The Biggest Toyshop. In the World.

Fresh from 8 centuries or so of machinations and blood letting, we felt ready for Regent Street. At this season, it is almost solid with humanity, and definitely a more daunting place than any medieval dungeon. One shop stood out like a beacon: the mecca of our childhood longings, fed by the tantalizing entry in the Guinness book of records: Hamleys! Definitely the closest thing to Santa’s workshop that I have ever seen. We saw:

• A gadget that looked like a water pistol, but instead produced huge clouds of soap bubbles.


• A strange disc-like craft with flashing lights about the size of a side plate floated up into the air – a real flying saucer, radio controlled!

• “Model” rockets which can fly a thousand feet into the air, take a picture, and then descend by parachute.

• A stall where one can have one’s likeness captured by digital cameras, then etched in 3 dimensions into a clear block of glass by a computer-controlled laser – it looks like a bust shaped from frost.

• A toy giraffe, with a price tag of about £4,000. This life-size stuffed toy is actually quite a bargain, at least on a pence-per-kilo basis.
  

Crowded, yes – but magical!