Ones to Watch

What do Rich Frog Industries, Jack Rabbit Creations, Petra Toys and Noted* have in common? For starters, they won't be exhibiting at a Toy Fair near you, though each of these distributors offers a wide variety of irresistible and mostly handcrafted playthings—from wooden toys to plush to paper crafts and beyond—that can enhance any toy store's selection. Each company, instead, focuses its trade outreach on the gift market, where museum and gift stores are key customers.

Some U.S. toy shops do have a few of these suppliers on their radar and are reaping the benefits, such as Stellabella Toys, a micro-chain of two stores in Cambridge, Mass., which has products both from Rich Frog, Burlington, Vt., and the Atlanta-based Jack Rabbit Creations. “One of the reasons why I like them is they allow us to bring some of that gift mentality to the floor, which is hard to do,” says Stellabella owner Rick Henry of the companies. “They package their things so well that we're able to get them out on a toy floor and they don't get lost.”

Both Rich Frog and Jack Rabbit began in the mid-1990s as little companies created by husband and wife teams, run with the help of family members and friends according to mission statements that guide them to this day, even as each has expanded.

“Rich Frog Industries was established in 1994 by Sarah and Maarten van Ryckevorsel,” director of marketing John Gallagher tells Playthings. He says Sarah and Maarten's shared love of art and good design (she is an artist, he holds a masters degree in art history) “is apparent in every product we make” though the driving force is “all about kids... The first question is always, What would a child enjoy?” he says. “As childhood seems to be getting shorter and kids are growing up faster, we want to make well-designed, quality toys that kids can love and play with throughout their early years.” Rich Frog's hot products include the new Gone Fishin' Tub Game (floating terrycloth sea or river critters with a foam-filled fishing pole) and plush stacking toys, while fast movers at toy shops are interactive items (plush-and-wooden pull toys, wind-up toys and the plush My First Cell Phone) as well as mini plush.

Jack Rabbit shares a similar passion for specialty toys. “We're still a small company, and we like it that way,” founder Jim Lancaster tells Playthings. “We started Jack Rabbit Creations in 1995 out of our house in Berkeley, Calif. We had just started to have kids and this was a good alternative to going back to the corporate world. Our house filled up with plastic disposable toys and we wanted to produce something a bit more lasting,” he says. “Our goal is to create unique, high-quality toys and accessories,” Lancaster adds. “We try to avoid plastics and keep with natural materials as much as possible. All of our products are our exclusive designs (nothing off the rack from Hong Kong), and you aren't going to see them at the big box stores.” Top sellers are bunny, monkey and dog Jack in the Boxes, ABC soft blocks, the Garden Party enamelware tea set and the “Surf's Up, Dude” magnetic vehicle playset—a favorite for Lancaster—while the soft Barnyard Sort & Play set has also been strong for years, he says.

Lancaster notes, “We like to focus on classic children's items and take them to a new level by using better materials, updated colors and fun artwork. We also concentrate on having great packaging so that when a retailer purchases any mix of our products they can put them on a shelf and it really makes a statement and works together.”

Stellabella's Henry agrees with this approach. “It's important to use the visuals that they provide,” he says of both companies, “whether it's little baskets for plush items or metal buckets for pinwheels and things like that. So we put those out and they've done well. They're relatively tiny businesses compared to, say, Playmobil, but they're important because they add that dimension to the store to keep it from being just a lot of big boxes.”

Over at Petra Toys, Phillipsburg, N.J., the company is guided by the principal that “childhood is a special time in each human lifetime,” according to founder Yvette Sommer-Pechanec. Petra stocks more than 300 “nostalgia” toys, mostly imported from Europe, and continuously seeks out new additions.

Petra's current top sellers include hand puppets and magnetic theaters as well as wooden figure puppets, pull toys, press puppets and animal walkers.

For Noted*, Brooklyn, N.Y., the audience for its eclectic mix of tin and wooden toys, paper model kits and other creative items from manufacturers all around the world (Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America) has been a “nice balance” of gift, museum and toy shops, according to company founder Doug Wolske. “We look for different products that are well-designed and made by smaller manufacturers that have a curious or surprising element. This helps give us a natural diversity in product design,” he says. Noted* has also begun designing its own products.

Recent bestsellers include the Eggling and Nyokki ceramic egg-shaped growing kits from Japan. “We are also selling a lot of the Pathfinder's trebuchet and catapult kits as well as the Yoshida Airplane kits,” Wolske says. “I am always surprised by who buys what or what sells in certain shops—pairings of products and venues I would never think of. Successful independent retailers are a very creative and resourceful bunch.” Wolske's current favorite product is the Uruguay-sourced Nueve, nine wooden cubes with a pattern printed on each side. “They line up and make a motif...it is a puzzle with no solution, a game with no rules or winning move. It is just for amusement.” Nueve has sold well, a trend Wolske hopes will continue through the 2007 holidays; in the meantime, “We are always looking to introduce new products,” he says. “In this business, all customers ask, 'What's new?'”