Saturday Gift Post—Squeakaboo Coup!

You’ve heard me go on about Squeakaboos, those animal stick rattles produced by Fiesta Crafts and imported by Original Toy Company, also the source of our incredibly popular wooden bendable robots. We’ve been carrying six varieties of Squeakaboo for about two years now, and they’ve been a consistent seller. I usually tell folks we sell jungle animals the best in kids, compared to farm and forest, but in this case, cow, with its spotted pattern is out bestseller, followed by elephant, with duck, giraffe, monkey and lion following behind. Note that the two bestsellers are animals including blue.

About a year ago, I stumbled across the UK site where I saw there were a whole variety of Squeakaboos that we couldn’t order, including the elusive penguin that nonetheless still shows up on the label tag. I asked the vendor if they were thinking of bringing in any of the other animals, but alas, no.

It’s a year later, and I’m still regularly returning to the site. I pine over the sheep, and give a hoot when I spot the new dog and cat. (I know you were thinking that hoot was for the owl, it’s just my noise when I get excited.) What the heck? I wrote to the folks at Fiesta and they told me they were actually filling an import order for Original Toy, and then I wrote to Original Toy and this time they said, yes, they’d let us order some of the penguin, cat, dog, and sheep. Later on I was chatting with the rep, and she asked them why they changed their mind. It turns out the one more year of regular reorders made a difference, and the timing worked.

You can also order the dog, cat, sheep, and penguin from us, as well as the cow. If we get any takers, I will add the other animals to our online database.

So anyway, they are here and I love them. Of course now I see a few other things on the UK website that I want to sell, but I’ll save that for another day. Thank you to Fiesta Crafts, Original Toy Company, Mary, and especially Andrew and Kevin for making this happen. Now I just have to sell them!.

Last week I mentioned our Beatrix lunchboxes, backpacks and water bottles. I didn’t show a photo of our dino collection, and I feel badly to those blog readers who haven’t delved into the true depths of cuteness. Shown is the Percival backpack, as well as the dino water bottle. As part of our opening order, we also received a plush version of Percival for sale.

For those who are looking for a lunchbox at more of the ten dollar price point, we’ve received and already sold several varieties of food sacks from Coelacanth. You’ll recognize this vendor from our coin purses and totes. We’ve got robot, octopus, bird flower, and Paris trip.

And yes, Paris trip is leading sales, once again. What is it about a bicycle and the Eiffel Tower that is a resounding call to buy? If I placed a sailboat by the Taj Mahal, would I get results? How about a skateboard and the Washington Monument? A resounding no to both!

Another sign of fall? I start reordering jigsaw puzzles. My first choice of late has been Piatnik. They are made in Germany and while they don’t have the largest assortment, I like their photo still lifes everything from buttons to beer.

To all those puzzle manufacturers who require assortments of three or more per sku, you should know that most of the best puzzle manufacturers and distributors generally only require two per design, and many are open stock. And that's why I'm not reordering from you--mostly card companies that are trying to extend their lines.