No matter what age you are, with our simple, patent-pending Wonki Wands™ and our special secret-recipe Wonki Bubble Potion™, you and your family will have the most bubble fun you’ve ever had. And the best part is . . . you’ll be outside! Our wonderful Wonki Bubble Potion is non-toxic and kid-safe, and our Wonki Wands have been safety tested and certified by a CPSC-approved testing lab. Wonki Wands are so easy to use for almost anyone at any age (we recommend age 6 and up). We’ve been getting ready for this Kickstarter for 8 months. We make Wonki Wands right here in Utah; and have sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and fulfillment all ready to go. With your help, we can bring this awesome experience to the world.
Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/WonkiWands! or @WonkiWands on Twitter!
When We Say "Big Bubbles," We Mean It!
What are Wonki Wands?
The patent-pending design is really simple. Two acrylic tubes filled with glitter, because Dee loves the "sparklies." At one end a lobster claw swivel with two strings attached, one shorter string and one longer string with a washer to weigh it down a little bit. Add a bottle of our secret Wonki Bubble Potion and you have the full kit. And they come in several fun colors:
- Deep Purple
- Spring Green
- Bright Pink
- White Sparkle
- Bright Blue
- Copper and Black
Why Did We Make Wonki Wands?
It all starts with love. Dee is a lover of all things bubble. She was born to bubble. In the spring of 2013, she came across a home-made bubble wand at a local fair and immediately purchased it, imagining the sort of joy big bubbles must contain. With high expectations, she purchased a recommended bubble juice, chose a lovely day to bring forth bubble magic, only to have her hopes dashed as the wand failed in a myriad of ways.
Dee was determined. “My quest for giant bubbles will be satisfied!” she cried . . . or something to that effect. So she asked her handy husband to help bring her vision to reality. And Roger, being the best husband ever, and figuring that it never hurts to do a good deed once or twice a year, decided to give it a try.
After some trial and error, Roger came up with a modified wand design and Dee came up with an amazing recipe for our Bubble Potion. After a few trips to the park and a very crazy and exciting day at the Provo, Utah Independence Day parade, Dee and Roger soon realized that Wonki Wands have incredible appeal to people of all ages. And that is how Wonki Wands were born. It's now up to you to find out . . . if you were born to bubble!
Just in Case You've Forgotten How Big . . .
What Is Complete Right Now?
- Provisional patent filed on improved Wonki Wands concept
- Wonki Wand prototypes and color options complete
- Safety tested by CPSC-accredited testing lab
- All wand parts sourced and ready to order for first production run
- Wonkiwands.com web site up and running--ecommerce function is disabled until after completion of Kickstarter campaign
- Wonki Wand tooling in process at local manufacturing plant
- Fulfillment center online and ready to ship as soon as production begins
- Wonki Bubble Potion formula complete
- Wonki Bubble Potion bottles and label art complete and ready to order for first production run
- Kickstarter campaign created and submitted
What is Next?
- Finalize tooling and start production by April 15 (tax day!)
- Finish paying for Wonki Wand tooling
- Develop concentrate formula to save customers money on shipping costs--customers just add water
- Pay for and finalize tooling for Bubble Potion bottling line by April 15.
- First shipments to U.S. Kickstarter supporters by May 1, which is the perfect time of year for bubble magic!
What Happens After That?
- Launch social media, YouTube, and Google CPC marketing campaigns
- Exhibit at selected outdoor events, parades, and country and state fairs across the country
- Develop retail packaging
- Launch at independent and medium-sized toy and hobby retailers
Testimonials
The Places We've Been
Meet the Team
Dorothy, or “Dee” to her friends, is the heart and soul of Wonki Wands, the vision and the love. She knows what she wants, and she wants giant bubbles for the whole world. The rest of us just try to keep up with her.The Design
We started with a home-made bubble wand that consisted of 2 wood dowels wrapped in duct tape. Strings were attached to eye screws in one end of the dowels, and a steel washer acted as a string weight.
Our experience with this setup was memorable, but not pleasant. The string was a loose twist that unraveled, tangled, and knotted easily. The string, we found out later, also didn’t produce bubbles very well. The eye screws and washers, being steel, rusted within a few days. The duct tape was uncomfortable and messy. The wood dowels split from swelling. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect had to do with the string being fixed to the wand ends; the string didn’t naturally untwist or untangle, and one had to pay close attention to prevent the string from getting twisted while moving the wands about during use. The string couldn’t be easily replaced as it was tied to the dowel ends. Lastly, the wands did not come with bubble juice.
It seemed obvious to include a swivel for the string, so we did, in brass to eliminate the unsightly rusting. We added a brass snap that allows for string replacement; it takes but a moment to put on strings of different sizes. The wooden dowel had to go, so we chose plastic rod, a vast improvement. We shifted to using tube to improve appearance.
Dee found a string that is durable and performs admirably. We chose a stainless steel washer for the string weight, eliminating the rust problem. The biggest challenge was coming up with a bubble juice, but by trial and error, Dee developed a unique blend that is amazing.
This became our first finished product, and from here we came up with some simple packaging, so we could sell it at local events as well as to friends and family.They were a huge hit wherever we took them.
We have applied for a provisional patent on our Wonki Wands, incorporating many of the improvements and features described above.
And then there is our bottling line. This is why we're asking for your help. We can mix and bottle our Bubble Potion by hand, but this is a very slow process and the Bubble Potion isn't always consistent between batches. A mixing / bottling line would increase our production capacity and ensure batch consistency.
What Else Do You Need to Know?
Risks and challenges
Every challenge is really an opportunity, right?!
First of all, we don't know what we don't know. We are working very hard to cover every detail. The three of us have put every thing we have into getting Wonki Wands to this point. We have a provisional patent filed. We've had the product certified by a CPSC-accredited safety testing lab. We have been developing prototypes in our garage for a few months now. We are working with a local manufacturing and fulfillment partner to help us tool up to manufacture our wands to help us meet increased demand.
The purpose of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise funds for an efficient bottling system for our Wonki Bubble Potion.
For the first three months after Kickstarter, we intend to focus our marketing efforts on social media, Google and YouTube CPC campaigns, and exposure at trade expos and large state fairs. Wonki Wands must be seen to be understood, whether via video or live demonstration. During this early phase we’ll be selling exclusively online at www.wonkiwands.com.
We expect that exposure online and at fairs and expos will eventually lead to sales through toy distributors and smaller retail outlets, spreading to larger retailers as Wonki Wands catches fire.
Ted has extensive experience in direct-response TV commercials, so once we have proven the viability of the product, we plan to develop a direct-response ad and begin buying airtime in markets well-suited for Wonki Wands. We will limit advertising to match our production capacity, although we are confident that with the partners we currently have, we will be able to build and ship 10,000 units per month by the Spring of 2014.
We hope to have a foothold in retail outlets in markets we run our infomercials in so customers have a choice of access and feel more comfortable about the product. We don’t expect a massive, once-in-a-lifetime home run, but we think the long-term sales volume will be steady and sure. And we will be selling our soon-to-be-famous Wonki Bubble Potion for the whole of the bubble market.
All of this may seem very ambitious, and we know there are challenges ahead. But we believe in Wonki Wands, and we know you don't achieve anything great if you can't first visualize it.
And once we get where we think we're going, we're not stopping there. We have a few other ideas that we’ll be adding to our lineup once Wonki Wands is firmly established in the marketplace. The joy doesn’t end with bubbles!
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Funding period
- (30 days)