1985

Spaceflag, hand-held electronic toy, draws text and pictures in the air using persistance of vision. Took out provisional patent application, then discovered that Ideal Toy Corp had thought of it before me.. You can now buy clocks and other items that work on this principal. The 8748 single chip micro that powers this prototype lights up like a bulb for a few seconds if you put the chip in the wrong way round... I discovered... but only does it once ;)

1975

Shoot, hand-held electronic game, first thing I ever made with chips, apart from a buttie. Based on a magazine article, but with modifications. All my own metalwork! Used power hungry 74 series TTL chips, used to run on mini lead-acid (gel electrolyte) batteries fitted behind the Vero board.

1974

Yip, I was so keen to make video games I made one out of wood! Ok.. it's not really a video game... it's an arcade game - in the grand tradition of the Edwardian sea-side arcade. The wooden handle (top left) controls an electric motor that turns the maze-wheel clock and anti-clockwise, enabling steel balls to be guided, by gravity, through the maze... The scoring and resetting mechanism (bottom left) was effectively the first computer I ever made. Built with ex-Post Office latching relays, and bits of a London Transport ticket machine, it counted up the number of times you went through a 'Score!', then payed out a proportional number of pennies if you made it to 'Home'. Sound effects include a doorbell, and a fire alarm siren. Note the 'Scalextric Transformer' power unit (bottom right)!

1965 (age 5)

Sandy's home-made flick book. The story seems to involve a sheep meeting an egg, a walk past some lamp-posts, and an indian warrior with a bow and arrow.