Grimm's vs Ocamora Rainbow Stacker
The famous rainbow stacker, seen worldwide in many Montessori and Waldorf classrooms. This beautiful toy has gained popularity within the last few years.
If you're here reading today, you're probably doing your research to see which rainbow you should invest in. As a family that owns both, we'll be objective as possible to summarize the key differences below.
One thing to note before diving in. If you're new to wooden toys, or familiar with mainstream wooden toys like Hape and Melissa and Doug. You'll notice these toys are quite different. Velvety to the touch, stained wood vs painted, no two items look identical. Not to mention both Grimm's and Ocamora are made by hand from solid wood, harvested from FSC certified forests. The quality of both these toys are superior to those that you'll find in mainstream toy shops and the prices are reflective of that.
Grimm's is probably the most commonly known for their large rainbow stacker. They offer the large rainbow in 4 different colors: original, pastel, monochrome and natural. Whereas Ocamora's 9 piece rainbow is offered in 8 colors, one of which is the natural variation.
The shape. Although they are both rainbows, Ocamora is wider both in the angle of the arch and the thickness. The individual arches in Ocamora are more consistent and even throughout the arch and rainbow itself. The Grimm's rainbow appear to have more depth due to the amount of standing around the edges. Depending on your rainbow, some Grimm's rainbows only stack properly in one direction.
The texture. If you're used to the Grimm's velvety texture, you'll notice that Ocamora has more texture and more friction when stacking the pieces. Some may have their preferences here - daddy here prefers the smoothness of Grimms, but it is believed that the more textured pieces may be easier to stack due to more grip.
The finish. Both rainbows are stained and appear matte despite being treated with natural oils.
The colors. Both brands offer a beautiful selection of colors. Depending on the piece, Ocamora's color can appear more vibrant.
The size. When comparing the Grimm's Medium Rainbow to the Ocamora 6 piece rainbow, we originally thought they were similar in size but was pleasantly surprised with how much larger the 6 piece was.
Between the Large Grimm's rainbow and Ocamora 9 piece, the size is similar but Grimm's is a slight bit larger.
The smell. Both are fairly scentless. Depending on how new the Grimm's items are, they sometimes have a faint scent. Not sure if that's from being plastic wrapped.
The packaging. As mentioned above, Grimm's package their rainbows in shrink wrap. Which is great for minimal packaging and waste. But unfortunately it is a single use plastic. Ocamora package all their items with a kraft cardboard box and finish it off with stickers to complete the branding.
Where is it made in?
Although Grimm's is a German brand, the rainbows are made in Bosnia. Personally we love our Grimm's products at home but we favour the German made toys compared to it's Bosnia counterparts. Ocamora's products are made in small batches in Spain.
The price. Both brands require a bit of investment.
- Grimm's Medium rainbow: $40
- Grimm's Large rainbow: $125
- Ocamora 6 piece: $100
- Ocamora 9 piece: $150
Final thoughts.
If you're not ready to shell out 3 figures for a toy, we still think the Grimm's Medium rainbow is a good place to start if you have a young toddler. Although the smaller size might not have as many uses as it's larger counterparts, it is a good proof of concept to see if you're willing to invest further. Not to mention, the piece is still beautiful.
If price is not a main factor, we recommend going for the rainbow you're most drawn to - based on shape and colors available. We do love that Ocamora offers such a wide variety of colors to choose from. One thing to note is that Grimm's offer many complementary toys that can be used to build with your large rainbow. Although we believe you can still mix and match, but the size and number of the pieces are intended to go with the large rainbow. Both brand uses the same stains, so you'll be able to match your arches easily within the same brand.
Both brands are made from natural wood that can contain visible knots, note that this is a natural characteristic of the wood and is not considered an imperfection. This is something that we think is important to highlight when customers are purchasing natural wooden toys as this is something you might not find on mass produced wooden toys - which is normally made of ply wood.
We hope this was helpful. If you end up choosing Ocamora or want to see more products, see our listings in our online shop.