Shawnimals website. All images by Shawnimals and used with permission.
Today I’m very excited to bring you an interview with Shawn Smith, the creator of Shawnimals. I contacted Shawn because he has a thriving plush business that includes both handmade toys and toys he’s designed and had manufactured in China and then distributed to stores in the US.
I know that having toy designs manufactured is a dream of many indie plush makers. I get emails every week asking if I know anything about the process, how much it costs, how to get started, and who to contact. Until now when I got these emails I would respond saying that all I knew was getting toys manufactured is expensive and that there is a large minimum order required (in the thousands of pieces).
Shawn Smith
What makes indie plush makers consider manufacturing? Well, sewing hundreds of the same toy by hand to fill a huge wholesale order can be “unfun” as Shawn says, but turning down the order can be bad for your business. If you could just focus on design work and have your toys sewn in a factory you’d be able to meet these wholesale orders easily, and take on even more. And you never know, with national distribution your toys could really take off like Ugly Dolls have done, launching your tiny, indie toy company into an international industry.
Shawn has been incredibly generous in our talk, sharing his knowledge and experience with toy manufacturing, including lots of useful and practical details. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing your toy designs widely distributed, or fantasized about not have to sew every single piece by hand to meet a wholesale order, I think you’ll enjoy this interview.
Giant Wee Ninjas and Wee Ninjas by Shawnimals
Shawn and I talk for about 20 minutes. Listen by clicking below or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes for free.
In our talk, Shawn refers to DKE Toys, an independent wholesale distributor of designer toys. Shawn also talks about independent toy testing labs such as this one.
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What did you think of Shawn’s experience? Do you have any follow up questions for him? Does hearing his story make you reevaluate your plans or push you toward taking the manufacturing plunge? Please share in the comments.
Great interview! Very informative. I wish, I knew more about specifically who Shawn contacted and/or how he got the info about who to contact to get the ball rolling on manufacturing his toys. It sounds like it was a contact at DKE if I’m following correctly, but I wasn’t clear on that aspect. Also, did he get in touch with the manufacturing agent first or the factory or the distributor?
Thanks for another great post, Abby, Shawn seems super nice and I’m always very interested in hearing more about small businesses getting slightly bigger.
On the specific subject of manufacturing plush toys oversea, there’s a very interesting interview of Lauren Venell on Rena Tom’s blog: http://renatom.net/2012/07/12/profile-lauren-venell-deep-creeps/
Veronique,
Thank you so much! This article is really informative and hopefully, paired with Shawn’s interview, will give people enough information to make the right decisions.
Thank you!
Thanks, Daniel! DKE acted as our distributor / broker. Dov from DKE may have info on manufacturers and other such things, but we received our info from a referral. Really depends on what you’re doing though. We used a Chicago-based rep in the past at Squibbles Ink: http://squibblesink.com/sii/index.html
Good luck!
Great link. It goes into a lot of important details we weren’t able to cover due to the format. I think her point about the plethora of other hidden costs as well as simple manufacturing issues (getting the look and feel right despite good specs, etc). Thanks for sharing.
I love Shawnimals! I was so excited when I saw that you’d interviewed him. I have a couple of his plush ninjas and a vinyl one. I even preordered his video game (I highly recommend it. It’s really cute.). I’m always on the lookout at my local art toy store for his stuff.
Thanks for a really informative interview. This series is so helpful as I look for ways to monetize my softie making habit. I was really interested when he mentioned safety standards. I’ve been wondering about it when selling toys. I hope to see more on that topic.
Safety standards seems to be a hot topic. I'd love to delve into it more, but I'm not sure who to contact. If you, or anyone, knows of someone with professional knowledge of US toy safety standards, especially as they relate to small run, handmade toys, and might agree to be interviewed, please let me know! I'll get out there and talk with them on all of our behalf!
Hey Abby…and Shawn! What a great interview! Its awesome to hear from someone who has made a go of getting their plush toys manufactured and to be able to learn from their experiences along the journey, so thanks for sharing. Thanks too to Veronique, for that great link… there’s a lot to consider and you’ve given me even more food for thought! :0