Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Handmade Toy Alliance Blog Week: Spotlight on American Toy Co.

Many of our customers will be familiar with the work of Mike Spikes, the owner of American Toy LLC in Corvalis, Oregon. We've sold Mike's toys for at least 10 years, and they've been a favorite all along.

Our favorite is his ping pong catapult, which launches a ping pong ball across a room or down a flight of stairs. We've also heard that it'll launch a variety of other objects including dog biscuits, acorns, and chestnuts. In any case, this is probably the perfect toy for a rainy day. We don't know of a better way to burn off a whole bunch of energy than running up and down a flight of stairs shooting ping pong balls into a cardboard box and retrieving them.

Another favorite is the basketball free throw toy, which requires just the right amount of pressure on the wooden spring to land the ball in the hoop. It's one game that a 6 year old can consistently beat an adult at.

Like all the members of the Handmade Toy Alliance, Mike has been forced to do extra testing and labeling because of the sins of big toy companies like Mattel who outsource their production to China. To us, his toys have always been safe and incredibly fun and we're hoping to carry them for years to come.

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