A bit of History Toys4play
More than 6 years ago, a friend asked me to pick up a finished order for him at a laser cutting shop, which is located near my main job. When I first saw laser machines, I was impressed by the cutting process and wondered what I could do that could be cut on a laser. Then a new period of searching and studying possible programs for this began. Programs for 3D modeling, for working with flat drawings were selected and studied.
Toys4Play began with a simple idea: to create something that inspires you to play, build and dream. These were toys for my children.
It all started with conversations with children and designing toys for them. I started with simple models – for myself, for children, for friends.
A world-famous platform was found, focused on hand-made sellers, for the possibility of sales around the world.
It was not sold for several months and I almost lost hope that my work would be appreciated by others. When the first sale happened, it became a kind of impetus and good motivation to move on. Over time, the range of listings expanded and my products began to find their fans all over the world. I started to mark on Google maps the places where my products were sold. These were mainly dollhouses.
Then the war came to Ukraine and made its own adjustments to the work processes. I switched to selling digital goods.
My rubber band guns became especially popular at that time – safe wooden toys that delighted children and collectors.
But just recently, the platform where my store was located considered such products “not compliant with the rules” and began to block my listings with rubber band guns. This was done in three stages. and after the third letter about deactivation, I received a letter that the entire store was blocked. At the same time, there were quite a lot of listings of rubber band guns from other stores left on the platform.
This was a turning point. I realized that I did not want to depend on external platforms and decided to move on – to develop my own site, community and ideas. Today, I continue to create unique digital and physical products inspired by the same thing: love for detail, design, and real play.
I personally check each product, from sketch to test assembly, so that you can enjoy the process and the result.
Toys4Play is not just a workshop. It is a story about creative freedom, the pursuit of quality, and the belief that real play begins with a good idea.