Toyology

LEGO on the lookout for a Builder

2009-11-24T13:12:16+00:00

Open auditions will be taking place in Manchester to find a LEGO fanatic who can turn their hobby into hard cash. The job will involve developing new features at the centre as well as maintaining existing ones, upon arrival at the open audtiions there'll be millions of bricks and applicants will first have to make an animal in 15 minutes. Get past stage one then you're next challenge is creating a famous face from the collection of bricks, if reckon you're up to to the challenge email register@legolanddiscoverycentre.com

Toy Fair fun with Top Gear fella

2009-11-23T11:59:31+00:00

Not content with an hour a week of James May and his Toy based shennanigans then perhaps you'd like to purchasetickets and meet the man himself as he hosts his very own Toy Fair. On offer, for the moderate sum of £20 (which includes a signed copy of his book) is a show of some fabulous LEGO models, the chance to ask the man a few questions, race against him on a Scalextric track, enter a Meccano building comp, make your own Airfix model and even mould a Morph. We wanted more feature based stuff on toys on TV and have a "careful what you wish for" feeling now that the prospect of a James May action figure becomes closer to reality. Still, £20, not bad for a day out - HERE

BEANO fans

2009-11-23T11:41:00+00:00

This seasonal scene from Gibsons jigsaws packs in pretty much every BEano character you could imagine, a the centre is the pie munching giant that is Desperate Dan, switching on the Xmas lights in this 1000 piece scene. £10.99 for at least a few hours fun on a soggy Sunday, grab one HERE

Supercars are within your reach

2009-11-22T10:47:20+00:00

Fans of Lamborghini and Porsche will be delighted when they open up your overly generous gift of a supercar, ownership of these marvellous machines has never been so afordable. Each its has the added benefit over the real thing as you are required to put the major components together, your reqards is a fine looking Die-cast metal body with opening doors, a pull back and go motor and some pretty decent detail. You bill for each one? Just a shade under £8, enough for the fuel to get you to the shops and back in one of the real models. Head over to Gettingpersonal.co.uk or this pair of stocking fillers for petrolheads.

Trekkies and Transformer fans form an orderly queue

2009-11-20T15:51:50+00:00

As huge fans of both films we'd have been happy to splash out on either of these USB drives for our data storing enjoyment, it just so happens that each one of these 4GB devices is pre-loaded with a full length film, this years Star TRek release on one (available today) and Revenge of the Fallen is out monday. Limited to 20,000, each one is individually numbered and will set you back £19.99 at PLAY - Fans of the film will thank you forever and why not treat yourself too? They're collectors items , so probably worth a few quid in a few years time so what you are doing is investing in heirlooms? Possibly, perhaps anyway thats all our assistance in persuading you to part with your cash.

Retro LEGO Ad back on TV

2009-11-19T16:09:41+00:00

LEGO bave decided the retro route is the way to our wallets and mighty right they are! Try not to laugh! Go on try....

Yo Gabba fans gather round

2009-11-19T12:33:56+00:00

All you need to add is skin tight trousers and an illuminous top to this kit and DJ Lance you'll be, even if you're not a fan of the show (which means you have not watched it) it is a great addition to your Xmas dress up wardrobe.

Advent Alert

2009-11-18T11:52:01+00:00

News reaches us that Advent calenders are dissappearing of the shelves at an alarming rate, a couple of the big department stores have seen their top-of-the-range calenders sell out already. In Toyland there are two that stand out from the crowd this year, new models from the usual suspects Playmobil and LEGO, each having 24 compartments with characters behind that build up into playsets. Both feature a Santa, the LEGO one with eight other minifigures, a Xmas tree and other festive stuff whilst Playmobil has woodland animals and food items for them to eat. LEGO at £19.95 HERE and Playmobil £15.65 HERE

Balloon-Copter powered by hot air

2009-11-17T11:33:46+00:00

Blowing into a balloon and then just letting it rip around the room is amusing enough, keeps small kids and animals entertained for hours but grown-ups possibly need a little more given back after their exhaling efforts. The Balloon Copter features three small blades enclosed in a plastic ring, this system attaches to a balloon thats been filled with CO2 and after giving the rotor an encouraging spin and letting go your copter will begin a generally upward trajectory whilst letting out a whistle though its spinning centre and can reach 50 metres if your balloon is big enough. At ust £4.49 from PLAY.com surely a superb stockling filler!

Latest Slots from Scalextric

2009-11-17T10:16:31+00:00

A couple of outstanding muscle motors for Scalextric fans have just been released into the showroom. First up is a Checy Camo in racing livery from the seventies and the other the latest Ford GT-40. Both available now for £40 from the Scalextric shop.

Secret Santa goes Global

2009-11-13T15:41:33+00:00

Fire, Wheel, sliced bread, Global Secret Santa - Yup, we're that impressed that such a head-slappingly simple idea was not ours or indeed has not been done before. So what if it is a commercial ruse to shift a ton of stock, the sheer joy of receiving something from a far flung land, or indeed closer to home,from a complete stranger has us all here at Toyology Towers trying to decide how many we'll send. The idea is simple, choose a product from Bungee Bird feeders to Chocolate Ants, flying monkeys to giant microbes, pen a few words to accompany your gift and its done -All you have to do now is await your package from the postie,finding out who and where its from is almost as exciting as the gift itself. The cost of this potentialy record breaking activity, a paltry £9 - What are you waiting for the FIREBOX elves are waiting.

Shoot some hoops whilst you're slaving away

2009-11-13T14:24:07+00:00

Small enough for even the most vertically challenged to take a slam dunk this shin high basketball stand with built-in backboard is looking for a little more skill than just popping the ball through its et. Supplied with two minature plastic replicas of the dribbled sphere and a couple of launchers. The idea is to set yourself up, against opponents is preferable, for a three point shoot-off. As the little hand slowly takes itself toward the five don't you wish you had one? £5.95 at Seriouslynuts

Lots-of-fun-o-Bots

2009-11-13T12:05:14+00:00

This trio of non-earth threatening automatons are ideal for those budding robotics engineers in your life. Select your comedy droid from Tim Can, the one who turns any standard tin can into your very own walking, wobbling, bog-eyed robot! Tim can be built into two distinct styles and features long, bendy spanner arms., change how he looks by changing the can, think of him as a halfway house to the recycling bin. There's Sweep , the on-the-move robot who scours work surfaces as he moves, an interesting way to clear up after-dinner crumbs and then we have Bump, witch him and and marvel at his high speed zooming about, he'll never get stuck though as when he bumps into an object he'll alter direction. Each one is £13 over at Red5

Start a Swarm

2009-11-12T11:02:15+00:00

The latest arival in the Hexbug range are these multi-coloured ants, great additions to any robotic collection, making a fine companion for any Robosapien or a plaything for your PLEO. Even on their own they're enough to entertain us humans, each one has six rotating legs with three feet attached that spin into motion at the flick of a switch. The antenae at the front are usedto detect obstacles and when they do the ant changes direction, a sensor at the rear end performs the same function and so continually bounces off walls and scrurrys about until you bore of him. Grab a few and set them to work. £9.95 each at RED5

Toys with Moustaches

2009-11-12T09:47:46+00:00

We were asked by one of the world's leading gadget websites to give them a run down of playthings that had hairy upper lips,a bizarre request at first but it was all part of the "Movember" campaign, an annual affair where folk grow tashes for the month in aid of charity, even we were surprised at how many characters have these upper lip decorations - Read On

Puppy Love - Donny the Dog?

2009-11-11T14:24:36+00:00

Thats right Osmond fans the 1972 hit "Puppy Love" is having its first outing in the 21st century as a fully licenced plush, trouble is we can't quite figure out if it is going to be a Puppy plush or a Donny Doll - Either way, news is that it'll recite the teenager scream inducing hit from within, no word either on moving mouth synch or if its to be an in the back pull-string starter

Vertical take off plane makes slow progress forwards

2009-11-10T12:35:16+00:00

Developed by Boeing for the US Military the original V22 Osprey was for troop transportation, as it was able to Vertically TakeOff and Land it was the ideal machine and didn't need huge runways to emabrk on missions and could also travel quicker than a chopper. Your shrunken version of this impressive aircraft will hoever, descend, turn left and right and whilst the propellers will stay in the upright position yet will still make some forward headway. A firm favourite in the remote control arsenal here at Toyology Towers and a real crowd pleaser in the park the past few lunchtimes, this Silverlit machine is yours for £39.95 at GADGETS.co.uk

The chase is on for these James Bond sets

2009-11-09T16:15:53+00:00

Not everyone rated Roger Moore for his overly cheesy chat-up lines whilst some didn't rate the on screen antics of Sean Connery, whichever 007 you were a fan of Corgi have brought us this fine pair of limited edition (2,500 worldwide) box sets. The Roger Moore set includes the Lotus Esprit Underwater vehicle from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and the Lotus Esprit Turbo from For Your Eyes Only (1981). The Sean Connery set features an Aston Martin DB5 and the Rolls Royce III Sedance de Ville from Goldfinger(1964) - Both the boxes also contain four Bond posters from each agents era. Priced at £34.99 each we're thinking they're a fine purchase for any hard to buy for Bond fan. This range of 007 vehicles also includes a collection of BMW's from the later films and the iconic "Little Nellie" Gyrocopter. See Corgi's site for more details

Balloon bursting, nerve shredding fun

2009-11-06T18:18:44+00:00

We've reported on a trio of fine contraptions from the Wallace and Gromit range before, this is the latest addition for some all round family fun steady hand action. Take the wire in hand and make you way around the dog shaped wire,touch the metal and a buzz will sound...If you're lucky - If you're not you'll be it by the full force of the balloon bursting, and this could happen on the 1st or 21st contact. Around £25 at PLAY

Classic Keyrings

2009-11-06T17:16:33+00:00

We're always delighted when we find a childhood toy thats be remodelled into something a grown-up can put to use, whilst we barely remember actually playing with any of this trio from Fisher Price we know we did, or at least certainly recall observing someone else doing so. Each one of these shrunken replicas of toddler technology are fully working versions of their larger form, and even if your keyring collection has started to become a little excessive you should purchase these and use them as alternative Xmas tree decoration. £4.99 each at HAWKIN