Rolling Right Along Bangor-based Taurus Toy growing block by block

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Behind a screened door off a parking lot near Frank’s Bakery in Bangor, a powerhouse of a toy company is being built one brightly colored block at a time. Taurus Toy and its three lines of construction-system sets are racking up international toy awards faster than kids are stacking up the 40, 60 or 100 pieces in each box.

And, as parents well know, it doesn’t take children that long to figure anything out.

With the holiday season under way, Taurus Toy is busier than Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Sales for the company’s Maine-made “Block ‘N Roll,” “No Ends” and “Clics” systems are increasing steadily as demonstrations at toy stores and children’s museums nationwide are resulting in ringing cash registers.

“We’re two elves running around in Santa’s workshop and we need 50 more,” said Susan Paul, sales and marketing manager for Taurus Toy, about herself and a salesperson. “We just don’t have the pointy shoes and the green outfits.”

Paul manages most of the company’s operations from the Bangor office, from sales to product development, with help from associate Chris Francis. All of the materials are made in Maine and the toys are manufactured at Sagoma Plastics Inc. in Biddeford.

Maine Capital Co., a collaboration of investors based in Portland, owns Taurus Toy and employs six people. Taurus Toy previously was affiliated with Olamon Industries, a manufacturing facility once operated by the Penobscot Indian Nation on Indian Island, where Paul worked as a sales and marketing manager.

After nearly a decade of pushing for recognition in the highly competitive and sometimes vicious world of toy manufacturing, all of those “baby steps,” as Paul calls them, are paying off.

At least a dozen toy awards from respectable product testers such as Family Fun magazine, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Great American Toy Test and Parent’s Choice are seals of approval that catch the eyes of retailers.

And in a world where hundreds of new toys duke it out each year for shelf space, it helps to have recognizable symbols on the toys’ packages to attract attention.

“You have to have something that’s different,” Paul said. “You have to go into the market with something there’s not 10,000 versions of already. To get into toy stores, you have to have a representative. If you don’t call, if you’re not in their faces, they might forget about you.”

It’s not just brightly colored plastic and a marble that makes a toy, Paul said. It has to be educational without really saying it’s a learning tool. From teaching eye-hand coordination to stimulating problem-solving skills, the toys have to keep a child’s interests. Taurus Toy’s lines teach construction and physics while children believe they’re only playing.

Plus, the products have to be priced right. Paul said Taurus Toy came up with several construction-system kits that are inexpensive and have enough pieces and pizzazz to target the birthday-present market. Other sets with higher quantities of pieces are priced to be worthwhile holiday gifts.

Taurus Toy’s three product lines are geared for children ages 6 and up – each package has warnings about small parts for children under 3 years old – but adults are interested in them, too. Some of the products are packaged for use in school science classes because they are challenging and teach theories of momentum and gravity.

The idea for the “Block ‘N Roll” system originated from a New Hampshire father who watched his five sons take Brio train tracks, Lego blocks and other materials, connect them together, lay them at an angle from a couch pillow to the floor, and roll marbles down them. With “Block ‘N Roll,” marbles travel through groove-formed construction blocks that are Duplo- and Lego-compatible. Players can build mazes by using straight blocks and adding ramps, crossovers, drop-throughs, alternators, seesaws, loop-the-loops and 90-degree turns.

The challenge is to build the maze in a way that the marble gains momentum and completes the path. Paul said she’s heard from high-school science teachers who didn’t build portions of their mazes with enough height to keep the marble moving.

Not all “Block ‘N Roll” kits carry all of the special-feature pieces such as loop-the-loop and alternators. The starter kit, priced at $14.95, has them, but the other 40-, 60- and 100-piece sets do not. The special-feature pieces are sold separately at stocking-stuffer prices, Paul said.

The “No Ends” line, which is trademarked by Sagoma Plastics, is a series of curved or straight tube-shaped beams, wheels, axles and connectors to create moving – but not motorized – model vehicles, such as helicopters or cars. They are available in big pieces that when put together could fill part of a living room or minipieces that are more of a size similar to normal toys.

“Clics” is a series of blocks and interlocking flat panels that children can use to build anything from windmills and farms to cars and towers.

The products aren’t sold in Wal-Mart, Toys “R” Us or by any other major retailer. Instead, they are available at 800 smaller toy stores, children’s museums, catalogs and online. Paul said Taurus Toy wanted the products to be attractive to children and parents who want something that is not mainstream.

“We don’t do any mass marketing,” Paul said.

In the last couple of years, Taurus Toy has been featured on the shopping channel QVC and on “Made in Maine” on Maine Public Broadcasting System.

The Brainy Baby Co. also has featured “Block ‘N Roll” in its “Right Brain” and “Left Brain” videos and DVDs.

Last year, more than 360,000 60-piece “Block ‘N Roll” sets were sold, as well as 180,000 100-piece sets. This year, the company is improving on those numbers.

At the Maine Discovery Museum Toy Store in Bangor, the “Block ‘N Roll” system set up on a countertop was a hit with three Machias Boy Scouts earlier this week.

“Whoa,” said Logan Thompson, 6, as he let go of a marble at the top of the system and watched it follow the maze downward. His sister, 4-year-old Reese, and his friend, 7-year-old Zeke Ranke, were close by.

“Awesome,” added Bion Parsons, 7, as he gave the toy a test run. “When I see Legos, I play with them.”

While the boys gave “Block ‘N Roll” a spin, their Den mothers checked out the product more thoroughly. Carla Wood, Logan’s mother, was interested in the system’s compatibility with Lego blocks while Jennifer Ranke, Zeke’s mother, was curious about its price and whether her son would be challenged by it.

“Block ‘N Roll” met the mothers’ approval.

“I think Logan’s dad would love to play with that, since he loves playing with Legos,” Wood said. “It’s cool. It’s kind of like a waterslide.”

“The price is pretty reasonable,” added Jennifer Ranke. “It’s actually cheaper than Legos. If he wasn’t here with me, I’d buy it.”

“Block ‘N Roll” and other Taurus Toy and Sagoma Plastics products can be purchased online at Taurustoy.com or at Maine Discovery Museum Toy Store, Briar Patch and Abacus the Learning Store in Bangor; Agricola Farms Country Store in Union; Go Fish in Vinalhaven; Happy Healthy Babies in Skowhegan; Pandora’s Box in Presque Isle; The Planet in Camden and Rockland; State of Maine Cheese Co. in Thomaston; Painted Horse in Augusta, and other southern Maine locations.