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
To celebrate Hallowe'en we at Piggy Bank Toys are offering 15% off our entire Amazon Inventory, when you buy 2 or More products from our Amazon store for 1 month, starting today at 1900hrs BST.
Thus, if you buy these cool Moshi Monsters Top Trumps Specials at £3.75
and add these awesome Doctor Who Character Building figures at £5.99
you will save 15% off the total price of £9.74, saving £1.46 and just paying £8.28 (before postage).
This offer is valid when you buy 2 or more items from our store at Amazon. It applies to all stock in the store.
This offer is valid from 19/10/2012 to 19/11/2012.
The Offer does not apply to product sold anywhere else by Piggy Bank Toys.
This offer is only valid for products sold by Piggy Bank Toys through Amazon.
See Amazon for terms and conditions of this offer.
so log on today and grab yourselves some extra value to our online bargains NOW. The Piggy.
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...
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.
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.
My two 9 year olds have got to that really annoying nagging I want stage. My two are just two of the 50million+ kids currently into Moshi Monsters. And as much as most parents are probably fed up with the moshlings and the site, however, its business for me, and we have a range of toys in to go, including newly released 'Slap Watches' and the new 'Series Two' mini figures, but it is still a problem with two children into the figures and trading cards (and website membership - i.e. double the cost!)
Now my problem is not with 'Moshi Monsters' as a whole, but the whole 'playground craze' and collectability elements of the trading cards and more significantly the mini figures is starting to bug me!!
My two are only allowed to spend money on toys if they have earned it themselves, and they both had birthdays in July, so went out and spent £50 on Moshling Toys at Toys R Us (we didn't have any MM toys in at that time) between them, including 4 packets of mini figures - each of which has a hidden 'rarer' figure (blind packed). As parents we were happy that they spent their money on toys they wanted...but they didn't get the hidden rarer figure they wanted, but they were'nt at the time that disappointed - because they got 20 figures to play with.
Now, I've been collecting toys myself for many years and know how and why these 'rarer' figures are issued, mainly, to encourage more purchases and trading with friends, hence the 'playground craze' elements (and to earn the manufacturer more cash). However, in the age of the Internet, my two have got wind of the fact that they can by-pass the collecting and go straight to the marketplace and buy the rarer figures at an inflated price. However they only have a limited amount of money and MUST save up to buy stuff, and as much as I appreciate that they can buy what they want and can afford, its that they are after this one Moshi Monster Moshling figure - Scamp, and rather than buying blind packs at £5 each with the thrill of the chase, they want to go on ebay and buy the figure straight away.
They have £20 currently saved up from pocket money, and are both badgering us as parents to allow them to buy a 'Scamp' Moshling from ebay.
Bearing in mind that they could buy 4 packets of moshlings - with 4 chances of getting a rare Scamp or something else, they are willing to forgo this experience to buy a Scamp at a range of £10-£18 based upon the most recent sales at ebay.
Again I have nothing wrong with people selling collectable figures at inflated prices, I've done that myself previously with Star Wars figures, but generally adults with disposable incomes were the main buyers of these. Its just that my two are willing to part with their hard earned money on 1 figure when they could get 20 or so for the same price, because they want to go to school and say that they have Scamp - to show off.
I have seen recently that Mind Candy, the makers of Moshi Monsters and their products, have issued warnings to retailers that they will not tolerate blind packs being opened, to sell individual figures, but this does not stop so called 'scalpers' buying up packs from stores and doing the same, ie. not retailers.
I also saw recently in Tesco's too, that they have security tagged their Moshi Monster Packs - asking them 'not to be opened' until purchased. Which, in this day and age I find astonishing that people are willing to rip open a box, and then re-place it if it doesn't contain the rarer figure that they want.
So we have been badgered recently, as parents for us to buy this one figure, and we have stood firm and stated, that we think that its silly to spend that amount of money on one figure, and that there are loads of other things out there. I acquired an entire bundle of toys on ebay including 20+ action figures and some vehicles in superb condition - for resale for £20 the other day. If my kids had done this they would have a lot more playability and enjoyment for the same amount of money. I know its hard to negotiate with them on this but as parents we are standing firm on this one. Thing is their parents have a house full of toy boxes which they could buy at 'cost' because we run a toy store, but because we don't have this one thing, and our principles are firm we are not bowing down, just yet.
My reasoning on this is that back when we had playground crazes, mainly for me, panini football stickers, we bought the packets, blind, then opened them traded them with our friends and then if at the end of the season or run of figures could buy the missing ones from panini at 5p a sticker, up to a maximum of about 21.
Mind Candy, who i agree with on the not opening of blind packets, won't sell the rarer figures themselves at the end, and prices will still go up because of the short supply.
From what I understand about the Moshi Monsters website, is that you have to collect Moshlings through trading online, but only some characters can be acquired through subscriptions at a cost of £30+! And these are the virtual moshlings!
Still if we can get our kids back on track and save up for something more worthwhile we'll be happy, after all it is a craze, and this time next year, or even next month they may be onto something else... i know we're not alone on this, but its whether other parents give in and buy what their kids want for them regardless. Maybe i'm old fashioned but we're trying to teach our kids the value of collecting and the chase rather than the trend for have it NOW.
Ok, so everyone else has done it, here's what i think will be selling well this Xmas time for Kiddies...not scientifically proven, but some stuff we think will be going well, and will be not necessarily in short supply but certainly sought after this coming season.
1. Disney Dance Star Mickey
2. Fijit
3. Need For Speed Mega Bloks Sets
4. Lego Character Clocks - new designs coming this year include Captain Jack & Toy Story 3 (coming to PBT this Autumn)
5. Smurfs
6. Kre-O Transformers
7. Lite Sprites
8. Lego Minifigures Series 5 - stocking fillers
9. V-Tech Toot Toot Drivers Garage
10. Moshi Monsters - anything and everything Moshi!
obviously there will be so many toys that your kids will be wanting, check us out we have some cool stuff coming, and will also stock some harder to find older stock items. Unique site features and other promotions will be worth dropping in for...
We have moved to a dedicated PBT Amazon store, which is new and updated with all NEW stock and still houses loads of our collectables stock. Please check it out. We are also launching an Amazon webstore which will be available soon, which will coincide with our Official Online store. More details to follow.
Our new Piggy Bank Toys Amazon Marketplace store is located HERE
Well we've already had Tesco's tips for the top ten for Christmas, and all was good with that list, but they are not solely a Toy Retailer, so when the most famous toy shop in the world makes its top ten predictions for the festive period we should take more notice. Hamleys unveiled its predictions for Christmas 2011 with not just one list but several, and some do include 'Hamleys Excluisves' unsurprisingly.
I'd also like to take a bit of credit for predicting that the ride in Dalek would be in the favourites a long time back as one of my earliest blogs highlighted this toy. anyhow take a look, some are pretty easy to predict, and some less so.
Dr Who Build Your Own Screwdriver (Character)
Light-up Rapunzel doll (Mattel)
Cars 2 1:24 R/C Lightning McQueen (Character)
Queen Anne's Revenge (Lego)
Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime (Hasbro)
Cars Big Bentley Bust Out (Lego)
Justin Bieber Singing Doll (Vivid)
Dance Star Mickey (Mattel)
Monster High Laguna Hydration Station (Mattel)
Hamley's pick of the 'finest' toys are below:
Dr Who Ride-in Dalek (Kids@play)
Bugatti Type 57 SC atlantic Coupe 1938 (John Ayrey)
Concorde Collectors Pack (Bravo Delta)
Disney Princess Ultimate Dream Castle (Mattel)
Smokey the Fire Engine (Mattel)
Sylvanian Families Highfields Farm (Flair)
Fijit Friends (Mattel)
LeapPad (Leapfrog)
Technic Supercar (Lego)
Air Swimmers (Wow Stuff)
My Keepon (Wow Stuff)
3ch Gyro Spy Cam Helicopter (Silverlit)
AppBlaster (Apptoys)
so its a pretty comprehensive list, and in all honesty if you are shopping at Hamleys for your presents you sure can afford the higher end priced toys, the Dalek alone is £200, most of the Lego sets are £100+, and I'd not even like to guess how much the exclusive Hamleys products are, but hey, they do know toys, so take note, and start saving.
You could always check out some online toy retailers - hint hint!
PBT's will be upping the blogging ante from now onwards, with some sneak peaks at some new toys, whats going down with current toys and a lot more...things that appear to be resonating with my two kids are series 4 of Lego Mini Figures - which seem to becoming a revolution in pocketmoney purchases. Simple fun and totally collectable... we can't wait to see what series 5 has in store (i'm hoping for a DJ and an Office Worker) (do we have enough characters to create the Village People yet, now we have the Indian Chief and a Cowboy??).Zoobles still cute and Bakugan like for girls! And talking of Bakugan - they have taken these to the next step....
Plus the new Moshi Monsters Magazine. The whole experience of collecting and playing with toys has gone online and off and the kids are loving it...Check out the cute MOSHI plushes too...
As the new Series of Doctor Who launches on TV expect some new action figures and other bits and pieces. Particularly the Character Building secret packs (similar to Lego) which also come in an HM Armed Forces range. These will be flying off the shelves.
