Nins? Tomtens? Mates? -- A comprehensive guide to Grapat toy names

About the brand

GRAPAT - A family owned business that was inspired by the need for free play for their children. The wood is carefully chosen from sustainable forests. Each piece is hand-painted with water based, non-toxic dye and finished with wax and vegetable-based oil. 

Designed in Spain. Made in Spain.

 

Summary

One of the things that makes Grapat toys so unique is that everything has their own specific name, each with meaning. We understand that it can be very confusing when first discovering this wonderful brand. Here is a quick guide compiled by Woodberry to give an overview of the different names that Grapat toys use, followed by our recommendation for the sets to start with.  

 

Nins - the wooden figures

Nins, in Catalan, translates to "children". When played with by little kids, the nins are among their fellow friends! How adorable is that?

Nins comes in different sizes and variations. We gathered some photos below for reference.

*The height, in millimeters, is marked in parentheses following each item.

 

 

• 3 wood nins (65mm)

 

 

• Dark nins (65mm)- two variations: warm (red, orange, yellow) & cold ( green, blue, purple)

 

 

• Acorn nins (65mm) - nins with an acorn-shaped hat from the 7 Moons set 

 

• Tomtens (70mm) - nins with a pointy hat from Tomten and Rainbow Tomten

 

 

• Wizards (70mm) - also called Magos (which means "magicians" in Catalan). These are nins with a flat magician's hat

 

 

 

Creatures 

Unlike nins, who have blank faces left for imagination, these little creatures all have two little hand-painted eyes. 

 

• Sticks (also called "palos") (70mm)

 

 

• Insects - ladybugs (Ø40mm) + slimes (52mm) + ants (44mm)

 

 

• Lola - includes big lola (65mm), medium lola (45mm) and small lola (20mm)

 

 

 

Holders

*The height (H) and diameter (Ø), in millimeters, is marked in parentheses following each item.

• Mates (also known as "grounds" and "gourds") (H=45mm)

 

 

• Cups with lids (H=60mm; Ø=48mm)

 

 

• Bowls (Ø=60mm)

 

 

• Beakers - (H65mm; Ø=70mm) from Lola set

 

 

• Vessels - (H=53mm) from 7 moons set

 

 

• Nesting Bowls (H=38mm; Ø=72/58/44/30mm)

 

 

Compatibility 

	Bowls	Cups	Mates	Vessels	Beakers
Adult nins	O	X	X	X	X
nins	O	O	O	X	X
wizards	O	O	O	X	X
Tomtens	O	O	O	O	X
Acorn nins	O	O	O	O	O
Brots	O	O	O	O	O
Sticks	O	O	O	O	O
Lolas	O	O	O	O	O
Baby nins	O	O	O	O	O
Insects- Ladybug	O	X	X	X	X
Insects-Slimes& ants	O	O	O	O	O

 Below is a side-by-side comparison with side view and top view : 

 

 

So many sets! Which one should I get?

Of course it all comes down to preference and every Grapat toy set has it's own audience. Here are some of our most popular combination sets:

• Nins Carla (120pcs) -- Best Value : [1 nins + 3 coins + 6 rings] x 12 colorways
• Nins, rings and coins (60pcs) -- Best budget : [1 nins + 3 coins + 6 rings] x 6 colorways
• Nins, mates and coins (18pcs) -- Beginners choice : [1 nins + 1 mate + 1 coin ] x 6 colorways
• Lola (72pcs) -- Little ones' favorite : [  1 big lola+ 1 mid lola + 1 small lola + 1 tube +1 beaker + 1 cylinder ] x 12 colorways
• Four seasons (27pcs) -- beautiful aesthetic with exclusive colors. Four variations - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Each includes [ 1 nins + 1 wizard + 1 mate + 3 coins + 3 rings] x 3 colorways