Remember the old days?
Do you still have nostalgic memories of those classic wooden toys? The older generation of Parents and Grandparents are behind a new resurgence in classic toys and traditional wooden toys. It seems that those looking to recapture some of the magic of playing with a doll's house, rocking horse or building blocks, are reliving their childhoods through their children and grandchildren.
At John Lewis department store sales of wooden toys are up 24 percent on the previous year. In the run up to christmas a a wooden train set costing £20 was sold every 6 minutes. While Hamleys toy store best sellers included a tub of wooden building blocks at £14.99 and a traditional rocking horse costing nearly £1,500!
Gwyneth Dear spokeswoman from the National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries says "younger children love the tactility of wooden toys. They are sustainable, durable and can be passed down through the generations".
Even Tesco now stocks wooden train sets, a spokesman for the chain said "they are proving to be very popular".
Sadly, plastic toys are still more popular than traditional wooden toys. In 2007 Britain imported 357 tons of rubber, plastic and textile toys from China in comparison to only 1.3 tons of wooden toys. That said, those wooden toys will long outlast their plastic counterparts, and in these "eco-friendly" times wood is far more sustainable and completely biodegradable!
Our source at The Entertainer chain of toy shops, Gary Grant said: "They are never going to become a mass-market best seller. They are just too niche. Grandparents love to splash out on wooden toys, but that doesn't mean the kids want it." Thats not to say that those buying these lovely wooden toys aren't making a prudent investment by creating the heirlooms of the future of course.
Finance director Andy King of John Crane, a manufacturer that specialises in wooden toys, says "This market will continue to do well - there are sufficient numbers of people who earn enough and want to buy something just like they had as a child."
So go on, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge and indulge yourself in that bygone age and invest in some "proper wooden toys" for your young ones.
Tags: building blocks, rocking horse, Toys, traditional, Wood, Wooden Toys