# Wooden toy. Worth it?



## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

I'm your average weekend woodworker, and have been for some time. I'm young, and of course, money is tight. I have often considered using my woodworking skills to earn more for myself. 
I have recently come across an old set of plans and patterns from the 1940s covering how to make a wooden M1919 30 caliber machine gun, for a children's toy. My first thought when coming across this was that I absolutely had to make one for my future sons. After this, I thought this could be my opportunity to start making more income. If I loved it so much, others would too, right? 
So, I'm here to ask a simple question. 
Would you as a consumer buy your son a life size (scaled for a child) wooden machine gun?
Keep in mind, this is a big toy. Materials would cost upwards of $50. The final price would be $100-$250.
Those of you who have experience selling, specifically toys, is this something a consumer would want?


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

Not sure about buying one for kids, these days people are kinda nuts about non violence toys and such. That said, build them out of nice hardwoods and gun collectors and gun shops will buy them for display.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

There is a reason you don't see many wooden children's toys for sale commercially in today's litigious society.

Too many small parts, or sharp pieces, or fasteners when it breaks. Too many personal injuries and lawsuits to be commercial viable.

You would have to child-proof anything you offered for sale and that is NOT easy to do in wood.

Kinda makes me miss the 40's even though I was not around back then.
Can you believe they used to let us throw lawn darts? ! ? !

You would have to sell the pieces as art and not children's toys.


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## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

> Not sure about buying one for kids, these days people are kinda nuts about non violence toys and such. That said, build them out of nice hardwoods and gun collectors and gun shops will buy them for display.
> 
> - papadan


Gun guys, I hadn't thought of them, genius. We all know plenty of old vets and collectors that could use a few more toys and displays.


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## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

> There is a reason you don t see many wooden children s toys for sale commercially in today s litigious society.
> 
> Too many small parts, or sharp pieces, or fasteners when it breaks. Too many personal injuries and lawsuits to be commercial viable.
> 
> ...


I've heard the horrors of today's toy laws. We do have to protect the children, but I'm sure we could draw the line somewhere else. 
Hopefully there are still some dads out there that will buy some "art" for their children.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

I was born in '54. I got my first Case brand 6" hunting knife when I was 4. The Mattel Fanner-Fifty was the hottest toy gun on the market. My first BB gun came shortly after. Heck, we used to take those suction-tipped bow and arrow sets, pull off the tip and sharpen them in a pencil sharpener…lol

As for the original question, I agree with the above posts. Kids toys of any kind are risky. You'd need to research government regulations for part sizes and you'd also be smart to hire a lawyer, form a LLC and get insurance. Pretty costly for someone just starting out. And that's just for a plain old toy. You go building replica machine guns for kids, and there will be hell to pay with all of the activist groups.

I personally think it's a cool idea, I just don't see it working out for you. My advice would be to head to any farmer's markets or craft shows in your area where wooden pieces are sold and see what's popular. I've seen some guys with nice looking wooden spoons and the like looking pretty lonely. Also take a look on Etsy, Pinterest and other sites online to see what's popular there too.

Stick with it and you just might get lucky. I wish you the best.

EDIT: P.S. I didn't mean don't build the machine gun. Go for it and post some pics here. The suggestion to shift your market demographic to adults is a good one.


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## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

> I was born in 54. I got my first Case brand 6" hunting knife when I was 4. The Mattel Fanner-Fifty was the hottest toy gun on the market. My first BB gun came shortly after. Heck, we used to take those suction-tipped bow and arrow sets, pull off the tip and sharpen them in a pencil sharpener…lol
> 
> As for the original question, I agree with the above posts. Kids toys of any kind are risky. You d need to research government regulations for part sizes and you d also be smart to hire a lawyer, form a LLC and get insurance. Pretty costly for someone just starting out. And that s just for a plain old toy. You go building replica machine guns for kids, and there will be hell to pay with all of the activist groups.
> 
> ...


No matter what, I'll hold out and build a few of these to stockpile for my future boys. Expect some project posts soon.


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## unbob (Mar 10, 2013)

Gun related stuff is a hot market, the wood machine gun would sell in the right market, not the farmers market, some could have a melt down over it.
Build it, take it to where the money is waiting.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Gun related stuff is a hot market, the wood machine gun would sell in the right market, not the farmers market, some could have a melt down over it.
> Build it, take it to where the money is waiting.
> 
> - unbob


For the record, I was not suggesting he take wooden machine gun replicas to the farmer's market…lol. With all those Subarus in the parking lot, the man-buns and tie-dyed t-shirts, it's definitely not going to be a friendly audience.

My point was that if you want to try to make a few bucks with your woodworking skills, you need to get out there and see what's hot in the marketplaces. You can make cool stuff all day that's beautifully crafted, but if it's not what people want to buy, you're out of luck.


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## JCamp (Nov 22, 2016)

Sounds cool but as a dad I'd spring for a cricket rifle which is about the same cost as ur talking. I do think it would b awesome prop for pictures and stuff tho or at war memorials


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## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

> Gun related stuff is a hot market, the wood machine gun would sell in the right market, not the farmers market, some could have a melt down over it.
> Build it, take it to where the money is waiting.
> 
> - unbob


All of the work is in finding where that money is waiting.


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## becikeja (Sep 12, 2010)

Several years ago we moved from Tennessee up to Iowa. My son was around 6 at the time. We had been in the new neighborhood about 2-3 months. I was doing some yard work in the front when a couple of parents from my son's school came walking by. Being a good neighbor I stopped and talked for a while. Somehow the conversation turned to how terrible toy guns were and they would never let their kid play with them. About that same time my son and his friend rolled out of the bushes and opened fire on us with their toy guns.
Never saw that kid or those parents again…...

I think the $100 price point is high for a toy gun. I would take the collector/novelty angle.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

If you think you might find yourself in a venue where your work could be misconstrued, it might be wise to prominently display a notice indicating that it's not a toy…for display purposes only.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

First off, I live in the South, SE Tennessee, to be exact.
ANYTHING guns down here is cool.

That being said, my neighbor is into scale model guns. He is also into scale model tanks, airplanes, soldiers in action, you name it. Oh, yeah, and scale model race cars.

He knows many, many others who are into this here locally. But the bar is high to be successful.
You cannot make just a scale model gun. They want the proper colors, decals, actual numbers that would be on the actual gun, and so on. An actual barrel, not just a rod of wood as an example. Basically the model builders find pictures of these guns from WWII, I, and other wars and copy them in scale to the nth' degree.
It is not unusual for one of these army artillery field scale model guns to bring in the $4-500 range, if done properly. We're talking a scale that produces a gun that is about 12" long. And to be honest, it takes a LOT of hours to do just the painting, since they usually have to be painted unassembled, then properly assembled.
And the highest priced models have things like rolling wheels, breeches that open, couple extra shells, etc.
Lot of work, something I decided long time ago that was not worth my time.

And even though we are in the South, these are NOT for children. Adults collect these things.


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

Build two, see if you can sell one. If you sell one, build another and see if you can sell that. It's not like you have to invest 1000000 in tools to set up a production shop to try. If the demand is there, make more. If not, dont

Brian


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## Jackcarter0714 (Apr 19, 2017)

> Build two, see if you can sell one. If you sell one, build another and see if you can sell that. It s not like you have to invest 1000000 in tools to set up a production shop to try. If the demand is there, make more. If not, dont
> 
> Brian
> 
> - bbasiaga


That's my plan, going into it.


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## YankeeheirloomMaker (Nov 19, 2017)

Hi everybody, I've been woodworking, making kids toys and nativity creche stalls and decorative birdhouses for both indoor and outdoor use. Also reconstruct old historical homes in a sort of rough hewn fashion so as to not have it look like somebody put on a "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THIS" sign for kids and cats. Kids will get the message most of the times. Cats? Cats will be cats even if they can read and don't sell 'em short when it comes to things we put a lot of work into making or preserving, and or-uh, re-preserving, over and over because of . . . cats.

What I want to do is add a hopefully more steady/productive line of items and my wife and daughter believe I have a future in making wooden crayon caddies. I made them years ago for our kids and tried them out at a church fundraiser and they went over well. Our kids have fond memories of when it was time to calm down and draw things on crayon and there they were, right on the caddy. 
Amazing, I had an array of buildings similar to those shown above in my "brag pic" and only one, similar to, but smaller than the array of classics on the table … sold. Just one, and it was a depiction of our town's oldest bldg still in use. (1713).
Tired, dejected, just bamboozled by so many in my home town and region's oh so often and loudly professed love of their ancient Yankee heritage, but so achingly sore when it comes to pulling out the olde wallets. I know this sounds like a whine, but people who are familiar with certain parts of NE will tell you the people "around those parts, well, they just don't part" with their dollars as much as others as you get closer to the bigger cities like Boston or NY, or the cushier parts of the Lenox-Lee-Tanglewood burgs up in the Berkshires. 
However, the kids, and God Bless 'em, took quite an interest in the array of crayon caddies which can come in any shape just so long as they are safe, not too heavy/clumsy or have any sharp and breakable pieces. In other words, "Mom Proof" and "Lawyer Proof." Want peace o' mind from the latter? Obtain a homestead exemption in your particular state. 
My immediate problem is a biggie, and one familiar to anybody working with plain, unvarnished wood projects like wooden toys as I've attempted years back. The shop tools, no matter how hard and often we we work at trying to achieve THE level, THE squaring off of all squaring off points designed to eliminate any space between our blades and squares, levels, etc.
If they're off by so much a sliver of a sliver's thickness, the cars, trucks and other moving toy items might as well be sold as "seconds" for a smidgen, if one dares to sell them. Hey, we're not perfect so why should we be so snooty with some of our creations … especially as we tend to be with our kids when we're out in public. (We all know they're perfect.)
Do I have to more or less just accept that my good old shop tools that got me this far in making "artist's renditions" which can have lots of "allowable creative mistakes" hidden away with the touch of crackle, an off-setting misplaced beam, etc.-and buy new tools at a much greater expense or are there places and experts (like professional piano tuners) who can restore my older machines' balance?) Maybe what I should be looking for is a woodshop hobby machine's version of a chiropractor.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Hi everybody, I ve been woodworking, making kids toys and nativity creche stalls and decorative birdhouses for both indoor and outdoor use.
> 
> - Steven Barrett


Welcome to LJ. I guess you didn't notice that the thread you posted this to is over 5 months old. You'll do better to start a fresh thread about your work. Include some photos too. I see you have some on your Facebook page that look very nice.

Also, the link to your Facebook page from your profile is missing the colon after https, so it won't load until the user edits it in the address bar. Lots of folks won't know that, or won't bother.


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## Carloz (Oct 12, 2016)

Keep your future son out of it. some people in police do not like to see a gun in someones hands wooden or not.


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## HowardInToronto (Sep 27, 2013)

I think this is a fabulous idea. And in response, there are many great answers.

Market these to collectors and fans. Finding people to offer things to has never been easier or cheaper.

But I'd agree with some of the answers above - people will probably be more inclined to spend that type of money for something of interest and meaningful than an expensive toy that needs watching over and being careful (they're kids!)

Research what fans talk about and add those elements - colours and insignia etc was mentioned here.

You can easily take something that others are doing and make your output unique by putting a spin on yours that no-one else is doing. Just off the top, I'm thinking of a special and unique mounting or a plaque underneath.

I'm not a gun person so I'm just thinking aloud…. but those early ideas were designed to get you thinking.

Howard

BTW - the Subaru and man-bun reference isn't too far off the mark - just try asking for back issues of Guns and Ammo at the Central Library here and have self-satisfied weenie at the dek feel justified in grimacing and then smirking…...........
(still don't know anything about guns but they DO interest me)


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