GPI’s Top 10 Things to Know About… Manufacturing with Plastics

This column begins a new series from the team at GPI exploring different ‘Top 10 things to know about…’ in the toy and game industry.

We kick things off with their top 10 things to know about manufacturing with plastics…

1. Injection molding involves melting a solid material, injecting it into a mold, and then letting it cool down and harden back into a solid.

2. Compression molding turns a powder into a solid under heat and pressure. The letter tiles in Bananagrams are molded this way.

3. There are just seven different types of plastics, but hundreds of variations.

4. A textured pattern can be added to a mold, such as the pieces in BUILDZI.

5. A set of multiple shapes and colors, may require more than one mold. This is important to keep in mind when considering tooling costs.

6. Most factories require about 30 days to construct a mold. You’ll want to plan for this in your timeline.

7. Plastic manufacturing for toys and games can include extrusion-molding (think hula-hoop), blow-molding (think disposable water bottles), and rotational molding of soft plastic (think rubber-ducky).

8. Plastics can be printed on with various techniques. These Tee Turtle standees are one example and Lunchroom’s foam tater tots are another.

9. Some plastics can be molded with various levels of hardness or softness. Think wiffle ball vs stress ball.

10. Plastic shapes – like dice – can be molded with many special effects. Here is only one of endless possibilities.

For a more detailed, expanded version of this list, read more here: https://madebygpi.com/2023/02/13/top-ten-things-to-know-about-manufacturing-with-plastics/

–

To stay in the loop with the latest news, interviews and features from the world of toy and game design, sign up to our weekly newsletter here

More Recent News

Our top 10 most read interviews of 2024

This year’s top 10 features interviews with Exploding Kittens’ Matthew Inman, Hasbro’s Angus Walker and Jazwares’ Magdalena Eichhorn.

AMIGO to meet game inventors at Mojo Pitch 2025

“We are thrilled to be back at the Play Creators Festival in 2025,” said AMIGO’s Alessandro Montingelli.

Think Influence eyes toy partners for Fisch

The popular Roblox game launched earlier this year and has over 800,000 concurrent users.

Transformers Age of the Primes figures land on Hasbro Pulse

The Transformers Age of the Primes Titan Class Thirteen Star Optimus Prime figure comes with a cannon blaster, shoulder blasters, and the Zodiac orb.

People of Play welcomes Shannon Swindle as Director

“I look forward to creating meaningful experiences, celebrating the work of toy and game designers and continuing to support the incredible people in this industry that I love so much,” said Swindle.

Rubies readies UK launch for Bluey costumes

“We are confident that Rubies’ new Bluey dress-up options will be popular with families on this side of the world, after the positive reception they received in Australia,” said Anita Majhu, Head of Licensing (Softlines) at BBC Studios.