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!