Introduction

Have an idea and want to create a toy, but are wondering where to start? If you want to know how to create and produce a toy, how to get a toy manufactured, or the process of how toys are made and sold, this article has got you covered Well you’ve landed on the perfect guide for future toy creators. This article will guide you through the fascinating world of toy manufacturing and the toy manufacturing industry. From the initial concept to the moment a child's eyes light up with joy, each step in the toy manufacturing process is a blend of creativity, engineering, and strategic planning. It might feel overwhelming but don’t worry this article will point you in the right direction.

Step 1: Conceptualization: Dreaming Up the Next Big Thing

Every great toy starts as an idea that must be developed further to create a toy with a lasting impact. This stage is all about brainstorming and letting your imagination run wild. Think about what kids love, what's missing in the market, and how your toy can offer something unique. It’s best to spend time with the kids in your life and watch how they play. In the toy manufacturing industry, the goal is to create a toy that enhances their existing play patterns, not take away from them!

Step 2: Test Your Big Idea

Before you invest your time and money in creating a toy or developing any product, you’ve got to take the time to survey real people and find out if they want a product like yours. Qualitative and quantitative research is going to be your best friend here. Use a free tool like Google Forms to build your market research survey, and survey 100 people to find out if your idea is truly as good as you think it is! If it is, then you can move forward to create a toy.

Step 3: Design and Prototyping: Bringing Ideas to Life

Now since you're serious about learning how to get a toy manufactured and breaking into the toy manufacturing industry, you’ll need to sketch and sculpt your concept into a tangible prototype. To create a toy that truly encapsulates your idea, take a moment to play around with shapes, sizes, and materials. Prototyping and manufacturing a toy in the industry can involve anything from clay models to advanced 3D printing. It's all about trial and error, ensuring your design is not only fun but also feasible for production. Take a look below to see this process for the Toys R Us Brand Totally Me - Craft Table!

Step 4: Sourcing & Testing for Safety

Safety is paramount in the toy industry and its subsection, the toy manufacturing industry. Be sure that you create a toy by sourcing high-quality, durable, and child-safe materials before you agree to go into production. This stage involves partnering with trusted factories who share our commitment to quality and safety and are certified. Toys designed for under 3 should be free of small parts and sharp edges. All manufactured toys in the industry should be free of toxic materials. Whatever factory you use to safety test your product should have the capability to work with one of the major testing labs in the toy industry. Not sure what labs the factory you’ve chosen works with? Just ask! If you create a toy and go to market with it without getting it safety tested, you run the risk of fines and even lawsuits. All toys for ages 12 and under are required to meet the toy safety testing standard, ASTM F963.

Step 5: Sourcing Materials: The Building Blocks of Toys

Now, it's time to pick the materials that will bring our toys to life. To create a toy worthy of praise in the industry, we look for high-quality, durable, and child-friendly materials to manufacture it with. This stage often involves partnering with trusted suppliers who share our commitment to quality and safety. The factory you choose should have prior experience working with toy companies, and must be able to manufacture your toy for a reasonable price so you can earn a profit when you sell it. Most toys are created in factories located in China or India, but there are a few factories you can use in the USA.

Step 6: Testing and Finalizing the Design

With your pre-production prototype in hand, it’s time to test your product before you move to large-scale toy manufacturing and release it in the industry. Pre-production samples are as close to production as your product will get, prior to a much larger monetary investment. Once you have those samples in hand, set aside a few weeks to organize playtests of your toy. These playtests should be well documented, to assure that your toy meets the dexterity and intelligence level of the age child you intend it for. Based on your playtests and material choices, you might need to tweak your designs. This stage is all about perfecting those little details that make a big difference in how a toy looks, feels, and functions, in order to create a toy that lasts in the industry. This is also where you’ll design and finalize your packaging.

Step 7: Going From Pre-Production to Production Run

Once you LOVE your design, you’ll have to make the decision to commit to your first production run and create toys for your intended users by having them be manufactured on a larger scale. That’s when you give your factory the green light to go ahead and produce your pre-approved MOQ, or minimum order quantity. This will be how you create enough copies of your toys to sell them directly to consumers one-by-one, or to retail stores in what they call “case packs” of 6 or 12. Don’t forget to work with a quality control agency to ensure that you keep the defective percentage of your production run as low as possible.

Step 8: Marketing and Launch: Spreading the Word

Once your product is produced, it’s time to tell the world about it! Marketing the toy you've created involves everything from social media campaigns to attending one of the many global toy fairs. One of the most cost-effective ways to promote your toy is to apply for toy awards!

Step 9: Sales Distribution

After you create a toy, the process of actually selling them can involve you personally visiting toy stores to sell directly to the store owners, or you can work with sales reps and distributors to do that work for you. While distributors will do the work for you, they won’t have your one-of-a-kind touch! There are pros and cons to having help on this part of the process.

Step 10: Enjoy and Share Customer Reviews

The final and most rewarding step is seeing children play with the toy you’ve designed. As you start seeing photos and hearing stories of how you created a toy that has transformed the lives of children, be sure that you start to gather all of those incredible reviews! These reviews and experiences will be so helpful in getting you into more stores, winning awards, and generating more sales. They'll also help build up your reputation and give others a good idea of your capabilities in the cutthroat toy manufacturing industry.

Conclusion

And there you have it, the A to Z of toy manufacturing! You now know the key parts of how to get a toy manufactured in the toy industry. It's a process filled with passion, precision, and a whole lot of playfulness. As The Toy Coach, I'm here to remind you that behind every toy is a story of dedication and dreams coming true. So, let's keep creating, innovating, and most importantly, playing!

If you would like support as you develop your toy idea, check out Toy Creators Academy with me, The Toy Coach!