In that Petaluma post this morning, DT reader Cookie [who, AFAIK, is not the pudgy-baby-hating Cookie] suggested that sweet hardwood castle set might come from a German company called Holzkram.

It didn't, but just get a load of Holzkram's sweet, sweet, slot-together castle at their first US retailer, Quiet Hours Toys. That thing is awesome. It's somewhere between Momoll, Celery nursery furniture, and that old-timer Bumpalow Town stuff, only minus the lead paint.

The configurations are a little different on Holzkram's own site, but when you factor in the crappy exchange rate and shipping, the QHT prices feel pretty fair. Also, QHT somehow manages to get the toys without the unfortunate, faux-realist paintjobs, a definite improvement.

But the real score for me has to be the Church, which comes complete with rather awesome, built-in perspectival distortion. It doesn't quite make sense as a plaything, but it sure is creative, like a 3D version of a Bauhaus-Secession-Expressionist painting by Lyonel Feininger. If the vaccination nurse asked me, this is definitely one church I'd claim.

Holzkram castle, stable, and church, $55-440 (!?) [quiethourstoys.com]
See the whole Holzkram range, but especially check out the floating staircase tower, too [holzkram.com]