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 explores a few more of the toys he picked up in Japan, 40 years ago! Mickey Mouse on a wristband – squeeze the two little tabs at the bottom to animate the mouse. What fun! Another wristband, this time with…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Another tranche of Japanese toys that Tim bought when he was in Japan in 1986. He is impressed by their ingenuity and the fact that they are so well made. And still working 40 years later! A musical yo-yo that plays a tune when you…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim’ stick of dynamite turns out to be a Japanese toy from 1986 – a ball point pen! I suppose you could write an explosive novel with this? A pen that morphs from one shape into another in a very intriguing…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Tim debates the eternal chicken or egg problem with a variety of transformer toys. Of course, as you would expect from Tim, some of these eggs do not change into chickens. One egg becomes an elephant, while another egg becomes a dinosaur. A green egg…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim is in party mode! A tie made from pearls and party specs with built in ear rings! A small metal lion that folds up into a metal ball. A transformer toy! A wooden wobbler with a smiley face. NOISE WARNING…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Tim travelled to Japan about 40 years ago, and came back with a wonderful collection of items. Tim is convinced that quite a few items made in Japan are purely for the domestic market and you will only be able to buy them if you…
From Grand Illusions. Tim goes high tech! Drop the ultra-strong magnetic ball inside the copper tube, and experience just how slowly the ball falls. Although the ball is not touching the sides of the copper tube, you can still feel the weight of the magnetic ball within the tube. How does it work? The scientific…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Back in 2013, Grand Illusions was approached by a graphic designer called David Chaudoir who specialises in motion graphics. He sent us an end credit sequence which he had done for free. We liked what he had done, and ever since…
From Grand Illusions. The Spirok Robo is a magnetic art display with dancing ferrofluid – a fusion of science, tech and art. It has a built in microphone, and an internal rechargeable battery. Switch it on and the screen lights up. When there is no ambient sound, the ferrofluid settles at the bottom of the…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ ________________________________________________________ Tim dons his holographic specs and imagines himself as an international man of mystery! Alternatively Tim channels his inner feline with cat glasses. A weird German pencil, 40 years old, designed so you can suck the end. Surely chewing and sucking a wooden pencil and…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ While everyone else was worrying about the Millennium Bug (remember that?) Tim was still busy collecting toys. He didn’t need to worry about that bug – he didn’t have a computer at that time! Rather than a suitcase, these are small…