Time to stop hoarding!!

I have been selling toys for 9 years now and with the motto "it will come in useful one day" I have become a teeny tiny bit of a hoarder.  Luckily I now have Suzy working for me, who reminds me frequently to have a clear out!  I have recently donated some puzzles and games to Cononley Primary school that we have used for in store demonstrations and I have donated quite a few bits and pieces to the local charity shops.

To make room for some exciting new products (shhh...they are surprises still to arrive), we have decided to reduce some lines that we will no longer be continuing with going forward.
Our noisy animal alarm clocks have been reduced by 1/3 and the remaining ones are now £9.99.  Wake up to a duck quacking or a monkey chattering or a dinosaur roaring....there are lots of designs to choose from!

Another line that has been reduced by 1/3 are our insulated glamourous lunch totes!  Perfect for Mothers Day, School/Work lunches or even trips out! Now £9.99

Many more colours/designs to choose from in store!  (I use mine everyday and find it works really well!)

It is sad sometimes to decide not to stock well loved lines, but it is equally exciting to know that new items are on their way.  I do have to tell myself daily that my lovely shop is not a Tardis and sometimes it has to be out with the old to make way for the new.  Do you have hoarding tendencies or are you more minimalistic?

Boys Toys for Christmas

With Christmas fast approaching I thought I would share some of the interesting toys for older boys and men! (typically the hardest category to buy for - I find!)

Firstly most men have a secret addiction to Lego, but yet may not appreciate a Lego City Ages 5-12 in their stocking!  Also most teenage boys will have enjoyed lego when they were younger but may feel that its not so cool as a teenager.  The answer is this years Japanese inspirational range of Nanoblocks!  Cool packaging, a choice of animals, musical instruments or famous landmarks to build using micro sized building blocks = a Christmas shopping result!

The Electric Guitar: £6.99

 

•  Challenging three-dimensional puzzle with amazingly small sized building        blocks.

• Level of difficulty 1 out of 8
• 150+ miniature building blocks 4x4x5mm
• http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/8394/electric-guitar-nanoblock

The Moai Statues Easter Island: £14.99

• This fantastic set contains 320 + Miniature building blocks and requires some patience. 
•  Great fun for grown ups and children over 12.
• Packaging Size Width 14cm, Height 14cm, Length 4.5cm.
• http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/8256/nanoblocks-moai-statues-easter-island

Klutz have also launched a new book called Flying Paper Dragons which is a refreshing change from paper airplanes.  The paper quality is super and the images are  mythical and the text informative.  Also, they fly really well!

FLYING PAPER DRAGONS is a construction kit to send 12 dragons soaring. You can punch-out and create 12 flying model dragons and adapt them to make the dragons unique. There's tips on how to customize the flying dragons from aerodynamics experts and fascinating facts about the natural history of dragons throughout the book. Includes everything needed to create and build fantastic flyers. £10.99 Ages 8-Adult

http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/8452/klutz-flying-paper-dragons

Science kits have also got a lot more entertaining!  This science kit enables you to build electronic gizmos to play 20 tricks!  GOTCHA GADGETS teaches children the basics of electronics while playing tricks on family and friends. With this book kids can build a door alarm, a motion detector, a light sensor, and a push button sound machine. Then use them to set a snoopy sibling trap, wire the biscuit jar, play audio limbo, confuse the cat, and more. Includes four build-it-yourself electronic gadgets and four hilarious sounds. Putting science and electronics in the service of immaturity.

http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/8462/klutz-gotcha-gadgets

The newest board game to compete with Monopoly in the popularity stakes! 
Market Meltdown is a brand new board game where, instead of merely watching a financial crisis unfold, you could make billions of pounds from it! A game only for those with nerves of steel – are you slick and cool enough to resist the widespread panic and make a fortune?  Part familiar board game format, part roulette with a twist, you don’t need financial wizardry or betting knowhow to win Market Meltdown – just a smattering of skill, a cool head and a little luck as you move your piece (a private jet, naturally) around the board.  Ages 12-Adult.  Game takes approx 40 mins.

http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/8508/market-meltdown-game

Finally, the fun game for all the family this Christmas has to be Dobble!  My teenage children and their friends really enjoy this game as it is fast paced and fun.  Dobble, a visual perception card game suitable for ages 6 and up in which players race to find the one matching image between one card and another. The images may be different sizes and placed on any part of the card, making them difficult to spot. The circular cards feature an assortment of colourful images of everyday items including insects, flowers, symbols, and smiley faces. Every card is unique and has only one picture in common with every other card in the deck. Dobble has 5 mini-games: all of them reliant on speedy observation, creating excitement for children and adults alike and keeping every player involved.  Ages 6-Adult (2-6 players)

http://www.thepresentplanners.co.uk/p/7853/dobble

So, they are my top 5 toys for boys this Christmas if you want a present that is a bit different and lots of fun!
There are lots more ideas in store and at www.thepresentplanners.co.uk

Thanks for reading and hope you have found a little inspiration!

Inaugural Adult Bear Making Party!

Well, Saturday marked the first adult bear making birthday party at The Present Planners Toy Shop!  I have to say since the booking was made a few weeks ago, we have felt quite excited about the occasion.

When I spoke with Vanessa about what she was looking for from the party, I have to confess that I assumed we would tweak our standard format and was armed ready with suggestions.  Not needed!  Vanessa wanted the party run as we always do, with nothing leaving out!  So yes her name was in our window display lights, her age was plastered all over our in store messages boards, we did everything as we normally would and cut the cake and sang happy birthday.

As you can see, the choosing and stuffing of the bears was very important and we even made more bears than party guests!

The next job was to start desiging personalised t-shirts for the bears to wear.  First we did a practice design on paper and it was amazing to see how much effort and enjoyment went into the colouring!  (admit it you ladies out there like a bit of colouring - I do!)

Finally after a lot of fun, the bears were dressed in their lovely new t-shirts ready to go home (although unlike most of our bears - these lucky bears were off to the pub to continue the party.

Now we have opened the door to adult birthday parties, why stop there?  Bear Hen Parties?