HABA First Blocks - Each One with a Visual or Acoustic Surprise for Ages 1 and Up (Made in Germany)

I have been buying Haba toys for my baby, believing these were safe baby toys made in Germany. Because of this, I did not hesitate to pay extra money for these blocks. So I was shocked to find that the red rattle in this set contains high level of arsenic and the blue fabric hat contains small amount of Bromine. (My baby loves to chew on this hat) Overall, this toy is rated "HIGH" in toxicity level at HealthyStuff.org. Some Haba toys have 0 toxicity level, but unfortunately, this block is not one of them. I have thrown away the two toxic blocks, but this leaves the set rather uninteresting and way over priced.***UPDATE***I contacted Haba regarding the high toxicity level reported on these blocks. Here is the reply I received;Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Obviously you are a very educated and astute parent and for that I applaud you! We at HABA® really appreciate parents such as yourselves. Being a mom of two children myself and an "auntie" to 11 more children I can empathize.Our HABA parent company in Germany was the first toy manufacturer in Europe to voluntarily send our items to an independent testing lab to get tested many decades ago. Mr. Habermaass still owns this family owned business and he is a grandfather now himself. You can read more about HABA at [...] in the About section. In fact in 2008 after the heavy recalls of China made goods many other toy companies from Europe and America decided to pull back from the USA market. HABA didn't, we actually embraced the new CPSIA laws President Bush signed just before the end of his term. Of course this new law put a heavy financial stress on all childrens' products producers and retailers but HABA endured. In fact our lead levels were already at the lower levels that the law required so we had to change very little. The HealthyStuff.org group and other interest groups such as these do not have the funds to send all of the toys to independent, CPSC authorized laboratories so they purchase equipment themselves and do many of their tests in house. These tests are not as perfect as one would get from a laboratory. That being said HABA abides by the CPSIA law and all products we import have the appropriate testing and those Certificates of Compliance are readily available on our website.At one time this same organization claimed our marbles in our Marble Ball Track Construction Set (a wooden block set made for older children to build architectural designs for the marbles to roll through) had a harmful chemical in them. This interest group takes advantage of consumers' fears and announces their worst toy lists at the holiday times. We in fact had proof that the marbles were safe and that no chemicals that may have been in the marbles were in fact in a state that could be absorbed by a person's body, even if swallowed. In this case we did spend the money to hire an attorney and healthystuff.org had to do a recant on their findings.Did you also know that HABA still produces all of our wooden blocks, that we know will be most likely put into a child's mouth, in Germany? It would be much less expensive for us to do what all the other companies are doing and move our production to China but Mr. Habermaass and our company philosophy is to remain as a German made company, at least for our wooden products. We can't find textile companies in Europe to make our soft goods or room décor but we're on the constant look out. We've also opened our own office in China so that we have our own staff checking daily on our production partners in China.That all being said, our First Blocks are safe. This item passes all testing required and this item continues to be a best seller for us.If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to reach out. Obviously your satisfaction is our #1 goal.*************After getting this reply from them, I'm amending my rating from 1 star to 3 stars. In the end, each parents would have to make their own mind as to who and what to believe. It takes forever to build a company reputation and just a second to ruin it (unfortunately scare tactics works too well whether justified or not) and I want to give Haba a benefit of doubt.The reason for 3 stars is that these blocks are more hit with my husband than with my baby.

I bought this for my five month old son to get him started with blocks. To sum up this set with one word, I'd have to use CAPTIVATING. The ball seems to move around by its own force and my son can't take his eyes off it. The ball is also stackable and will easily balance itself on the spiral cylinder. I like to take the green donut and place the spiral cylinder in the middle of it. When I roll it toward my baby, he likes to punch the middle out. Suprisingly, the ball is also stackable and will easily balance itself on the spiral cylinder. I think the HABA character is really cute, but, when my son is faced with a choice, his favorite is the car. He took least notice of the mirror block and the HABA character, but everything else held his attention. This set is so much fun because there is not only alot of details on the blocks for a baby to discover (as far as sound, look, and feeling), but there many creative ways to use these besides stacking them. Endless amount of fun to imagine and then re-imagine. We're definately fans!

My original review of this product was quite favorable. While these blocks are among my son's favorite things to play with, I do have concerns now that we've had the blocks for several months (under HEAVY use). First, the hat on the little person is not secure. Ours fell off and would have posed a huge choking threat to our son if we hadn't grabbed it in time. We will not be reattaching the hat - we'll just "retire" that toy. Second, we have noticed cracking in several of the blocks. Any cracks in a wooden product such as this will harbor bacteria from moisture (similar to wooden cutting boards). Since these blocks are only meant to be wiped clean with a damp cloth, there is no way to get them very clean. That in itself should have been a big red flag for us when we first bought them. Think about how much moisture they came into contact with from our son's saliva alone. In hindsight, NOT GOOD. Finally, I read the review about this product on healthystuff.org (thanks to G_Girl's recommendation) and it does get a high rating for toxicity. That was the icing on the cake for us. These blocks will all be retired now. It is a shame, too, because they really were a big hit here. They did cost a lot...I figured the Haba reputation meant that they were safe. I should have dug a little deeper I guess.

My 9 month old son loves these blocks. They are the perfect size for him to play with them on his own and he likes all of the different shapes. But what I like most is that they encourage development when I play with him. I show him how to roll the ball, how the different pieces fit together, how the rattle sounds at varying distances, catch his eye with the mirror, zoom around with the car and of course build things for him to knock down. He is delighted by it all and learning in the process. I also love that they are not toxic so he can put them into his mouth. I was hesitant to get them because of the price but they are worth it because they are so well designed for babies.

We wanted a SAFE alternative to most blocks you buy in stores right now that may or may not contain lead paint - esp since babies put EVERYThing in their mouths. We decided HABA, a German company, with a great reputation was the way to go. Our 7 mo old baby LOVES these blocks because they are very unique. The jingly one, the one with a mirror. SHe loves the donut shaped one and the little guy with his car. It's the best gift she got for Christmas and that's saying a lot when comparing it to all the battery-operated toys she got! I think the basics go a long way. She is entertained by these for a long time. We will buy more Haba toys in the future.