February 2009 New Specialty Toys — Wooden Toys

The Vamos Kids product line is designed to introduce the Spanish language to toddlers and preschoolers through the use of toys and audio CDs while interacting with a parent. Launch date: November 2008.

Doodles™ are small wooden starter toys that are designed based on the vehicles as a child would imagine them. There are 8 models available including a plane, copter, tractor, pickup, road grader, bulldozer, car and a train engine. All moving parts are glued and pressure fit for durability and child safety.

Part of a collection designed to introduce children to Spanish in a fun way, this set of five vehicles (car, truck, airplane, boat and bus) bearing their names in Spanish as well as the phonetic pronunciation. It also comes with a CD that has the pronunciation and activity phrases. Launch date: 2009.

Healthy breakfast, refreshing snack-time treat? Whatever the occasion, kids can cut into this 17 piece set of bright colored wood fruits, such as kiwis, oranges and a big slice of melon. Velcro rounds between the segments serve the dual purpose of holding the uncut fruit together and creating a satisfying crunch sound as the included wooden knife slices right through. It comes with a wooden crate in which to store the food.
― “Anything Melissa & Doug. Play food is probably the best,” Linda Hanzelko, owner of Timmy's Toy Chest in Lake Mary, Fla., told TDmonthly regarding best-selling wooden toys.
― “All wooden cutting food from Melissa & Doug” sells well, added William Bingham, owner of Firefly Toy Shop in Milford, Pa.
― Seven of 56 retailers surveyed said cutting food was a top-selling wooden toy.

This 24-piece all-wood kit features a plethora of nails, screws, nuts, bolts and panels for preschoolers to pretend-play all kinds of building and repair projects. The primary-colored tote serves as tidy storage and a pounding bench, making it easy to transport the toolbox to wherever work might need to be done.
― “Melissa & Doug sells well,” Amy Akin, manager of Giggles for Kids in Suwanee, Ga., told TDmonthly when asked about wooden toys.
― “The quality of the product is so good, and the pricing,” said Sue Banducci, co-owner of Games Unlimited in Danville, Calif., in early 2009.

A simple rolling push toy, the Walk N Roll features an elegant, sturdy structure and brightly colored bars that form the rolling barrel. Inside, a loose ball rattles against the interior panels as a toddler pushes, or pulls, the toy along with her first steps. The Walk N Roll is made of rubber wood, a sustainable resource, and non-toxic, vegetable-based inks.
― “Plan toys, probably specifically their Walk N Roll,” Jeff Oslick, owner of The Enchanted Toy Store in Fullerton, Calif., told TDmonthly of his store’s best-selling wooden items.
― “We carry a lot of their line,” added Teneen Dobbs, owner of Kits and Kaboodle in Carmel, Ind.
― Twenty percent of 56 retailers named Plan Toys as their best-selling line of wooden toys in early 2009.

In this unique puzzle, players must solve 3 challenges each one has multiple solutions. Using the 16 scenery tiles of a sinuous and complex river, the player must be part of the legendary Tautoniac raft race. Arrange the scenery tiles and bring the meanders of the TAUTON River to life while setting the rafts in the right direction. The player who finds the highest number of solutions of all the challenges wins. Tauton may be played alone, or in a competitive mode with family and friends.

In this amazing puzzle, players must solve one challenge: create KEFER™ serpent body as a continuous, unbroken path. Player must seek for different solutions, making sure to keep unbroken the red and yellow bands that go along the serpent body. This challenge has multiple solutions. The player who finds the highest number of solutions wins. Kefer may be played alone, or in a competitive mode with family and friends.

In this maze, players must solve 8 challenges. Each challenge has multiple solutions. The maze consists of a single pathway that forms four concentric circles, bounded by mobile walls, surrounding the center. The player who finds the highest number of solutions on all the challenges wins. NOXOS™ may be played alone, or in a competitive mode with family and friends.

Built-in easy-to-grip handle makes this 6" in diameter, natural-finish wood tambourine easy to play.

Little mice need players' help to push their pieces of cheese into their mouse holes. But participants must watch out for the cat! To play the game, players try to flick a mouse token on the game board so it hits and propels one or more cheese tokens into a mouse hole. The first team of mice to get all its cheese through the mouse holes is the winner. This wooden game is made in Canada. Launch date: 2009.

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.