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

Crave picked some of the best pictures from the London Toy Fair, including action figures, gadgets and games. That's action figures, not dolls, okay?

Richard Trenholm

Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.

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Richard Trenholm

Feb. 2, 2009 10:57 a.m. PT

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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 loved the chunky AT-AT from Hasbro's cutesy Star Wars: Galactic Heroes range.

Other top secret kit 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, okay?
** If they can't stand on their own, they're dolls. If they can stand on their own, they're action figures.
*** Okay fine, they're dolls. Now go and look at our photos!

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

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...And some fake ones. Sigh.

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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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As did the Spykee Mini Vox robot from Meccano.

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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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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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Here we go: bit of class. A Lego City Dozer bulldozes Lego into all three top spots in the building sets category.

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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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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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This is a Monchichi. They may look cute but they'll have your finger off if you're not careful.

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

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Good to see kids' toys are keeping with the times and teaching life skills at the same time, with this George Foreman branded grill showing kids how to cure a hangover.

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Kids: whether you get a toy Henry or a toy Dyson for Christmas pretty much tells you whether your parents think you're going to university or not.

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This is a bit more in Crave's gadget wheelhouse. It's a 1GB MP4 player pre-loaded with content from the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. The Cannibal Corpse edition is forthcoming. We don't know what a Miley Cyrus is.

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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.