Toys and Games - Reviews and News

To help you enjoy the August bank holiday weekend that’s quickly approaching, Modelzone are offering discounts on popular kids toy and model ranges.

Valid for only the bank holiday weekend, all you have to do to claim your discount is enter the following codes within the basket page.

• AUGTT10 will get 10% off any Thunder Tiger Remote Control Cars
• AUGTAT5 will give you 5% off the Take Along Thomas Range
• AUGME5 will give you 5% off the Meccano Range (excluding Spykee)
• AUGMO5 will give you 5% off the Mondo Diecast Range

Remember that these offers are only available during the August bank holiday weekend so don’t try and use them before or after as you won’t receive your discount.

This coming weekend, 3rd, 4th and 5th of July, its time for the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed - and I can’t wait. The weather is promising to be excellent which will mean maximum crowds so be sure to arrive early.

Modelzone, the UK’s largest model retailer, will have a stand at this year’s festival and they’ve told me that lucky festival goers will have the chance to snap up some festival-only motoring related model bargains.

Now I am something of a RC Car enthusiast (RC stands for radio control) so I shall be first in the queue to grab a bargain or three.

Read more in the Modelzone Blog.

The NEC in Birmingham played host to a model railway exhibition in 2006, and showcased some truly amazing model railways from high powered modern electric to old-time elegant steam locos, as the following video shows:

A great many locos in some very imaginative scenery and something I have never seen before, busses running on roads surrounding the track, driven by what is known as the Faller System.

The Faller System is a method whereby a model vehicle such as a bus or car has a motor, batteries and front axle which is then attached to a magnetic guide arm. A thin metal wire is then laid down, usually below the surface of the track, plotting out the course for the vehicle, which it then follows.

This system has allowed for even more realistic train sets, with not only fantastic train, track and scenery, but also moving traffic alongside the trains with the ability to sync these up to certain routs and obey traffic lights. Now all that is needed is for this to sync up with level crossings to provide the ultimate in train set realism.

We have found two videos we feel best demonstrate the system and the realism it creates:

A while back we posted a really great video featuring a well thought out and built Scalextric track, well, we have found another.

Again really well put together will all the accessories you could need, race barriers, vantage points, film crew, stadiums and crowd, sponsorship, lighting, buildings and foliage!

They have even added some nifty sound effects to really bring the circuit to life!

Amazon - Racing sets
Modelzone -Scalextric sets, track and accessories
Waterstones - Scalextric guide books