We collect unusual toys, and with a collection of over 20,000 (and rising!) that have been bought over the last 30 years, there is a wide variety of amazing things to share with you!
We don’t do dolls! Our toys might have a fun or unusual mechanism, can be used to amaze or puzzle people, are a bit magical or maybe a bit scientific. Whatever the angle, they have to have something a bit ‘special’ about them.
Nearly all the toys you see here are from Tim’s Toy Collection, and are no longer available in the shops. Many were bought 20 or even 30 years ago!
However we do have a small range of items that can be bought on-line. You can visit the Grand Illusions Toy Shop, www.grand-illusions.com
Hendrik Ball
www.grand-illusions.com
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim has visited many countries over the years. In the year 2000, he was visiting Iceland and from there he made a short trip across to Greenland. While he was there he bought the first two items he shows here, a…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Some more of the toys Tim acquired in the year 2000… Tim shows a wire that lights up when an electric current flows through it. Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim goes back 25 years to the year 2000 – here are some of the toys he acquired in that year. A bird whistle that needs water in it to give the nice warbling effect… The famous Drinking Bird toy. This…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ The Mutoscope is a 19th Century invention – basically it is a mechanical flipbook containing frames of animation which flip through at speed when you crank the handle. This tricks the eye into seeing motion, the same effect as a flipbook! This kit allows you…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ 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…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ The humble zip does not often get a starring role. but Tim has a range of items in his collection that show unusual uses for zips! Tim shows an adjustable tie based on a zip mechanism – a zip tie! A lanyard based on a…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim is fascinated by many things, and his amazing collection even has examples of unusual… socks! First of all, socks with eyes, but that is not all. These socks have little arms attached to them, and when you bring the two…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Tim smartens up with a comb that is also a pen – now he is ready for the autograph hunters! Multi colour marshmallows – pop them in a container that allows you to pump some of the air out. What happens? The marshmallows expand. When…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim’s collection has a number of small critters, little wiggly things, that lurk in small containers! You can see them as exotic pets, or maybe just a way to startle your friends… All of these have very delicate balancing mechanisms, so…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Origami in leather? This purse, possibly made in Morocco, opens and closes simply by folding it. As Tim says, he used one of these as his regular coin purse for many years. Also a version made in China. Every item Tim opens seems to have…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Spring is in the air, and Tim is exploring the butterflies and the bees! A solar powered butterfly that is really very realistic. Only while the sun shines of course! Tim’s lapel badge shows a bee and the quote ‘to be…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ From Rain Sticks to dinosaur feet, Tim makes more noise! The giant dinosaur feet are actually slippers – as Tim says, you could wear them to a fancy dress party ( or should that be a fancy dinosaur party?) They have sound effect technology together…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim is making a racket again, and not the tennis kind! Auto tune can be used to make sure a singer hits exactly the right note, but here is an auto tune violin! Made by the Tomy toy company, there are…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ A swinging pendulum that swings though the focal point of a parabolic mirror – a toy from 1976! When the red ball is at the focal point, its reflection fills the whole mirror! A hook for your hat or maybe coat. Part of a wooden…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim makes a noise! The ZUBE TUBE gives weird audio effects when you talk into one end. There are two cups inside, joined by a long spring, which vibrates when you talk into the tube. Next, a percussion instrument that creates…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Tim demonstrates a bullroarer. This example is a ruler attached to a length of string. The bullroarer, rhombus, or turndun is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances. It consists of a piece of wood attached to…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Balance a ruler using two fingers. It doesn’t matter whereabouts you place your fingers, so long as they can balance the ruler without it falling to the ground. Then move your two fingers slowly together. If your fingers are equidistant from…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ 1998 – the year that keeps on giving! An @ sign that has a metal blade which allows it to cut paper, open envelopes etc. Small clothes pegs that are painted to resemble small creatures. A key fob that is also a puzzle. Two rubber…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim is still exploring his 1998 case of toys… Open the doors to reveal the sea… this optical illusion was a handout at an exhibition held by the British artist Patrick Hughes – https://www.patrickhughes.co.uk/ A lenticular skull – very gruesome. Just…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ More toys from Tim’s 1998 case… A wheel inside a disc. It seems that the wheel is rotating inside the disc, but it is a very convincing optical illusion, the small wheel is fastened firmly to the disc! A spinning top that is also a…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim dives into a 1998 case of toys and novelties. Some luminous novelty glasses which came out at the end of 1997 to people could welcome in the new year… A coiled snake which uncoils its tongue when you squeeze it.…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Wooden automata! Two little characters walk to the edge of the table. It is not a wind up, there is no motor, and the table is not sloping. Tim acquired this several decades ago at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany. How does it work?…