Yeah, so, when I suggested Creative Playthings Hollow Blocks were long overdue for knock-offery, I guess I assumed the hollow block sets filling up our nation's Montessori schools and daycare centers were all 30+ years old. Actually, I don't deserve credit for making even that much of an assumption.
So apologies to Community Playthings and others who have been making beautiful Hollow Block sets for decades before dadbloggers interloped by, and who'll be making them for decades from now, too, when our kids are grown up and complaining about the lack of retro-neo-modernist design options for our newborn grandkids.
A 52-piece Preschool Set of Hollow Blocks is $1,145, plus $235 for the optional storage cart [communityplaythings.com via mark]
Also, I'm not sure of the mathematical ratios, but Whitney Brothers, est. 1904, has 18-pc ply Hollow Blocks sets for $189 [whitneybros.com]
And when the kids outgrow building stuff with blocks they'll have an awesome set of ramps and obstacles to set up for their skateboards, from the looks of it...
The preschool I went to (30 years ago) had these blocks, and yes, I'm sure they'd be great for skateboards, but they also work wonderfully for riding up and down on with their basically-indestructible wooden scooter.