Tree Tops – In the Collection

We’ve all had the experience of the “classic” toys. Ones that only really entertain for the amount of time it takes to learn how to use them or ≈5 minutes. At least that was my experience with tops. I like them, but I couldn’t be entertained with them for long (even EDC tops, which are a thing according to some people). And anything like that really benefits in my mind from having a joke tacked on to it. In this case it’s “Tree Tops”, wooden spinning tops that look like the tops of pine trees (the nice, light wood they’re made out of).

Surprisingly enough, they’re made by a fairly competent company, Areaware, and it shows in their construction. Once you get the technique down they really are fairly decent spinning tops. The company makes loads of things, most of which are things I don’t find interesting, but in the section of “toys and games” they make the Cubebot (I think you’d put “the” in front of the name), an elastic band toy that made it into my local arty bookstore, and a deck of minimalist playing cards I’d seen several times around the internet, and had considered getting.

The designer of the tops, Karl Zahn, who is helpfully credited on the cloth carry-bag, seems mostly content to create strange wooden furniture pieces, and most of his other Areaware contributions are wooden animal-shaped boxes and brass rings. There’s nothing really in his résumé that would indicate he’d make such a silly joke toy, but in any case, he made a good wooden top, even if I wouldn’t really consider purchasing any of his other items.

And that’s that. There isn’t much to the tops themselves. They are for sale still at the time of my writing in packs of five, either natural wood color or different shades of “green” (one’s yellow) like mine for a price that’s a little on the high side but not too bad. And you get a posh (rustic, minimal, I can’t accurately describe it so I went for a joke) box (which I don’t have) and bag to go with it. So if you’re lookin’ for good tops and good jokes, look no further.