SOUTHINGTON-- It's just before Christmas in Southington, and Luke Barber and his father Jim are all business. Lucky for them, their business is playtime.
Luke is the brains behind Luke's Toy Factory, which he and his father began three years ago.
"There are very few toys made any place but China," Luke said.
Luke's Toy Factory specializes in making a stackable toy trucks -- a sort of 3-D puzzle that 2- to 4-year-olds are challenged to put together.
The small start-up is based in Danbury, but runs their plastic injection molding process at Vanguard Plastics high-tech facility in a Southington.
Jim said, "Our idea is to show that you can make a toy, you can make it profitable, and you can make it in the U.S. in Connecticut."
"It's all made of recycled or partially recycled material," Luke noted. "It's made using sawdust from a furniture factory that would've been burned or dumped or otherwise disposed of."
The toy trucks, which cost about $23 dollars each, are mostly found in 150 mom and pop toy stores around the region, and they're adding more every day according to Jim.
Luke said that there is a message they are hoping to pass on with toy truck they create: "We are hopefully starting another trend of making things in the U.S. again."
To find out more about Luke's Toy Factory click here.