Behind The Scenes at Haystack Toys

While Haystack Toys is a relative newcomer to the toy industry, their name is already becoming well-known due in great measure to thier highly-publicized Great American Toy Hunt and for their growing reputation of doing toys a different way.

Haystack Toys launched the first Great American Toy Hunt last year, and is currently in the midst of the second Hunt. The fruits yielded by the first hunt are seen in the company's inaugural toyline which is now in stores.

The Great American Toy Hunt is a multi-city tour that invites the public to come in and pitch their toy inventions. Haystack isn't searching for the next fad, or hot property, but that special timeless toy that fires the imagination of a child.

Raving Toy Maniac recently had the priviledge to speak with Haystack Toys' president and co-found, Dan Lauer and inventor, Kathy Cunningham who created the Flutterwings as they took time out of their incredibly hectic schedules to share their experiences.

Dan Lauer (seen left, with Sea Pets™) already had a career as a vice-president of a bank when he came up with the idea for the Waterbabies doll, after recalling memories of his sisters playing with dolls created from water balloons. Dan shopped his idea around to the big toy companies, but received no response.

Convinced his idea was a valid one, Dan took it upon himself to raise over $300,000 to develop, manufacture and sell the doll himself.

In 1990 Dan had managed to get his dolls test-marketed in the St. Louis area to astounding success that attracted the attention of the big toy companies who had ignored the idea a few years earlier. Dan ended up licensing Waterbabies to Playmates Toys where it has gone on to become the second best-selling baby doll, selling over 11 million dolls.

Dan's success garnered a lot of press, which resulted in other toy inventors coming to him to find out how to get their own products to market, taking Dan down a path that, in 1992, led him to becoming an agent for toy inventors.

"The are holes in the toy industry big enough to drive a truck through," Dan explains. Seeing the industry constantly scrambling for the "next big thing" and practically tripping over themselves in the process Dan decided it was time to do things differently. Seeing the need in the toy market for toys that are simply great toys on their own merit, Dan co-founded Haystack Toys along with original Waterbabies investor, Jeff Loeb. Haystack Toys is, in Dan's words, a "David and Goliath" story that's all about "reversing processes and taking some big risks".

"After all," he says, "who would go to the general public to get toy ideas?" That's not the way the big boys, with their development teams, focus groups and market research, do it. Not to say that those things aren't valid, but the big companies were still leaving a creative need unmet in the toy industry. So, The Great American Toy Hunt, which Dan describes the Hunt as Antiques Roadshow meets Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, was born. Embarking on a multi-city tour, seeing 100 inventors in each city, the Hunt began searching for "needles in a haystack", classic toys-in-the-making that would stand the test of time, that would stand on their own strength and not be reliant on licensing or entertainment properties to remain viable.

The first Hunt was a huge success, and has yield the company's inaugural products including Flutterwings™, AirMaze™, Jumbo Tumbos™, Cuddle Fish™, and Dan's own creation, Sea Pets™

These initial products saw their debut last week at FAO Schwartz in New York City, and are available in other specialty retailers such as Zany Brainy, Imaginarium and others.

"Retail response has been great," Dan says. "People are dying for stuff like this." Cuddle Fish has already been selected as one of Dr. Toys Top 10 Toys for 2000, and the Haystack Toys website, with it's recently launched e-commerce component was featured as a Yahoo! Site of the Week.

Now with the first products available to the public at retail, it's time to prove themselves, and build on their brand, and the company's foundation as Haystack looks towards the future.

"We have to deliver on our promise," Dan explains, "Kids have to love 'em. We have to matter."

What does the future hold for Haystack Toys? The second Great American Toy Hunt is going on right now, which will yield the company's new lines for 2001. This year has seen a marked improvement, overall, in the quality of the toys being presented to the Hunt. In the meantime, products extensions are planned for the existing lines, and the company plans to scale themselves as thier ability warrants.

Also in the works is a plan to take the Toy Hunt model and launch the Great American Book Hunt, doing for writers what the Toy Hunt is doing for toy inventors. Dan, along with the rest of the Haystack Toys crew, have their work cut out for them, certainly, but they've got the vision, passion and commitment to bring about their dreams.

Dreams made reality is something that Dallas-based Kathy Cunningham can certainly relate to. Kathy's invention, Flutterwings™ was one of the winning inventions selected on the first Great American Toy Hunt.

Married, with one child, and working full-time in the real estate industry Kathy is a far cry from your average toy inventor. But, when she read an article in the Dallas morning paper about the Great American Toy Hunt she new instantly she wanted to be a part of it.

"I thought about what I did with my child when she was little," Kathy says about beginning the inventing process. "We'd pretend to be butterflies, or angels, while on the swing."

So began the creation process. Kathy dumped out boxes of craft materials, looking for the pieces that would go into the wings that she was beginning to envision. She went to the Internet to study the various shapes of butterfly wings, looking for just the right shape that would translate well into toy form. Once a shape was determined, she put it on a transparency and projected it onto paper hanging on the wall on her living room.

The shape was transferred to wood, creating a pattern that could be worked with. Kathy began shaping wire around the wood to serve as an armature for the wings, which would need to be flexible, yet strong enough to withstand play.

From there Kathy began experimenting with different materials for the wings themselves, and as the wings developed she noticed the structural similarity to a kite.

"I found a kite that was similar to what I was thinking, and cut it into the shape I wanted." she says.

The next challenge was the hinge mechanism that would allow for the wings fluttering action. A pair of butterfly hair clips belonging to her daughter, Tiffany, provided the necessary inspiration for the fluttering mechanism and Kathy began to try different springs until she found a tension that was functional. From there, everything got hot glued together.

"It was a hot glue masterpiece," Kathy laughed.

All told, it was 40 days from conceiving the idea for the Flutterwings to presenting the prototype at the Toy Hunt.

"It became a personal challenge for me to do it," Kathy explained. "I wanted to make it very simple, yet be able to stimulate a child's imagination." The creation process has had an unexpected impact on Kathy. "I look at everything as a child again. It's wonderful."

Kathy found herself in a whirlwind of activity from entering the contest, talking to toy experts, talking to professional toy designers, being selected as a finalist and finally having her toy chosen to be one of Haystack Toys first products.

"It's an honor." Kathy says of being chosen. When asked if she would do it all over again, Kathy responded with an enthusiastic "Absolutely!"

Kathy has had the additional honor of having a display erected in the Chicago Childrens Museum that shows the entire development of Flutterwings from inception to production, complete with her notes, ideas, working prototype, manufactured samples and final production piece.

"Seeing it all in front of you," she says, "you realize how much went into making the toy - it's an evolution."

Haystack Toys took Kathy's idea, and prototype and turned it over to their design team producing a final product that exceeded Kathy's expectations. At one point, Haystack couldn't find the material that they wanted for the wings, so they had it made especially for Flutterwings.

"They raised the bar," Kathy says of Haystack's commitment to excellence. "I was impressed that this was a toy company that started with core values, and beliefs...not just a toy. They allow ordinary people a creative avenue to express ideas. The energy is contagious"

What's next for Kathy Cunningham?

"I have some pretty big goals for myself," she says. While she's not ready to walk away from her real estate career, she would love to try her hand at toy inventing again. She also retains ownership of the Flutterwings idea. Haystack Toys has first right of refusal on any future line extensions, and Kathy is more than happy to continue allowing Haystack to develop her ideas.

If Haystack Toys can impact the lives of children with their products in just a fraction of the way they've impacted the lives of people involved in the Great American Toy Hunts they have a bright future in the toy industry, indeed.