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Photos: Y'know, for kids: Crave at the London Toy Fair

Crave UK was in its element at the annual London Toy Fair trade show, where the staff indulged its inner child to bring you the pick of the gadgets, games and great stuff on show.

CNET Reviews staff
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1 of 18 Crave UK

Hasbro action figures

Our friends at Crave UK stopped by the London Toy Fair last week. Here, in their own cheeky words, is some of what they saw.

Some Cravers never grow up. At least that's what our girlfriends have shouted at us while hurling our comic book and action figure* collections out of the window. Needless to say we were in our element at the annual London Toy Fair trade show, where we indulged our inner child to bring you the pick of the gadgets, games, and great stuff on show.

Hasbro was showing off some top secret bits and bobs from forthcoming films GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen--subtitles do have their ups and downs, don't they?--while we also loved the chunky AT-AT from Hasbro's cutesy Star Wars: Galactic Heroes range.

Other top secret offerings included Character's range based on Terminator: Salvation, starring Christian Bale. These included the T-600, T-700, and ominously named T-R.I.P., as well as an ace voice changer helmet.

Character is a big player in the action figure** market, also showing off its Doctor Who range--like the classic Cybermen pictured --and, er, Gladiators. Although Davison and both Bakers have now joined Eccleston and Tennant's Doctors in toy shops, there was no sign of the just-announced Hartnell and Troughton figures expected this summer, while Pertwee and McCoy fans are still waiting.

Click through the pictures for more of the gadgets, games and action figures*** you'll wish were around when you were a nipper, and some you'll wish you hadn't seen...

* They're not dolls. They're action figures, OK?
** If they can't stand on their own, they're dolls. If they can stand on their own, they're action figures.
*** OK fine, they're dolls. Now go and look at our photos!

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2 of 18 Crave UK

Game action figures

Here's some gear from Gears of War 2, shown off by Star Images alongside Halo and Street Fighter action figures.
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3 of 18 Crave UK

Watchmen merchandise

We wonder if Alan Moore appreciates the irony of Watchmen merchandise, just as one of the characters in the story gets rich from merchandise based on the images of his superhero friends. It's so meta our head nearly exploded.
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4 of 18 Crave UK

Yo Gabba Gabba Dancing Brobee

We don't know what a Yo Gabba Gabba Dancing Brobee, made by Spinmaster, actually is, but it scares the living bejeebus out of us.
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5 of 18 Crave UK

John Deere 6430 Tractor

Now that's a toy: the Big Farm R/C John Deere 6430 Tractor from RC2. Trailer of slurry not pictured.
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6 of 18 Crave UK

Smart Lab R/C Rocket

No matter what Brainstorm says, don't attempt to launch your dog into space on the Smart Lab R/C Rocket. Making your dog wear a spacesuit and specs is actively encouraged, however.
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7 of 18 Crave UK

Great Gizmos Brush Robot

We thought today's kids were all out knife-fighting, drinking lighter fluid, and getting teachers pregnant by looking at them, but it turns out all they want to do is build a Great Gizmos Brush Robot to clean up their pencil shavings.
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8 of 18 Crave UK

Member of Baseball Furies gang

More from Star Image: a member of the Baseball Furies gang from the classic 1979 Walter Hill film The Warriors. Can you dig it?
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9 of 18 Crave UK

Clone trooper of Lego

It's a life-size Star Wars clone trooper made out of Lego. We didn't know whether to nick it or hump it, frankly.
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10 of 18 Crave UK

Lego City Dozer

A Lego City Dozer bulldozes Lego into all three top spots in the building sets category.
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11 of 18 Crave UK

The Spirit

Lurking in the shadows is the Spirit, based on the 2008 film directed by Frank Miller and based on Will Eisner's legendary comic.
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12 of 18 Crave UK

Cobi

Say hello to Cobi, a Polish company following Lego's loss of the patent to its famous studded brick with some altogether more bloodthirsty building sets.
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13 of 18 Preloaded MP4 player

Crave UK

This is a bit more in CNET's gadget wheelhouse. It's a 1GB MP4 player preloaded with content from the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. Cannibal Corpse edition is forthcoming.
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14 of 18 Crave UK

Night vision goggles

Now this is more like it! These night vision goggles from Character Options won a prize as one of the best new toys for 2009.
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15 of 18 Crave UK

Spykee Mini Vox

As did the Spykee Mini Vox robot from Meccano.
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16 of 18 Crave UK

Henry or Dyson

Kids: whether you get a toy Henry or a toy Dyson for the holidays pretty much tells you whether your parents think you're going to university or not.
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17 of 18 Crave UK

Guitar Hero

Hey ho let's go! It's Joey Ramone and Slash, a couple of real-life guitar heroes...
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Old-school robots

Finally, some old-school robots.

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