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The
Polyform Products Company Story
In
the early 1940's, Zenith Products Company was founded
in Schiller Park, IL. Zenith began as a company that
manufactured coatings for the fastener industry: waxes,
hot melt compounds, and electrical insulating varnishes.
The product that we know today as "Sculpey" was originally
formulated for potential use as a thermal transfer
compound - to conduct heat away from the cores of electrical
transformers. However, this formulation was not successful
for that purpose, so the compound was temporarily shelved.
A visitor to the manufacturing plant was "doodling" with
a lump of the clay-like substance and created a small
figure. It was then baked in a lab testing oven - and
Sculpey was "discovered" as a sculpture medium. This
happened in the mid 1960's. By 1967, it was being manufactured
and sold on a small scale in the United States.
A
devastating fire in 1976 put us out of our manufacturing
plant, but not out of business. A few weeks later,
in temporary quarters, we were back in production,
and moved into a new facility within a year. Soon Polyform
Products was incorporated, with Zenith as the parent
company.
Marketing
was done the old fashioned way - by doing curbside
craft shows in town squares, demos in small retail
shops, and exhibiting in the early trade shows. Our
theory was to get our clay into the customers' hands
any way we could - because you had to work with it
to see its potential. It worked, and we have enjoyed
a continual growth ever since.
Our
product history is as follows: Sculpey came first,
followed by Polyform (same clay - alternative name),
and interest in that clay generated Super Sculpey,
a professional quality sculptors' clay for use by doll
artists and prototype artists. Sculpey III, much like
Super Sculpey but in an array of colors, was our next
venture. Then, a stronger colored clay was formulated
for jewelry, "wearable art," and surface decoration
- our PROfessional MATerial - Promat. Next came Granitex,
a stone appearing clay available in eight colors. We
like to say that you can "take it for granite."
Our
most recent colored clay is the result of more than
two years of testing and experimentation plus suggestions
from polymer clay artists. This new product is Premo!
Sculpey, and it debuted at HIA '98. This superior formulation
is available in 32 Artists' Palette colors and has
taken the polymer clay world by storm.
The
research and development team never stops, and another
groundbreaking formulation debuted in the summer of
1998. This product, Sculpey SuperFlex, becomes rubbery
when baked and is excellent for toys, animation figures,
and moldmaking. This material may also be mixed with
Super Sculpey, Sculpey III, Granitex, and Premo! Sculpey
to increase their flexibility and strength.
Awards
of Merit Received by Polyform Products
2000
The
Parents Guide to Children's media, Inc. selected Pueblo Pottery and
Fridge Critters for Honor Awards. The testing was conducted
over the summer of 1999 by Shenandoah University. Both
sets were commended for their easy to follow visual
instructions, and the "success guaranteed" projects,
plus their economical pricing and value-added contents.
All
12 of the E-Z Release Push Molds also received an Honor
Award! The concept and the design were noted as a new
product category for Polyform Products.
2000
Polyform
Products has been notified by Parenting Magazine that
Magnetic Funny Faces Has been voted one of the Toys
of the Year in their annual judging. The list of winners
has been compiled and will be published in the November
issue of Parenting Magazine. Magnetic Funny Faces is
part of our Junior Artists Series. Other members of
the set include: Clip Critters, Flexible Friends, Sunshine
Jewelry, and Pueblo Pottery. These sets are available
at retail as of June, 2000.
2000
The
Canadian Toy Testing Council has awarded their highest
award, a Three Star Award to three of the Junior Artists
Series. So honored are: Sunshine Jewelry, Fridge Critters,
and Magnetic Funny Faces. The results for the 2000
Toy Report are posted on www.toy-testing.org, the Council's
official web site. This is the 3rd year in a row that
kits/sets from Polyform Products have been so honored
by this extensive evaluative process.
1999
Polyform
Products has again been recognized by the Canadian
Toy Testing Council with a three star rating for a
recent addition to the Creative Clay Sets, CC19, Under
the Sea. The three star rating is the highest award
available for toys that have excellent design, function,
and durability qualities while providing the best possible
play value for children. Here were the committee's
comments:
Go
fish! All of our testers were eager to model the
attractive, unique sea creatures - puffer fish,
clown fish and turtle - with the brightly colored
clay provided in this craft kit. Each of the steps
was illustrated with a photograph as well as short
written instruction, making it easy even for our
young testers to be successful with their creataions.
A sculpting tool and six small blocks of clay were
also included.
1999
Sculpey
brand clays and boxed products was selected as the
#1 Art Material of Choice in an independent test (5
segments) conducted by The Education Source. The buying
source lists ten Art Materials for children with Sculpey
brand clays voted #1 by the participating children.
Rebecca Kochenderfer is the editor of The Education
Source and its Newsletter which has a circulation of
600,000.
1999
Polyform
Products has again been recognized by the Parents
Guide to Children's Media Committee. Bodacious Beads
has been recognized with an Honor Award in the Children's
Craft Category. These tests were administered by
Shenandoah University. Bodacious Beads is a jewelry
craft boxed activity set and it was also commended
for the easy-to-follow instructions and value-added
impact.
Bodacious
Beads, one of Polyform Products Children's Activity
Sets was awarded an Honor Award by the Parent's Guide
to Children's Media, Inc., (formerly the Parents'
Choice Award). These tests were administered by Shenandoah
University. The jewelry making set was recommended
for its easy to follow visual instructions, the encouragement
of creativity, plus its economical pricing and value-added
contents.
1998
Polyform
Products Creative Clay Sets containing Sculpey III® have
been awarded an Honor award by the Parent's Guide to
Children's Media, Inc. (formerly as Parents' Choice).
These tests were administered by Shenandoah University.
The Creative Clay Sets were commended for their easy-to-follow
instructions and the use of creativity by children
plus their economical pricing.
1998
Polyform
Products received an award from the Great American
Toy Test in the Arts & Crafts Category. Toys were entered
in this test by more than 80 major toy makers. Each
manufacturer supplied dozens of sets of the applicable
toy. The toys were shipped to day-care and latchkey
kid centers across the country. The toys were played
with for three weeks while their teachers and supervisors
observed. They were ultimately judged on the following
criteria: quality, durability, ease of assembly or
use, maintenance, short-term interest, long-term interest,
educational value, safety and just plain fun.
1997
Polyform
Products Creative Clay Sets containing Sculpey III®,
were voted "Best Bets" by the Canadian Toy Testing
Council, an independent, not for Profit consumer group
that watches over the Toy market in Canada. 500 toys
were tested, and 15 toys/companies received the "Best
Bet" award.
1995
Voted
one of the 50 best toys of1995 by Child magazine and
New York City's Bank Street College of Education. The
winning toys in this competition are age- Appropriate,
safe to use, packed with learning potential, and tons
of fun. The Bank Street experts said ".Clay is a perfect
tool for the imagination. It has no form until your
child gives it one. Kids this age really like keeping
and playing with their creations."
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