This is the official page for Grandpa Ed 's Workshop. Grandpa Ed 's Workshop is about two ideals: that imagination is the most powerful force in a child's development, and that the best toys are timeless. We build high quality wooden castles to our unique designs using the finest materials. Each castle is handmade from Baltic Birch plywood and decorated in the style of your choosing. The
castles are sized to accommodate figures ranging from 1:32 scale (green army men sized) to 3" size. This project is about two ideals: that imagination is the most powerful force in a child's development, and that the best toys are timeless. I grew up during the transition from G.I. Joes and Barbies to video games and electronic gadgets. I had plenty of both, yet my fondest memories aren't of high scores and beaten levels. They are of the worlds I created with green army men, Legos, and my imagination. I'm not the only person my age that feels this way. There's a strange phenomenon going on in the world of playtime. More and more I hear of children casting aside their iGizmos in favor of their parent's old toys; rediscovered in the attic or rescued from Grandma's basement. In fact that's sort of the story behind this project. This project is inspired by the memory of my grandfather Ed Fromm. Ed was a carpenter, designer, and tinkerer. From the doors of his workshop emerged beautiful furniture, game tables, cabinets, and ingenious widgets. The scrap corner served as stock for the imaginations of his grandchildren. With his guiding hands we leaned to turn leftover pieces into everything from bird houses to battleships. Going through some old things I stumbled upon some plans for a project we never got around to; a wooden fortress for toy soldiers...
..Flash forward a few years. My girlfriend's 10 year old was whining that he had nothing to do because the Xbox controller was out of batteries. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was trying to get some work done. I ran down a mental list of all of the flashy toys and games he had to play with, but there was no interest in any of them. In a fit of desperation I handed him a shopping bag filled with old green army men and pointed to a rocky part of the yard. Three hours later the backyard general returned grinning ear to ear. "Jon these things are awesome! But you need to build a base for the bad guys!" In the coming days I discovered many people had similar stories. The final "ah-ha!" moment came when a five year old told me his new flashy store bought castle wasn't "real and mean looking enough." Within a few weeks pencil sketches had become CAD models had become prototypes. Grandpa Ed's Workshop was born
