From Grand Illusions.

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A very unusual automaton featuring an elastic powered ‘penny farthing’ bicycle. British coins changed after we switched to the decimal system, but in the ‘old days’ there were 240 pennies to the pound, and then there was the half-penny and also the farthing, which was a quarter of a penny. The farthing was quite small compared to the penny, and because this bicycle had a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel, they became known as the ‘penny farthing’.

An array of Perspex cubes. Tim removes an elastic band that is holding one of the cubes, and they all spring apart! Each cube has a spring inside, which means that it wants to spring open. However you can use a second cube in order to hold it closed, and a third cube to keep the second cube closed, and so on. You just need to keep the last cube closed, for example with an elastic band. Let that final cube spring open, and all the cubes will also cascade open.

Tim demonstrates an unusual gadget to takes the lid off a jar. Not technically a toy, but Tim likes playing with it!

A toy from Greenland – two seals carved from bone, made by the Inuit – the local people in Greenland. And from an Icelandic artist, a sculpture of two chairs.

Finally a battery powered toy from Japan – a skipping toy!