Santa's List

So... what's are my children getting for Christmas this year? It is a bit difficult, since they are in the shop/warehouse often, and have a pretty good idea of the product range. Since they don't know about the blog, I'm pretty safe in letting you know what they have coming to them - just don't tell!

Christopher (5) has been begging for a "cook" outfit for weeks. Every time he comes to the office, he asks for one, and wants to try it on. So far, I have been able to hold him off, but I think one might find its way under the Christmas tree... perhaps with some baked goods to go with it.

He has also been the "map king" at his dagis, drawing world map after world map, and is fascinated by the continents. I think the wonderful Världskartan from Oskar & Ellen might be just the thing for his room. I don't think he gets the flag concept yet, but the animals will make a nice addition. We can always add the other sets later.

Annika (9) will get a new room this Christmas. She is - quite understandably - tired of the Noah's Ark wallpaper that we chose for her before she was born (and before we knew if she would be a girl or a boy). She wants a pink room that is either High School Musical 3 or horses... we discussed it and since she wouldn't want a HSM1 room now, she agreed that the lifetime of a HSM3 room would be limited. So we are going for the horses. I have my eye on some wall stickers that will be perfect.

Otherwise, she has her eye on an Adora doll...

Benjamin (7) is the hardest to shop for, since he prefers couch cushions to toys. But this year, I think Creatiles will be perfect. Even though they are intended for slightly younger children, I think they will be perfect for him. He is always building houses for animals - real, stuffed and imaginary - so Creatiles should be great.

And of course, I'm looking for a reason to add a fort or pirate ship under the tree... and perhaps a few more games...

Tävling!

We are offering a 500 kr gift certificate for participants in a lottery on Tant Ulrika's Blog. She has done a wonderful job of capturing some of our favorite products in the web flyer. It will be fun to see what is on everyone's wish list. You will find the details here and here:




Vinn ett presentkort värt 500kr från ABC leksaker i Tant Ulrikas blogg. Tävla du oxå!

Lycka till!

Wrap Rage? I hope not!

I read a NY Times article recently about Wrap Rage, and how the plastic clamshell packaging sends some 6,000 people to emergency rooms in the US each year. You know how it is - you are opening presents on julafton, and your child is so excited about the latest gift... but 15 minutes later, you are still unwinding twist ties from tiny wheels or prying small pieces from plastic sleeves. You can see how people either end up with stitches or excessively high blood pressure.

I thought about packaging again last night as I brought home a product for the boys to try - the Barbapapa ljusslinga - which does come in clamshell packaging. I left the boys in their room, in bed, with the lights out, and promised to return shortly with a surprise. As I stabbed at the packaging with a pair of scissors, I wondered if I might become one of the 6,000 unlucky souls... but I survived, the product survived, and it was a big hit. The verdict? Of all the clamshell packages I have opened, this one was not great, but not the worst, and the end result was well worth it. (The NYT reported that one toothbrush took testers more than 8 minutes to open!)

But it did get me to thinking about the packaging we have in the store, and how difficult it may be to "get to" some of our products. Amazon is starting an initiative to reduce packaging, and especially difficult-to-open packaging, but they are a bit bigger than ABC Leksaker (quite a bit), and have more pull with the retailers. Right now, I guess ABC Leksaker just has to take it like it is... but it isn't that bad! (whew!) Here's a quick survey.

• The Barbapapa lights and their cousin Star are the only difficult-to-open clamshell packages we have.


• Roommates wall stickers come in plastic packages, but they are easy to open and can be used to store the contact sheets in case you want to take the stickers off and store them.


• Groovy Girls extra clothing comes in blister packages, which can usually be opened without (hopefully) injury.


• Some of the Alex bath squirters come in clamshell packaging, but it doesn't look too bad to open.
  

Everything else is remarkably free of clamshell, twist ties and difficult-to-open containers. In fact, if you open up one of our products at Christmas, I hope that all you will need is scissors - and hopefully not even that! (And please, please don't end up in the emergency room!)

New Automoblox Minis!

The boat with our latest US order finally arrived! Sometimes the boat trip from the US seems to take forever... but this time we even got our things one day early. We have so many new things that we haven't had a chance to unpack everything yet, but I just couldn't wait to see the new Automoblox products.

In the original Automoblox line, a few of the models have updates or new colors. The new S9R, C9R and X9X are souped-up versions of the original model, and look great. The C9P will - hopefully - make the line even more fun for girls.

But the real treat in the shipment was the new Automoblox Minis. These are just like the bigger Automoblox cars with a couple of differences:

• There are no people. In the original Automoblox line, 2, 4 or 8 people sit comfortably in shape-sorter seats. But in the Minis, the people would be too small. instead, the canopy fits neatly into the base.


• The Minis have a universal connector. In the original Automoblox line, the connectors are shaped (triangles, ovals, squares, etc) and the pieces must match up with the right connector. In the Mini line, all of the pieces connect with each other.

But they are the same great design, and the same great feel to "drive" across the floor. The price is much lower - and they are really, really cute! (We have three off-roading on our laser printer.)

Happy Halloween!

The kids got to choose Lovely Lea costumes this year for Halloween - and they were a great success! Annika chose the witch - and was adorable in purple. Benjamin went for the vampire, and really enjoyed the dramatic possibilities of the cape. Christopher became a pirate, and wore the costume all week. We finally managed to pry it off of him after the trick-or-treating for a much-needed wash!

Super Clay

I helgen lekte mina pojkar med Super Clay, det är en jätterolig lera. Den kladdar inte på underlaget eller på händerna. Pojkarna kom på att om man rullar bollar med dom och slänger på golvet så studsar dom, alltså en studslera......

Min äldsta son försökte banka en bit lera platt med sin panna..........då fastnade leran i håret så det rekomenderar jag inte. För övrigt kan jag varmt rekomender leran, den är verkligen super bra. Om man vill torka en figur man har gjort så låter man leran ligga framme under natten så torkar den och känns nästan som frigolit.

Vill man spara lera så lägger man den i en plastpåse så håller den jätteläng.(obs lägg en färg i varje påse, annars fastnar dom i varann).

Circular Logic

We just received some adorable new umbrellas (with matching backpacks) and were preparing to put them online. But we just wanted to double-check how much the freight would be - a Posten "paket" is much more expensive than a "stort brev". So I found out... that if the umbrellas are packed in a mailing tube, they can be sent as a "stort brev" for a reasonable price - but only if the tube is round. If the tube is exactly the same length but square, then it can't be sent as a letter, and must be sent as a package, which costs more than twice as much. Really. If you were Posten, would you rather have a bunch of round tubes rolling around, or would you rather have something you can stack easily? Go figure. Anyway, now we have umbrellas AND round tubes so we're ready! Enjoy the next rainy day -

What a Difference!

I must admit that we stick with what we know... so when it was time to get shelves for our warehouse, I went straight to IKEA. Our old friends surround us now - Expedit, Billy, Ivar, Journalist - and they are as practical as ever. But we needed something more specific for a few of our products, so I went over to a real "store outfitting" store. What a wonderful place! They had so many solutions for just about any kind of store that I was completely fascinated. I could easily have spent a couple of hours poking around in there, imagining creative solutions for display and storage... Anyway, the result is clear - just look at how happy our hand puppets are to have their own space!

Baka med gulliga formar

I går bakade jag och Albin ( 5 år) Vi använde dom superfina formarna från Toysmith.

Dom blev fantastisk fina och Albin tog stolt med sig underverken till dagis imorse och skulle bjuda sina vänner.

I förpackningen med formar finns det receptkort på engelska, med engelska bakmått och fahrenheit grader. Jag bakade en vanlig sockerkaks deg, det räckte mer än väl. Ugnen värmde jag till 175 grader. Muffinsarna var inne i ca 10 minuter och resten 15 min ungefär. Man får lov att känna med en sticka.

Med lite färgad glasyr och strössel blir dom jättefina.

Baka ännu mer......

I helgen bakade jag bullar till en fotbollsturnering, jag anväde dom superfina formarna från Kalasform. Jag använde kamoflage formen (jag har två killar hemma).

Formarna är suveräna, lite stadigare i formen än vanliga formar. Man behöver dock två förpackningar för en vanlig bullsats. ( jag kunde iochförsig gjort dom lite större).

Únexpected Challenges

I spent a bit of a rainy Sunday in the office/warehouse with Christopher (age 5). I just wanted to count how many shelves we needed to order for the new space we are taking over, and the weather was so horrible that I thought Christopher needed a break from the house. My counting was done in 5 minutes, but Christopher saw some boxes, and started "working". Armed with a cart and a toolbelt, he took it as a personal challenge to clear the entryway of all the boxes of RoomMates (one of the many products which have not yet found a good home in the warehouse). Needless to say, Monday morning was a challenge as we tried to pack weekend orders. Jungle Stickers? Hmmm.... We found boxes in more than six different locations, and had to really search for the products that we knew were there, but we just couldn't find!

Getting Organized

We are taking over more and more of the space we currently occupy - and it feels great! We are always so excited about new products that we forget to think about where they will go when they are delivered.... We've been greeting every delivery with a groan as it means more boxes to trip over. But now - we're ready! As soon as we get everything in place it will be great.

Here's the first of the new shelves - and finally a place for all of our wonderful Melissa & Doug toys. M&D is one of our favorite American suppliers. Their wooden toys are favorites throughout the US, and they are slowly making more of their range available in Europe. Check them out online - click here!

No More Toobs...

We just found out that our current supplier of "Toobs" will not be continuing the line. These little animals have been one of our favorites - and one of my children's favorites - almost since we opened our doors three years ago. They make a great present for a birthday, and are perfect for gift bags. We always throw one in our carry-ons to take on holiday - small, light, and easy for the airplane.

When we took them on, we committed to having the full range so that everyone could find something fun. And they have been great! Going on vacation to Egypt or Australia - why not a toob from there? School project on bugs? Check out the insects. Like horses? Why not ponies or a horse competition?

We'll miss them - get them now while we still have them!

The Frames are Back!

And in the right size!

A watched pot never boils? A waited-for boat never comes? Well, finally, it did. The boat containing our new Li'l Davinci frames arrived in Göteborg on Monday, and we got our long-awaited shipment today. And here they are!

The first response to our American frames (in American sizes) was so great that we worked with the mom-of-three-designer to design in a real A4 size for Sweden. And now we have the first ones ready to go! We couldn't resist opening up a box - just to make sure - and it is perfect. Now all we need is an artist...

Something New Every Day

One of the reasons ABC Leksaker is so fun is that I get the chance to learn something new every day. Today, I attended a "webinar" (web-based seminar) on Search Engine Optimization, supposedly marketed at advanced SEO-folks. I'm nowhere near advanced... but it was free... so why not?

The registration was interesting. After the standard name and address stuff, they asked us our monthly search engine marketing budget. The options were:

• above $1,000,000
• $500,000 to $1,000,000
• $100,000 to $500,000
• $50,000 to $100,000
• less than $50,000

Any guesses to which category I fell into? Yep, that answer almost scared me away, and it did make me refrain from asking any online questions. But the seminar was still interesting, and between the "multivariate parabolic regression analysis" I did learn something new today. Cool.

Back to Bacladi/Dushi

I love the Bacladi/Dushi products. I guess I should "go with the flo" as they say on their home page and really move away from their original name, Bacladi, to their new choice, Dushi... but old habits die hard. Anyway, they have had a wonderful series of products in their range which are finally available.

The "mom and baby necklace" is a real treat. I can remember that when my three were small, I don't think I wore a necklace for about 8 years for fear of it getting broken by small hands. This necklace is fun and colorful - it won't get you on the fashion pages at the latest formal event - but it should be great for everyday play and wear. Just pick your favorite character (Dunk, Rabbit, Chick or Flo) and you and your child are ready to play.

Their new activity toys are also great - colorful and charming, with lots of textures and colors to attract the eye. The "Edu Chick" gets my vote for most original!

And finally, who could resist their toy boxes - again, just choose your favorite character and you are ready to solve clutter in a charming way. The details are wonderful - legs, tails, wings or feet adorn the edges, giving them an original look that can't be beat.

Kalas tips

Mina barn, liksom många andra barn går ofta på kalas. Mina killar är 5 och 7 år gamla. Det här är en jättebra kalas present. Dig a dino, barnet får gräva ut sin egna dinosaurie ur en " stenhög".
Barnen som har fått denna har blivit överlyckliga. Självklart har mina killar provat att gräva ut sina egna dinosaurier och det sysselsätter dom länge... Priset ligger på 99kr, ett bra kalspris.

A Full Work Week

I really like my work, and enjoy being able to put time into the company. But it seems as though it has been AGES since I have worked a full (part-time) week. Of course there was the summer holiday, but even before that it seemed like someone was always sick or had a planning day.
This season started off three weeks ago - I thought the kids would be back at school, but little did I know... Benjamin started on a Monday with a planning day, and then was sick on the Wednesday. Christopher had a planning day that Friday, and was then sick the following Monday. I managed to catch what the kids had and was home on the sofa (with my laptop) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then Annika was home this week for four days. Thank goodness for Karin!

At some level, we always get the basics done. We send out the orders and we manage to pay the bills. Accounting is also up there on the list, not for fun, but because it has to be done.
And there are always a few things manage to slip through the cracks. I think our phone message still wishes everyone a happy summer, but we haven't had a chance to change it. Our "Veckans Vara" sometimes is more like a "Månadens vara" if we don't get time to change it.

And of course, there are all our new "osmosis" products - the ones that we have in the warehouse, but haven't put online yet. You would have to be a mind-reader to even know that it exists!

And then there's all the extra stuff that we really want to do - send out newsletters, write press releases, blog a bit more, change the home page...

Maybe next week will be better.

PlayTray for Stokke Tripp Trapp - Great Idea!

I love that so many of our products are designed by parents. Parents are - of course - the most experienced in raising children, and have great ideas about what kids love, and what would be truly useful. Our newest product is a tray for our Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs - something that our family really could have used a couple of years ago. A mom in Denmark saw the need, designed the product, and is now producing it. Check it out!

By the way - some of our other parent-designed products include George Luck puzzles, Li'l Davinci Frames, Suretrack, Oskar & Ellen - and more!

A New Friend?

We are trying to stock up after the long summer, and this morning, within 15 minutes, we received deliveries from five different companies, including 3 pallets. At one point, we couldn't come or go - there were so many boxes in the way! We're in the process of expanding the space we have, and will soon have a much bigger warehouse, a nicer place to sit, and a showroom that isn't just a stack of more boxes. Karin and I spend a bit of each day dreaming of how it will be to get just a little more space. We're falling over things at the moment.

But back to the deliveries - we got some great new things, which will be making their way onto the website slowly as we assemble photos and write descriptions - we'll keep you posted. But in the meantime, we have a new giant friend, Rabbit the Frog, from our Bacladi/Dushi collection.

Fall Formex!

Formex was held over the past four days in Stockholm - and it was really fun! I love walking through the halls, even the ones without toys. It is like being in an enormous store where you can't really buy anything. Lots of "eye candy" and none of the financial impact.
That said, we did find lots of new things for ABC Leksaker - new things for childrens' rooms, new toys from our favorite suppliers, and fun things for the fall and for Christmas. Though it is a bit hard to think about Christmas when the weather is warm(ish) and the leaves are still on the trees, Formex makes sure you see some decorated trees, jultomtar, adventskalendrar and many other decorations! Everything should start coming in around October, so keep your eyes open!

Rat-a-Tat Cat

Annika loves this game - probably because she can beat me every time. Somehow it takes a level of concentration that my 9-year-old has mastered, but I have not. You have to pay attention to your cards, and trade out to get the lowest score... but you don't get to see what your cards are! You can only see what you have when you swap a card from the draw pile - but then you have to remember what it was, and where you put it.

The age recommendation is from 6 years, but you do have to be able to add and keep track of your score by yourself. Having four numbers in your head and keeping track of their sum... I would say 8 years would be better.

Grimaces - roligt att få göra fula miner

Vi spelar det här spelet hemma, det kan vara lite svårt att se skillnad på de olika minerna. Men det går att förenkla spelet genom att ta lite färre kort.
Det är jätteroligt för barnen att få göra fula miner till varanndra.... (utan att få skäll).

Stickers - keeps kids busy!

It's amazing how different children can be! Christopher will happily sit there for hours with a sticker book where he is supposed to match and place one sticker in each place. The theme doesn't matter, but each sticker must find its home. Benjamin really couldn't be bothered. Pictures are nice, but he doesn't care where they go.

This book from Klutz is the first sticker book that has really kept Benjamin entertained. We were on a plane flight, and I pulled it out, hoping to keep him quiet and distract him from the temptation of kicking the seat in front of him. One page kept him busy the whole 2-hour flight. He created birds - birds with hats, birds with dragon tails, birds with funky beaks, birds with rain boots, birds with leggings - and each one of them had its own story to tell. Yes, finally, a book that is open-ended enough for even Benjamin! And there's so much more than birds that we never really had a chance to explore... we'll save it for the next flight.

Wig Out - Fast and Fun!

I brought home Wig Out to give it a try, and it was a great success! The game is fast - no turns, just play as fast as you can to get rid of the cards in your hand. Christopher (age 5) had no problem keeping up with me and Annika. In fact, an even younger child could easily play - just a little help would be needed to keep score. The pictures are funny and colorful, which makes the matching even easier.

And yesterday afternoon, I discovered Benjamin and a 5-year-old neighbor playing Wig Out by themselves - a real plus!

Blokus Trigon - more challenging than Blokus

We are big fans of Blokus! It is a great game that meets my favorite game criteria: easy to learn but hard to master. And it is beautiful to look at. The rules are simple enough that even our resident 5-year-old can understand them. We thought that Blokus Trigon would be a new twist on an old favorite... which it was... but it was significantly more complicated. Using triangles instead of squares opens up a whole new "dimension" of moves and makes it significantly harder to block an opponent. The game also comes with a built-in 3-person version (avoid the shaded outer row of triangles) which makes it easier to play with fewer than 4.

However, even I had a hard time getting the pieces placed correctly and found that making a mental picture of the board and where I could place my pieces was a LOT harder than in Blokus. Christopher (age 5) kept bumping other pieces when he placed his. Bottom line - a great game, and a significant challenge.

My recommendation would be to start with Blokus for younger children (5 and above) and try Blokus Trigon for older children and adults (10 and above).

Cute Storage Baskets from Oskar & Ellen

We just got these adorable storage baskets from Oskar & Ellen. They are a great size - and folded down they fit into Ikea's popular Expedit shelves. They are cute, soft, practical, machine washable - need we say more? I have my eye on the butterfly one for Annika's room...