Skip to main content20 Insect Attack!
We think Flytech intended their
to be an adorable plaything for older kids and their easily excitable fathers, but what this orange-and-white flapping critter is really good at is scaring the bejesus out of your co-workers. Ominously buzzing, making wild dips left and right—in the wrong hands (ours), this is one terrifying toy.
21 Shabby-chic Start Kit
Worried about lead paint? We guarantee you won't find any on Tree Blocks
, a bag of very natural building blocks cut directly from fallen branches, bark and all. They may be a little unrefined, but they're as far as you can get from scary Chinese toy recalls. Plus, they're apparently "cut and smoothed by elves."
22 Countdown, Accessorized
What's the fun in collecting waxy pieces of chocolate or crude drawings as you count down the days to Christ's potlach? Help your tykes increase their collections of plastic doodads with the Playmobil advent calendar
, or its LEGO counterpart
, each of which comes with 25 pieces of a holiday diorama—which will, of course, be immediately converted into an alien space battle.
23 Prepare to be Boarded
We know the whole pirate thing is played out (all the cool kids are dressing like Victorian ringmasters these days), but we couldn't resist one last swashbuckling fling. Come to think of it, you could use this
to bombard the next bunch of peg-legged poseurs you see hobbling down Hawthorne. Avast!
24 Crazy Cute!
Last year we fell in love with Frank, Egg Press' DIY stuffed dog, but now we're experiencing feelings of infidelity over Clauss the Raccoon ($26, Azzurro, 4623 NE Fremont St., 206-8657), a mischevious-looking red-and-brown fella screenprinted on canvas, featuring simple instructions that even the laziest non-crafter can follow. Around our office, he's been met with a unanimous "Omigod he's so adorable snooglewoogleums!" When even writers lose their vocabulary, you know you've got a winner.
25 Toys for Life
Buck the culture of disposability with this beautiful
, available only from
. Designed by a 75-year-old Florentine craftsman and carved from sustainably harvested wood, this is one toy that can be cherished for generations. Bonus: Pull the tab at the back of his head and his nose will grow.
26 American Ingenuity Is Overrated
There are foreign toys, and there are foreign
toys. This repurposed dinosaur doll, imported from a Chinatown in Vietnam, is one of the latter. This hybrid
features a handmade costume over a run-of-the-mill shuffling T-Rex and plays
, the de facto anthem of China's cultural revolution. It must be seen to be believed.
27 Pint-Sized Crafting
Ten years ago we would have sneered at this child-sized
as a tool of the patriarchy, but now that crafting has been embraced as a revolutionary tool for practical feminists, we feel comfortable saying that, dammit, everyone should learn to sew. This attractive and fully functioning kit comes with patterns, materials and a real foot pedal. Sweet.
28 Flat-Pack Playtime
Start your kids on the IKEA lifestyle early with the
, a Dutch-designed portable dollhouse made entirely from recycled cardboard. It's easy to assemble, eco-friendly and sturdy enough to stand up to everything from toddlers to a sudden shower. Load it up with toys and chuck it in the car for a sleepover, or just let your kids carry it around the neighborhood.
29 Eat the Yellow (and Blue, and Red) Snow
Now that generation X has finally gotten around to popping out babies, beloved toys from the '70s and '80s are inevitably beginning to resurface. One we're happy to see return is the
, the cherished ice shaver from 1979 that's probably responsible for millions of dollars in dental work. Let's have the fun all over again!
Gimme More
Cute But Creepy:
Produced by local company
,
are made under the direct supervision of the master of all things creepy and crawly himself.
The Next Beanie Babies?
is a series of fanatically popular figurines—including those from Portland manufacturer UNKL—that come "blind boxed," so discovering what's inside is half the fun.
Ocd Man to the Rescue!
The
comes complete with mini surgical mask and hypoallergenic towelette to clean your hands with before touching him. On second thought, he'd prefer you just didn't take him out of the box at all.
WWeek 2015