Toyology

Boys and Girls boardroom table

When an Advertising agency decided they'd like a new table for their slightly stuffy offices in Dublin they only went and commissioned one to be made from LEGO, the results are spectacular. This is what 22,742 pieces of the brick look like fashioned together and, best of all, they have their company logo in the corner. More info HERE

Pimp your Minifigs

Our ideal Danish Brick minifig would be one customised with a Toyology Tattoo, contact details on the back of it's t-shirt and a LEGO version of our portrait adorning the yellow head. We do have a tendency, along with many LEGO collectors to colour/draw on faces on occassion for an altered effect, a stubby moustache and plasticine bowler hat for that illusive Charlie Chaplin minifig to name just one. This new book from DK has over 600 re-useable stickers so you can create characters where the brick maker has not yet ventured. From Plankton in Spngebob to Leia's slave outfit in that Star Wars scene. It's not cheap but you'll want one - Amazon

Shrunken singing Stag - Buck is back!

Anyone remember Buck the Singing Stag?.. The pre-programmed wall warbler which you could use to spook out guests by speaking through it's mouth via a microphone...Ahh the childish fun we had until someone took a fancy to ours and it was gone. We didn't replace him, at over £100 a tad pricey, this one is a smaller version with scaled down features. Random (not rude) witty banter and a rendition of Sweet Home Alabama for your daily entertainment. Set the motion detector so it can annoy fellow office workers when you aren't there. £29.99 at Gadgetshop

Rubik's for the Blind

 As yet it's only a concept but this ultra-tricky version of the mind-bending cube substitutes colours for braille. Embossed in braille are yellow, red, white, pink, green and blue. Via Pocket-Lint

LEGO Lapin is calorie free

 If the Playmobil eggs weren't enough to tempt you away from making cocoa based purchases for the kids then let us try with this cubic cutie. LEGO's Easter Bunny is just £4.99 and consists of 81 pieces, thats more than you'd get in a chocolate egg of this price unless you broke it into very small portions, making it, if you hadn't realised out point, a great value gift. So long after the sugar rush inducing stuff's effects have subsided this gift keep on giving. Available at the LEGO Store

What price intact pinkies?

The scourge of openeing a new toy is liberating the item from within its see through wrapper, one that is  seemingly constructed from a menacing material that has it's own entry on the list behing A&E admissions. Calling themselves "blister packs", presumably after the least most painful incident ever occurring after attempts made to open one using a variety of blunt instruments, their refusal to open after a single motion is over, Zipit is here to save our digits. Put away your scisssors, scalpels and screwdrivers, let your incisors suffer no longer, one pass with the battery operated blister pack chomper and you're done.  £19.99 at FIREBOX

Rubik's Cube table - buy it for the kids, keep it for yourself

They've been available in the US for a while now and now we in Blighty need wait no longer, the Rubik's table has arrived and we'll be dipping into our holiday fund for one here at Toyology Towers. It's quirky, colourful and will make our credit card creak a little BUT the impact it'll have on the room will be quite dramatic and we expect positive comments from all that visit to repay our investment within weeks. We're not quite sure where to put our sign that politely requests that people do not use this table as a table. Ready for the price tag, okay, £449 at DRINKSTUFF. That includes free delivery, does that swing it for anyone?

Milligans's Mini

 Celebrating the British comedian Spike Milligan and his ride, Corgi have released just 2,000 of these yellow 1:43 scale models for £19.99 each. The car itself is still owned by his daughter, these limited edition runs each come with a numbered certificate. Catch one if you can

Chocs Away

If you're not feeling the urge to splash out on expensive Easter Eggs, the kids don;t need yet more chocolate after their Xmas feeing frenzy and you're not ready to part with the cash that would secure you a Faberge egg for gifting let us offer an alternative. Playmobil have this range of multi-coloured eggs and inside there's something for everyone - The zookeeper with Pandas, Paediatrician and child, a Red Tournament knight or Moto cross rider. Yours for £7.00 each a great Easter Alternative, gifting eggs are avalable now from Jarrold's

Rock with a Block

Ten times the size of your normal building brick this LEGO licensed radio/alarm clock is a dead cert to brighten up your bedside. Let it assist you to waken with wither the bad-mood inducing buzzer of your favourite radio station. The volume and station tuning buttons sit at the top disguised as the studs and operates from the mains or battery power. It may not have DAB, but if you can do without Radio 6 then it's time to part with £25 at Firebox

Tomica Toy Car certainly not for the kids

Celebrating Tomica's 40th anniversary a Japanese jeweler has created this replica of a Nissan Z432 in platinum. Worth around $80,000 the car would still cost less than the real thing as only 420 were ever made back in the early seventies.

Powering this car is a breeze

More of an educational kit than one designed to offer top notch entertainment from the car that's included this set is nonethelessplenty of fun. Learn how the power of the wind can be harnessed and converted into power, alter the loop blade for differing levels of performance and power delivery to the small car that sits on top. Spinning the power generating blade for 10 minutes will give you around 1-2 minutes of forward propulsion. £40 at Tamiya

Light as air Guitars

Coming soon from Wowwee, yes th folk of Robosapien fame, is a diversion from automatons and into the electronic music world. Paper Jamz are a range of wafer thin strummers that look the business but have no strings. The innovative technology inside lets you play tunes by just running your fingers over the printed strings up the neck and frets like a pro whilst hamming up the action with added rock star actions. There'll be a range of six guitars, and each one inch thick instrument will be pre-loaded with three licensed tunes. There'll be three modes of play to annoy your neighbours - Perfect Play, strum along to one of the in-built tunes - Rhytmn Mode, where you control the rhytmn for each track and Freestyle mode to create your own Top Ten hit. Launcing late April they'll be around £25 each and soon joined by amps and a drum machine for around £15 each. Certain to be a big hit.

Possessed Micro Pets

The latest additions to the Hexbug range of robotic bugs are the unassuming Nano bots, a flick of the ON switch however and you're in for a surprise. Thse little finger sized machines travel at remarkable scale speeds across solid surfaces, a poweful motor insode the body vibrating the legs and sending them forward with no regard for obstacles. When the mini critter slams into a solid object it'll either change direction and carry on, or, depending on the momentum it has achieved flip onto it's back or side and virate back onto it's feet - Either way quite a spectacle. This is just on Nano in action, a swarm of them running about the place bumping into each other is a highly watchable event. Available in five colours the £8.99 price tage may appear a little steep at first sight but they do rate highly on the smile induction scale so treat yourself - Stocked at IWOOT

Short breaks for stuffed Toys

Your cute/cuddly toy has been couped up inside for too long, give your Teddy some time out and send him away on a short break, perhaps Prague. New company Toy Traveling will look after him, just pop him in a box and post to the company in the Czech Republic, they'll take very good care of him. There are three different packages on offer, the basic one offers a few pictures of the toy enjoying the sights and daily communication through to the five star treatment that includes spa treatments, massage and a holiday album to bring back. You can even specify vegitarian option or whether the toy drinks alcohol so that the tour operators knwo what to provide on their picnic with other trippers. Find out more HERE

Toy Story 3 - The new characters are....

 Each week Disney Pixar are releasing details of the new characters that'll appear in the third installment. Check out Lots-o-huggin bear or "Lotso", Peas in a pod and Ken of Barbie fame HERE..check back for more this weekend.

Calling Playmobil producers

Playmobil have put out a shout for film makers of all abilities to shoot and upload a short film with their favourite Playmobil kit as the cast. For a prize of £500 and the honour of being the first official Playmobil film all you have to do is choose s tory, create amini script, stay within the maximum 4 minutes and please make sure its suitable for an audience that's between 4 and 6 years old. Check out http://www.youtube.com/playmobilnextepisode for previous entries and inspiration. The comp is open until the 25th March so get a move on or your chance to become the Playmobil Polanski.

Mighty Beanz are back

Originally launched in 2003 over in the US Mighty BEanz have now been unleashed on the UK market. A massive hit the first time around UK kids are in for a real treat with these highly collectible playthings, over 100 characters to collect and a few very special ones to find...Mr Moose is on our radar with only 1000 around. In addition to the characters there's a collectors case to be had as well as a superb racetrack. Start your sets with a six man team for a fiver HERE each one with a Mega Bean inside with its own special trick.

Most realistic track sounds yet

 
 
 The noises your rains make as they trundle round your mini gauge track at home have, until now, all been produced by a single box in a location somewhere around your layout. A new breed of engines from Hornby put the sounds inside each one so you get the most realistic feel of speed, distance and the great echo as yours passes under a bridge. The Hornby Digital Sound system is already installed on the LNER Herring Gull class, Diesel Electric Class 50 Illustrious and The appropriately named Hundred of Hoo. Departing now from this platform

Massive facelift for Monopoly

The iconic boardgame celebrates its 75 anniversary this year, amongst the celebratory offerings to fans of the property trading game is this new circular version. The playing surface contains all the old favourite addresses just with inflated prices, passing go will bag you a couple of million! Also, the hard cash is gone, in its place a credit card based system with electronic cashier at the centre. We did love thumbing through our wad of notes and will keep some to hand even whilst playing Revolution just for old times sake. Out this Summer for about £30