Welcome to another blog!
Many of you will understand that selling online can be challenging, especially when people aren’t familiar with a brand and haven’t touched or felt the quality with their own hands.
It’s for this reason, I decided to do a feature blog on each of our toy brands so that we can go deeper into the story behind the brand and find out more about how each toy is made.
It’s something that I personally find incredibly fascinating and I also think it’s important to a lot of people, to know where our toys come from so they know exactly what they are giving to their child to play with.
Todays feature is on one of our very popular wooden toy brands, Pislik (pronounced 'pishlick') Toys who began their journey over 10 years ago. Their stunning range includes, cars, a sailing boat, submarine, tractor, finger puppets, and more. The craftsmen and women behind the brand really are one of a kind!
Their team is made up of 8 people who all have a particular area of expertise. Each persons individual skill set is utilised on 1 or 2 toys in particular. Their list of qualifications is extraordinary and includes famous artists, architects, engineers, teachers and designers. When you combine this immense supply of knowledge and experience, incredible things happen and amazing chidrens toys are created!
Preparation is key to the durability and functionality of the Pislik range. It starts with how the wood is treated and prepared before it goes into production. Each piece of timber, which includes linden, cherry and beechwood is locally sourced from the mountain regions in the north of Czech Republic. For every tree that is cut, another one is planted to ensure the forests are regenerated and sustained which reduces the negative impact on the land and environment.
Once the wood arrives at the workshop, it is then air dried naturally which means that this process alone takes over 3 years! The pieces are stacked carefully with spaces in between to allow air to flow through and are then turned every 6 months to ensure they maintain their shape and don’t bend or curve. Once they have had sufficient drying time, each piece is carefully scanned for imperfections and any pieces that are not suitable for use, as well as any off cuts are then sent to a local recycling depot where they are used by the local community for various projects.
This lengthy process means that they avoid using machinery or chemicals and end up with a higher quality, more easily workable wood.
Every step that is required to produce one of Pislik’s toys, is carefully and skilfully done by hand using traditional tools and methods. The end result is like nothing you have ever seen or touched before. The design is simple, yet perfect in every way and the quality and finish is unmatched.
I have witnessed these toys go through some of the toughest testing I have ever seen. This includes being thrown, dropped, bashed and crashed onto and into everything, by our official toy tester Leo!
They really are his favourite toys and he has given them everything he has got and I honestly cannot believe that they don’t have a mark on them. This is truly testament to the incredible skill and craftsmanship that is the driving force behind this ethical and innovative brand.
We are grateful to be a part of their growth and success and to be able to support people who are talented, passionate and share the same set of beliefs and ethics as we do at Happy Go Ducky.
Thank you so much for reading and following our journey!
Amy xx