What's your opinion of Melissa & Doug wooden toys?

[citymama]

We love wooden toys and have splurged on a few Haba toys for our 8 month old DD. The other day I picked up a nice wooden stacking ring set made by Melissa & Doug for just $5. Seems like a bargain compared to the other wooden toy brands out there - what do folks think of this brand? Is the quality good, or does the paint chip off? At this age, DD puts everything in her mouth so I'm careful about making sure the toys are EU approved (they have much higher standards than here) - which the M&D toys don't seem to be, unlike Haba. Just wondering if these are low-quality wooden toys or if people are happy with them.

Oh, and if you like M&D: what are your favorites for babies and young toddlers? Thanks for your help! :-)

[ellies mom]

I like a lot of their toys. For the price, the quality is great and they have a ton of really fun toys.

[annasmom]

I do like M&D, but the paint does chip with play, at least on the play food. We have Haba toys, but not Haba food so I cannot compare the two. But for instance, we have a few M&D large knob puzzles, one of which we have had for years and it still looks great.

And the M&D stacking rings is by far one of our favorite toys, and the best $5 I ever spent. My ds loved it, and my ds and dd still use the rings as play food. The stacking rings have gotten a real work out, and the paint still looks great.

Those are my M&D favorites for babies - the stacking rings and the large knob puzzles. I didn't like the shape sorter so much, I think if I had it to do over again I would check out the one by Plan Toys.

[elliput]

I have a handful of M&D toys (chucky puzzle, shape sorter, pounding pegs), and while I and DD like them, the paint does chip.

[holliam]

Well, M&D is a US-based company but all the toys are made in China. I don't think the quality is near to Haba. They also seem to make toys that are similar to other toy companies yet a lot cheaper. Because of the paint chipping issue, I prefered to stay away from M&D when DD was young. Now at over 2 years, it's a non issue.

I prefer wooden toys over plastic, even if they are made in China and tend to chip. But, there are so many other brands of wooden toys too. Some brands that come to mind are: Selecta, Ostenheimer, Holztiger, Plan Toys, Ryan's Room, Maxim, North Star, and many others that I'm blanking on right now!

Selecta for sure has some great infant toys.

Holli

[ett]

We have a bunch of M & D stuff that we got for pretty cheap but I'd have to say their quality is only okay. The paint definitely chips like PPs have said. There are other brands that are comparable in price but better in quality like Plan Toys and Ryan's Room. I have not had a problem with paint chipping with either of these brands and they have held up much better than our M & D stuff. Of course, the European companies's wooden toys are much superior in quality but comes with the hefty price tag too.

ETA: We have hardwood floors in our house, so the stuff probably chips more than if we had carpeting.

[sdbc]

We are happy with the M&D toys. We have several and haven't had any problems with them. DD is not a big toy thrower, so maybe that's why. I'm sure some of the more $$ brands are even higher quality, but we can get M&D 40% off at Michaels, so we usually go with them.

Don't ask us, though...we like our Kidkraft stuff, too. :)

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04