WTF is that line in the advert? It sounds like it's saying "There's millions of debris all under one roof".

Ever since that advert began I've not been able to work out WTF that line is supposed to be.

Oddly, his mum ran over and apologised by saying 'Oh, he does this all the time'. Buh?

I haven't been into one for years, but the one in Chester had quite a good Lego collection when I was little. I loved going there, but I always left empty-handed

edit: And yay! I saw the Coca Cola ad the other day, but I haven't seen the Toys R Us one yet. I'll look out for it. Christmas spirit GET!

Toys R Us it great! I remember the first time one opened near me, I was only about four. It's still a fun place to go if you're young at heart, to admire/cringe at modern toys.

Also, Hamley's? Fucking dump. Worked there for all of five days (two or which were training), it's a sweatshop.

Perkies is correct! As a child, it was a place of magic and wonder. It'd be easy to be cynical about it now but I try to enjoy it if I wind up in there. I remember looking at the Lego and being really excited.

I don't think they really had Toys R Us when I was a kid. We did have Beatties, though. It was awesome, having as it did a huge section of Tamiya RC cars and masses of Airfix, Scalextric etc.

Was there another toy shop called Green Giant or something?

No, that's sweetcorn.

Later in life, I was obsessed with Lego and got a great police station and pirate island.

I literally can't wait till Zioette is old enough for Lego. She's going to be getting lots of it.

Ha - you can still get old Beatties RC kit bags on ebay.

Baba Z has Duplo. How old is Zioette?

History

The retail company Era Group plc owned Beatties by the end of its days as a retailer.[2] By the late 1990s Beatties had 60 stores, in locations including the MetroCentre, Gateshead. The company had an e-commerce website.[3] Due to the increase in children's video games, the model chain began to run into financial trouble.

On 14 March 2001 the company was placed into administration by its parent company ERA Group.[4] Alan Bloom and Chris Hill, partners at Ernst & Young, were appointed as joint administrative receivers by Barclays Bank, at the request of Era. The shares of Era Group, which Beatties made up the largest part of, were suspended from the AIM list on 27 February 2001.[5] In October 1999 some stores began to close.[6] In July 2000 34 of the 60 stores were closed, and Era Group attempted to raise £5m through a share issue to help pay creditors.[7] In March 2001, 13 of the remaining stores were sold to turnaround specialists Hilco, and the final 13 stores were closed, at the cost of more than 100 jobs.[7] Modelzone has since acquired many of the former Beatties stores. A museum-quality collection of heritage transport toys called "The Beatties Collection" was auctioned by Phillips with a reserve price of around £50,000.

Best thing about kids is buying them Lego.

And Meccano. It doesn't get the same media coverage as Lego, but Meccano is great for teaching kids how to use screwdrivers and spanners and to learn the beginnings of mechanics.

I literally can't wait

Hell yeah. Although modern Meccano is not quite as good as the old stuff. Still, the plastic meccano is a good intro.

How does that work? Medically induced coma?

Neither's modern Lego, to be fair. It's all bespoke, moulded crap, and has been falling down that spiral since I was a kid.

Yes, exactly that.

Zioette is 18 months old, so I'd have thought even Duplo may need to wait at least another six months or so.

Mine are 4ish and 2 1/2 ish, and have Lego - Second Born finds it a bit fiddly, but First Born loves it. Couldn't be bothered with having Duplo as well - figure Second Born will learn quickly.

I have all my old Castle Lego up in the spare room - am commencing a mighty fortress.

Neither's modern Lego, to be fair. It's all bespoke, moulded crap, and has been falling down that spiral since I was a kid.

Yeah, maybe. Buy her some Mega bloks in the meantime then.

Neither's modern Lego, to be fair. It's all bespoke, moulded crap, and has been falling down that spiral since I was a kid.

Space Lego is where it's at.