).  We also have new designs in existing themes including LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City, LEGO Creator & LEGO Duplo!

We've also got some great new themes in the Top Model range including Create your Fantasy Top Model & Design your own T-shirt.  The "Horses Dreams" range, also from Depesche, has  been expanded to include some gorgeous new pens & pencils as well as lovely new stationery sets.  As ever this is a beautiful range, perfect for birthday gifts and treats with prices starting at just £1.35.   

We're also expecting delivery of the latest collectables "Trashies" and "Bungees" any day now!  So there are lots of exciting new things to see in the shop for 2012.

Over the next year we'll be looking at expanding our existing toy & collectable ranges including growing our selection of baby toys.   We'll also be adding more gift wrap and card options over the year as well as expanding our gift voucher options.  It looks set to be an exciting time, but as ever we love getting your feedback on how we can provide the products and services you want to see.  Let us know on our Facebook page what other things you would like to see added to The Hub over 2012...

TOY TESTER REVIEW - Iball 3

Ruby has been fantastic at testing some of the best toys available from The Hub and creating incredible You Tube vidoes to help bring those toys to life!  This month we asked her to try out The Gadget Show's No1 toy for 2011 - The Iball3!  Here's what she had to say: 

Toy Tested - Iball 3 - £16.99

 

PLAY VALUE how much fun is the toy?

I am getting loads of fun from this Toy, and so is everyone else who has tried it. You can play with it just about anywhere and also while you are doing other stuff like watching telly or listening to music. It is good for car journeys and it is fun to help another person when they are playing. I play this all the time as I am really trying to pass level 2. The only thing is dont start playing just before you are to go to sleep, as you wont be able to put it down.  

Play Value Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 10

LONGEVITY – Is the toy a one-off or will you play with it lots?

This toy will keep you hooked for ages, and everyone else in the house. The idea is simple so you can pick it up and play at any time and play for as long or little as you want. You can put it on silent and play it on trains or waiting rooms. There are spare batteries included, which will make it last longer.

Longevity Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 9

PACKAGING – How easy was the packaging to remove? Is there too much packaging? Is it eco-friendly? 

The iBall just came in a carboard box which was easy to recycle  

PACKAGING Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 10

BUILD QUALITY – Will the toy last? Is it built well?  

The iBall is made of really tough plastic and comes with its own stand, I have dropped it a few times and it has survived fine!

BUILD QUALITY Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 10

VALUE FOR MONEY - Looking at the price above, do you think it is value for money?

I think this is excellent value for money, as it will keep everyone in the family entertained for hours and hours. It would be a really fun challenge to do over Christmastime. The spare batteries are good as you wont have to pay for more when the first ones run out.

VALUE FOR MONEY Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 10

OVERALL IMPRESSION – Are there any other comments you would like to make about this toy?

Really good fun, but can be very frustrating!  Is so addictive you will be dreaming about it. Think this will be the new craze.

OVERALL IMPRESSION Marks out of 10 (10 being top): 10

Ruby has been a fantastic toy-tester and we'd love to thank her for all her hard work over the past few months.  In particular she's produced some excellent videos to really help you see how the toys work when being played with.  We've loved watching them and reading all her reviews and hope to bring her back for some guest appearances in the future as we discover more great toys at The Hub!  

TOY TESTER REVIEW - LEGO Star Wars Watches

As the last month for toy testing approached we wanted to make sure that each Toy Tester tried out something really fantastic that will give them long-term fun!  We knew that Archie was a HUGE fan of LEGO, but wanted him to try something LEGO based, but with a twist, so the LEGO Star Wars Watch seemed like the perfect thing!  We chose the R2D2 watch for him to try out last week (we also have a LEGO Star Wars Stormtrooper design available).  Here's how he got on....

LEGO Star Wars R2D2 Watch - £16.99

 Toy Tested: LEGO Star Wars R2D2 Watch - £16.99

PLAY VALUE - how much fun is the toy?  

You can change the strap and switch the edges of the face. You have also got a choice of colours for the edge of the face. For a watch it is lots of fun. The R2D2 figure is an added bonus and adds to the amount of fun you can have. As well as having fun it will help me to improve my timekeeping and my telling the time skills!

Play Value- out of 10 (10 being top): 10

LONGEVITY – Is the toy a one-off or will you play with it lots?

 

I really like looking at my watch and so do all my friends! I will put it on my wrist every day and expect to until I grow out of it (this won't be for a while because I still have lots of spare links for the watch strap.) I will also love switching the colours on the strap.

Longevity - out of 10 (10 being top): 10

PACKAGING – How easy was the packaging to remove? Is there too much packaging? Is it eco-friendly? 

I am in an eco school so I am quite good at answering this question! The packaging was very easy to remove. The cardboard box is easy to recycle. Although there is a plastic box it is very useful for keeping the spare links and watch in so you do not need to throw it away.

PACKAGING - out of 10 (10 being top): 9

BUILD QUALITY – Will the toy last? Is it built well? 

I think the toy will last an awful long time. Once I had got the hang of how to put the links together it was easy for me to do myself - the instructions tell you clearly how to do this. I just needed a little bit of help to get the strap the right size for my wrist. You can put the R2D2 figure on the watch which is great but I don't do this at school as I would be a bit scared of losing the figure as I think it would be easy to knock off.

BUILD QUALITY - out of 10 (10 being top): 9

VALUE FOR MONEY - Looking at the price above, do you think it is value for money? 

The watch costs £16.99 so I would have to save up my pocket money for it but I definitely think it would be worth it.

VALUE FOR MONEY - out of 10 (10 being top): 9

OVERALL IMPRESSION – Are there any other comments you would like to make about this toy?:

 

I would recommend this watch to lots of my friends as I think it is really cool and you can do lots of things with it. You will look at it so much you will never be late for anything again and you will be great at telling the time.

OVERALL IMPRESSION - out of 10 (10 being top): 10

Archie has worked hard for us over the last 3 months testing a variety of Toys & Games.  You can find all of the toys he's tested on our website, and be confident that you are picking toys & gifts that real kids will really love.  We've enjoyed reading all his reviews and want to send a huge thanks to him from The Hub!  Merry Christmas Archie!