Hamley's Toy Store coming to Dublin!

LolaDub

For all those still in mourning over the loss of Daisy and Tom, Hamleys will be opening in Dundrum in October this year. The store will have three floors and will be in the extended part of the Dundrum shopping centre.

snellers

can't really say I'm impressed.....the London store (IMO) is generally an overpriced tourist trap.

there are of course some great products in the store that you can't get elsewhere but overall you pay a small fortune for anything in it

LolaDub

Its supposed to have a few activity centres, a pre school play area and magicians walking around the store playing with the kids so hopefully it will be a nice place to drop into

kelle

But you won't get away without spending a small fortune if you have kids with you!

di11on

I must say I have missed somewhere to take the kids while the other half empties the stock of Pennies, Next and M&S :-)

bazwaldo

kelle wrote: »

But you won't get away without spending a small fortune if you have kids with you!

Bringing your kids into any toy shop is asking for trouble . "Can I have this?, can I have this?, can I have this?, can I have this?". Doesn't even have to be a toy shop.

I was in the one in London and thought it was great. Loads of people doing demos of cool stuff and the staff were really helpful. Fair enough, most of their stuff isn't cheap but as a parent I enjoyed seeing the toys myself. If they can replicate this in Ireland, it would be worth a trip.

LolaDub

I really miss daisy and tom, it was a great place to let the little one out of her buggy when shopping got too much for her. I also have to say i found some great original toys for her there and got some really cute clothes in the sales. So i'm definitely looking forward to hamleys opening, even if its just for the 20 mins play that makes the rest of shopping a more peaceful experience. They are supposed to be doing birthday parties there ranging from a tea party and tour of store to sleepover parties at a cool 10 ish grand! It will be interesting to see how those ideas work out

girl_friday

Apparently it opened on Thursday... Very tempted!!

di11on

Man, tried to get to Dundrum on Saturday and aborted the attempt. Traffic was at a standstill from the exit off the M50!

Tried again early on Sunday morning... Hamleys was black with people. Was a bit of a trauma to be honest. Might be a whole lot better when it's not so busy. If there were activities and magicians... I can't see where they had space to do anything. I just saw a guy demonstrating one of those tiny remote controlled helicopters and somone dressed like Alice in Wonderland with a bubble gun :-)

Lots and lots of soft toys and a good selection of Lego... that's all I feel they have going for it. Doesn't compare to Daisy and Tom's in my opinion... no slide!!!

shrapnel222

was there saturday morning very early before it got busy. it's a lovely store but choice isn't huge to be fair. Smyth's doesn't offer a pleasant shopping experience compared to hamley's but has a much bigger choice of toys. It's still a very nice addition to dundrum to be honest

d1llon, there is a slide, and some rideable horse, dinosaurs... on the ground floor in the playground area next to the baby toys

Ardnas

Lovely shop.... kids will love it. Nice shopping experience but overpriced. Noticed a 20e difference on some items compared to the smyths price. Went with my son to make his list for santa, he had a ball but Santa will be doing his shopping in Smyths this year

LolaDub

shrapnel222 wrote: »

was there saturday morning very early before it got busy. it's a lovely store but choice isn't huge to be fair. Smyth's doesn't offer a pleasant shopping experience compared to hamley's but has a much bigger choice of toys. It's still a very nice addition to dundrum to be honest

d1llon, there is a slide, and some rideable horse, dinosaurs... on the ground floor in the playground area next to the baby toys

I was there last week and was a bit disappointed. I didn't see any play area or slide. Next to the cuddly toys i saw two or three dinosaurs the kids could get on but wouldn't call it much of a play area. Only saw one person demonstrating a remote control car. Its a few euros more than other places. Saw upsy daisys runaway bed in smyths and argos for around 47-49 but its 54 there i think. Maybe it will be better laid out after Christmas but i doubt it

di11on

shrapnel222 wrote: »

...
d1llon, there is a slide, and some rideable horse, dinosaurs... on the ground floor in the playground area next to the baby toys

Really?

Man - it was so thronged when we were there - I wonder did I miss an entire section of the store!

shrapnel222

di11on wrote: »

Really?

Man - it was so thronged when we were there - I wonder did I miss an entire section of the store!

i went there today and it's been removed altogether, but i imagine that when you went, if it was crazy busy you might not have even noticed it if it was full of adults and kids as it was pretty small.

ibuprofen

Been there twice. Thre's alot of own brand toys there. Found it very dear. Smyths are much better value.

LolaDub

There again today definitely no slide. Looked at the baby anabel and sylvanian families stuff -they're a few extra euro more than argos-smyths. Its a nicer store but not nice enough to warrant the extra cost in shopping there especially without a play area. They could easily make the cafe a little smaller and have a great play area.

sukikettle

Hamleys sold me a box of Hamleys magic markers that gave up after 2 hrs. play.So I'll be asking for my money back Hamleys! The best thing was the big giraffe next to the escalator except my 7-year overstretched herself to give his neck a gentle whack on the way past. I met the Alice in Wonderland type person roaring her head off above the din.I was chased towards the down escalator by a little over zealous remote controlled car and discovered my husband was the one behind the controls. My 7-year old did get her picture taken with Indiana Jones and a very tall basketball player. I'm a massive Sylvanians fan but my 3 daughters aren't and I'm too old and it'd all be a bit weird to treat myself to a set of hedgehogs and a boathouse. Hamleys is nice but overrated as you'll see.I love Smyths, Smyths for value and variety!