Co-founders buy back Sprig Toys from Wham-O

FORT COLLINS — Toymakers David Bowen and Chris Clemmer of Fort Collins have reclaimed Sprig Toys Inc., buying back the company that makes an eco-friendly line of toys that they sold to Wham-O Inc. in 2010.

Bowen and Clemmer bought Sprig Toys from Wham-O for an undisclosed amount. The company, in a prepared statement, said it will bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States from China, but did not provide the number of jobs or where they will be.

Company officials plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign Nov. 15, hoping to raise $35,000 to retool their farm line of adventure guides and vehicles.

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The first toys to launch will be two Farm Adventure trucks, a dump truck and a loader tractor, with Sprig Adventure Guides to go along with them. The Sprig Adventure Guides are designed with simple features to let a kid’s imagination fill in the blanks, literally. They can draw on the face and choose the gender and emotions for their character. The adventure guides come in a variety of skin tones.

In 2011, Bowen and Clemmer founded BeginAgain Inc. to continue bringing their visions of unplugged play to children and produced award-winning toys for seven years. Sprig Toys, which had operated under the Wham-O Jr. brand, now will operate under the BeginAgain umbrella.

The company uses bio-plastics made of plants such as sugar cane and corn cobs, and recycled wood to make its toys, moving away from oil-based plastics. Sprig’s headquarters are at 120 W. Olive St., Suite 220, in Fort Collins, and its manufacturing partner is in Colorado Springs.

A company spokeswoman said Sprig has about 25 employees, and that its manufacturing partner plans to hire eight to 10 people to accommodate planned growth.