5 The M M Toys

The Mini Marvel toys history from my imagination to your home.

I first thought about making a soft toy horse when I was in hospital recovering from major surgery on my back in 1995. I had to take a year off from riding and couldn’t do my normal physical work, one day when I was looking at my little star Hercules I thought how great it would be if others could also have their very own special little plush toy horse called Hercules.

First I needed to see if there were any toys around that were similar to what l had in mind, so I went to a major trade toy fair in Birmingham to see what was on offer and then I had to check out lots of shops! I couldn't find anything, so l got to work designing the toy but when I tried to get a sample made I ran into lots of problems and the dream was put on back burner. But I learnt many new things, such as how to arrange and register my trademarks and then sort out the licensing on my toys - all parts of a new business world. Unfortunately l could not get them made in Great Britian due to the cost, so l had to go to China!

So.........

Fast forward a few years, when l put together my full team of miniature horses The Mini Marvels we started doing our displays and also visiting hospitals and homes, met many people on our travels - some had never seen a real horse let alone a mini!

I started thinking about my toys again - there were still nothing like them in the shops. So l dug out my designs and went for it! I created a set of toys each one with their own passport and stable, based on my real team, I then put them out on license to another company for a period of time. l hope you love them as much as l do, I have been on quite a journey with The Mini Marvels toys and now they are selling and going worldwide :-)

The First MM1 Samples !

Lets start the journey of how I made with The Mini Marvel toys to make them become reality instead of just my dream. Here is a photo of the very early samples that were sent back to me, well I thought they looked more like bulldogs than little horses - they were not quite what l had in mind! I wanted to them to look like real little horses!

I got busy

First I went and bought a wig, which l cut into strips.
Next l cut off the dreadful mane and hair that was called a mane and tail then l got busy sewing the wig hair into place - so this little horse had lovely flowing locks that could be plaited

There was a problem with the neck, it was to short so I had to cut the head and stitched in the neck l wanted, plus the ears were wrong so they had to come off as well. That was why l put the white material on so it was very clear - look closely at the front legs they are half an inch shorter which is why l put him on the little platforms to show that!

After much work at home with drawings and altering the samples so they looked how l wanted them to - they still came back wrong.
l decided the best way was to fly over to the factory in China to work on the toys - it stopped time being wasted and this way l knew l would get them made exactly how l wanted them to be.
.

Flying into Hong Kong

Part 1

All the patterns needed to be sewn together

Part 2

This one is nearly finished

Part 3

Just doing a quick tail check that they are the right colour and lenght

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Eventually it all came together, the toys made the shortlist for Best Childrens Toy at the Spring Toy Fair and l put them out on license which ran for a period of time. That has now finished and l have the toys totally under my wing, l decided to change their packaging and put them into special waterproof see through travel bags.
As it happened l had to go to India on business for another project so l was able to source the bags there and get the correct ones made. Even after the samples were made there were a lot of emails and drawings going back and forth in order to make sure l had the waterproof travel bags just how l wanted them for MM1 toys. You can see the result at the bottom of the page, l hope you like them.
My toys have taken me on a journey to some places l never thought l would go to and in turn my Mini Marvel toys have gone all over the world to be special friends to lots of other people.

The early MM1 Samples

The MM1 finished

See how the toys went from the first sample to what you see in my hands.

This is Hercules on the left, we had to spray his legs to get the dark colouring and Commanche had to have spotted material on his hindquarter to make him an Appaloosa!

out!                       . They sent back many samples, finally l got busy cutting & adding new bits like wig hair to make the mane & tail, l made the neck longer, and put it in the correct position, l even changed the ears. Finally l put something under the front legs to show they were to short! The pieces of the pattern are sown together          Nearly there Getting there slowly While that is happening, l was busy making sure that we got the colours correct and as close as we could

Making sure the tail is fixed in. Putting in final stuffing to the legs              Seen here below are the final toys that l brought back with me

This was taxi Chinese style - but l gave it a miss, a little bit to risky for me! But when the needs must then sometimes you have no choice.

As l decided to repackage the toys in new plastic travell bags l needed to go to India to source the bags.

This was one of the sights l saw, with the old and the new ways of transport!
The Mini Marvels® is the registered trademark of Tanya Larrigan

Eventually it all came together, the toys made the shortlist for Best Childrens Toy at the Spring Toy Fair and l put them out on license which ran for a period of time. That has now finished and l have the toys totally under my wing, l decided to change their packaging  and put them into special waterproof see through travel bags.
As it happened l had to go to India on business for another project so l was able to source the bags there and get the correct ones made. Even after the samples were made there were a lot of emails and drawings going back and forth in order to make sure l had the waterproof travel bags just how l wanted them for MM1 toys. You can see the result at the bottom of the page, l hope you like them.
My toys have taken me on a journey to some places l never thought l would go to and in turn my Mini Marvel toys have gone all over the world to be special friends to lots of other people.

All text and images are copyright THE MINI MARVELS® 2007/13 and may not be copied or reproduced without permission. tanya@ttll.fsnet.co.uk

www.tanyalarrigan.com