Automoblox cars
If you have a toddler or youngster that is really into cars, we suggest you check out the Automoblox line of cars.
These things represent the culmination of a nice little story - a young college student designs a wooden car for a school project. Student goes to work for Fortune 100 company, learns about product development. Student becomes entreprenuer and the Automoblox company is launched. The first (project) car was made up of a a few blocks that were attached together via wooden dowels. The idea was to combine high quality wooden blocks that could be attached together with a concept all kids love - the toy car. It’s a great idea and the secret is in the care with which the idea was executed. Automobox has now acquired a long line of good reviews and loyal customers.
My wife and I bought a couple of these cars from Amazon when our son was just about two. He was a bit young for them then, but he since has really grown into them. He loves taking them apart and putting them back together. Of course, he loves racing them even more. And we’re happy the folks at Automobox took the time to design them with care - for example, the rubber “tires” not only make the car move fast along our wood floors, they also don’t damage the floors. Can’t argue with that combination.
The cars are very sturdy, just as everyone says and there aren’t any sharp edges. If you have very small children, who like to put everything in their mouths, you might want to watch out a bit for the plastic people, but given their size, it’s a minor concern. BTW, the people are kind of fun - they each have different shapes and fit into the car a different way. One minor complexity with some of the cars is that you have to make sure the people are facing forwards in order for everything to come together nicely. But our 2-3 year old grew into that and we saw it as a nice learning opportunity.
As far as the differences between the cars, I think that’s really only of importance if you have an older young child playing with them (i.e., K through 2nd grade or something). Toddlers don’t really appreciate the differences and in fact they are more likely to be interested in the slightly larger cars. What’s fun about buying at least two is that you can mix and match some of the pieces and create totally new cars. Kind of like Legos, with less pieces, less freedom, but more practicality for the younger child.
Check them out online and read the reviews over at Amazon
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January 8th, 2009 14:30
I am a huge fan of automoblox as well. I love the concept and quality. All three of my kids love the cars and they even “trade” the parts around which makes for a good lesson on sharing.