January 2009 New Specialty Toys — Wooden Toys

Bagazoo is a wonderful game for the whole family and an ideal game for children's parties. Eight different games can be played with the Bagazoo. It received a 2008 iParenting Media Award. "Bagazoo is set up to provide more opportunities to play than a normal bean bag toss game. It provides more challenge for the older children, while still accommodating the very young ones," Mary Pepin, project manager for Bojeux, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Gobblet Gobblers utilizes the awesome strategy of Gobblet and adds personality and character to the game. Players pick their Gobblers family and line up three in a row to win the game. The Gobblers have a strong appetite and can gobble up smaller Gobblers. These cute little characters will test strategy and stimulate memory. The all-wooden game has a bright, distinctive design and is earth friendly. "We plant two trees for every tree used in creating our games," Adeline Bertrix, sales manager for Blue Orange Games, told TDmonthly. Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy 2009. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

Where to Buy: Poopsie's

This natural version of the Classic Skwish toy is made from rubberwood and has a water-based, nontoxic finish. It measures 5.5" high. Launch date: January 2009.

The stylish A-9S features a speedster body and driving lights set lower than on the standard A9. The beech wood construction is complemented by shiny black wheels and white molded components that are interchangeable with other Automoblox designs.

The Eco range is part of Wonderworld's collection of products designed to educate children on the importance of recycling, saving energy, and being friendly to the environment. The Eco House wooden doll house comes complete with room settings and a family. Themes include recycling, planting trees, using solar panels, bicycling and collecting rain water. All accessories are included. "Wonderworld uses only water-based paint for our wooden toys so [as] to minimize child exposure to chemicals," President Jason Cohen of Smart Gear told TDmonthly. "Wonderworld, as a strong advocate of protecting the environment, insists on using only rubber-wood that is of replenishable source and [is] widely accepted throughout the world as the environment-friendly material." Launch date: November 2008.

Produced in the same contemporary style as our best selling Boikido blocks, these 10 Rainbow Cubes are adorned with colorful numbers and letters as well as whimsical animals. Exposing your child to counting and the alphabet, these cubes can be stacked up high, used to build, or inserted one into another while developing spatial and motor skills, too. Tested to meet European and U.S. safety standards.

This handcrafted toy box is available in three colors: natural oak, dark cherry and espresso. The child's name is laser engraved into the front panel for a beautiful effect. The customer also has an option to add a solid aromatic cedar base to the chest for a cedar chest application. The customer can choose from countless designs and font options. This toy chest comes with two lid supports for safety. "Nobody on the planet personalizes toy boxes like we do," President Bob Beck of Wood Creations told TDmonthly. Launch date: 1999.

These colorful wooden blocks, featuring all sorts of creatures from both land and sea, stack up to almost 3'. Package size is 5.75" x 5.75" x 5.7".
— “Melissa & Doug are phenomenal. They have great margins for volumes and are supportive. I wish we had five more of them,” Fred Meyer, owner of Meyer’s Toy World in Battle Creek, Mich., told TDmonthly in late 2008 when naming the company one of his favorite vendors. Forty-eight percent of 52 retailers surveyed praised Melissa & Doug as a favorite supplier.

Each yoyo from One-of-a-Kind Yo-Yo has its own character. The yoyos are made with various sustainably harvested woods from Wisconsin. The wood is carefully selected, hand cut, meticulously sanded, and dipped in a clear lacquer, then assembled with the utmost care. The professional yoyo strings are 100-percent cotton. Each yoyo measures approximately 2" across. Before leaving the shop for the toy store, each yo-yo must pass rigorous testing by the maker to insure that the consumer receives a quality product that works like a charm. Launch date: 2000.

From the company's traditional collection of wooden blocks made in the USA, this set features 68 blocks in 12 shapes: 10 units, 10 half units, 10 half pillars, eight pillars, six columns, 4 double pillars, four Roman arches, four half circles, four small triangles, four double flats, two roof boards and two double units.
— “They don’t require minimums,” said Peg Scholtes, owner of Capitol Kids in Madison, Wis., when naming BEKA as a preferred vendor in fall 2008. Two other retailers, out of 52, also listed the company as a favorite.

Six different designs are available for these running animals. Some designs include a pig, a dog, and a ladybug.

The hottest European trend for kids has arrived in the USA. The immensely popular Kiddimoto balance bikes have the unique look of real motorcycles and are hand crafted of 100-percent birch plywood. Kiddimoto bikes do not have pedals or training wheels; therefore children learn to balance and steer very quickly, improving motor skills, increasing strength, and developing confidence on two wheels earlier than they have been able to ever before. "Our unique, British-designed wooden balance bicycles look like real motorcycles," Liz Roth, for Kiddimoto USA, distributed by Rocat LLC, told TDmonthly. Awards won include a 2007 Practical Pre-School Award, a 2007 Right Start Best Toy Award, a 2006 Hamleys Toy Award and a 2005 Baby Gear Gold Award. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

Designed for children ages 1 1/2 and up, this ride-on made of birch plywood features quiet wheels and encourages toddlers to use their own leg power to scoot along. MSRP is in the range of $180 to $200.

Kids can rock the house with this simple rocker solution that epitomizes “play potential." It can be used as a speeding motorcycle, a galloping horse or even a balance beam. The open-ended design allows kids to bring their imagination to life and create an experience all their own. Its large size allows for two kids to grab a hold and take off. It is constructed from durable molded ply as strong as the log that inspired it. It's a "new-school version of an old-school classic ... the teeter totter," General Manager Matt Genova of 10 Grain told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2007.

This colorful, handcrafted clock features a different removable shape for each hour and also has movable hands. It measures 9" x 12" x 2".

This wooden castle includes 26 pieces, featuring three knights, a king and queen, a working drawbridge and rope ladders. Launch date: 2008.

This set of five colorful pieces is carved from a single block of European hardwood, so the sections align perfectly with one another. It features non-toxic, water-based stains and measures 6.75" H x 4.5" W. A mini version (MSRP: $15.90) is available also and measures 4" H x 3" W.

This colorful pull-along features wooden construction with pieces that fit into the shape cut-outs on the trailer. A doll or stuffed animal can ride along in the cab. It measures 13.7" x 7.7" x 9.5".

This wooden puzzle consists of 16 cubes that can be arranged to feature colorful images of six different farm animals. Each puzzle includes a border designed to help kids as they're assembling each puzzle.
— Four of 32 retailers mentioned Melissa & Doug when asked by TDmonthly about their anticipated best-selling toys for the holiday season in October 2008.

Strategy skills get stepped up a notch when space runs out on the board. The game continues on top of the previously played pieces. Following specific layering laws, each player tries to cover up their opponent's pieces. In the end, the more exposed player comes out the winner. It's "a strategy game that's fun for the whole family," Jackie Aubut, director of sales for Family Games, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 20, 2008.

This set includes 16 hard maple blocks that measure 1.75" and can collectively be used to spell more than 350 words. Each unfinished block features a letter, and its background has a detailed, laser-designed image of an object that begins with that letter — S for snowflake, for example. Launch date: 2008.

This natural wooden bench includes 12 maple blocks in four shapes — circle, square, rectangle, triangle — that fit into the labeled cutouts of the bench, which measures 4" H x 4" W  x 6 3/4" L. The bench is made of hard maple and comes unfinished. Launch date: 2008.

Munipals' first train and track set is a great starter set for any subway fan. The set comprises two 42 Street Shuttle cars and 19 track pieces, enough to build ovals, loops, and straight shuttle runs over 6' long. Being the only IRT shuttle in the system, the real 42 Street Shuttle carries nearly a quarter million people every week. It runs on tracks only 20' beneath the street, with each of the three shuttle trains making an average of 360 runs each day.

The 1-Train runs from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, all the way to the South Ferry at the southern tip of Manhattan. This Broadway/7 Av Local 1-Train is based on the R-62 model. Features a solid hardwood upper body with magnetic connectors to play on all standard wooden railway tracks. 4-inches long. Safe, sturdy and fun for ages 3 and older.