I'll get to this awesome Muji molded plywood ride-on car in a minute, which has to be the kick-off of Molded Ply Week at Daddy Types. Beyond Muji and some recent emails, I just got my hands on some vintage Creative Playthings catalogues, and that classic Rocking Beauty Hobby Horse is just the tip of their molded plywood iceberg. Stay tuned, and definitely pass along your favorite curved or molded plywood suggestions.
Meanwhile, since we leave for Japan and Hong Kong in just over a week, I thought I'd scout out our Muji shopping list. And I came across this sweet, solid-looking ride-on car on the Muji website. I like the simple, single-sheet construction, and the rubber-edged wheels, too, which give it credibility as an actual toy, not just as an object. [Serious substance v. style points off, though, if that steering wheel doesn't actually turn the wheels, at least a little.]
The description says it's designed for kids 18 months and older, and that it has a weight limit of 40kg [!], in case you have sumo wrestler twins, I guess. I wish it had dimensions, though, because I'm afraid it's probably already too short for the 2.5-yo kid.
Muji original design molded plywood car, 8400 yen in Japan [muji.net]
Great to hear you're coming to HK. In case you were planning to check out the several Muji here (as opposed to those in Japan), I'd recommend against it - it looks like we get last seasons goods: there are no denim teddy bears here, but we do have their cousins in tweed(!): teddy, ball, pillow, and puppy.
[we're going to Kyoto and Osaka first, so we'll be all Muji'd up -ed.]
Greg, are you going to be in Tokyo at all or are you flying straight into Kansai Airport? I doubt we'll have any overlap (we leave Japan on the 28th Japan time) but on the off chance...