Grand Illusions

Tim says 'chin chin' in this festive offering that explores some of the unusual bottles and drink related items in his collection. One bottle - water as it happens - comes in a pale blue/green packaging, that is known as Eau de Nil. Could this be the fabled Water from the Nile?

Dragons... Tim has quite a few in his collection. Toy dragons that is.

A very elegant pop up card - beautiful paper engineering!

The calendar comes flat in a sturdy box. Each end has a magnet that, when swiveled around with clip together to reveal pop up buildings, statues and monuments from around the globe. The perfect center piece to spark conversation and reminisce about past adventures or help put a bucket list together.

As well as his main cases full of toys, Tim has a number of cases of toys which are maybe seconds or which for one reason or other he doesn't look at all that often. So he decided to delve into some of these cases and explore some of the dusty corners of his amazing collection.

Tim is just back from the annual Nuremberg Toy Fair, which he visits every February. This is where the big toy companies show all their new toys and ideas for the forthcoming year. Many of the toys will not be available for a while yet, but some toys can be bought at the fair, and in this video Tim demonstrates some of the brand new items he managed to acquire.

Spinning tops are very familiar toys. But these tops are unusual - they don't spin around a central axis. Instead they rotate around 2 axes, and can often show quite unusual behaviour.

Here are some puzzles from Tim's collection that he loves sharing with other people. He has not solved them all, but they all have a bit of a wow factor.

The makers say that it is literally impossible to be unhappy whilst wearing one of these Happy Hats!

The Fling Stick is a paper wand that when you 'fling' it, extends up to 48 inches. It also features 12 different sound effects for added fun!

Every February, Tim heads for the New York Toy Fair to see what new ideas are on display. Quite a few of the toys won't be available commercially for months yet - many of them won't appear in the shops until the autumn. But there are normally some samples that Tim can buy, and while he is in New York he also pops into some of his favourite shops, and he always comes back to the UK with an interesting collection of new items to demonstrate.

Here is a little item that Tim picked up on his recent trip to New York. Made by 3D printing, it is in the shape of... well, it is kind of like... umm.. well if you look at it from this angle...

Tim's amazing toy collection ranges far and wide, and today he explores toys that have a nose theme...

Tim loves topological toys, and this video showcases some of the best examples from his collection.

Tim digs through his collection and picks out a few more nose toys...!

The humble cork. But for Tim... endless possibilities! From simple bar tricks, to unusual craft toys, cork sharpeners and corks that are not corks, Tim has them all!!