A toy maker that started out quietly in Elkhorn is making a big splash.
Fat Brain Toys is in the running for a prestigious honor.
“We have three products that are finalists for the Toy of the Year award,” Fat Brain Toys Marketing Director Matt Hansen tells Nebraska Radio Network affiliate KHUB. “And this is an award put on by the Toy Association and it’s kind of like winning the Super Bowl for toys.”
Hansen says the company is one of 520 that submitted nominations for Toy Industry Association award.
The company says its finalists include Squigz, a “suction construction” toy nominated for Specialty Toy of the Year; Peek-A-Doodle Doo, an early memory game nominated for Game of the Year; and pipSquigz, nominated for the Infant/Toddler Toy of the Year Award.
Fat Brain Toys will compete with the likes of Mattel, Hasbro, and LEGO.
Hansen says it’s quite an honor for a company that started only a dozen years ago.
“Started 12 years ago in the basement of Mark and Caren Carson, our founders. They couldn’t find any good toys for their kids,” Hansen explains.
Fat Brain Toys began as an online retailer with a location in Omaha and one in Overland Park, Kansas. The company sends out about a million catalogs a year.
Hansen says the final piece in the company’s development has come of late, with the enhancement of its product development side.
“That’s where these three toys that we’ve developed have really put us on the map in terms of our development,” Hansen says.
The company says the finalists were selected by nomination committees comprised of 10 to 15 experts knowledgeable of each respective category. The nomination committee members represent a cross-section of retail buyers, journalists, toy specialists, and professionals such as developmental psychologists and play therapists.
For more about the toy awards, click here.
Connie Green, KHUB, contributed to this report.
