The Christmas Rush

Later than most other years, but toys are starting to sell quickly with some items already in short supply (Large Wheely Bugs - all styles for one example).

But with Woolworths facing administration the UK is facing losing one of its biggest toy retailers.

I'll be posting less frequently on the run up to Christmas as my time is taken up selling toys!! But I'll be back with more regular reviews as things calm down.

The Toy Guru

Dolls Family - Pintoy


There are lots of different dolls house families avaliable but the pintoy range are my favourite.

Why? Well they are well dressed but most importantly they have noses!!

Pictured are the asain family.

Guru rating 5/5 well made and have noses !! About £18.00.


Credit Crunch and Christmas

Shop Early this year!!

Why? Some suppliers are having problems shipping their toys this year because of the credit crunch as some banks are not issuing letters of credit which enables the movement of goods around the world.

So try and not leave everything to the last minute or risk being disappointed - you have been warned!

Sophies House - Le Toy Van


There are a fair few dolls houses in the shops this year and as usual the Le Toy Van range stands out as well made and overall good value.

Sophies house is one of the most popular houses having a pink and glittery scroll cut roof. The front opens on 2 "doors" which are held to the main part of the house by nice metal brackets. Infact there are no nasty metal hinges (pinching hazard) to be seen.

Le Toy Vans style has been imitated by a number of other companies (have you checked out the ELC house) but as often is the case the originals are often the best. Le Toy Van has a great reputation for supplying spares for the products, so should anything go wrong in the future you stand a good chance of getting a replacement part, so if an artistic flourish leaves the panels covered in biro or worse all is not lost!

It comes flat packed but is easy to assemble. Made from toy grade MDF (painted) and some use of wooden (doors, windows and flower boxes). The finish on them whilst more than acceptable is sometimes subject to the slight blemish here and there but overall factory product control seems good. Priced around £90.00 it will provide many hours of imaginative play fun. Its aged 3+ on box as there are some small pieces and my own daughter really got into hours from age 4 onwards. Roomsets are sold seperately and most families choose to build up there furniture and dolls over time.

Scale is 1/12th the standard European scale so furniture from pintoy, plan, voila, elc, selecta and Le Toy Van will all fit in

Toy Guru rating 4.5/5 - I really like the Le Toy Van dolls house range good products, well designed with great customer support.