Raduga Grez and Cathedral: A Better Love Story than Doctor Zhivago

Cathedral is available at Happy Monkey Miami (Use FIRSTTEN for 10% off)

“Sweepingly epic” was how Doctor Zhivago was described in 1965. Over 50 years later, I would use the exact same words to describe another Russian masterpiece: Cathedral by Raduga Grez.

Full of peaks and valleys, with a romantic current throughout, this latest master block set is a work of art. In every sense of the word. This isn’t Grimm’s 1001 Nights or even a sparkling mandala…this is a story. Dare I say…a fairy tale?

Once Upon a Time: Backstory

To begin with, I reached out to Raduga Grez to get more information on the inspiration behind the overall line: Slavic Fairy Tales. I was curious because I couldn’t reconcile the amount of arches and domes to a particular cathedral or basilica. Graciously, they answered my questions. The Cathedral piece, the rainbow in particular, was based on stenography done for a 1910 ballet show created by Ivan Bilibin. Bilibin also illustrated Slavic fairy tales. I fell through a bit of a rabbit hole with this particular fact. I found a copy of his illustrations that is slowly making its way here from Russia. I can’t wait to show Vicky (and y’all of course). Here is the picture that Raduga Grez sent me:

Bilibin tragically died during the siege of Leningrad, refusing to leave. Inna, my contact over at Raduga Grez, advises that every Russian child has a book of his illustrations.

Another influence for the line is found in Tatyana Mavrina, also a children’s book illustrator. She was a Bhutemas student (Russian Bauhaus) and taught by Kandinsky. She received the Hans Christian Andersen Award, an international award given for contributions to children’s literature. She came from a remarkable family, her brother is the inventor of the first Soviet computer. Here is an example of Mavrina’s work:

Dreaming of Rainbows

We all found wooden toys for various reasons. Some of us came here via Waldorf and Steiner, others through constant social media marketing by Lovevery. Others still, pushed for a more sustainable and eco-conscious playroom. No matter the path, we all have seen the power that open ended toys possess in a well stocked playroom.

Grimm’s Wooden Toys has championed that open ended-ness, and evolved a product line that has no limits on what you can create. From rollers to train sets, from rainbows to 1001 Nights, if you can dream it, Grimm’s can help you make it. They aren’t without faults, OBVIOUSLY, but I think we can all agree our playrooms are better off for their exisistence.

Which brings me to Raduga Grez. Raduga is based out of Russia and evokes an other-worldness that is hard to describe (but I’m a blogger so I suppose I have to try). Where Grimm’s can create reality, Raduga can imagine the other worlds we’ve yet to see, the planets we haven’t visited, the palaces that lay undiscovered.

Raduga does best when it’s working with asymmetrical pieces. We’ve seen the trees and the stackers, but if you’ve owned Infanta or something similar, you know its the irregular shapes where they excel. My daughter has spent more time in the past month with Infanta and their retired Landscape puzzle, than she spent with any of our Grimm’s all year. I was a bit taken aback, but after watching her for some time, I have come to the conclusion that she is taken by the unlimited possibilities.

But let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. I had several comparison requests, and I did a bit of cataloging for the obsessive builders like myself.

Comparison Photos

First, let’s compare Raduga Grez’s Cathedral palette against their own older piece?

A more close up view? It seems like they’ve drawn specifically from their older pieces for this color palette and I couldn’t be more pleased.

Let’s see what it looks like in other brands’ worlds. We will stick with the biggies: Grimm’s and Grapat.

I am a huge proponent of Grimm’s 1001 Nights. I recommend it as a first piece to nearly every wooden toy novice I talk to. But it looks like an old slipper compared to the Louboutin that is Cathedral. The colors don’t necessarily vibe, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say they clash. I think they can be used concurrently. I did pick 1001 Nights because I thought it would be the hardest to mesh with the Cathedral color scheme. I don’t think it’s a total car accident and think a Grimm’s Traditional Rainbow, or even Pastel, won’t struggle to blend.

Now Grapat…Grapat is where it is at. Grapat colors don’t clash at all, in my opinion. The Together set seems to be the perfect people to populate a world of Cathedral blocks. What do you think?

Building Potential

By far the biggest criticism of the Cathedral set is it’s lack of building potential. I’m not sure where this belief originated. There are turrets and arches, domes and pedestal pieces. This, to me anyway, seems like a great combination of both Grimm’s Romanesque and 1001 Nights.

I decided to attempt a child free build. I gave myself 15 minutes to see what I could come up. In reality I wasn’t expecting Vicky to go 15 minutes without checking on me anyway. Without putting too much thought into it, I ended up assembling a futuristic Venetian landscape. The domes made great pieces for sailboats and the arches seemed perfect for a gondola to slip on through. If you can’t set up an invitation to play with Cathedral you aren’t trying hard enough.

But for the more practical minded toy actuaries, here are all the pieces laid out, grouped by design:

Aesthetics and Grain

Some people excel in shape precision, others with how quickly they can churn out rainbows. Far and away, Raduga Grez succeeds in the sensorial opulence of the texture of their pieces. Here’s some up close photos to illustrate what I mean:

I get asked a lot about the quality of their pieces and I struggle to come up with a better word than “velvet”. But it is what fits – it stacks just as well as Grimm’s because they aren’t smooth like let’s say Myers. Also, they aren’t grippy and prone to denting like Ocamora. Raduga seems to have found the happy medium between beauty and brains.

Inner Conflict: Do You Need It?

Well, you know I am never one to tell you to hold back on anything, but I genuinely think Cathedral will be one of those collectors items in a few years. I distinctly remember staring at the Raduga Grez landscape puzzle about three years ago and joking with an acquaintance about paying $150 to buy it and ship it from Australia. The same puzzle auctions for over $500 now. My gut tells me this one will be similar.

But what if you aren’t a collector? Practically speaking, I think this piece checks off a lot of boxes for an open ended, wooden toy caregiver. It has a variety of pieces, stacks well, and is super colorful. It is a reasonable match with common pieces in the playroom and complements a lot of them (I almost wrote a whole side article on how this set will look great with natural rainbows and unstained blocks). If you can’t manage to get a curation from Deb, or if you don’t want to chase down multiple block sets, I think this is ideal.

And We Lived Happily Ever After…

Between the backstory, the lush colors, and the practicality, this is by far, the best wooden toy release of 2021. Two months ago, I would’ve written ad nauseam about Abel Blocks, but this trumps them. If you can, Sezzle this bad boy and take it home.

Cathedral is available at Happy Monkey Miami (Use FIRSTTEN for 10% off)