Made by US: Topozoo

It's our goal to provide our customers with the world's most beautiful and purposeful playthings. Many of our award-winning toys are designed and manufactured right here in the US. For the next few weeks, we will feature American-made toys in a series entitled, "Made by US."

What is Topozoo? It can be described as many things, but we just call it fun. Topozoo was founded by two dads in Ohio who aim to bring the manufacturing of creative, engaging toys back to the US. Their toy distribution company, Geared for Imagination, produces toys in the US from locally sourced materials, including Topozoo.

Each Topozoo set contains fifteen sturdy wooden pieces that build three animals. Kids (or 'kidults,' playful adults, as Geared for Imagination calls them) can make them or mix them to make thousands of unique creations limited only by the artist's imagination.

Sustainability is key in the manufacturing of Topozoo. The formaldehyde-free wood is sourced in the USA and is made of 100% recycled tree fiber. The US-made packaging utilizes recycled post-consumer paper and is 100% recyclable. The color stains are made in Vermont and are derived from whey, a natural byproduct of cheese making. Each dye is solvent-free, non-toxic and water-based.

Break out your colored pencils, stencils, paints, collage materials and other art supplies to embellish your Topozoo sets. The end result is a fun and colorful pretend-play figure that makes a great room decoration.

Visit the Topozoo website to find free downloadable stencils to add paper wings, tails and spikes to your creatures. This resource is a great way to jumpstart a child's creativity when building with Topozoo.

Below is a video by Geared for Imagination that explains the origin and inspiration behind Topozoo. Happy creating!

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Two Indie Dads

 

 What is Topozoo? Is it a puzzle? A building system? Room Décor? Craft Project? Play set? YES!  

Topozoo was created and brought to the specialty toy market by the “two Dads” of Geared For Imagination. Their goal was to create a unique toy that would be well designed, have tons of play value and be manufactured locally in an environmentally friendly manner. The result was Topozoo (meaning ‘layered animals’) - unique wooden custom creature playsets that are designed, manufactured and shipped here in the USA from eco-friendly, recycled and natural materials.  

The initial introduction of Topozoo includes three playsets - Dinosaurs, Safari and Monsters. Each comes with 15 pieces that assemble into 3 animals per set.   All the pieces can be mixed and combined to created over 400,000 different custom “creatures” limited only by your imagination. Each set also includes ‘color and cut’ paper wings, tenicles and spikes that can be added to your creature for further customization. More coloring pages will be available for download at www.topozoo.com.  

Topozoo! Put them together or mix them up! Make them uniquely yours!  

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