It must be fun to visit Toy Fair as a buyer.  It just looks and feels fun!  The work we do to get all the toys ready, to print and organize our literature, to merchandise our toys so they look just right… all that is hidden behind smiling Mary Meyer employees and their perfectly primped plush.  No Toy Fair blizzards, just a flurry of activity surrounding our staff as they worked through our best Toy Fair in lots of years.  This was our first year distributing Rhino Toys.  We put it right out front and hoped the traditional Mary Meyer customer wouldn’t get confused.  Apparently they didn’t because everyone found us, hugged their favorite toy and then tossed an Oball onto their order too.  For all you who were wondering where to get those clear tubes to merchandise Oballs, visit www.cleartecpackaging.com.  My money saving advise for 2013: ship in two cases of drinking water with your crates, use Toy Fair buses, and stay at Toy Fair hotels.

Also for the first time, we will be selling Rhino Toys products featuring the ever popular Oball series of fun balls and rattles.  See you in Manhattan.

Almost through setting up before Toy Fair 2011.

A memory that sticks with me from that time is the image of sheets of perforated one dollar stamps.  The stamps were purple and had a man’s face in the middle.  Each sheet had 100 stamps.  To a ten year old kid, that was like a gold mine.  I couldn’t believe anyone could ever use a hundred dollars in postage stamps.  We did.  Shipping trapped air was expensive.  The mail truck even stopped at Mary Meyer because we were considered a mail sub-station.  At ten, I was postmarking dollar stamps on boxes going to every state.  Today, I would describe the feeling as worldly or even

entrepreneur-like.  Back then it was just pretty cool.

On the back page of Vermont phone books is the list

of Vermont zip codes.  Mary Meyer remains… 05353.

We just may be the only company listed in

the zip code directory nationwide.

In today’s world of over consumption, I’d like to show my child and her friends a better way at her next  birthday party.  I could start by simply not buying into this new giveaway tradition.  When did this conspiracy get started anyway?  I so want to take a stand but then there is Ainsley.  At five years old, is this really where a stand needs to be made?  Couldn’t I turn my own angst into a creative and fun birthday party activity?

Since this is a blog about stuffed toys.  Let’s begin there…

What if every child at our birthday party could color a page featuring Ainsley’s favorite Mary Meyer Companion?  It’s a great keepsake and what a photo-op for the birthday album.  Did you know, at marymeyer.com, you can print coloring book images of all our Cheery Cheeks and Flip Flop toys?  If you have an image of one of our toys, email it to us, we can create a coloring page for you.  And here’s a secret:  even if it’s not a Mary Meyer toy, we can create a coloring page for you, FREE.  We want your child to grow closer to their toy.  It’s that important to us.

It was the summer of 1989 and I was not even one year old yet.  One particular evening a wild storm rumbled through quaint and quiet Newfane, Vermont.  It was an especially wild storm, with bright flashes of lightening surrounding all sides of our modest one-story ranch home.  During the height of the storm a loud crack of lightening, unbeknownst to my parents, struck the side of our home, allowing a current of electricity to enter the house through an exterior outlet that was on the outside wall of my bedroom.  The current managed to travel through the wall of the room via the electrical wires attached to the outlet.  The electricity then traveled down the wall and connected to metal carpet staples that ran along the floors of our home.  It used these staples to continue its journey through my bedroom, where I was soundly sleeping in my crib, unfazed by the storm outside or the impending danger.  The current crept along the baseboard, ominously heading for the foot of my crib.  However, just before it reached its destination point, the electricity current passed through a large Mary Meyer stuffed panda that was placed just next to my crib.  When it struck the sturdy panda, the electricity was immediately extinguished.  The panda bear was non-flammable after all!

Recounting the story, my mom describes that while lying in bed, awoken by the storm, my parents were startled by the flash of lightening, but weren’t able to determine if it was indoors or outdoors.  However, soon enough they were able to detect the distinct smell of smoke.  Looking out the windows only to see nothing, they walked down the hallway to my room, opened the door and noticed that the smell of burning was significantly stronger in there.  It was then that my mother noticed a large circular burn surrounding an electrical outlet on my bedroom wall.  Upon further inspection she noticed that the carpeting was pulled away from the wall in my room up the point where the panda bear sat, seemingly unfazed by the storm that was wreaking havoc outdoors.  When she moved the panda away from the wall, mom noticed a distinct burn mark on the lower back of the panda.  The fur had been burned and was now stiff and rough to the touch.  After consulting with my grandfather (my mom’s father), who was our resident expert on all things electrical, my parents were able to put the pieces of the puzzle to together, forming the version of events that I have just described.  In addition, the lightening had also managed to blow out the television, television antenna, the cordless phone, and our well pump.  But most importantly, it was noted that the Mary Meyer stuffed panda that had contently sat at the foot of my crib for months may have very well saved my life, all without batting an eyelash or moving a muscle!  Now, how is that for a lifetime satisfaction guarantee?

If you’re like me, you want to tell the whole story.  There is so much to tell.  Ten years of love and loyalty.  The laughter and the tears.  Where do you begin?

Be easy on yourself.  Just like your life, one story couldn’t possible cover it all.  So pick a chapter.  Write about the time when your toy was lost or left behind.  Did he ever receive a surprise haircut from a little sister? Was there a time when your toy was just there with you to help with a sadness that was too big for you to bear alone?

“Set a goal of 300 words.  That’s about a four-minute story read out loud.  You’ll reach 300 in no time.

Counting words is like counting light bulbs in your home – they add up quicker than you think.”

Remember, this isn’t a contest, it’s a chance to share.  So jump right in…

Here are some suggested first sentences if you need a little boost:

“It was so hot that day, the last thing I needed was a furry toy hanging around, boy would I be sorry.”

“As I got into my seat on the plane, I knew I had forgotten something important.”

“Our dog, Max came up to me wagging his tail.  That’s when I saw the blue fur all over his lips.”

“I never throw Fritz anymore, because one time…”

Go ahead email your story to us here.



Cheery Cheeks Happity Frog  #37240

Cheery Cheeks Lively Lion #37250

Cheery Cheeks Merry Monkey #37260