Toys For Boys

One of our all time favorite toys for children has to be the Saab Roadster from Playsam. We took a closer look at Playsam and discovered that they make some great toys for boys of all ages, even those who refuse to ever grow up.

Playsam, is a Swedish design company that creates innovative and timeless wooden toys not only for children but increasingly for adults. They manage to combine physical functionality with charming and stylish design in products ranging from baby toys to executive gifts.

Roadster Saab is their wonderfully designed ride-on toy for small children. To us it looks as good as the original Saab cars from the 40s and 50s and, as with most Playsam products, it has a wonderful high gloss finish. The Roadster Saab’s extremely clean and simple design was inspired by the very first Saab (or Ursaab as it was actually known), Sixten Sason's prototype 92001.

Sixten Sason, born Sixten Andersson (1912–1967) was a prolific designer who started working at Saab in 1939. After working on the Ursaab, his first major design was the Saab 92. In 1949 he worked with Victor Hasselblad and created the first Hasselblad camera. He also designed Saab´s first sportscar, the Saab Sonett I in 1956 and several consumer products for Husqvarna and Electrolux.

The Roadster Saab may have been inspired by Sixten Sason’s prototype design but the toy version was actually designed by one of Sweden's premier furniture and industrial designers, Björn Dahlström. Clients who have commissioned designs from Dahlström include Playsam, Kasthall, Hackman/Iittala, Skeppshult, Fjällräven and Atlas Copco to name but a few. He’s won numerous international awards and his work is represented at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg and the Victoria and the Albert Museum in London.

And that's not the end of the story. As well as the children’s toy Roadster Saab, Playsam also produce the executive toy Saab Concept Car 001 and the Saab Concept Car Keychain. All of these products are part of Playsam’s Design On Demand program in which they have collaborated with leading companies such as Saab, SAS, Brio, Volvo, Skandia, Toyota and others.

We love the whole collection. If only Saab would design and produce a modern version of the Saab 92001 in the same way that BMW updated the original Mini. Now that really would be the ultimate boy’s toy!

Playsam

Comments

[Johnny Vulkan]

Another winner, these are beautiful and of course hardly anyone in the US has the range. Arghh.