Our Production Processes
At Solobo Toys, quality, safety, and sustainability are at the heart of creating our products. Whether it’s through advanced in-house 3D printing, partnerships with trusted overseas production partners, or flexible made-to-order processes, each production is designed to deliver durable, high-quality products at reasonable prices.
🤝🏼 Mass Production with Overseas Partners
Our toys are thoughtfully designed in the USA. For products like our wooden and plush toys, we work with trusted overseas production partners.
These skilled manufacturers help bring our designs to life while ensuring every toy meets our high standards for safety and quality that our customers expect and deserve.
Are the toys safe?
Yes, our toys are designed with safety as a top priority. Every product undergoes regular child product safety testing to ensure it meets the highest standards and is built to be safe, durable, and long-lasting.
As an extra safety measure, we work with production partners with years of experience crafting specific types of children’s products. For example, our wooden toys are made by factories specializing in wooden toys for kids, and the same applies to our plush toys. This measure ensures that the production partner is already well-versed in child product safety guidelines.
Why do some products say they meet Canadian standards while others don’t?
All of our mass-produced products are safety tested to meet United States safety standards, and a select few best-sellers are additionally tested to meet Canadian standards. While many safety testing requirements overlap between countries, each market has its own legal set of standards and each has its own testing fees. One testing round for multiple markets can cost thousands of dollars per product.
Currently, we prioritize Canadian safety testing for our most popular items. We plan to expand safety certifications to include more countries as we grow, making our toys accessible to families worldwide.
🖨️ 3D Printing at Solobo Toys
At Solobo Toys, 3D printing is one of the innovative production processes we use to bring our designs to life. This cutting-edge method, also known as additive manufacturing, builds items layer by layer from digital designs, allowing us to create intricate, unique products right here, in-house. While 3D printing is a big part of how we innovate, we also partner with trusted manufacturers overseas to produce our wooden toys, plush toys, and children’s books— ensuring the same high quality and thoughtful design across our entire collection.
Why 3D-printing?
- Creative Freedom: 3D printing lets us bring detailed, imaginative designs to life without the limits of traditional molds or tools.
- Quick Turnaround: We can go from idea to finished product faster, so you get exciting new toys sooner.
- Small Batches, Big Savings: For smaller quantities, 3D printing is more cost-effective, which means we can create without breaking the bank (or passing on the cost to you).
- Made for You: Every product is designed with care and attention, making it easy to adapt to different needs and preferences.
- Eco-Friendly Production: 3D printing only uses the material it needs, helping us reduce waste.
What material is used to 3D-print?
We print our 3D-printed products with PLA filament, a plant-based, biodegradable material made from renewable resources like cornstarch or sugarcane. It’s safe for play, kind to the planet, and perfect for creating vibrant, detailed toys.
Why We Love PLA:
- Earth-Friendly: PLA breaks down naturally in industrial composting, making it a sustainable choice.
- Safe & Non-Toxic: PLA is free from harmful chemicals and doesn’t release unpleasant fumes while printing (which is essential for us to print the products ourselves).
- Precision Perfect: Its smooth finish and ability to capture fine details make PLA ideal for creating high-quality toys and educational resources.
- Bright & Beautiful: PLA supports a rainbow of colors, letting us make toys that are as fun to look at as they are to play with.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind About PLA:
While PLA is an amazing material, it has its quirks! With a bit of care, your toys will stay in great shape:
- Avoid Excessive Heat: PLA doesn’t love high temperatures. It starts to soften around 131°F to 140°F, so keep your toys out of hot cars, near heat sources, or anywhere temperatures rise above 122°F.
- Water Exposure: PLA is fine with light contact with water, but prolonged exposure to standing water or high humidity can weaken its structure over time. For the best results, keep your toys dry.
- Durable for Everyday Use: PLA is strong and built for daily play, but avoiding excessive, prolonged roughness will help keep your toys looking and working their best-- basically, don’t take a hammer to your toys!
Are the 3D-printed toys safe?
From the PLA filament we use to the final product, every step of our process is designed with safety in mind. All of the printed materials are third-party tested to ensure they meet or exceed U.S. child product safety standards established by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
To ensure safety and compliance with child product safety standards:
- We source both filament and machines exclusively from a single trusted supplier.
- We maintain detailed tracking of all filaments, allowing us to identify which materials are used for each production batch.
- Each 3D-printed product includes a safety card with the batch number and production date for complete traceability.
📦 Made-to-Order Dropshipping
To offer even more flexibility and variety, we partner with dropshipping manufacturers for select made-to-order items. This approach allows us to expand our range of products without contributing to unnecessary waste, keeping sustainability at the forefront of our operations.
Which products are dropshipped?
We use dropshipping for select made-to-order items, including our merchandise like t-shirts, hats, and other branded products.
