How a toy story made in India sold itself to the world

Little Owen Kim, like all toddlers who know how to have a good time, would rather fling his toys around and watch the fun as Mamma gets hot and bothered. And really, what good is a car if you can’t bite into it and rev it up with a little drool? Mamma Jeanney Kim, a film producer in Los Angeles, isn’t too worried about her 20-month-old son nibbling on toxic wheels or the “bumping-in-the-head aspect”. The toys, she knows, have been shipped to her by her trusted toymaker in Gurgaon, India. “That’s us,” says 55-year-old Rahul Butalia, the owner of the company that makes Rubbabu toys.

Since it sold its first shipment in July 2006, Rubbabu has been quietly making a name for itself among buyers in Europe and America with its range of colourful handmade toys of natural rubber foam. The toys are biodegradable and non-toxic though, says Butalia, tongue in cheek, they make it difficult for him to blow his trumpet “as natural rubber foam absorbs sound”. That, of course, hasn’t stopped buyers including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, from brand loyalty.

Rubbabu toys come in the most basic of shapes and happy colours and are spare in design. Prices range from $5 to $20; they are not available in India. Sculptor Arunkumar H.G., who designs the toys in a studio at the Rubbabu factory in Gurgaon, says, “We don’t want our toys to be too realistic, children should also be left to their imagination.” Staring at us from a shelf in Butalia’s office is Modena, the Racer—a Formula 1 model that has none of the distractions of tacky stickers or remote controls but is a classy nod to the sleek original. It was picked by the Dr Toy Awards as one of the ten best toys this year.

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