Ambassadors – our young testers get stuck in to Spin Master’s Sink n’ Sand game

AMBASSADORS SPECIAL Sink n’ Sand Quick, Sand! Our Ambassadors get all kinetic to have a go at Spin Master’s Sink n’ Sand, a game that uses kinetic sand and sees players facing off against each other… Here’s our young players’ verdicts… Cassie, age 10

Dad Adam: It’s a fun game to play with the kids, simple rules and not as messy as it looks! The games are quite short but you want to play again. We played the best of three rounds.

Cassie loved the kinetic sand and the characters. It was easy to set up; getting the sand right takes a bit more time as you have to make sure it's all pressed down.

Our first impressions were good, there aren’t too many pieces and we really liked the different characters. Once it was all out of the box, Cassie became more and more excited to play it. Setting up the sand and watching the characters slowly sink and fall through was a lot of fun. It’s definitely something we’d play again; we had several rounds and wanted to play some more. A simple but fun toy that seems very good value.

Cassie: Anyone can play this game and the kinetic sand makes it really fun. I really enjoyed having a few rounds with my dad

Spike and Rémy, age eight

Mum Marie-Claire: The boys couldn’t wait to open this one – they loved the pictures on the packaging and had chosen characters for the family even before opening the box and understanding the game-play. They definitely enjoyed the prospect of playing with the sand.

Their eyes lit up when they saw the sand and they enjoyed putting the game together, which is always a bonus.

They liked playing with the sand and watching their opponent fall into the sand. It was straightforward to set up with sturdy pieces. The boys also enjoyed the independence of being able to do it themselves. It worked really well – with the mess contained, we were all able to enjoy playing. The game has nice colourful

and sturdy pieces; easy for the children to fix together. The characters are fun, with amusing names. It’s definitely something we’d play again. It’s easy for them to assemble and play without supervision, they Rémy: I like playing with the sand, and the red ruby, my favourite is Slip n Sam can play with their friends. This is the first game they’ve played with the kinetic sand and it was a huge win for two 8 year-old boys.

Spike: I love the sand, you can mould it however you want! I like being able to make my brother fall into the sand

Imagining the future

In the latest missive from her Imagine Toy Shop in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, one of our regular retail columnists Maggie Tibbenham outlines her hopes – and fears – for the last few months of the year. Will the store be quiet or will it be as busy as Santa’s workshop?

After a really good summer for the business, we anticipated autumn with high hopes. It was the first time in four years that I didn’t go to Autumn Fair in September because Covid finally got me – unexpectedly and hard. I was really poorly, so for the sake of everybody

else, I stayed home for a good “few days. I only heard some rumours that the fair wasn’t busy this time and many toy companies decided not to exhibit, which I was only pleased to hear as I didn’t miss much.

We usually have a quite steady September (a few shops in our town even close for a week or two) when we focus on Christmas orders, tidying up the store after a busy summer and of course dressing up the shop for autumn and Halloween. But to our big surprise September was very busy! Mid-month Holmfirth had a Food and Drink festival, which brought thousands of visitors as well as locals. We were incredibly busy and needed to stay open long hours over the

We get many festivals in Holmfirth and midmonth we had a Food and Drink festival, which brought thousands of visitors as well as locals “

whole weekend. Following this fantastic mood and busy time period, we then entered October, which is always a really good month for business, but so far it’s been really quiet. We’ve used the spare time to decorate the shop for Halloween.

Every year we participate in the town’s Halloween trail and we always have spectacular decorations, which attract kids and parents alike. We are hoping that half-term will bring a good footfall because so far business is not what it should be in October.

Personally, I’m overwhelmed with the news and media panic over rising costs. I’m absolutely aware that the price of nearly everything has gone up, but my shop – as well as my household – has made a few changes to daily habits and routine and we’ve been coping much as we have in recent years and I’ve not seen any predicted disaster. I’m sure other sectors such as hospitality have been hit the worst.

I get a strange feeling that Covid and 2020 lockdowns have created new ways for the media to spread the pointless panic – it may work for them, but for ordinary people it just adds to their despair. I sense this is the reason why October has been so quiet for us and our town. Customers seem to be trying to figure out where they are standing in terms of bills and costs, which obviously doesn’t help us, local business owners.

I’m very anxious about how the next few months will go. While my lovely staff cover weekends at the shop, I head to Christmas fairs, shows and markets and I’m fully booked until mid-December. So far I’ve done a few fairs and, similar to my shop’s footfall, it’s been very steady to say the least. Thankfully I haven’t gone mad with orders but the shop is very full of Christmas presents; the large LEGO sets have arrived (Harry Potter this year looks brilliant), the giant stretchy Jabba The Hut from Character Options is arriving soon (a perfect present for me), – it’s all ready to face the festive season but I’m worried about good footfall and quality purchases... I hope I’m wrong and we will be rushing around like Santa’s elves.