BRIO
Sweden
EU
BRIO is a Swedish toy brand from Osby in Skåne, best known for its wooden railway. The story began in 1884, when Ivar Bengtsson invested his savings in a business selling wooden...
European Toy & Game Brands
COBI
Poland
EU
COBI is a Polish maker of plastic construction blocks. COBI S.A. was founded in April 1987, starting with puzzles and board games, and in 1992 it began producing its own plastic building...
HABA
Germany
EU
HABA is a German family company for wooden toys, games and children's furniture from Bad Rodach in Franconia. Eugen Habermaass formed the companies that became HABA in 1938 in Bad Rodach, and...
KOSMOS
Germany
EU
KOSMOS is a German publisher of games, books and experiment kits based in Stuttgart. The company, whose legal name is Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, counts among the leading publishers of guidebooks,...
LEGO
Denmark
EU
The LEGO Group is a privately held toy company based in Billund, Denmark. Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded it in 1932, and the Kirk Kristiansen family still owns it through the holding company...
Playmobil
Germany
EU
Playmobil is a German toy brand from the Horst Brandstätter Group in Zirndorf near Nuremberg. The group's roots lie in the company founded in 1876 by Andreas Brandstätter. Hans Beck developed the...
Ravensburger
Germany
EU
Ravensburger is a German maker of puzzles, board games and toys from Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg. Otto Robert Maier began his publishing activities there in 1883 as Otto Maier Verlag, and the company...
schleich
Germany
EU
schleich is a German toy company from Schwäbisch Gmünd, known for hand-painted animal figures and play sets. Friedrich Schleich founded the company in 1935, and the brand celebrated its 90th anniversary in...
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Submit SuggestionEurope is home to some of the best-known toy brands in the world. Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Poland produce building bricks, play figures, wooden toys, puzzles and board games that are sold on every continent. This page lists the European toy and game brands and shows what each one is best at.
Building and role play
LEGO from Denmark is the best-known brick system and is still family-owned. COBI from Poland makes detailed blocks with a focus on historical vehicles. Playmobil and schleich build their ranges around figures: Playmobil around role-play worlds, schleich around hand-painted animals and fantasy figures.
Wooden toys, puzzles and games
HABA and BRIO stand for wooden toys, from baby toys to the wooden railway. Ravensburger is the leading puzzle and game publisher and has owned BRIO since 2015. KOSMOS from Stuttgart publishes games such as CATAN and experiment kits.
Comparison
| Brand | Country | Best known for |
|---|---|---|
| LEGO | Denmark | Building bricks |
| COBI | Poland | Blocks with historical models |
| Playmobil | Germany | Figures and role-play sets |
| schleich | Germany | Animal and fantasy figures |
| HABA | Germany | Wooden toys and children's games |
| BRIO | Sweden | Wooden railway |
| Ravensburger | Germany | Puzzles and board games |
| KOSMOS | Germany | Games and experiment kits |
What is missing from Europe
Large doll and action figure lines such as Barbie, Hot Wheels or Nerf come from the US groups Mattel and Hasbro, and Europe has no single brand of the same size for them. European alternatives exist for most play patterns, but they are sold under other names. See our page on European alternatives to Barbie. Toys sold in Europe must carry the CE mark, and the standard for toy safety applies to all brands, regardless of origin. For small children, check the age rating of a set, because small parts are not suitable for under-threes.