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 _______________________________________________________________________ Famous Trick Donkeys is a puzzle that was invented by a man called Sam Loyd back in 1858. Normally supplied as a card which you have to cut into three pieces. Two pieces each show a donkey, the third piece has…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ Is this just a ‘first world’ problem? Still quite common though. Here is a gadget you never knew you needed – it helps you find the end of the sticky tape when it has got stuck to the roll and you cannot see it! Battery…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Wayang is a traditional form of puppet theatre, originating from the Indonesian island of Java. The puppets, which are made of leather, are lit from the back, and appear as silhouettes on a screen. Tim was recently sent two more modern…
From Grand Illusions. Visit The Amazing Clearance Sale at Tim’s Toy Shop https://www.grand-illusions.com/clearance-c102x4362318 _________________________________________________________________ Tim’s tiny gloves… but they pack a real punch! And from the same shop, Tim bought some tiny socks, almost baby size, but these also expand to fit adult feet. These could be very handy when packing for your holidays –…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Over the years, Tim has acquired a number of objects that he now is unsure what they are or what they do. He sometimes calls an unknown object a WIF – or What’s It For? Tim is looking forward to hearing…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ 3D Wild West Puzzle – a conventional puzzle that lies flat on the table, but then there are more pieces which slot in vertically, with cacti and human figures adding to the scene! Tim saw this at a toy fair, but has never seen it…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim explores different yo yo mechanisms, mechanisms that involve an item on a string! First up, a balloon that climbs UP the string when you pull the top and bottom of the string in opposite directions. The mechanism involves 2 pulleys…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ The artist Noah Deledda creates fascinating sculptures. He started with making sculptures from aluminium cans (see https://www.crushmetric.com/pages/about-us). These are individual works of art. He then created the Crushmetric SwitchPen. We have the silver version in the Grand Illusions Shop – see https://www.grand-illusions.com/switchpen-holographic-from-crushmetric-c2x38665824. Then came the…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim explores a range of ‘finger toys’ from his collection. He got the slightly surreal ‘finger cluster’ in the USA some 20 or more years ago. Slightly disturbing we think! A plastic finger that is also a pen. In addition, it…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ The Endless Landscape has been popular since the early part of the 19th Century. It consists of a series of picture cards, 16 in this case, which you spread out across the table to create a landscape. The clever thing about the cards is that…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ A strange device – not a music instrument, but an unusual whisk for use in the kitchen! Today’s toys are from a 2006 case. Tim had forgotten about some of the toys in this case, so it was a little voyage…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ This elegant metal top has two completely different shapes, each one with a different motion. One shape behaves like a normal spinning top. But twist the two halves of the top by 90 degrees, and you now have an ‘Oloid’ shape. On a gentle slope,…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Socks with zip pockets – a secret place to hide things! This video explores purses, wallets and other places to keep your money! A purse in the shape of a fish, made from actual fish skin! Tim got this at the…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ Rabbits. Often found in hats by magicians! A miniature automaton by Angela and the late Laurence St Leger. Push the tiny wire, and the magician pulls a rabbit from the hat. Magic! A wind up rabbit that skips… a rabbit optical illusion, with either 10…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim has just acquired a new toy – a Tesla Coil! It produces high voltages at low currents, and it will discharge into the air, producing amazing sparks. You can play special square wave music from your mobile phone, and it…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ Gerard Darby pops into the Grand Illusions studio, bring a range of his ‘modified cutlery’ items to show Tim. From a ‘Cutlery Clock’ to a fork that has been changed into a corkscrew, a fork that has become a candle holder and forks that have…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim has had a long and interesting history with golf and golf balls… Back in the 1950s, Tim’s parents moved to a house on an island in the Thames. They actually bought the property from William Hartnell, the first actor to…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ Tim is still adding to his collection! He has just bought this amazing Pop Up book, based on the work of the preeminent American artist of the 20th century, Andy Warhol, and is very excited to share it with you. Tim is a big fan…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ As you may already know, Tim keeps his toys in suitcases. There are around 200 suitcases in his flat, and they are all labelled according to the date he acquired the contents. So in this video, Tim explores the contents of…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim normally goes to a number of toy fairs every year, including big trade shows like the New York Toy Fair and the Nuremberg Toy Fair. He also goes to a number of much smaller events, which are normally not advertised,…
From Grand Illusions. Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at https://www.grand-illusions.com/ _________________________________________________________________ You will probably already know that Tim loves unusual playing cards, and he has collected many strange decks of cards over the years! First, a deck that initially looks normal but wait… all the cards are threaded together. Then Tim’s automatic dealing box – load…
From Grand Illusions. Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at http://conta.cc/3dplns1 _______________________________________________________________________ Tim invites his friend Gerard Darby back to the studio, so Gerard can show Tim some of the items from his collection. This time, the theme is all related to unusual glasses and bottles. A pop up wine glass, maybe useful…