March, 2025

• 24 March

  Entries invited for The Outdoor Toy Awards

  

  AS THE Sun finally shows us it is searching through the weather wardrobe and making it’s hat selection we’re looking forward to a healthy year for the outdoor toy market. Last year this supercategory managed to climb towards an impressive 20% of overall sales and optimism is rife for another …

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February, 2025

• 26 February

  The T-Rex skeleton from LEGO is roar-some

  

  We apologise for the headline, roar-some has been overused in descriptors of this new three-foot long Jurassic Park T-Rex but it encapsulates our feeling about said 3,145 piece set. We’ll not witter on about its dimensions, display stand and other elements just lay down some press imagery here for you …

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• 25 February

  Tom and Jerry – At each other for 85 years

  

  Celebrate the 85th anniversary of Tom and Jerry in the only way, from Tom(ish) and Jerry(ish) LEGO Brickheadz or FUNKO Vinyls or a plethora of other items (Little Quacker and Butch are harder to locate) or just binge watch some classic capers HERE from the golden age before they tweaked …

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• 17 February

  Hornby Hobbies’ Model Shop of the Year 2025 is……..

  

    There were almost 150 shops nominated and, after a public vote and evaluation by an expert judging panel the title was decided. These awards recognise independent model shops that go above and beyond in supporting their local model communities, highlighting the wellbeing benefits of hobbies, and inspiring the nextgeneration …

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• 13 February

  Trekkies, brace yourselves, Master Replicas figures on pre-order now

  

  Exclusively through MasterReplicas.com. Starting with Spock and Admiral Picard which are available now for pre-order and priced at $25.99 each. There’ll be new figures released every month with the first expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2025. Heathside Trading have signed a wide-ranging deal with Paramount Consumer …

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• 12 February

  Retro-tastic toys – Take a meander down memory lane

  

  Big business this Kidulting thing going on, the numbers from last year are clear and with declining birth rates and an ageing population grown-ups are set to be the battlefield for these evergreen spenders. Theres been news a plenty on some of the ranges on offer specifically catering for these …

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• 5 February

  Kicking off Q1 with some top Kidult Kit

  

  It’s a bit “broken record” of us to keep harping on about how the Kidult market (which has ben around forever) is now thrust into the limelight, labelled and defined, toy companies and licensors seeing the incredible cash to be had from grown-ups with money that isn’t isolated to be …

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January, 2025

• 29 January

  A masterpiece in its own right – the new LEGO Sunflowers

  

    Delighted to see this, the Sunflowers set, right up there detail wise to the Stary Starry Night set. reated in close collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the brick-built painting captures the iconic brushstrokes of Van Gogh’s masterpiece. A 2615-piece sets you up to learn more about …

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• 20 January

  It all starts here – Toy Fair 2025

  

  We could wax lyrical about these coming weeks, our enthusiasm for the start of Toy Fair season is palpable – It all kicks off at Olympia in London this week and then to Nuremberg we go. We’ve read some superb insights into what might drive toy sales, read that HERE …

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December, 2024

• 3 December

  LEGO Technic Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 – More F1

  

  The LEGO announcement that it had entered into a deal with F1 last year has already given us more F1 stuff than we can shake a (gear) stick at. Huge launch in Vegas recently for a range of smaller builds here is the 18+, 1,639 piece set, impressive enough and …

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November, 2024

• 27 November

  Battle of the Bakes – Greggs teams with Top Trumps

  

  A Greggs Top Trump deck with 30 cards with menu items scored across five categories Fame Mouthfuls Socials Score Flake Factor Top Trumps Rating The iconic Sausage Roll has been crowned the Top Trump, with a perfect score of 100 Only 10,000 of the limited edition packs will be available, …

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• 22 November

  The Kidults – Results are in, winners declared and a few entries achieve “Approved” status

  

  The inaugural Kidult Awards have concluded after an overwhelming response to this unprecedented event which saw almost 100 entries play out for recognition in 11 categories. The celebrity judging panel had to call in assistance to ensure everything was put thoroughly to the test and ensure the inaugural allocation of …

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• 20 November

  The Entertainer did a decent Xmas advert, follows up with a bit of research into “kid speak”

  

  Worry not GenZ we aren’t about to spill the beans on your speak, we people of a certain age sound simply ridiculous when we even try and use the words Rizz, Slay, Sigma and Lit in any kind of conversation and, well, we don’t even do it for fun anymore …

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• 20 November

  LEGO does some research – Parents prioritise Kids Xmas lists over their own*

  

  *shocker eh? No, but seriously, beyond the headline that an impressive 97% of parents prioritise Kids Xmas lists over their own is that it is the age of 17 when lists start to get boring, no, still we await the revelations. LEGO and their research also found that half of …

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• 20 November

  TikTok funnyman Jack Skipper and Scalextric slap cars with tickets

  

    Scalextric teamed up with comedian Jack Skipper to prank drivers in the UK’s most ticketed city, Manchester. Drivers nationwide that can prove they have received a parking ticket on Black Friday can also redeem a free Scalextric set, there is a “cop-out” so read on if you’re keen to …

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