Toys are notorious for having difficult and unwieldy packaging, not to mention the convoluted forms of cardboard and plastic that becomes half the battle for assembly. London based designer Oscar Diaz challenges this trope with Tube Toys, a novel and environmentally conscious approach to fun. Tube Toys are toy vehicles for kids and span the variety of a fire truck, train, car, and tractor in a spectrum of bright colors. Convention steps aside for innovation because the cylindrical container housing all the parts for the toy becomes the body for the vehicle. The little ones are able to engage their brains in putting together this toy, which comes with attachable wheels and other accessories that fit into slots cut into the tube. All of the materials for the toy are eco-friendly, and include cardboard, rubber, bamboo, and LDPE, a commonly used and recyclable plastic. Aligned with the NPW’s mission to provide natural products in the retail market, Tube Toys features a product label that can be removed and reversed for instructions on how to put the toy together; coincidentally, this strip of paper is the only thing, aside from the backing of the decorate stickers, that is discarded – well, recycled – after purchase.
