Q:Be.Do.

11/27/06: Post 1.015

One of the things I’ve always looked forward to in parenting are the toys. I’ve been waiting to introduce my child to Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs and Evil Knievel wind-up stunt cycles since I was a kid. What I hadn’t been counting on are the incredible toys that have been invented in the last thirty years, and how addictive they can be for Michele and I, as well as Ryder.

Last Tuesday we were in Growing Up, a local and independently owned toy shop on West Portal, looking for a new stacker for Ryder. We wanted something new to hopefully engage him while enjoying Thanksgiving with friends. Michele had a particular stacker in mind, but they were sold out. The ever-helpful woman behind the counter was all too eager to introduce us to Wedgits. Years of abuse at the hands of manipulative sales people have made me weary of any overzealous salesperson or pitch. However, I’ve also been to the pitcher and drank from the Kool Aid on more ocassions than one, so I was willing to hear her out.

She pulled out an open sample of the so called Wedgits, and turned me and Ryder loose on the floor of her shop. Wedgits are square shaped plastic pieces that come in many sizes. You can stack and build with them in many, many ways: the only catch is that you cannot stack the same color/size on top of itself. Well that, and it is insanely addictive. I was glad that Ryder took to the Wedgits immediately. I never want to wind up that father who buys toys for himself and forces them on his child. Not yet anyway, he’s got elementary school for that.

The Wedgits are a little advance for Ryder at this point. He can stack them, and has been able to make a few different designs, but he’s more interested in knocking down whatever we build. And build we have.

We kept them under wraps until Thanksgiving, and were then disappointed to find that Ryder would rather make his way around our friends’ house and attempt to pull down whatever he could get his hands on than play with the toy. That first night home with the Wedgits Michele and I made sure we kept them in the living room play area, so we could have some fun with them as well. They’ve quickly become an addiction that we gravitate towards, and have taken to sharing with anyone who comes to visit: our friends, the neighbor, the UPS guy…

Two days after Thanksgiving Arsenio and Renee came over for brunch. We love brunch, it’s the one meal we actually have time to prepare right, and can enjoy with company. It also gave us a chance to share our two favorite new things: the Wedgits and Robot Chicken. A few things about the Wedgits:

1. To really count, a good design must use all 15 pieces
2. Style points for height & defying gravity
3. Bonus points for creative counterweighting

Arsenio and Renee Created four great designs, three of which we were able to photograph before Bodi-zilla brought them down, click on any of the images for a larger image:

Note the narrow base and the weight-balancing top end.

Straightforward and effective. It naturally draws the gaze of the viewer upwards, towards the heavens.

Good use of newfangled stacking. Not all Widgit designs must go straight up, after all.

Complete gallery coming soon. Until then, you know what to get your nieces, nephews and geeky friends this holiday season.