Toy Reviews

Ostheimer Wooden Toys 2021 Out of Production List

EDIT – November, I made some verbiage changes to reflect that the “discontinued” items are NOT retired, they are just out of production for 2021. Whether these pieces are made in 2022 is anyone’s guess.

Here we go! Ostheimer released their in-production/out of production list for 2021.

Quick summary, don’t get your hopes up. Long summary, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Retiring artisans + COVID (and stay at home orders in Germany) + lumbar issues = supply issues. They hope (mentioned on their facebook page) to bring all their cataloged animals and people back into production as soon as possible. In reality I think Ostheimer is another year out from bringing more animals back into production.

To put together the “out of production list“, I went through the cataloged items on the German language website. The English language page is not as updated as the German one. I may have missed a few, comment or message me.

Let’s get started with farm friends.

Two of the six goats will be gone – the tiny baby and the standing goat.

The standing goat with the crazy horns will not be made.

All the white and brown lambs will be produced.

All three moorland sheep are out of production.

Dove and flying dove are out of production.

The chickens are safe! Phew, and we thought they were sending them to the abattoir.

The ducks are safe too. Sadly, the Canadian geese family didn’t make it. The Target bullseye geese took a hit too with one of the babies and the goose sticking its neck out getting the axe.

Regarding the swans, it’s the final act for them. But the stork is okay.

Thankfully the new eagle owl version released in 2020, will actually be produced in 2021. Go figure!

Goose girl, or whom I affectionately call Garba girl (because I’m Indian), will still be around.

Cats – of the 6 cats made, 3 will not be produced – sitting cat, small orange cat bending down, grey cat jumping.

Dogs – Of the 13 dogs, baby German Shepard, dachshund, collie, Dalmatian, lapland dog, husky, stretching husky are out of production.

Donkeys – of the nine donkeys, the stubborn donkey, running, and donkey bucking will not be made.

Horses – Of the nine horses, only two will be discontinued: the riding horse (because well the rider is toast) and black foal.

Cows – Do you know how many cows are there? 13 ! 13 cows! And how many are not being produced? Three. The three alpine cows. Poor fellows.

Pigs – The seven pigs (pink and spotted) are safe. No bacon for us.

Farmer and farmer’s wife will still be produced. Sadly her English patriarchal name won’t be changed.

Shepard boy won’t make it.

Moving onto to the forest. It’s not much better…

The three wolves will be produced. As will the the 2 squirrels.

Rabbits – Of the 11 bunnies, several are cancelled: sitting bunny with ears up, laying down bunny (I call it the Spinx), little bunny in a ball (these are the technical names I use as a bunny mamma), and all three grey/white spotted buns.

Foxes – Of the five foxes, the little ones are discontinued – the little sitting fox, and the little running fox.

Deer – Eleven deer in three different deer families. The tiny baby deer looking up and sitting deer looking back are out of production. The reindeer mom and baby are also discontinued.

Moose/elk – also out of production.

The rag tag forest group – beavers, badgers, raccoons, and hedgehogs. The two hedgehogs are okay. Only one badger will be produced – the baby badger and standing badgers looking out are out of production. The beaver family and the raccoon family will not be made for the year. (You can begin crying now). Even the weasel (ferret/ marteen whatever you want to call him) and salamander are out of production.

On some good news, the snail, two frogs (regular frog and hopping frog), snake, and wild boar family (three of them) will be produced!

The brown bear family of 6 will be produced.

Birds – they deserve their own category
The bird slashing continues. Alfred Hitchcock would be so product of Ostheimer’s commitement to birds. The ten tiny birds are accounted for – including the chaffinch, raven, and robin, but the remaining are not so lucky.
On the axe:
The pelican family (three of them)
Flamingo
Ostrich
Parrots – red, blue, rainbow
Eagle with open wings
Doves – sitting dove, flying dove

On the production list for birds:
Stork
Small birds
Pheasant
Peacock – closed tail and open tail

Wild Animals

Let’s start with the good news on the wild animals. All five elephants, kangaroo family (three), zebras (two), camels (three), crocodiles (big and little), hippos (three), giraffes (four), will be made.

Two turtles – both no.
Lions will be made except the small lion head up.
Tigers, bot the little ones, kneeling and sitting will be discontinued. The rest will be made.
Leopard mamma and baby will be out of production.
Panther mamma and baby will be out of production.
Apes – no gorillas, no baboons, no monkeys. The gorillas are going the way of Gorillas in the Mist. They are now retired (we can cry together).
Grey rhinos – mamma and baby will be discontinued.
Panda family – all three will be discontinued.

Water animals
The three polar beans (mamma and babies) will be made. As will the four seals!

The walrus, orca, and two dolphins will be out of production. Fishes have another year in purgatory of non-production. The sea otter family (four) are also not lucky.


Fairy tale people
The moment you have all been waiting for, the royal family…



In summary, Nooooooooooooooooooo.

King, queen, prince, princess, crown prince, lady in waiting, daughter of the castle are discontinued for the year. The monarchy ends, vive la resistance.

The black knight and horse will be out of production. As will the yellow knight’s horse.

On the good news, the blue knight and horse, the standing blue knight, and the standing red knight, and riding red knight will be made. St. Martin and the begger will also be produced.

But going back to more bad news on the fairy tale side, here we go:

Market woman – no
Hansel and Gretal – no
The witch – no
Rumplestiltzkin – no
Red riding hood – no
Hunter – no
Star girl – no
Night watchman – no
Mermaid laying down – no
Heidi – no
Flute boy – no
Flute girl – no
Seven named dwarves – no
Dwarves in the tree – no

The howling wolf will still be made (and the family as mentioned above).

Rejoice, there is some excellent news…


The seven crystal dwarves, Snow White, water well, unicorn, dragon, frog princess, frog king will be made.

Snow white!!!

I know many of you have waited for Mo. He will be made this year!

Nativity
… wait for it…


It’s 99% intact.

The few that will be discontinued are blue king 2, green king 2, red king 2, page boy red, page boy blue, and page boy green. The kneeling man with flute, camel boy, and African man are also discontinued.

Last, but not least…

All trees will be produced. No one can abate our forest obsession!

By now your head must be spinning. Take a seat, breath in, and breath out. The out of production list won’t be permanent. Some animals and people will return in the next year. Some may not, and it will be heartbreaking.

There are many new brands on the market now, along with the major powerhouse, Holztiger.

You might have to mix and match brands. And that’s okay, because your children will love them no matter what.

Where to buy (disclosure – my affiliate links)
Natural Baby Co – Ostheimer, Forest Melody
Modern Rascals – Ostheimer, Holztiger (use ALIFEOFTOYS10 for 10% off)
Flying Pig Toys – Bumbu, Mikheev, Holztiger (free ship over $65 use ALIFEOFTOYSFREESHIP)
Etsy marketplace – Izvetvey, Bumbu, Wooden Caterpillar, Mr. Fox Crafts, Georgia Wooden Toys, Tiny Foxhole,
Amazon marketplace – Safari Ltd, Schleich, Tender Leaf toys,

10 Comments

  • Amy

    I know we all have our “one that got away” but I think I’m most sad about the dolphins. I always thought there would be time for us… *sigh*

    Thanks for putting this list together – so much easier than clicking on each piece on their website. Pius, this feels a bit more like ripping off the bandaid than waiting that split-second for each little stab of disappointment.

  • eva epstein

    hello, thank you for this list, so much work!
    i am wondering if you have any advice for me, i am looking for the leopards.
    are there any groups or sites that sell used?

  • Rachael

    Thank you for this! Do you know if there certain pieces that are discontinued permanently vs. just out of production for 2021?

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