Since the Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off on Feb 4, the cuddly Games mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon have soon become the favorite of athletes, the media, and millions of publics. Merchandise featuring Bing Dwen Dwen has once sold out at officially licensed online retailers and many physical shops, with netizens dreaming to own at least one Bing Dwen Dwen.
As one of the licensed commodity manufacturers for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Jinjiang Hengsheng Toys Co., LTD., located in Longhu Jinjiang, has been working at full capacity on manufacturing this new top-selling mascot doll since Feb 5.
"The company offered free air tickets to workers willing to cut their vacation short and ready to resume work, and we’re glad to see that over a dozen of them have come back to work by Feb 8," said Lian Hai’an, the general manager of the company. He added that so far, the company has brought into use dozens of new molds and deployed workers to outsourcing toy factories, doing all they can to meet the production demand for extra orders of more than 500,000 sets of Bing Dwen Dwen.
From drawings to finished dolls, the production of Bing Dwen Dwen should go through complex procedures like pattern making, embroidering, fabric printing, cutting, sewing, stapling, and packing, with continual comparing and refining to make sure they’re perfectly made.
Long before becoming the licensed commodity manufacturer for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Jinjiang Hengsheng Toys has been known as one of the designated suppliers for mascot toys of Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as the Asian Beach Games.
"We’ve been making toys for over three decades, and this is the first time we’ve seen a plush toy combined with silicone coat." Lian said that the biggest challenge in production was to present the ice ribbons on the silicone face. Being different from other mascot toys the company had made, Bing Dwen Dwen is a plush panda doll enveloped in a crystal silicon shell, resembling a cute astronaut.
The surge in demand for Bing Dwen Dwen merchandise offered a new path for constant breakthrough and technology upgrade of Jinjiang’s manufacturing industry. In Lian’s opinion, participating in the development and production of Beijing 2022 Mascot merchandise may not only enhance the company’s capability in research and development but also bring the strength of Jinjiang’s manufacturing to the attention of more people.