When we decided to open the Baby Toy Shop part of our website, we made a promise to ourselves that we'd only do it if we could find quirky baby toys; those plush toys that are a bit unique and unusual.
And we've done it! :)
All major retailers and online marketplaces stock the typical baby toys and they're obviously very popular, but we cannot possibly compete with those big toy shops, and we also can't get excited about products we don't really have a passion for and haven't been a challenge to find!
We are really proud of our quirky baby toy collection, and our own little mouse (baby daughter) loves them too. She's the best possible product tester we know!
Our favourite boutique toy manufacturers
Noodoll
Noodoll is a whimsical, playful, design brand. They create quirky plush toys and charming stationery for big and little ones. Their studio is based in London where each Noodoll toy is lovingly created. They always aim to make their quirky toy designs bring a smile to your face!
Noodoll was created by designer and author YiYing Wang (王怡穎) as part of her MA in communication design at the Central Saint Martins, London.
The imaginary story began with rice and noodle concept. Noodoll, a famous celebrity and resident of Noodle Town where everything and everyone was made of noodles, had many monster pals living in near by Rice Town. They were called Ricemonsters! The mischievous Ricemonsters jumped out from Yiying’s imagination and entered our world as a gang of endearing plush toys and a stationery range in 2010.
Customers often say that they’ve fallen in love with the wonderful and unique world of Noodoll toys. We reckon that the potent combination of cheerful, bright design, humour, honest quality and affordability has this effect.
Noodoll's quirky plush baby toys can now be found in reputable stores such as the Conran Shop, Foyles, Centre Pombidou, Bonton, and Tate Modern, and online in the Little Mouse Quirky Toy Shop!
Albetta
Albetta's quirky plush baby toys are an unual take on traditional themes. Think dogs, bunnies, cats, lambs, bears, unicorns... but with a unique design twist. Each toy has a face that will make you go "awwww" and seduce you into giving it a home.
Plus when buying Albetta baby toys you get that extra warm feeling knowing that Albetta is a member of SEDEX (the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) and follow the practices of the Ethical Trading Initiative. They're also proud to support local charities and social enterprises.
Pebble
Pebble's quirky baby toys are made in Bangladesh by a workers co-operative which provides fairly paid employment to women in rural locations. Pebble toys are made in rural Bangladesh. Taking jobs out of Dhaka means that workers do not have to leave their homes and families to find work. Living in rural Bangladesh is very hard but it is a beautiful country and conditions in the country are much better than those in the sweat shops of Dhaka.
Pebble Toys are most famous for their crochet baby toys, especially their crochet octopus and turtle. Fairtrade, organic, handmade and suitable from birth. Basically all the best things!
Under The Nile
Under The Nile toys are unique, imaginative and organic, inside and out. They're committed to providing the highest quality organic cotton baby products in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
Their cotton is grown on a biodynamic farm without the use of pesticides or insecticides. We do not use any chemical finishes on our fabrics, only natural starches. We whiten our fabric using an oxygen-based whitening process. Our dyes are made with metal-free colors, containing no harmful chemicals such as AZO agents. This translates into softer, cleaner clothing that is more gentle on babies’ skin than conventional cotton. Under the Nile’s clothing is made in Egypt at a Certified Fair Trade Facility.
Best Years
Best Years have been specialising in making toys for over 10 years and claim to be the first people to introduce knitted dinosaurs to the world! Having young children ourselves the appeal of knitted and crochet toys was instant as it offered a great alternative to the ubiquitous soft toys found all over the high street.
They are an ethical company and ethical sourcing is at the core of all their products so they found a great factory to make their first knitted toys for them, and now have hundreds, still working with the same people they met all those years ago.