Hello and Welcome to 2015!

We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and that you’re looking forward to an even better year in 2015.

Here at the toy museum we've got a lot to look forward to and can’t wait to tell you all about it. We’re looking forward to a new website which we hope will make the museum a much easier resource to use. With clearer layout and new links to the Toys in the Community project and educational resources we think that it will really be something we can be proud of.

Biscuit Tins As A Zoo Train

Speaking of the Toys in the Community project, most of the filming has been completed, we've interviewed young and old, people from abroad and those who've barely ever left the Sussex region and from all walks of life to hear about what they remembered about their toys. There are a couple of interviews left to do and then Andrea will be editing them all down and putting them up online in advance of the book and mobile exhibition that will be appearing as a part of the Toys in the Community project. When I say there are a couple of interviews left to do, that doesn't include the interviews that we’re hoping to conduct during Brighton’s Festival Fringe. If you keep an eye out for the bathing machine the Fringe has generously offered to let us borrow, you could still be an interviewee if you have any toys you’re particularly keen to tell us about.

The Corgi Car Extention

If you are still interested in sharing your memories of toys and you live in the Brighton area you can still get in touch. We can film or record your words at home, in the museum or anywhere else that suits you. You just have to let us know. To book a time to talk about your memories of toys and play you just need to contact Andrea on 01273 749494 or email on memories@brightontoymuseum.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.

 As well as these exciting new developments it’s important to remember that we’ll still be doing the our tried and tested events too; the museum’s booked up right through to Spring with school visits.

I took a look around the museum earlier on today and noticed a number of new things that weren’t here last year. For instance there’s a new exhibit of biscuit tins. These days we’re only used to biscuits being sold in square or oval tins for special occasions so it’s surprising to see the array of different tins it used to be possible to put biscuits into: aeroplanes, mushrooms, birds’ nests, even a steam loco pulling a number of carriages!

Double O gauge Funicular Railway

Opposite the biscuit tins we've built a new cabinet which is going to facilitate our growing display of Corgi Toys. I spoke to Glenn, the owner of the exhibit who was setting out the new cars. Over 20 years collecting Corgi Toys means that he is able to share hundreds of cars and trucks through the museum. Many of them are special editions, Corgi exclusives or export editions which come in different colours, have different features or are in many other ways special and unique.

As well as the new exhibits, it’s also good to see some of the older exhibits’ refurbishments are nearing their completion. The 00-gauge train diorama is coming on, featuring as it now does a few local sites of interest such as the Hastings Funicular Railway and the Long Man of Wilmington.

I’d just like to add that everyone here is missing our fantastic museum manager Tigger. She’s under the weather and hasn’t been able to make it in to the museum recently so everyone here would like to take the opportunity to wish her a speedy recovery. Get well soon Tig!

Meccano Mechanisms

The museum has recently built two more new cabinets to help commemorate Frank Hornby's 150th anniversary.

Meccano has been inspiring mechanics, engineers and inventors of all ages to construct imaginative creations ever since its invention in 1901, and our new displays showcase some of the mechanical marvels that can be achieved with this ingeniously simple toy. Inspired by characters in the 1925 story book, "Adventures in Meccanoland", these cabinets are populated with Meccano people known as "Meccanitians", who need help finishing their tasks. Come along and help Bill and Fred finish sawing their log, or see Andy's wonderful windmill!

A wood-sawing team, and a line of jumping chirping chickens

Andy needs to adjust the windmill's tower so that it points into the wind.

The pieces are interactive, and are operated by handles on the cabinet sides.

Another display case ...

A custom cabinet under construction in one of the Museum worshops

More behind-the-scenes building work. Having spotted a gap where (after some building maintenance), we could squeeze another very narrow cabinet into the Museum, it's time for some more custom-fitted cabinetry. Notice the 30-degree angle on the sides.

The new cabinet will appear in Arch Three in early December, housing the collection of cast iron locomotive models that used to be in Arch Two (before being displaced by the Budgie collection) .

New Cabinet on Puppet Corner

An early snap of some work currently underway.

This project involves taking out one of the cabinets in Puppet Corner and replacing it with a new cabinet tailored to show off some new exhibits.

E.T.A. August 2011.

New "Lead Figures" cabinet

Lead Cowboys and Indians

The mysterious blanked-off cabinet next to the O-gauge "starter button" in Arch Three finally got unveiled last month.

A few of the lead Disney figures

It's a collection of English lead toys including four shelves of miscellaneous Cowboys and Indians, Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men (including their pots and Little Weed), and another four shelves of classic cartoon and children's show characters (mostly by Disney) including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Peter Rabbit, Andy Pandy, Little Ted and Looby Lou, Clara the Cow, and the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.