From the category archives:

Wooden

HABA Toy Food

February 12, 2009

I’ve always loved toy shopping, even before I had a child. Choosing gifts for nieces and nephews and thinking about what I would have loved (or what I DID love) at their ages gave me a thrill. And I know wasn’t the only adult wishing I could spend an afternoon playing with that […]

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Vilac Toys

November 7, 2008

Vilac is an 80 year old French toy manufacturer making beautiful wooden toys that are described as works of art that are extensions of their creators’ personalities.  The Vilac websites lists shops and online shops carrying their toys.  Additionally, Vilac is sold by baby-and-friends.com in Germany.

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Holztiger wooden toys

October 26, 2008

Holztiger is a German toy company that makes brightly colored, hand-carved, hand-painted animal figurines.  There are hundreds of animals to choose from, many available in varied poses, so your child can have a herd of cows, a clowder of cats, or a gaggle of geese.  There are over a dozen trees, a barnyard, and even […]

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Glueckskaefer wooden puzzles

October 20, 2008

Something else I ran across in Nikolai-Eck during my visit to Leipzig, were Glückskäfer nesting toys.  These are beautiful, German produced, heirloom quality, wooden nesting puzzles.  Glückskäfer has been in business for over 60 years and believes in producing quality over quantity.  For German speakers, they’re available from the Glückskäfer website in Germany.  They’re also […]

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Janoschik Toys

October 14, 2008

Last week, I found the most amazing toys in a religious run shop, Nikolai-Eck, at Nikolaikirchhof in Leipzig (if you’re in the area, definitely pay it a visit). I’ll post about them over the next few days. First up is Janoschik Toys (German site, English site).

These are seriously cute wooden toys in the shapes […]

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The BVS Top Ten Toys of 2008

October 11, 2008

For your playing pleasure, here are the top ten toys of 2008 as judged by the German BVS, Bundesverband des Spielwaren-Einzelhandels (Federal Association of Toy Retailers).  They’re not all available outside of Germany, but most are.  Have fun!

Biscuit the Golden Retriever from Furreal Friends by Hasbro - A surprisingly realistic robotic dog.  $179.99 from HasbroToys in […]

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Not So Good Stuff: Bino Wobbly Stacker

August 12, 2008

I really, really wanted to be able to write a great review for this Czech-produced wooden Wobbly Stacking Pyramid by Bino World of Toys, but that’s not going to be possible.
We bought this from a local furniture store and it was the first stacker I’d seen that I really liked. Unfortunately, after getting it home, […]

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