Non-China made wooden train set and accessories

[nappyaddict]

I have always bought BRIO in the past. However I have recently found out their products are made in China and would prefer to buy from a company who is more ethical in it's production.

If anyone else is interested in not buying from China I have found out Playmobil and K'nex only produce a few motors and electronic parts in China so will probably continue to buy from them.

Also Geomag is made in Switzerland and is a fab alternative to the China made Magnetix.

Oh also Big Waterplay toys are made in Germany.

What about bigjigs, their wooden train track is compatible with brio etc but no idea where it us made.

Ikeado a version as well.

Melissa and Doug do nice toys, not sure where they are made...off to Google.

Haba make gorgeous wooden toys... by the price I should think they're made in Germany not China (eye wateringly expensive, but just beautiful and v long lasting)

Melissa and Doug make a lot of stuff in China. Also find it doesn't last very long.

"The Bigjigs range is made in a number of different factories all over the world. Most are based in the Far East but some are still in the UK and Europe. Less than 30% of the items that we stock are manufactured in China.

The Santoys range is all made in Thailand, the Heimess range of baby products is made in Germany and the Larsen range of puzzles is made in Norway."

Plan Toys do some really nice things in wood - they are made in Thailand and the company makes a big deal of being sustainable. They have road and rail track here among other things.

Aren't working conditions in Thailand as poor as China?

Working conditions in Thailand generally may not be much better than China, but Plan sells itself as a sustainable/ethical company, and seems to do quite well in assessments on the Ethical Consumer website, which has labour conditions as one of its assessment criteria: ranked fourth for cars and trains and second for dolls. (I have no connection to Plan, btw - just bought quite a lot of their toys while living in Asia; they are harder to find here, I think, but Amazon stocks some.)

I checked- Haba made in Germany.

We have this gorgeous nativity set that we have out every year, and my DC adore and play with constantly as do I when they're not looking.

We also have several different sets of these bricks which are fantastic and just lovely, very tough, well wearing.

We have this game too which is not quite a jigsaw, but lots of fun. You can make your own buildings, or make the ones they supply as pictures (i.e. try to copy their designs- good for young children to develop skills).

Ikea stock it.

Have contacted ELC about their Big City stuff - all made in China.

Kidkraft - China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia

Toys R Us train table and railway set - China.

Will look at Haba and have also emailed Tesco.

I didn't realise there would be so few companies!! Le Toy Van have emailed me back - they manufacture in Indonesia.

Just found this link which has been very helpful :)

Apparently whilst most of the Corolle dolls are made in China there are some made in Spain.

Check out www.borndirect.com/toys, have bought from them before, as they sell toys which are ethical and sustainable, and they give 10% off, if you use their mumsnet code 'MUMSNET'

Brilliant, thankyou :)

Latest email:

Sylvanian Families are created and developed by Epoch Co. Ltd, a Japanese toy company based in Tokyo. Physical product manufacturing takes place in China.

Have emailed Born Direct about their Brio stuff. I understood Brio manufactured a lot of stuff in China and hadn't got great work standards. Video about the factories toy companies like Brio use However this is from 2004, so they may have changed their ways since then?

I have recently found out that BRIO do in fact comply to the ICTI