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Our story begins in 1971, when brothers Fran and Bryce Patch started a commercial printing company in their hometown, Beloit, Wisconsin. The business was built by printing products for other companies: Fun items such as Trivial Pursuit game boards and Cabbage Patch doll sticker books were brought to life in the Patch facility.
We took a leap forward in 1985 when Patch Products, Inc. was formed, and we began printing our own fun products! We broke into the children’s puzzle market by creating a line of PuzzlePatch® puzzles. These preschool puzzles grew in popularity, and built the foundation on with Patch Products has grown. Today the puzzles feature updated art and imagery, but remain a staple in Patch’s repertoire.
Success with the PuzzlePatch line prompted Patch to jump deeper into the toy industry and take on the competitive board game market in 1992. We obtained the license to the board game TriBond®, and on its success built a line of family-friendly board games that included Blurt!® and Mad Gab®.
We are proud to have achieved success with many of our games, including Buzzword®, What’s Yours Like?®, Farkle Frenzy®, Malarky®, Swap!®, Toss Up!®, 5 Second Rule®, 100 Wacky Things™, Go Ape®, Giant Spoons and Word Shout®. We have created popular family and party games, and have recently grown our line of children’s games, including the best-selling 80s games Bed Bugs™ and Shark Attack!™; our value-packed skill-and-action Big Little Games™; and our one-of-a-kind Tales to Play™ line, featuring children’s favorite books in board game form.
Patch expanded beyond games and puzzles in 1998 by acquiring Just Kid’n™, a foam ball company. Using the Zoam® foam, Patch designed collegiate-licensed foam balls and mini hoopball sets. Patch expanded again in the early 2000s, creating activity books, a line of card games, and 2' x 3' Sneaky® Floor Puzzles. We have since expanded the Sneaky Puzzle line to include 3D Floor Puzzles that allow children to use “magical” glasses to see the puzzles come to life! In 2010, we also developed a Take ‘N’ Play Anywhere™ line that includes magnetic travel games, magnetic activities, and the innovative Design ‘N’ Doodle™, which fuses magnetic play and dry-erase drawing!
Patch successfully entered the world of brand licensing back in 2000, and we have continued to make new relationships and add new licenses to many products. Some past and present favorites are *NSYNC, Jeff Foxworthy’s™ You Might Be a Redneck If…™, McDonald’s®, Dora the Explorer™, SpongeBob SquarePants™, Sesame Street®, Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train™, Clifford the Big Red Dog®, The Berenstain Bears®, The Little Engine That Could™ and Where the Wild Things Are.
In 2008, Patch Products acquired Smethport Specialty Co., a leading manufacturer of toys and specialty line products, including the Lauri® brand. Smethport™ is famous for its classic toy, Wooly Willy®. Lauri is known for its durable crepe rubber puzzles and Tall-Stacker™ pegs. We have expanded both lines, adding fun new Wooly Willy characters to the mix, and revolutionizing pegging with the double-peg Mighty Monkey® pegs and the new Mighty Monkey Playset that celebrates creativity, as well as early learning and development. Lauri and Smethport are also well-known for their educational tools, and together boast a full line of alphabet, pre-reading, phonics and early math products for home or the classroom.
Patch has also embraced technology by jumping into the iTunes app arena! The popular Wooly Willy can be found in app form, as well as the exciting dice games Farkle and Word Shout! We can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
For over 25 years, Patch has continually built on its early success. Today, we are still a family-owned company, leading the toy industry in design, manufacturing and marketing of high-quality, award-winning products that enrich lives by providing fun and interaction.
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