Hawkin’s Bazaar is a brand new toy shop opened in November in the ILAC Centre. This is a relatively small shop, with a huge range of stuff. Prices range from about €45 down.

From The Natural History Museum come the radio-controlled Black Widow and Tarantula, and hand-controlled aliens and airships. Best of all is possibly a radio-controlled flipping mouse; Let this go in the room and watch your cat go mad! You can also get your own ant colony.

Pet Dreamz are restful and realistic-looking kittens or puppies asleep in their basket. There are also large and small hand puppets of Emu and the Muppets. There is a pig that walks and oinks and a rabbit that hops and shuffles (these could also interest your cat or dog!)

In the art room, you can find: Origami paper art kits; Spiral Draw (like the old spirograph); Stained Glass Colouring Book; Fashion design kit.

The Spacehopper has made a comeback, as have Fisher Prices Television sets and Record Players! You can Make Your Own Monopoly– customize your own board, using a PC and a colour printer and this set.
There is a special 10% discount for schools buying toys for the classroom or nursery.

There’s a section called Child’s Mind Games: True or Bluff; Chatterbox Word Games; Picture Guessing Games, and Charades. There’s also a section of naughty adult games.

Classic Children’s Books are re issued at affordable prices: ‘Alice in Wonderland’; ‘Famous Five’s Survival Guide’, ‘ How to Solve a Mystery’ and ‘Just So’ stories by Rudyard Kipling.

This is an English company which prides itself on bringing back retro toys for today’s children to enjoy.