The New and Classic toys “truck with two containers” is a perfect gift for a toddler. It’s a great sustainable and entertaining alternative for any child that loves cars. New Classic Toys also has a number of other toys in the same range that the truck can be combined with.
My son turned two recently. Time to get him a gift. With my recently developed mental allergy to plastic, I wanted to get something of another material. Unfortunately, many toy shops are full of plastics, packaged in even more plastics. Still, I know my kids love all these plastic toys, heavily advertised on tv and YouTube, and they are everything but excited about wooden toys. So, I was delighted when we passed by Neverlandtoys.nl in Amsterdam where you can find a vast selection of toys mostly made from fabric and wood, and packaged in paper. My two-year-old, was totally stuck on the truck with two containers. I could see he wanted to get out of his buggy to get this truck. As we walked out of the shop he cried “AUTO AUTO” (Dutch for car), and my son’s word for anything with four wheels or more. So, this would be the gift.
Having picked up my older son, we went back into the toy shop, where my two-year-old was allowed to roam around freely. He went straight for the truck and started rolling it back and forth, while the door to the street outside was wide open and the shelves where full of other inviting toys that he easily could grab and throw around. Like many kids of his age, he enjoys exploring gravity and the outdoors (preferably on his own). But, he only had eyes for this truck. I got it for him and had quite a job to release him from the display model. He was crying and screaming again “AUTO AUTO” while we left the store.
Next day, as he opened the present, he was excited to see the truck and spent the rest of the day captivated by it, and fighting with his older brother who was also quite taken by it. Clearly jealous.
I was amazed by the quality of the truck: no squeaking and a nice weight to it. I was raving to my husband about how good quality it was. I was a little worried though, as my two boys like throwing things around. I thought that if it can withstand this treatment it must be of good quality. As it turns out it did not. By the end of the day, one of the containers had come apart at the glue lines. And the little stick connecting the hanger to the truck had fallen off as well. “Well, not so much quality, after all”, said my husband cynically. If you make toys for little boys you got to make them sufficiently strong. Luckily, it was nothing that some PVA glue could not fix. We glued the pieces back as they should be, and it looked just like new. Since then no other parts have gotten broken or come off.
Quality: the truck gets a minus on the quality since it did come a part, so a 7 for quality.
Fun factor: the fact that a wooden toy could captivate both my boys for a whole day is quite impressive. And they still both like to lie on the floor and move it back and forth as they watch the wheel turns. It gets a 10.
Sustainability: the fact that it came in a cardboard box with no moulded plastic is a plus. However, the containers were wrapped in one layer of thin plastic, which is a waste. The truck and containers are made from wood and are produced locally in the Netherlands. It does not have any ecolabel. Still I know that it’s quite some work to get the forestry ecolabels and for a smaller brand it can be expensive to make the effort.
Functionality: this is a combination of fun factor and quality. The truck has some fun features: you can take the trailer off and the two containers can open and close the doors. And there are magnets on top of the containers, which means that they can be lifted and used in combination with other New and Classic toys from the same range. The wheels can be taken off, but it is not easy. I prefer if wheels cannot be taken off, but my sons disagree. Unfortunately, this means they typically get lost.
Read further: Reviews, sustainability, toys
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