Writer bringing old toys to book

Dec 31 2007 by Phil Key, Liverpool Daily Post

STEVE BERRY admits that his spare room is full of toys and games. He is aged 36. And married.

The Liverpool-born writer is one of those people who just can’t throw anything away.

The result is that he has become one of Britain’s leading nostalgia experts and his first book, TV Cream Toys, has just been published.

That curious title is thanks to the nostalgia website www.tv. cream.org, to which Berry is a leading contributor and which has given its name to his first book, one that details around 140 toys from the past.

“These are the ones that had us wide-eyed with anticipation, tearing down the stairs at five in the morning on Christmas Day,” he says.

He suggests Christmas wish lists back then came from catalogues like Littlewoods, Kays and Great Universal, rather than today’s internet.

Berry has compiled a selection of toys that range from the early 20th century (Monopoly and Hornby trains) to comparative newcomers like Domino Rally (1981) and Trivial Pursuit (1982).

Many of the olds toys are still going, like Scrabble (1948) and the Spacehopper (1968).

Berry and his team take a slightly wry look at all these toys and games that were once so much coveted.

TV CREAM Toys is published by Friday Books, at £12.99.