Toniebox Co-Founder Reveals The Retro Inspiration Behind The Screen-Free Storytelling Toy

Patric Faßbender and Marcus Stahl, the founders of Toniebox, turned to the ultimate experts to help them develop Germany’s hottest toy: their kids. The two dads and entrepreneurs, whose friendship started after meeting at their children’s nursery school, put the first generation of Tonieboxes on the market in 2016 and the screen-free storytelling toy has only continued to grow in popularity. Heck, it’s now officially available in Walmarts across the U.S. Blending insider knowledge directly from their target audience with some of their own retro inspiration, the Toniebox was officially born.

Faßbender tells me during a recent press trip to the Tonies headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany that he was inspired to create the device as his children shared some curiosity about his collection of scratched-up CDs, and his own desire as a parent to recreate that screen-free storytelling experience.

“My kids were 3 and 5 years old when I had the idea,” he says. “The main reason why I started to think about it was, in Germany, we still had CDs. They were often broken because they lay on the ground and [get] broken, scratched. I was looking for an alternative to CD players and CDs for my kids to listen to their stories and I realized there is no product which fits into our mindset from a parent’s perspective.”

This was in 2013 and yes, iPhones and other smartphones and tablets existed that could take over the job of CDs, but that’s not the experience what he was after. “I didn’t want to give them the smartphone in their hands the whole day to listen to their stories,” says Faßbender. “I looked for an alternative, I found nothing. I had my old cassette player, but you can’t buy new cassettes.”

The fact that a modern version of a cassette player didn’t exist was surprising to Faßbender. “At least in Germany, all the kids love to listen to audio plays and to music a lot,” he says. “That was a moment where I thought, ‘Okay, these days, in 2013, everything is digital … there must be something better than that.’”

Faßbender’s thinking was that this new device would not only have to be “very clever [and] smart” to appeal to parents who’d be purchasing the product, but also “absolutely fit into kids’ behavior,” allowing them to touch and play.

“The big advantage was that I had two kids in this age group at home,” he says. “I let them try out [the prototypes] every day or asked them, ‘How do you think about that?’ That was very helpful. Like two consultants around me the whole day and I could always ask them.”

And voilà, Stahl and Faßbender joined forces and the Toniebox was born. Designed for ages 3 and up, kids can listen to their favorite stories when they place a “Tonie” — hand-painted collectible figurines of their favorite characters like Tigger or Liberty from PAW Patrol — on top of the squishy, soft audio player.

Faßbender’s children weren’t the only family members involved in the creation of the Toniebox; his wife is behind many of the Tonies’ designs. In fact, Faßbender credits his family for helping make the toy feel warm and soft, but also “very intuitive.”

“It was really perfect. It was kind of a family business,” he says. “It was a nice time where the whole family came together and designed a little bit.” Like the Toniebox’s “ears,” for example. The bigger ear turns the volume up, the smaller one turns it down.

Now, in 2023, the Toniebox is available across the EU, the UK, the U.S., and Hong Kong. There are hundreds of Tonies to choose from, including extensive collections from Disney, PAW Patrol, National Geographic Kids, Roald Dahl, and Marvel. You can also record up to 90 minutes of your own content, in your own voice via the mytonies app, with a Creative Tonie. While they can certainly be just for everyday fun, Stahl tells me families have also used Creative Tonies to communicate with their loved one during difficult times like the pandemic. “[You can] have some access to kids or family members being in the hospital,” Stahl says.

Stahl and Faßbender report that the Sleepy Friends collection, designed to help support a calming bedtime routine, have been especially popular, particularly among users in the U.S. The popularity of these relaxing, nighttime-specific Tonies wasn’t just luck. “We know from the data that bedtime routine [between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.] the usage of the Toniebox is very high,” Faßbender says.

The Toniebox starter set, which comes with one Tonie figurine, costs $99.99 and additional Tonies are priced between $15 to $20. In the U.S., the products are available online and in stores like Target and Walmart, as well as Amazon.

If you want to try it out first, you might be able to find a Toniebox in your local public library (you can borrow one from libraries throughout the state of Delaware, for example) or even your child’s school. The Tonies for Teachers offers educators a 20% discount on Tonies products and there’s also a Facebook page where teachers can swap ideas and ask questions. Stahl appreciates that the Toniebox can reach more families through these outlets. “We love to have the product in public libraries,” he says.

Since 2016, according to company data, around 5 million Tonieboxes and roughly 58 million Tonies have been sold. And Stahl and Faßbender are always thinking of new ways to build on that success. Faßbender tells me they’re looking into creating new audio content to support parents and kids “in their daily routines,” whether it’s cleaning up, brushing their teeth, or cooking. “There are so many touch points where I think audio can support kids’ behavior, parents’ behavior, when they’re together to do something.”