whilst we have shut out online store, we still continue to sell collectable and hard to find items via our Amazon and eBay portals, and will post updates or all items including other products for sale via this blog over the course of time
not a lot happening this week, except the PIGGY BANK TOYS website is LIVE and working....!!!
a couple of the major elements are still not implemented, they are slightly more complex than originally thought- but they WILL be coming this week, and I know that they are major selling points, including the Toy Box function and Piggy Bank Account so keep checking back and bookmark the site for future reference
those two elements aside, however, we do have a fully stocked store, which is now able to take payments, via Worldpay's check out system and also through paypal if you wish - both are super secure and reliable. check all of our terms and privacy policy's for verification of credentials.
We're adding NEW stock all week, and in the weeks up to Xmas, with just a few weeks to go, check us out, we're selling lots of hot toys.
also if you are around in London at the Weekend, please drop by the Excel and see us at the Memorabilia show - anyone who mentions this blog who comes along, is welcome to 10% off any stock purchases made at the show
see advert below
come and meet me plus a few Movie & TV stars as well!!!
The Piggy Bank Toys site is now LIVE, you are able to buy products listed, currently via a Paypal checkout system, our official system World Pay is still being implemented -
Only adults are able to register presently, but Child accounts will be able to be created this week (by Adults), for the full functionaility of Toy Boxes and Piggy Bank accounts. Please check back for these. Remember every child account gets 150pbc (Piggy Bank Credits) to spend online. (worth £1.50!)
We wanted to get a site up and working to be able to sell products, which we have achieved, the final tweaks are being applied by the web developers and all should be working by Friday this week.
keep it locked to the blog, twitter & facebook for more updates....
sign up and buy something - we're adding NEW stock everyday, as it arrives in our Stockroom!!!
I Know its Christmas soon, and your kids are worthy of a decent present of decent value, but what does value really mean - is Value the cost of the toy in Pounds & Pence or entertainment and play value.
For me its the latter. Spend £100 on a toy that does lots then is boring after a day or two its worth nothing to the child. Spend little and get hours of enjoyment out of it, then its worth its weight in gold.
Now I've spoken about how difficult I've had it over the past few months with my two and their moshling obsession, but its struck me that
a) they bought all of the toys themselves, and
b) that despite them not doing anything other than being static bits of plastic, my two play with their Moshi Monster Moslings everyday, for hours at a time.
Now I don't know what they do with them or for that matter, care, as long as they are happy. I know that at £1 a figure they are pretty expensive for what is basically a lump of moulded plastic, but then again they are very inexpensive - as my two can buy them and have in terms of play value - had a lot of time with them.
Ok their entire collection is confiscated at the moment (long story) but they love their moshlings and haven't spent a great amount on amassing a collection that they enjoy playing with.
So what has inspired this rant of sorts? - well, its the Toy Retailers Associations Top 12 Toys for Xmas list. In terms of Xmas Toy Lists this list when published every year is pretty much the one, because every Toy Retailer worth his salt will have contributed somewhere along the line.
However, its not a list of cheap toys.
Take a look below, the cheapest items are a Moshling Tree House and a Pooing Dog.
Now the Doggie Doo is fun, but I know from past experience of these type of toys that they will have very short play value. Fun for how long... probably as long as the poop lasts...
Being a stats man i've worked out that the entire list clocks in at a whopping average of just over £50 per toy:
Doggie Doo, John Adams, RRP £22.99
Fijit Friends, Mattel, RRP £54.99
Fireman Sam Pontypandy Rescue Set, Character, RRP £29.99
Kidizoom Twist, VTech, RRP £49.99
LeapPad Explorer, Leapfrog Toys, RRP £79.99
Lets Rock Elmo, Hasbro, RRP £69.99
Milky the Bunny, Flair, £59.99
Monster High Lagoona’s Hydration Station, Mattel, £39.99
Moshling Tree House, Vivid, RRP £18.99
Nerf Vortex Nitron Blaster, Hasbro, RRP £44.99
Ninjago Fire Temple, Lego, RRP £91.99
Star Wars Ultimate Force Tech Lightsaber, Hasbro, RRP £39.99
again I've said - your kids are worth every penny spent on them, this Christmas and every Christmas and Birthday. I just want you parents to think carefully before you buy this year.
At £92 the Nijago temple is an eye watering price. You'd be able to buy a few other smaller Ninjago Lego sets for that and get more play and value from it, or alternatively there are other construction brands out there with cheaper and in my opinion better value play sets. Take the Mario K'Nex range (see my offering here & here). I do appreciate Lego is expensive and does have play value for a long time, I'm still playing with my own Lego now and again! But expensive doesn't necessarily mean Value!
I know that electronic toys like the LeapPad & Vtech products are solid and well worth investing in. I just wanted to slap a be wary of how much you spend on the Top 10 (12) toys this year, because there are much more than this selection out there on the shelves and also a lot at a much better prices.
Xia-Xia
You may have also seen in the papers and on the news the next Zhu Zhu pet is here - in the form of Xia-Xia Hermit crabs. These are gonna beat all of the above toys, and at the current RRP will clock in at much cheaper than the above list. Not due here until early December, you might wanna hold out for some of these when they arrive. Originally they were due in January 2012, and the shipment has been brought forward, so look out for the limited numbers hitting December. We are trying to source some for Piggy Bank Toys, so check back for sure.
so parents be careful out there... toys are for longer than Christmas week...
we're at this event next week - please feel free to come along and say hello. loads of big Sci Fi & TV stars...
we'll have loads of C-3PO products to pick up and have signed if you want to meet the man. Anthony Daniels doesn't do too many signings in the UK, so its a rare chance to meet the man behind the golden robot. Also Freema Ageyman - Martha Jones from Doctor Who - 1st EVER signing!
Piggy Bank Toys will be taking a large amount of stock from the website... to sell and showcase at the event.
If you are finding it hard to log on to Piggy Bank Toys today, please note that we are awaiting for official activation of certain sections of the site. Until this is done the site is not likely to function as expected, and as such the holding page will remain at www.piggybanktoys.com.
Please note that we hope to have this resolved and open fully at the start of next week. As although the internet is 24hours a day, most technical staff are not working, again until Monday.
In the mean time all Piggy Bank Toys products are all still availble at our Amazon store, follow the link via www.piggybanktoys.com or here to go straight to Amazon
is a brand new toy
website which is uniquely designed with children in mind!
LAUNCHING TODAY 21st OCTOBER 2011
As parents of three
children, we felt that shopping for toys was losing its excitement. We decided
to put the magic back into toy buying for both children and adults, by creating
Piggy Bank Toys, a uniquely child friendly website with easy to use functions
and accessibility. Our Website has been specifically designed so that children
themselves can easily navigate and browse the toys in our store. Our front page
even replicates the traditional image of a toy shop window where you can gaze
in wonderment at what’s on offer inside.
Piggy Bank Toys is also
an adult friendly website. We’re conscious that some older relatives can be
wary of using the internet and so we have designed the site for ease of use by
everyone. The pages and navigation throughout piggybanktoys.com are simple, clear and concise.
Piggy Bank Toys also has
some other great features, such as our Toy Box function, which enables children
to ‘drag and drop’ the toys they actually want into a Toy Box to create a wish
list. This Toy Box can be sent to relatives and friends anywhere around the
world, and will allow the child to get
what they actually want for their Birthday, Christmas or other occasion. This
feature solves the issue of buying your child the wrong Star Wars figure or
Moshi Monster.
Piggy Bank Toy Boxes are great for
emailing to Birthday Party guests prior to a Birthday. Simply email the details
of the Birthday Boy or Girl’s Toy Box to your Birthday guests and then avoid
the hassle of your children receiving duplicate items, or perish the thought,
unwanted gifts!
We have also created a superb
Piggy Bank Account scheme, which allows adults to buy Piggy Bank Credits
(pbc’s), which children themselves can spend on toys, either from their own Toy
Box or anywhere on the piggybanktoys.com
website.
Every child that is
signed up at Piggy Bank Toys receives the Toy Box facility and a Piggy Bank
Account – and as a sign up bonus we
will credit the child’s account with 150pbc’s (worth £1.50) for FREE, which can be spent at piggybanktoys.com. Not only do we
credit each account with bonus credits upon opening but we also reward children
when parents credit the Piggy Bank Account by adding a bonus 100pbc’s to the
child’s Piggy Bank account for every £20 (2000pbc’s) added.
We have been trading online for
many years, via secondary sites, like Amazon & eBay. piggybanktoys.com has been set up as a Limited & VAT registered
company. Our site is fully insured and data protected.
Our Payment system is operated by
Streamline, currently responsible for almost 50% of UK card Transactions, using
World Pay’s card processing facility. The payment systems and security we have
in place also securely protects your own data and details.
We are currently stocking all the
main brands and toy lines for ages 0-15 and upwards… including Hot Wheels,
Barbie, Top Gear, Playmobil, Transformers, Star Wars, Lego, Monster High,
Disney, Cars, Doctor Who, Bakugan, Moshi Monsters, Top Trumps, Attax Cards,
Matchbox, Movie Toys, Posters, Badges, Pocket Money Toys, Playground Crazes,
Gacha, Pre-school and beyond.
Our catalogue of stock
will expand and increase as the toy buying season approaches and new product
will be added every day right up to Christmas.
Come in and have a
look around, and sign up your child for a Toy Box and Piggy Bank Account.
We are currently looking for
unique lines to stock, and would welcome any suppliers willing to supply good
quality toys and games at piggybanktoys.com.
Tel: 01273 841304
Mobile 07969 083921
Company No. 7514697
Vat No. 115843127
Matthew & Caroline Wells,
Directors Piggy Bank Toys Ltd.
Please feel free to republish any part of this press release on your website
/ blog.
So, everyone has done one, and they started way back in July. I'm talking about Xmas Top 10's, 12's, 15's, 20's toy lists from every retailer, which have been news stories every week in the past few months in the trade press, as well as in the national press and on TV, with spots on shows like ITV's daybreak highlighting the bigger retailers top toys.
And its occurred to me that the retailers listing Xmas lists this year have done so, not because these items will be most wanted but also because they are the most overstocked items or those most recommended by the manufacturers to major retailers.
Now, that's not to say that the Ride in Dalek won't be popular, nor the Dance Star Mickey, nor Fijit to that matter, but its unlikely that many of these toys will totally sell out, only a few make it to Zhu Zhu pets 2009 status or the infamous Buzz Lightyear year.
I've got a few of the popular lines in for sure, but competing with the big boys on price and quantity is nigh on impossible, as they've likely to have ordered a fair chunk of these top ten toys in good quantity. The likes of Argos, Tesco's, Asda & Toys R Us have a lot of stock in already and a lot of competing discounts on the main brands and main lines. And in some cases main line retailers are discounting to such a degree that competing is impossible with margins so tight. Either they have no need to make much profit on these toys or that they have done some great deals direct from the suppliers, usually missing out middle distributor men, which us smaller retailers have to deal with.
To this end, I want to let customers know that we independents stock a wide variety of toys, some more exclusive product lines that larger retailers don't bother with, and also to let you know that kids don't always want the main branded products.
I'm not one to tell you what to buy your kids, but fighting for that one toy, above and beyond any other doesn't always pay off... we're 5 to 6 months down the line from the top ten toy lists being written - and I know from my own experience that my kids have moved on from fads and toys after a month or two.
I know from bitter experience that getting something special or really wanted doesn't really reap any greater rewards than other toys at Christmas. Last year my son wanted an Armouron outfit, Santa got him one, they were not too hard to track down, I understand, and after I spent Xmas Day putting it all together for him , he didn't wear it until the 29th Dec, and hasn't worn it since. It was unsurprisingly other toys, not even ones requested that sparked his imagination, including a build your own robot and a model plane.
Christmas and Toys are all about play and imagination, but that shouldn't just be the Children's imagination, but the parents and adults imagination in buying that something special, not what retailers say is special. Do kids want to go back to school in January and say I got a NERF gun or a Fijit, and all their friends say, yeah so did I. There's nothing wrong with being the kid with the 'different' toy, and being happy. I'm sure they'll have more fun and longevity playing with a surprise toy than with a bog standard branded product.
That said, I am stocking all of the key lines, but look beyond the top ten's and twenties, and try and be a bit more imaginative, alternatives to Lego for example exist in Mega Bloks (and others) and their range is pretty impressive this year, and there are often good quality, cheaper and in some cases better looking alternatives, I know there are competitors to the Harumika range.
I know kids are demanding, I have three now, but they don't always have to have the IN thing, after all they could get a toy and make it IN themselves.
One plus point against all of this is that if the top 10 sell out everywhere, there is always the next best thing - which is simply everything else. Kids should be grateful for all their presents, but make sure they get, not only what they want, this year, but also something different too, you never know it might be the best present they get.
Don't always be swayed by what you are told is popular, often its not, its just overstocked, and a good deal is not always a good deal. £50 off a £100 toy you don't want is not a bargain, its £50 more than you spent on something you don't want! Be intelligent and imaginative this Christmas... there is still plenty of time to be a hero for your kids.
we have a range of BBC's Top Gear Cars in stock, including the famous Caravan smashing Car Darts Set which features THE STIG driving a white car down a ramp and smashinginto a caravan on a scoring target.
also available are 6 x 1:64 Scale die cast vehicles from the STIG POWER SERIES all with THE STIG as driver, including the
Maserati MC12,
Megane Trophy,
Mercedes SL65 AMG Black,
Pagani Zonda R,
Laborghini Reverton
and the Mercedes SLS AMG
awesome official vehicles tested by the TOP GEAR team and driven by the Stig - wach vehicle in the series features a mini Stig driver! To say these are essential is understating their awesomeness!
currently, we at PBT's are the ONLY stockists on Amazon of these toys, so get them while I have them...
further to yesterdays news - we have the details of the Sun Lego promo:
on Sat 8 Oct: Star Wars: Star Destroyer
on Mon 10 Oct: Harry Potter: The Lab
on Tues 11 Oct: City: Blue Truck
on Weds 12 Oct: Alien Quest: ADU Jetpack (with a minifigure!)
on Thurs 13 Oct: Cars 2: Gremlin
on Fri 14 Oct: Ninjago: Ninja Training (with minifigure!)
on Sat 15 Oct: Harry Potter: Trolley (with minifigure!)
just buy the Sun everyday, redeem token at Toys R Us or WHSmith and get the days toy FREE, sun costs 60p on Saturday and 30p every other day...
last time the sun extended teh promo and issued a couple more toys, so maybe they will again this time... stay tuned for more info. Remember these toys are not available anywhere else and thus are exclusive to the day of release and also highly collectable....
Some cute plushes have arrived my way in the past week, perfect for younger kids are the Sesame Street Pals from Playskool, Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird and my fav, Cookie Monster. Linky Here
also perfect are the In The Night Garden Talking Plush - Here
our friends over at the Current Bun, The Sun, have announced the launch of another Lego promotion starting this Saturday, its the usual, token and pick up in store bagged toy promo. Not seen what's included yet, nor seen any TV ads, just teasers in the paper. But it surely will be worth picking up a 30p newspaper for toys that are worth much more. Ideal stocking fillers, which on the secondary market fetch a few pennies, and are very limited (on the scale of it). Will update when I have more!
lets hope there's some Star Wars premiums in there again!
Arriving today in stock, Moshi Monsters Clay Buddies. These are gonna be huge. Build and collect your own Moshilings and Monsters. Card Packs, and Deluxe starter set.
