Stackable SkullY

Wooden Toy

Merchandise

Hand made toys, packaging, stop motion animation, and marketing strategy for a piece of Skully merchandise that sold out in a couple of days.

SUMMARY

20 wooden toys? All hand made? With absolutely no idea how to use a saw… or really how to paint?

How am I going to sell these at $150 a piece, with having never sold anything before?

By bringing people in on the process and struggles of having no idea what I’m doing. By sharing authentically.

CLIENT
BoneHaüs

WITH
Jeff Guerra, LuckyHouse MFG, Nick Fairbanks, Latham Arnott

Wooden toy figures resembling skeletons in various perspectives, featuring white faces with black eyes, orange bodies with bone designs, and black shoes and hats.

THE CONCEPT

“A creative reminder”

Skully can flip his head (literally) to look at problems differently. This stackable toy is a physical reminder on your desk to take a break and think differently.

The wind will blow the toy over at times, forcing you to take a moment away from work to re-stack him on your desk and realign your thoughts.

That’s your friendly reminder to take a quick break and realign.

Yellow long-sleeve shirt with white symbols, featuring a large white bone on the front and smaller bones on the sleeves. Includes an illustration of the same design.

Matching Twins

Alongside custom embroidered and screen printed packaging, Skully also comes with a matching long sleeve tee for you to wear so you can match your little desk buddy.

Layout on a table with a black mat of various Skullboy merchandise, including a yellow t-shirt with a white hand design, a black drawstring bag, stickers, a certificate of authenticity, and a wooden Skullboy figure with stackable accessories.

Person in yellow shirt standing next to cartoonish skull figure, indoor setting with plants and framed art.

Sold out in a week

17 of the 20 sold in the first few hours through a newsletter, and the remaining went through social media a few days later.

This was the first time selling something in this price range, as well as this limited and I was really pleased to find the support.

Cozy living room with a brown sectional sofa, ceiling fan, books, and decorative figurines on a white shelf. A laptop is on the sofa, and there are colorful books and cups on the table.

Split image showing a skull-themed toy block with a plant in the background on the left and a child playing with similar toy blocks on the right.

Toy setup with a stylized skull displaying a toy van on top. A gold toy car is placed next to it, all on a carpeted floor.

The challenge

I.. don’t know how to use a saw, and I also never went to art school.. so I also suck with a paint brush.

Nearly every aspect of this project was new to me. I realized quickly I wasn’t going to be able to fake it. So instead, I shared my insecurities and developed this toy in the open, bringing followers in on the process to inspire.

A cluttered workbench with various crafting materials, including paper models, tools, paint jars, and assembled parts. A vibrant poster with artwork is displayed on the black pegboard wall. Shelves nearby hold additional supplies like bottles and cans.

At one point when describing the project to a friend he asked, “Sounds great.. but who is doing the 3D print of the toy?”

That’s when I realized I needed to show everyone the painstaking process of creating these myself. I’M THE ONE MAKING THESE!

And that is content, baby.

Overhead view of a cluttered workbench with person crafting objects, surrounded by tools, molds, paper, tape, and a drill.

Manufacturing Woes

There was a slew of technical issues that popped up as we started making them.

Every issue we bumped into became new content to share with followers on how we were solving them. It was exciting moments to highlight the energy and effort going into them.

Diagram showing components and assembly instructions for a character named Skull Boy, featuring measurements for various parts like the skull, hat, and accessories.

Magnetic Hats

I wanted the hats to be able to rest toward the back of his head, just like the illustration.. but they kept slipping off.

So I engineered a clever solution to drill out holes, bury a magnet in the hat and the head, and cover them up with wood putty, sand and paint. A little touch of magic.

A cluttered workspace with various small craft items, including painted wooden objects resembling cartoon skulls and bones, jar of black paint, paper stencils, and painting tools on a pink table.

Stencil Faces

I took one stab at hand painting these and.. it wasn’t pretty. I decided instead to use a Cricut machine to create a vinyl stencil of Skully’s face and bones to brush on instead. I never said I was an artist.

Collaboration

This project came together through teamwork

Jeff Guerra - Co-captain of wood carving

LuckyHouse MFG - Screen printing the bags

Nick Fairbanks - Stop motion film collaborator

Latham Arnott - Additional animation help

A workspace with a two-part layout. On the left is a photography setup with a white backdrop, lighting, and wooden toys, accompanied by tools like a plier. On the right is a woodworking station with a pegboard holding various tools including clamps, saws, and screwdrivers. The bench has wooden blocks and a red saw blade displayed.

Stop Motion

Nick Fairbanks and I tackled a brand new medium of stop motion. Again, documenting it like crazy. This was our first time working in stop at all. There will be a whole different case study on this mini project.

Two black cloth drawstring bags on a yellow background. The left bag features text "Introducing Skull Boy" with abstract shapes and bones. The right bag has a longer message about the creation and philosophy behind the product, thanking supporters and encouraging reuse, with logos and the text "Bone Haus" at the bottom.

Packaging

I wanted the toy to ship unassembled loosely in a bag. LuckyHouse helped me embroider a golden bone on each alongside screen printing.

Promo Animation

A cute teaser promo in collaboration with animator Latham Arnott.

Silhouette of a character with question mark and bones, text "Bonehus" in graphic style on red background.

Selling these things

Marketing is 70% of the battle

I knew along the way that documenting this process was going to be my marketing plan. I kept trying to write the perfect descriptions until I realized.. “let me just get in front of the camera and speak about this from the heart”

Collage of images about making a wooden toy named Skully, featuring stop motion animation, prototype, concept, and design sketches, with a person working and posing with illustrations.

I made a series of 10 videos talking through the process from start to finish

I followed up with email updates to people who were interested multiple times a week all the way up until launch day.

A creative office studio with a desk, camera setup, and various decorations including plants and pumpkins. The room is illuminated with pink lighting, showing shelves with books, wall art, and a comfortable seating area.

A creative workspace with a wooden desk featuring a cutting mat, colorful geometric paper shapes, and glasses. A laptop displays a screen with a dark theme. Nearby is a ring light, microphone, and camera on a tripod. The room is decorated with plants, framed artwork, and purple ambient lighting.

Marketing campaign report for Skully Toy Launch showing 17 orders totaling $2,125 in revenue, with average order value of $125. Includes promotional graphics for Skull Boy toy and details about the deluxe package.

I built an email list of people interested

and when launch day came, 17 sold in the first couple of hours. People told me they were invested in the project and it made it a no-brainer of a purchase when the time came.

Its my firm belief this would never have sold as quickly (or at all?) if i just made these in a factory and dropped them one day without showing the process.