We had a similar experience when we created our first designer toy. We were looking for exceptional quality as our designers were incredibly talented and we waned their work showcased in the best possible way.

First rule: stay away from Alibaba. We went this route initially, found someone who looked like they could do it, and even found other small toy manufacturers who had supposedly heard of the factory and recommended it. This was important since many of the factories tend to steal and re-post product photos from eachother.

We went with this factory, and production started fairly smooth. We let the factory complete the sculpt (a rookie mistake on our part) and we began the tweaking process. Their sculpt was “ok”, not on model really, and it didn’t “feel” like our product. After a few months of sending photos back and fourth, we asked to have a sample shipped to us so we could see it in person. When we got them in the mail, we knew we were in trouble. Not only were the samples “way” off model (downright ugly, actually), but they didn’t even stand! The factory had, for some reason, rounded the bottom of the feet…

Decision time- we were already in the hole a few thousand $- it’s a lot for us, as our entire operation at the time included myself and my fiancee. We’re bootstrapped and pay everything out of pocket. We decided to move forward, picking the best of the worst of the samples, and again attaching notes for fixes (“can we get the toy to stand, please?”). That’s when everything went really south. We never saw any fixes, never got to see the colors printed, or the designs in final form from this factory. What we got were weekly emails for 6 months that basically read, “so sorry for the delay, it’s almost ready- should have them for approval next week.”

The following year came the stories of the Alibaba CEO stepping down over fraud investigations. No surprise: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870447660457615...

Second Rule: China is the wild west, do it the right way. We started going to trade shows like Toy Fair and others, and began asking people with real product in the market for leads. While most kept their factories a secret, we made progress. We discovered the HKTDC, a more legitimate group, and then caught our break- someone who had connections and personal relationships and connected us to a truly great, legitimate factory.

Result: http://aartingcollection.com – and our first designer toy on the market.

user:	toddwahnish
created:	March 6, 2011
karma:	21
about:	Art entrepreneur, maker of small art things. Founder of aarting.com, @wahnish