Wubble (Pron. wubbish)

The Wubble, which I like to pronounce ‘wubbish’.

I was in Myers the other day buying a birthday present for one of my kids friends, with three children we seem to have at least one birthday party a weekend (usually more).

As I was lining up to purchase my present I overheard a lady speaking to a shop assistant. This woman was holding a Wubble and enquiring if there were any more available. From what I heard the lady had actually wanted more than one but was suitably happy to have managed to score the last one.

At this point I really wanted to say something to this woman.

Why? Well if you haven’t heard of the Wubble it looks and sounds like the best toy ever. It’s a giant bubble/ball. When you get one out of the packet it has that weird gooey slimey feel, kind of like those slap hands (see the pic below) which get super filthy because everything sticks to them .

It comes with it’s own pump and a sachet of vaseline to lubricate the opening (a little weird) which ensures the point of the pump doesn’t pierce the Wubble when you’re pumping it up. This should probably be your first red flag that the Wubble isn’t as durable as they would like you to believe.

My experience with Wubble started when my daughter decided that this was the one and only toy she must have for her birthday. At the time the Wubble was just released and every shop I went to had sold out. I had become desperate, ringing around every toy and department store within a 30km radius of where both my husband and I worked. We work at opposite ends of the city so I was hopeful we would find one, and finally we did, the day before her birthday.

Crisis over. We had the Wubble, everything was going to be fine.

Ok, so before I go any further let me show you exactly how Wubble is advertised. Apparently it “looks like a bubble, moves like a bubble, but won’t pop like a bubble…even when you sit on it”. It gets better, it’s made from super-thermo, stretch-tacular stuff, that’s tech speak for indestructible and mega stretchy (I’m guessing). You can kick it and make it fly…inside or out – AWESOME!

This thing sounds too good to be true and sadly we found out the hard way that Wubble is in fact Wubbish.

So soon after the picture above, my daughter opened her brand new Wubble, pumped it up and went outside and through it like a ball to her brothers. It was great for all of ten minutes and then POP. It exploded into pieces. No they didn’t throw it on anything sharp although it did touch the grass a couple of times. But hey this is a Wubble – you can kick it and make it fly and it’s made from that super-thermo stuff, a little blade of grass isn’t going to destroy it?

There were tears, my daughter was distraught after losing her Wubble after only 10 minutes. I also shed a tear because the damn thing cost $40! My husband got straight on the phone to the shop we bought it from (a major toy store) who were very helpful and said we could come and get a replacement. After a mad dash to the store we had our second Wubble – YAY! Surely the first was just from a bad batch, this Wubble was going to be awesome.

Just to be safe I decided we should use the new Wubble inside away from those dagger-like grass blades. My daughter was super happy because this Wubble was glow-in-the dark and of course, not in pieces like the dead Wubble outside.

Finally everyone was happy. The kids were playing hand ball with the giant Wubble in the lounge room and everything was as it should be…until…POP! My five year old son hit the Wubble with his hand and the Wubble exploded. More tears. But we had a record this Wubble had lasted almost half an hour. My husband and I decided that there would be no more replacements, no more Wubbles, we just wanted our money back and to forget this whole Wubble ordeal.

After the second Wubble exploded we all went back to the store (the next day) to get our money back. Funnily enough the sales lady told us that “quite a few of these have been returned”. Oh I wonder why, oh I know because they are rubbish. My daughter ended up getting a fancy pair of Converse shoes for her birthday which have not exploded into a million pieces yet and we have all moved on from this distressing chapter of our lives.

So back to the woman in Myers who was so happy to have scored that last Wubble. I am so sorry I didn’t tell you the Wubble was crap and a huge waste of money, I really wanted to, but you seemed so happy and probably would have bought it anyway thinking I was just a crazy woman who really only wanted to nab the last Wubble off you. But I can warn anybody else out there whose thinking of purchasing a Wubble, when it comes to the Wubble just don’t go there.

It’s not super-thermo, it’s just a super waste of your money.

I would love to hear from anyone who has actually had a good Wubble experience (if you’re out there) and for all of you burnt by the Wubble, feel free to vent below. It’s always good to know you are not alone in your pain.

You’re welcome,