Skaneateles, NY—HABA
is pleased to announce many of its products are being honored
by numerous toy awards and media recognitions. HABA, the U.S.
brand of toys from 60-year-old Habermaass Corp. of Germany, is
in its second year of expansion into the U.S. market.
“We continue to be thrilled
with the recognition our toys are receiving,” says Lea Culliton,
national sales & marketing director for the U.S. “We hear
from editors and consumers every day how they appreciate the open-ended
play value, the beauty of design and the high quality of our toys.”
CHILD magazine awarded
HABA three of its “50 Best Toys” honors in its November 2004 issue,
citing Wonder Dice, (age category 0-18 months) Castle Blocks (ages
3 to 5) and Candy & Co. (ages 5 and up) as best products for
the year. Only two other companies had three toys included in
the Best Toy Awards, and HABA was the only company to be recognized
for a toy in each of the magazines three age categories, showing
that HABA excels at designing fun, educational toys for babies
through school-age kids.
Parenting magazine called
Fidelia one of its “Mom-Tested” Toys of the Year in its November
2004 issue. The review of the rattle said, “This pretty and extremely
charming plush rattle is full of the sweetest suprises.
American Baby magazine
gave kudos for Toy of the Year to HABA’s Big Voyage, this year’s
multi-play pull toy. Three different-sized characters ride in
their little wagons, which chain together with a button and loop.
Pull off the wheels with their Velcro strip and the wagons become
stacking plush cups, and the plush animal rattles provide a sorting
activity. They can also be safe bed buddies. In its September
2004 issue, the magazine says of Big Voyage: “He has a short attention
span, but this holds his interest,” wrote amom reviewer of her
13-month-old son.
For the holidays, Parents
Magazine suggested HABA’s Whirlwind wooden rattle in its “Holiday
Toys for Baby” feature.
Parents Baby summer
issue also reviewed Wonder Dice as a Smart Pick in Summer 2004,
and againrecommended Wonder Dice as a Skill Builder to its readers
in August 2004.
Scholastic Parent &
Child thought Little Leaf House and a Special Block set of unusual
wood shapes special enough to be Teachers’ Picks in its October
2004 issue for Best Toys. Little Leaf was also lauded by Parents
Magazine in its “177 Baby Products You Can’t Live Without” feature
in its summer 2004 special Parents Baby issue.
FIT Pregnancy Magazine
named Villa Lilliput, a little clown and a squeaky cat tucked
into a clip-clap house, as one of its Toys of the Year for “Toys
that earn babies’ squeal of approval.” Its “Baby road test” review
says, “Logan had fun putting the characters inside their villa
again and again, and giggled when an adult squeezed the cat’s
squeaker.” The magazine also recommended HABA’s Rattling Caterpillar
for “Baby’s First Holiday.”
National Association
of Parenting Publications of America (NAPPA) gave an Honors award
to Dancing Eggs, a fun game for kids of all ages.
iParenting Media Awards
named HABA’s Crafty Badger and Stringing Beads among its Hottest
Products for 2004. One of its reviewers wrote, “The Crafty Badger
Game provided a great deal of fun for the children, ages 2 1/2
years to 13 years of age. The small ‘suit cases’ are a brilliant
idea to offer the players a sense of mystery and wonder every
time they had the opportunity to open them. Another fantastic
idea which the children absolutely had a tremendous amount of
entertainment with was the ‘Badger.’ The size and shape of the
Badger was perfect for the smaller hands. Overall this game provided
a great deal of fun over and over again! The simplicity of this
game is truly the most positive characteristic of this game.”
Creative Child magazine
gave Wonder Dice its Toy of the Year award Fantasy Blocks its
Preferred Choice award and Fantasia its Seal of Excellence.
Georgia Family magazine
said the Flapsi wooden rattle was one 12 winners for its “13th
Annual Best Baby Products.”
Parents’ Choice Foundation
awarded Grab Bag its Summer 2004 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for
Best Toys. In Grab Bag, each player gets a drawstring bag containing
12 gloriously-colored pieces of wood shaped like stars, moon,
candy, and pasta, as well as plain geometrics. The first player
pulls one shape out of his/her bag; the others reach into their
own bags (without peeking) to feel for the same piece. The first
who succeeds earns a card with a picture of that shape. When all
the cards are gone the game is over, and the player who has collected
the most cards is the winner. The game takes about 10 minutes
to play, “but if your players are like our testers, they will
be clamoring to play over and over again,” the Parents’ Choice
review says.
Dr. Toy gave HABA’s
Fantasy Blocks her “100 Best Toys 2004” award.
Dr. Ruth Roufberg, a
renowned toy critic and newspaper columnist, recognized the Jumping
Frogs Beach Towel in her summer toys column for the Parenting
Publications of America.
For Immediate Release
November 2, 2004
For information, call KidStuff Public Relations,
Lisa Orman, 608-767-1102 or
E-mail: Lisa@KidStuffPR.com
