Sprig Toys is merging with Wham-O (the toy manufacturer responsible for the Hula Hoop, Hacky Sack, and the Frisbee) to offer its eco-friendly toys under the freshly minted Wham-O Jr. label, albeit under its original moniker. Although Sprig loses its indie bragging rights, the award-winning company will be able to tap into Wham-O’s extensive supply-and-distribution chain, which spells not only greater ubiquity on store shelves but also lower prices.
On the flip side, Wham-O gains access to Sprigwood, Sprig‘s proprietary bio-composite of recycled wood and reclaimed plastic. “We plan to implement the ‘Sprigwood’ material in many of our products,” said Kyle Aguilar, CEO of Wham-O, in a press release.
Besides an updated version of Sprig’s popular Eco-Trucks (now $7.99 each) that makes room for Sprig Adventures characters, the toy maker will also be introducing a line of Eco-Blocks ($4.99 for 18 blocks) and — what else? — a set of frisbees ($4.99 each) in three colors.
I have to say this makes me feel like I did when Toms sold out to Colgate. It just loses some of the appeal since they are no longer controlled by people who genuinely care about the environment and safe toys for our kids. It is like pampers selling their eco-friendly disposable diapers. It makes me like Green Toys a lot more than I already do!
Hi Sheri -
Justin here (one of the Sprig co-founders) – please don’t fear. We are SUPER EXCITED about this opportunity and it only means that we can grow our lines and bring you and rest of our customers great product and at MUCH reduced pricing this Fall… also, it means that all of of our manufacturing is in-house now – so we will have even better control over our lines as they hit the shelf. Chris, David B. and I are still around and we remaining in our Fort Collins office… which will become more of a design-studio now. Our vision remains and we are very protective of that and Wham-o truly recognizes our values and is there to help us grow. They are even committed to bringing more of our manufacturing to the States, which we would have never been able to do so on our own.
All the best,
Justin Discoe
Sprig TOys