Retro toys, traditionally thought to be more popular with the generations of children that grew up with them, have seen a recent resurgence with kids and teenagers, thanks in no small part to James May’s latest TV show, James May’s Toy Stories. The Top Gear presenter has been known for his love of toys, often crediting the inventiveness of humans to childhoods spent playing with toys. His previous two documentaries, â€James May's Top Toys’ and â€James May: My Sisters' Top Toys’, explored and celebrated his and his sisters’ favourite toys growing up, including Airfix model aeroplanes, Lego, Scalextric cars, Meccano, Hornby model trains and Top Trumps. For 'James May’s Toy Stories', he used these favourite toys to attempt a number of ambitious projects, often world records, including building a 1:1 scale Airfix Spitfire , a 75ft long Meccano bridge and the world’s first full-size Lego house, complete with a working toilet and hot shower. May and his team also recreated the closed Brooklands racing track using Scalextric parts and tracks, followed by a race between Aston Martin DBS V12 model and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. The positive effect of the show has been felt across the retro toys industry, with many manufacturers recording revenues significantly higher than their sales forecasts this Christmas. Many model shops have noticed this too, with many parents bringing in their children to find suitable toys in the run-up to Christmas. Arguably, this shows that even in today’s market, where games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii are increasingly popular, retro toys from the likes of Scalextric, Hornby and Meccano have the opportunity to be competitive. Remember that retro toys make great affordable gift ideas and can make for hours of entertainment playing with your children and the rest of the family. Constructing and painting the sets and models is also part of the fun and can help develop the skills of any budding engineers. If you are thinking of buying retro toys as a gift for a loved one or even for yourself, a good starting point for where to look is the internet. Price comparison websites and price comparison search engines, such as Google Product Search, can help you find the cheapest products from trusted suppliers, while internet forums can provide useful information about the quality of individual products and help you find the right retro toy to give you many years of enjoyment ahead.
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