is this good design?  

Are these
plywood ? Plastic ?
Speaking of good toy design:
This morning, at the Safeway, I saw a package of foam dinosaurs, each one compressed within a clear water-soluble capsule the size of a vitamin pill. The package (from China) said to put them in hot water to see them expand. There was a warning to keep them away from small children and to use them with adult supervision.
Would these melt and expand if swallowed ? Can you imagine the results if the answer is yes and a child (or anyone) swallowed one of these -- despite the warning ?

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they're plywood, at first I thought they were great but then I realised that they arent height adjustable, the area where the foot goes is very narrow (ie the thickness of the plywood)and they are riduculously expensive.
I still like them but I think its a bit of a case of style over substance, they LOOK very designed therefore they must BE well designed.

I had
the same immediate criticisms -- though I don't know what the price is.

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$135.00 euros, retail !!!!
I just made something similar (but improved, in some ways) and they are actually pretty easy to use.
I suppose the proof is in the eating.
(the see saw on the same site is one of the most over-designed things I've ever seen)

In the Market for stilts
Certainly appreciate the cures on the stilts. Otherwise I wouldn't have given it much thought.
SDR... interesting you should bring the capsule toy up. Not long ago, a toy called AquaDots, was recalled after it was found to contain GBH...GBH not the punk band but drug can be leathal esp to children! Unreal!

Hey SDR,
I remember those...
Hey SDR,
I remember those capsules from when I was a kid ,and though I never swallowed one, I'm pretty sure anyone who did would be alright. As I recall, the sponges expand over the course of a few minutes, so unless it became lodged in your esophagus for an ungodly amount of time, the sponge would make it all the way to the stomach without coming even close to expanding. Once there, the gastric acids would take care of any other potential problems.

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The trouble with designing stilts and other toys I imagine is, amoungst other things, trying to keep a sleek look and integrating functions without making the toy look like a Heath Robinson contraption.
All the curves on the stilts shown might serve to make them look like some piece of cool high tech sports equipment but they're really pretty redundant.