Wooden Toy Thank you, Griff, for posting my request, and thank you to all the nicefolks who replied. Your suggestions were quite helpful.Now that I am no longer read-only on this group, I gots more questions:1. Can anyone recommend books or videos about period wooden toys? Patterns, history, materials & methods used in construction, games kids played with the toys. Please English or Dutch text only--sorry to say I am as yet completely ignorant about the languages my fledgeling personna speaks! 2. Name question: A frequent construction in (sca) names seems to be "ap" or "ni" in the middle, about where I'd expect a "van" or "von"--does it mean the same thing? Are there customs or restrictions on using such a designation? Obviously I shouldn't bill myself as "" but would it step on any toes (or sound totally stoopid) if I used "Erin Ciaira ni Erlenholt"? And what is name registration? Does my hubby's personna have to have the same last name? Finally: what's the guidelines for a newbie to use a personna at the second event they've attended?3. One response to Griff's posting of my personna question suggested I consider what kind of clothes I can make. So, where can I buy good used sca clothing? :-) If the shopping bag I started last week comes out right I might try something like that layered tunic effect, especially if it comes in a Very Easy Vogue pattern... Last year I mostly made a dress with a pieced-together pattern. My dressmaker friend was even able to salvage it for me! Or is there anyone out there who teaches how to sew these things?Thank you!Robin Rosenbaum-Hilp, atka (also tentatively known as) Erin Ciaira ni ErlenholtUse rosenrob@ccm.hf.intel.com; the "reply-to" address won't work just Click Here to see our complete catalog. All Wooden Toyswas attempting to find an educational toy for my nephew this Christmas. . . .I visited the local Toys R Us and other places in the malls, etc., and muchto my dismay I find the shelves quite bare of educational toys--at leastas compared to the ones which were available in my day.The telescopeswere flimsy and expensive. The chemistry sets were pretty simplistic. Icouldn't find any electronic sets that in anyway compared with what Iused to have as a boy! --I had this nifty set in which each of the electroniccomponents was encased in a plastic block with a magnetic base and a schematic of the component diagrammed on the top. Each of the four othersides (or whatever was appropriate, depending on the component) hadmetal contacts; each plastic block had a magnet in its base, and you"built" a circuit by combining each of the components in the correct pattern on ametal sheet. When you were finished you had a working radio or whatever, andyou were staring at the schematic diagram of it, as represented by thetop of the blocks! What fun! And boy did I learn a lot about electronicsfrom it --But I couldn't find anything like that anywhere--not even close. The electronic sets were all made out of cheapcardboard and were awkward, clumsy, and otherwise unsatisfactory.1: have you all noticed a decline in the availability of educational toysin recent years? No wonder our educational system is in such a decline (thisis one small part of it).2. Do any of you know of any chains or catalogs I can send for from which contain a robust selection of educational toys?Even Edmund Scientific's selection seems to have become quite diluted in recent years. And the storeswhich I did find which specialized in educational toys were rather disappointing as well--again, most of the things which they had in stocklooked pretty simple in comparison to what I remember. The ol' battery-made-out-of-a-lemon standby. No Erector sets or anything like that.I actually had a "plastics set" when I was a kid. A strange toy, but I had hours of fun with it. It was like a chemistry set but it was specializedin plastics. I learned how to run tests to identify all sorts of differentplastics. That was fun, and the knowledge I gained there actually came inhandy years later, when I had a four-year stint in a materialscharacterization lab.After much, much searching, I found a store which had one or two modelsof Erector sets still available. They seemed to be old stock and weremarked down substantially, over 75% off, as if they were trying to unloadthe last of their stock. I bought one for my nephew and he hasn't stoppedplaying with it since Christmas, my sister tells me. He says its "thebest present he ever got." He's stopped playing Nintendo! At least for now.Pointers, anecdotes, suggestions, are all welcome. Thank you!We realize that you can't actually touch and feel a wooden toy online! Our Featured toy section is the next best thing We will periodically show you a different toy in our Featured Toy section which gives you the opportunity to have a close up inspection of our quality craftsmanship and attention to detail. We provide an assortment of different photos and views of our toys so you will get a "feel" of what our wooden toys are really like :c) Check back often as we will continually change the toy we future!Return PolicyOur collectable wooden toys are handcrafted to withstand a lifetime of enjoyment. If you are not 100% satisfied with any wooden toy truck, train or farm equipment, simply return the toy within 30 days of your receipt for a refund of the purchase price. Please include a copy of the invoice. All toys must be undamaged/unused and in their original undamaged packaging. Shipping charges are not refundable.Shipping/Handling* Please note that due to the Holiday season * -->Our toys normally ready to ship within 7-10 business days after order is received. Larger orders (5 toys or more)Why buy from Wooden Toys ?The safety and durability of our wooden toys is very important. All of our parts are hand assembled using All-weather wood glue (no nails!). All of our collectable wooden toys are smoothly Sanded. No sharp edges or splinters for little hands! Our wooden toys are made primarily of spruce, pine and assorted hardwoods. We use a minimum of hardware in our wood toys. We take great care in handcrafting our wooden trucks and trains so they will have an eye-appealing appearance that is unique. Our collectible toys are modeled after real vehicles and created with attention to proportion and function to make them stimulating the imagination and fun to play with.. We leave our toys in their natural wood finish. Your wood toy will look like a work of art rather than another plastic toy from a store shelf. Our handcrafted wooden toy treasures are built TOUGH, but like all wood toys they are not indestructible. Due to the fine handcrafted detail and abundance of moving parts we don't recommend our wooden toys for children under 5. Site Map Printable Versionground delivery time) To reduce our cost to you, we charge a low flat rate of only: $2.00! per item.When ordering online, our shipping charges are applied to the order's first 11 items. After the 11th item, there are no shipping charges!