It's a toy lovers playground at the ExCel exhibition center in London as the 2009 Toy Fair gets underway.

A more cuddly competitor of the classic robot style is the Pembo. Made by US based company Bossa Nova it lays an egg which 'hatches'. It then communicates and plays games with its chick.

Traditional toys and games - particularly those adopting an ethical stance - have not lost their edge.

Model trains in particular are bearing up to the credit crunch with little effort. That's according to Ian Garnham from Leicestershire based train model maker, Backmann Europe. This model offers digital command control so that enthusiasts can control each train individually.

The Toy Fair runs from Wednesday 28th to Saturday 31st January 2009.