Custom Toys

Looking to have custom toys made to your exact design specifications and quality requirements? When considering a custom toys to be manufactured out of plastic there are many things you must consider when custom injection molding is required. There is the mold making process in which all of the flow rates, temperature, material shots, runners, and material have to be considered. You also need to determine what life expectancy you want out of the mold which would affect the cost. If you go with a steel mold obviously take the most time to produce but would also give you the longer life expectancy or the most use (shots). While an aluminum tool would take less time to make and provide you with less life expectancy or less use (shots).
A lost aspect when using plastic molding to manufacture your toy is considering the flow rate. The more time it takes to make your toy the more cost is involved which is why the mold design is very important to cut down on the cycle time but also to make sure that material flows to all of the cavity of the mold. You will also want the mold to be designed so it will release the toy easily when cooling. If you have assembly requirements besides the plastic molding this would be an ideal toy to be made overseas because of the labor and the time to manufacture your toy. All of this must be taken into consideration when manufacturing custom toys.
You also need to determine what plastic material you want to use in the custom injection molding. Is this toy going to be used outside? If so you will want a material conducive to outdoor use and it will need to have UV protection to protect it from fading. What type of toy is it, do you need a more flexible material more pliant or soft like a polymer clay material or is a denser surface, then you are looking for something such as a Polyoxymethylene(POM) material? Also, a very important aspect when making toys from plastic materials is that they meet the Child Safety Act and the material must be Lead free and Phthalate free! Are there moving parts or is the item small? If so you will have to have age limits on your packaging and safety warnings.
Another very important step in making your custom toy is the packaging. You may have the greatest toy ever made but if you do not have a great retail package you will never sell your toy. The packaging must have colorful graphics and also depending on the type of toy you will want the package so the toy can be looked at and held or at minimum touched (action toys and athletic toys are especially sold on the basis of action or being able to use). The graphics used should be colorful and if it is a game or a stationary toy show how the toy is used, high resolution photos included in graphics are the best to display the product. If it is a large toy, usually the best method of packaging is a 4 color carton but there are many toys that are fully exposed but with a hang tag for hanging the product up (large water cannons are an example of this). Smaller toys can have many different packaging methods, 4 color cartons, blister package, clamshell package or just a hang card.