Dino and his friends are true ride-along pals. “All of our items are designed in England,” President Rick Tomasco of Applepie Toy Distribution told TDmonthly, “and the design team over there is constantly working on really neat stuff to offer to the U.S. market.” Launch date: April 2007.

Made of rubber wood from Thailand, Pin Toys Fire Station and Accessories will provide hours of imagnative play for children. The Fire Station is 25" x 12" x 22" and comes with four lockers, a control console, a swivel chair, a satellite dish, a bunk bed, a round table, two chairs and a shelf unit, as well as a fire pole between floors. It provides imaginative play for pre-schoolers, with plenty of real-life accessories to set up and manipulate. Also available are the fire truck, firefighter and accessories used by firefighters. This heirloom-quality toy is eco-friendly. Launch date: June 2008.

The dog’s body is split into three sections, leading his body to wiggle when he is pulled. The toy rolls along on four wheels and comes with a red leash around his neck.
— “Applepie Toy’s Pull-Along Pals,” Jacob Roehl, manager of Necker’s in Simsbury, Conn., told TDmonthly in March 2008, when asked to name the best-selling infant and toddler toy in his store. Roehl said his store sells approximately 15 of these per month.
— In March 2008, two of 41 retailers singled out wooden pull toys as their best-selling infant and toddler products.
— The Applepie Toy pull-along line includes other animals, such as a cat, a duck and other dog breeds.