July 2010 New Specialty Toys — Construction

Designed to be compatible with other popular brands of building toys, Cobi's snap-together building bricks are a familiar classic. Kids can build sturdy structures from simple walls to complex designs that will hold together through play and manipulation. The 200-piece set contains plenty of material to stimulate children's imaginations and motor skills.
— Picayune Toys in Dunwoody, Ga., is selling 50 to 75 Cobi sets per month, Owner Rebecca Goblish told TDmonthly in April 2010. Nathan McKelvey, manager of Toy Castle in Jonesboro, Ark., mentioned that the blocks were a hit for the 2009 holidays.
— Christine Osborne, co-owner of Wonder Works in Charleston, S.C. said that COBI building sets were a best-selling construction toy in her store when TDmonthly interviewed her in late Spring 2011.
— Want this? As of 05/10/2011, this product was available for purchase at Wonder Works

The intelligent design of this product uses bamboo rings to form very unique building blocks. The distinct angles of the bamboo rings combined with textile edges that act as "grips" create endless possibilities for building exciting shapes and structures. It includes 24 angular bamboo rings and an instruction guide. Hape International Marketing Manager Robin Lehnert told TDmonthly, "The eco-friendly activity helps children develop a sense of spatial awareness, geometry and hand-eye coordination." Launch date: July 2010.

Children start by joining the puzzle bases together and then twist the shapes on the appropriate post. Children can make up their own way to play this stacking and sorting activity that triples as a puzzle, too. Designed with solid baltic birch bases, the Creative Peg Puzzle posts have elasticized bases in case a child falls onto the post. Multiple bases allow for more than one child to play at the same time. Launch date: February 2010.