By Sara Kennedy
The Bradenton Herald (Florida)
Copyright 2007 The Bradenton Herald
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
One day four years ago, Keith Lock went to his father-in-law’s house to repair the sprinkler system.
He spread some of the plastic sprinkler parts on the floor, and when he returned, his children, then 4 and 7 years old, were fitting the pieces together to build fanciful shapes.
It took years of effort and planning, but Lock is the proud inventor of Konstruk-Tubes, a toy that evolved from the day his kids spontaneously began tinkering with sprinkler parts.
Lock is president of his own local company, which makes the toy.
“They were enthralled,” Lock, 37, a resident of Whitfield Estates, remembered about his children, Cameron, now 11, and Ashley, now 8.
Made with bright pieces of tubing that fit together, Konstruk-Tubes made its debut at the New York International Toy Trade Show last month.
Educators like it because it encourages a child’s creative spirit. Parents like it because it develops hand dexterity, hand-eye coordination and color recognition. And kids like it because it’s fun.
Each $29.95 kit has 72 pieces - 40 tubes and 32 special fittings that make a variety of shapes and structures. The pieces come in a cardboard can with a lid, for easy storage.
Lock, who is a full-time paramedic for Manatee County EMS, researched the market during his off-hours to make sure he had an original idea.
“I saw it’s wide open as far as construction toys go,” he said.
Once he settled on a design and a name for the toy, he hired an attorney to apply for a patent. Patent and trademark submissions have been completed, and the product is protected under the designation “patent pending.”
Meanwhile, Lock haunted toy trade shows to see what was out there.
Eventually, he began looking for a local company that could build a prototype, a task that fell to Valintech Inc., a company in Whitfield Park whose specialty is tube injection molding.
It was a big moment when he first saw the prototype, but Lock still had to find $175,000 to manufacture Konstruk-Tubes.
“I decided to seek investors,” he said. “I was doing presentations; I went to banks, went to investors; I formulated a business plan, all this while still doing my regular job,” he said.
As a paramedic, he worked 24 hours straight and then was off for 48 hours, which provided a window for him to get the fledgling business off the ground. But he was always scrambling.
“The 48 hours I was off, I would jam-pack my schedule to knock out as many tasks as I could,” Lock said.
He finally assembled enough money from investors and ordered 5,000 kits from a Hong Kong manufacturer. About two months later, the order arrived on a ship in a huge cargo container unit. Lock had to rent space to store the mountain of toys until he could sell the first one.
A sales call to Roger Dearing, superintendent of the Manatee County School District, paid off.
“He ordered two for every elementary school in the county - 66 units,” said Lock, obviously a little relieved. “It was a very good first sale.”
Now, Lock has been asked to develop a larger version, maybe one that would fit in a tub rather than a cardboard can.
And in the meantime, Lock’s company - Lockmade, LLC, 6023 26th St. W., No. 211, www.konstruktubes.com - is looking for a local dealer. It already has dealers selling the product in Canada, New York and Texas.
Was it worth all the trouble?
“It’s well worth it,” said Lock, who said that a successful inventor needs a “very good creative spirit and a lot of determination.”
“It’s neat to see kids build and make things with your product. It validates everything.”