Hi,
Whenever I find something I want to study, lets say BODS for migration purposes, I now grab an online access from someone like idesremote, might cost me $30 a month for shared access 24/7 with a full developer access. I recently updated my BRF knowledge to BRF+ and did exactly that with a CRM system. I could do all the workbench exercises and all the API based exercises no trouble at all on that system Getting access to the SAP system for the hub would as you say have cost me at least 2 to 3 thou. AND I am pleased to say the support is brilliant and the system 100% reliable 
Guess the old adage about there being more than one way to skin a cat certainly applies here.
Cheers,
Ross