How it all got happening
In 1993, while travelling across country, I was introduced to juggling sticks which I brought back to southern California with me where I was living at the time. One night I had a dream about them and the next day I gathered the materials and started making them for friends and was naturally inclined to teach them how to play. Soon I began producing them in my home and brought them to Venice Beach on the weekends where I became a regular performer alongside a stretch of incredibly talented artists, musicians and wild entertainers. Crowds of people would gather and play with this toy which most had never seen before. A few months later I brought the sticks with me back east during a family visit over the holidays and gave them as gifts, introducing them to my new found playful passion. My mother took great interest in them and felt a great deal of potential in building a business around these juggling sticks. So, without any experience in the toy industry we obtained a patent on the product and built a manufacturing company in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania within six months producing Mystix Juggling Sticks.
Mystix were an overnight success, in part because there were no other hot toys on the market and because everyone who tried them, loved them! So while mom stayed at home and ran the business, I travelled the country promoting Mystix and found homes for them in stores. It was so exciting bringing this new toy to the world and teaching everyone I ran into how to play and the momentum continued to build… I was given the opportunity to be featured on several local and national television shows and we landed a booth at the International Toy Fair in New York City where we introduced Mystix to retailers worldwide. Within one year, Mystix became a top seller in specialty stores throughout the U.S.
After a two year Mystix wave, we began selling other activity or skill toys such as Diabolos, Footbags, and Yo-Yos and our skill toy family was firmly established. The Yo-Yo boom of a few years back was very good to us and brought us to the attention of an even broader market. In 1999 we were introduced to a new concept called Poi which seemed to have the same effect on people as the Mystix did. This vibrant rhythm based skill toy had the same immediate appeal and potential which has been proven over the past several years. Today, people all over the world are spinning Poi and are experiencing the joy of this incredible dance toy as they rediscover a whole new world of play. Our product continues to grow as we innovate, merging modern materials with ancient playful concepts.
Mystik Toyz is more than just a toy manufacturer — we are performers and teachers as well. Since 1999 we have participated in tons of festivals throughout the United States creating our “Spin Zone”, or “Free Play Space” where our toys are always available for anyone to play with and our exciting and knowledgable staff is ready to teach anyone and everyone how to play at all times. It is our mission to help others reach their creative potential on this world stage in which we all live.
Since its inception, Mystik Toyz has remained true to the spirit of play. It began with a dream and continues to evolve through our ever growing family of skill toy players. Play is our most important means of developing our true individual creative potential. Mystik Toyz is guided by this principal and will continue to find new ways for us all to develop into the superheroes we were born to be!
