Category archive: toys

September 9, 2004

Painted "Wood" Toycart from Target

The NY Times calls this a wood toy cart; the Target website description is "wood and wood composite," so I'm sure it's safe to gnaw on. And it won't outgas any kind of bonding chemicals, at least not any more...
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September 6, 2004

Fetopia, home of Cletus the Fetus

I can't believe I haven't posted this before. Fetopia is not only the home of the original Cletus the Fetus, but of a small, small world of feti, all handmade from sculpey clay and ready for...well, I bought about twenty...
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August 26, 2004

Villa Sibi, an amazing Miesian Dollhouse

Sirch is a woodworking family from Germany with a 400-year history. The current Sirch, Wolfgang, has teamed with Christof Bitzer to design an excellent range of childrens' toys and furniture (more of that later). Their latest creation is the Villa...
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August 25, 2004

Like A Bike, extreme retro bike from Germany

While Italians are poppin' out futuristic stroller/trikes instead of babies, designers in Europe's other rapidly aging country, Germany, are waxing mod-nostalgic. One result: LikeABike, a sleek, pared down reinterpretation of one of the earliest bicycles, the 1817 Draisienne (named after...
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OKO Trike, Like a Stroller

They sure are burning through the kids product R&D money in Europe these days, even in countries with no kids. The OKO Trike is from Italy, the product of extensive research into "child ergonomics." That explains the easy on/off access,...
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August 23, 2004

Infant software (and hardware)

Babysmash is a shareware program at kidsdomain.com for infants and toddlers which flashes colors and shapes on your computer screen with each slap of the keyboard. Your actual system is locked and protected, however, by certain keystrokes that they'll have...
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August 15, 2004

Takashi Murakami Plush Flowers

These limited production plush toy flowers are by the contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, and are similar to the designs he made for the jellybean-colored Louis Vuitton bags so popular with the ladies these days. Considering that an authentic purse can...
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August 14, 2004

Awww, Fisher-Price Loving Family Dad

Normally, I would think this is too cutesy sweet to mention, but remember, I just got back from Japan, where literally Every. Single. Company. has a cuddly cute Hello Kitty-esque mascot. Right now, a Fisher-Price Loving Family� Dad & Baby...
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July 22, 2004

Handmade Blanket, Stuff from Guatemala

Thomas Heaton, 44, a single United Methodist pastor in Nashville, Ind., has been making rice and beans for Sunday supper since adopting his son Manuel, 9, in Guatemala five years ago. (Because Guatemala is one of the few countries that...
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July 15, 2004

Cuboro: a cool toy, too small for babies

Cuboro is a beatiful-looking game/system from Switzerland. You build intricate marble trails using 5cm wood cubes with various holes and channels cut into them. The birch cubes seem as Swiss-engineered as a, um, Swiss watch. I don't know how young...
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July 12, 2004

Russian Dancer Finger Puppets

Depending on how big your hands have grown since you were ten, you may have to buy your Russian Dancer hats by the pound instead of by the can. Either way, they also seem like perfectly sized choke hazards....
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July 9, 2004

Nursery 'Home Theaters' from Japan

Ahh, Japan. I'm getting psyched up to take the kid to visit my old stomping grounds by reading up on Japanese baby gear, practicalities, etc. Which is how I came across these nursery products for putting the kid to sleep...
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June 27, 2004

Other Religious Finger Puppets

Finger puppets? They're not just for Hindus anymore. A beautiful Sunday morning seems like the right time to point out [sic] the finger puppets of other faiths: Nativity Scene finger puppets for six-fingered Christians: "Set of 6 plush Nativity Finger...
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Ikea Machine-Washable Farm

Yesterday we went over the river and through the woods (lots of woods) to Grandma's house, where the kid found this fabric farm from Ikea waiting for her. The animals are all very grabbable--and chewable--and machine-washable. And the whole brood...
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June 15, 2004

Hindu Finger Puppets

You don't have to be Hindu--and neither does your kid--to appreciate these finger puppet representations of the Hindu gods Brahma, Ganesha, Garuda and Kali. My brother-in-law gave these to us for Christmas (pre-kid. he's an artist.), and I think they'll...
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Giant Microbe Plush Toys

Ben Macneil reminded me* of Giant Microbes, plush toy versions of disease-causing germs and viruses. This one here is the rhinovirus, which causes colds. The collection runs from the benign (halitosis, athlete's foot) to the calamitous (ebola and the black...
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June 5, 2004

Ugly Dolls

I've been meaning to post about Ugly Dolls for a while. We just got a couple for a friend's kid's first birthday, and they're really soft and cuddly. But the main thing they've got going for them is they're not...
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May 31, 2004

A Surprisingly Favorite Toy: Lamaze Cube

Some friends with a 4-month old kid recommended we get this silly-looking Lamaze Multi-Sensory Clutch Cube; their kid totally loved it, they said, it's by far his favorite toy. Well, we got one, and our kid loves it. At first,...
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May 19, 2004

Three Centuries of Kids Gear at the Wadsworth Atheneum

So sue me. It turns out I did not invent fatherhood, and Daddy Types is not the first search for gear for kids. Kid Size: The Material World of Childhood is an exhibit at the Wadsworth Atheneum that explores three...
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April 24, 2004

Organic Toys for Earth Day

[Post delayed a couple of days due to wild Earth Day revelry] A friend gave the kid this eco-friendly stuffed puppy, handmade in Vermont from unbleached, undyed, organic cotton by a company called Peace Toys. They're the original manufacturer of...
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