Three Wishes for Ostheimer Wooden Toys in 2021

Ostheimer is a small German company that makes Waldorf style wooden figures. Their popularity has exploded in the recent years. We can thank Instagram for that. In early 2020 (before Covid-19 hit), several artists retired, putting a strain on the supply of some of the animals. Then Covid-19 came and, you can imagine, Ostheimer was hit hard. It was the perfect storm of demand outstripping supply like never before.

Next Monday marks the beginning of Spielwarenmesse, the world’s largest toy conference. It’s held Germany every year and it launches thousands of new products from across the globe. This year there is no in person convention until the summer; as a result companies will be releasing their new catalogs via social media.

I thought it would be fun to write down what I’d love to see Ostheimer do.

Here’s my wish list for Ostheimer in 2021:

1. Slow down on nativity people and sets – The nativity set is something you need one of. How many people need six wise men? I hope to see Ostheimer decrease the amount of nativity people and corresponding animals. Yes, I’m looking at you, donkeys, pigs, and lambs.
2. Increase production of wild animals – we all love the zebras, peacocks, and raccoons. I mean who doesn’t love a trash panda?
3. Introduce more racially diverse figures – Ostheimer figures are rooted in German fairy tales and traditional professions. Let’s get creative and reflect the global impact of Ostheimer. Brown princesses. Female scientists.

And if I had my pick of what animals and people I want, here are my top five:
Peacocks – because one can never have enough peacocks.
Fishes – they are super cute and grumpy too. Who knew fish could give the side eye?
Reindeer – okay okay, it’s not Christmas, but who doesn’t love a fun reindeer?
Parrots – alllllll the parrot colors. We haven’t seen parrots in forever. We need those noisy, sassy creatures in our lives.
Raccoons – the trash pandas are by far the cutest things ever. Seriously just adorable. They have issues with ownership, but something wearing a Zorro mask is going to have personality.

Alright! What do you wish for in 2021 from Ostheimer? Which wooden animals would you like to see?