Award Winning...Naturally !!
Start your engines, the new Hape Mini’s are raring to go! Don’t worry about the gas bill, these stylish cars run on imagination !!
Idkid and Hape International joined forces to create the ‘Mini-Vehicles’, a line of 8 collectable eco-friendly cars made with natural bamboo, water based paints and non-toxic ABS that subsequently won the Dr Toy 2011 Green Toys Awards.
It's not often that us Toy Designers get to create blue sky ideas without limitations but the strong trust based relationship between Hape International and Idkid gave the 'carte blanche' necessary to freely explore new conceptual territories and experiment those slightly risky ideas that hold the highest potential for innovation. From this experience we defined the difference between a 'cool design' and a 'good design'. A cool design is an exciting idea that hasn't yet got through the minefield of industrialization. A good idea is a cool idea that has made it to market and sells... It's easy to come up with cool ideas but good ideas are what count !
Despite being apparently very simple, the mini-vehicles took 2 years to develop...how can that be? Hape International is serious about quality and because Bamboo is effectively grass, no two pieces are the same and this requires numerous 'hidden' technical innovations in the mass production to assure that each and every car is perfect, even with production runs of over 250,000 units....
Idkid and Hape International joined forces to create the ‘Mini-Vehicles’, a line of 8 collectable eco-friendly cars made with natural bamboo, water based paints and non-toxic ABS that subsequently won the Dr Toy 2011 Green Toys Awards.
It's not often that us Toy Designers get to create blue sky ideas without limitations but the strong trust based relationship between Hape International and Idkid gave the 'carte blanche' necessary to freely explore new conceptual territories and experiment those slightly risky ideas that hold the highest potential for innovation. From this experience we defined the difference between a 'cool design' and a 'good design'. A cool design is an exciting idea that hasn't yet got through the minefield of industrialization. A good idea is a cool idea that has made it to market and sells... It's easy to come up with cool ideas but good ideas are what count !
Despite being apparently very simple, the mini-vehicles took 2 years to develop...how can that be? Hape International is serious about quality and because Bamboo is effectively grass, no two pieces are the same and this requires numerous 'hidden' technical innovations in the mass production to assure that each and every car is perfect, even with production runs of over 250,000 units....