Handtrux Toys, The Perfect Holiday Gift
Posted on Monday, 16 of November , 2009 at 10:18 pm
Children are busy making their holiday wish lists with the hope that they’ll find “that special toy” under the tree this year.
Handtrux Toys, the brainchild of inventor Ernest Autumn Van Den Heuvel of Stony Point, NY and Little Falls, NJ, is all about the kids and these unique sandbox sized dirt machines make the perfect gift. It’s one of the hottest toys in America.
See a video of Ernie and the toys here http://www.handtruxtoys.com/handtrux_handycam.html
They work just like the Big Iron and with the patented handraulic power-grip hidden inside each machine, you can really do precision digging and excavate sand, loose dirt and mud.
Why, even adults will be tempted to “borrow” the toys for gardening chores.
The entire piece, in the same bright yellow hue as the big trucks, fits on a child’s arm, and it allows kids to move the scoop back and forth with their hand and wrist, thus turning a sandbox, day at the beach, or any pile of dirt into their own make-believe construction site. The toys are child safe and lead free.
You can prepare the earth and excavate for pipe, load trucks, cut roads, grade piles and have hours and hours of real “clean” earth moving fun. They were featured as one of the summer’s best toys on CBS’ “Early Show” in July. http://www.handtruxtoys.com/handtrux_TV.html
The HandTrux®, which sells for $17.99, is for kids ages 4 to 9. The injection-molded toys are currently available in bulldozer, backhoe and dump truck designs. New models will be rolled out early next year. These unique patented toys possess the ability to unleash a child’s imagination for hours of creative playtime.
Orders for the toys, delivered in time for holiday gift giving, can be placed at the website at www.handtruxtoys.com
These unique patented toys possess the ability to unleash a child’s imagination for hours of creative playtime.
“The designs are unique and present many positive attributes such as imagination, encouragement of outdoor activities, and use of construction equipment which may greatly interest children, says Professor Matthew King of Bergen Community College.
Van Den Heuvel, a heavy equipment operator for 34 years, is the CEO and creator of EVERGREENRIVER, Ltd., a diversified entertainment producer. The toys are distributed by TenTonToys, a division of EVERGREENRIVER Ltd. His company also markets music, comic books, action figures and PopTraders 3D baseball cards.
His original comic book, “Amazing, Unstoppable Psycho Backho” was adapted to a novel, based on his experience and he hopes to make Psycho Backho into a feature film. www.psychobackho.com
The creation of Psycho Backho® is inspired by actual events which are partly based upon author his electrocution at age 18 by 50 Kv of electricity when he climbed a high tension tower with his brother, his years of heavy equipment operation, and his spectacular photography which he believes caught two unidentified flying objects on film
Being creative and an inventor seems to be inherited. His grandfather, Anthony J. Salimone, was also an inventor and was the police chief in Park Ridge, NJ, one of the first motorcycle cops, riding a Harley-Davidson, just as Ernie does now. Ernie’s grandfather patented the original target-retrieval system for shooting ranges in 1917.
Van Den Heuvel grew up in North Jersey and as an adventuresome teen, he was stunned by some 50,000 volts of electricity while climbing a high-tension tower. He says that was a defining moment in his life. While in the hospital recovering, he started writing music. He now has his own band.
Van Den Heuvel says there is nothing that brings him more joy than to see a child’s face light up when presented with a Handtrux toy. Van Den Heuvel tells the story of one such occurrence.
He had taken to carrying a small stock of the Handtrux Backhoe toys in his truck so that he would be able to give them to any families he would happen across. One day, Van Den Heuvel says, he was stopped at a gas station when he encountered a distraught-looking boy and his father. Van Den Heuvel, wanting to cheer the boy up, went up to the father and explained that he was a toy inventor and would like to give a toy to the child. The father, who was amazed to be meeting the inventor of the toy he said he had heard so much about, readily agreed.
Van Den Heuvel describes the awe and joy on the boy’s face when he gave him the toy. The boy knew how it worked and excitedly thrust out his arm so that Van Den Heuvel could slide the toy on. “Daddy?!” the child asked, and at his father’s nod he began to play immediately. There was no longer a trace of his earlier sorrows.
“That is my favorite thing,” says Van Den Heuvel, about the simple joy of seeing amazement glowing on a child’s face.
The Handtrux line is designed to unleash a child’s imagination. Van Den Heuvel feels strongly about the importance of expanding the creativity of young minds. In this day and age, where video game consoles dominate the children’s entertainment market, Van Den Heuvel fears that kids are being taught to pigeonhole their minds into the world that the game produces for them. They cannot think beyond the dimensions of these digital, pre-made universes, he says.
Van Den Heuvel believes that the mind is a precious thing, deserving of respect and honor; creativity is something to cherish and nurture. With Handtrux, kids make their own world to construct or excavate in. There are no limitations to how wide or far the imagination stretches a universe, and that is just how it should be, he says.
The toys have received rave reviews, named earlier this year as Playthings’ Toy of the Week. Playthings.com delivers breaking toy industry news, new product previews and analysis of toys, games and collectibles.
Handtrux toys were also inducted into the permanent collection of the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester.
The toys were also featured in TD Monthly, a trade magazine for the toy, hobby, game and gift industry and was named one of the best by Grandparents.com
When the Joan D’Alessandro Foundation held its annual yard sale fund raiser in May in Hillsdale, NJ, Van Den Heuvel donated several cases of the sandbox-sized toys.
Ernie was 15 when seven-year-old Joan D’Alessandro, a Brownie Scout, was abducted and killed by her neighbor when she was delivering boxes of Girl Scout cookies. He helped search for the girl for three days until her body was found in Stony Point where he now lives. “I had to help raise money for the Foundation in that I’ve been so connected for so long to the family”, Ernie says.
To ensure that a Handtrux toy is under your Christmas tree this year, to bring joy and delight to your favorite child, order direct today at www.handtruxtoys.com They will also soon be marketed at Amazon and EBay. 11-16-09
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