The Toy Guru's Best of the Best:-
Sit and Ride Toy age 1-3yrs : Wheely Bug by Hippychick
Baby Walker: age 9 months - 18months : Walker by Pintoy
Wooden Xylophone 12 mths - Neo Xylophone - Wonderworld toys
Wooden Pullalong - 1-2 years Pullalong Alligator by Plan Toy
Simple Matching Toy - Pop Up Toy 12mths+ by Galt
Plan Toys Change Their Range
One of the big surprises for me at the Nuremberg Toy fair was the Plan Toy stand with a lot of their existing products changing as they have started to use a new green manufacturing technique, which looks like compressed wood chippings moulded into shape. This has however fundamentally changed the look and feel of some of their classic designs.
The new version of the Dancing Alligator:
The old version:
The new version of the Dancing Alligator:
But what the pictures don't show is somehow the old version just feels nicer, you can feel the lovely quality of the rubbewood and it looks and plays like a real wooden toy. The new version is more like a moulded plastic toy and the colour seems more muted. I'm not convinced that such a change was necessary as rubberwood is a very sustainable material anyway. Maybe the new styled products will grow on me, but just in case I'm off to buy the classic versions while my local toy shop still has them.
As I find out more about the process used I will report back.
So I'm back from all the toy shows and first day back at work. So were the shows any good? Well my favourite this year was the London Toy fair. A really nice atmosphere and more importantly some new exciting toy companies. I would go as far to say that for the first time in many years there seems to be a few brand new companies that are offering the toy trade something genuinely different.
Christmas Shopping
Traditionally in the UK Christmas shopping really gets started after the Fireworks around the 5th November. Look out for some great Christmas windows at your local independent toy shop if you are lucky enough to still have one!
I'm going to try to do all my shopping this year at my local independents supporting my local towns.
I'm going to try to do all my shopping this year at my local independents supporting my local towns.
The Best Wood for Toys?
Not all wood is equal when it comes to making toys and my favourite is rubberwood. It's amazing how may really great toys are made from this material it just seems am ideal choice when making a wooden toy.
Originally cultivated for the latex sap the tree produces they are felled after about 30 years (when their yield of latex naturally reduces) and new trees planted. The wood from the tree is a tight grained hardwood that is just perfect for making toys with. Since these trees are not felled specifically for timber use but are part of a maintained forestry program they are seen as an ecologically sound choice of wood for use in manufacturung. The wood is durable, hard to splinter, easy to work with and ages well.
So where is it grown? In short the best quality rubberwood is harvested in Thailand, so if you see a toy made in Thailand from rubberwood it's a good indication it may be worth taking a closer look.
Originally cultivated for the latex sap the tree produces they are felled after about 30 years (when their yield of latex naturally reduces) and new trees planted. The wood from the tree is a tight grained hardwood that is just perfect for making toys with. Since these trees are not felled specifically for timber use but are part of a maintained forestry program they are seen as an ecologically sound choice of wood for use in manufacturung. The wood is durable, hard to splinter, easy to work with and ages well.
So where is it grown? In short the best quality rubberwood is harvested in Thailand, so if you see a toy made in Thailand from rubberwood it's a good indication it may be worth taking a closer look.
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