(JP/Singgir Kartana)
A coloring contest held to mark the anniversary of Bantul Regency in Yogyakarta was just about to start when scores of children taking part in the contest ran off to crowd around a nearby toy vendor.
The contest's organizing committee had to ask the vendor to move elsewhere but children still followed the vendor.
The children were captivated by the wooden jigsaw puzzles the vendor was selling.
Toys like, which were previously sold in stores, have rapidly gained popularity and are now also sold by vendors at public events like bazaars. Some vendors even sell door-to-door, or travel from one school to another to sell their stock.
"Almost every week there is someone offering these toys to our school. The products are good but we do not have the money to buy them," said Suparsih, a 45-year-old teacher at Pertiwi 50 Siten kindergarten in Bantul.
Centers producing these toys have flourished in Yogyakarta in the past two years. Some of the most popular toy-producing centers are Mandiri Craft in Gatak village in Timbulharjo; Kajeng Craft in Tegal Senggotan; and UD Karya Indah in Glagah, Umbulharjo.
Tarjono Slamet, the 33-year-old owner of Mandiri Craft, said the increased local interest in his toys was a blessing in disguise in the face of a slow handicrafts market abroad.
He said his toy products, which were introduced around five years ago, were mainly intended for the export market.
"The export market, however, has been sluggish for three years now. So, toy makers have shifted their attention to the local market, including Yogyakarta," he said.
Most of the popular visual-aid products he sells -- jigsaw puzzles, geometric boards and toys -- are made from wood. They not only serve as toys but are also aimed at enhancing the skills and intelligence of children under the age of three, as well as kindergarten and elementary school students.
Mandiri Craft, which was set up in 2003, employs 22 people, all of whom are disabled. Up until now, the center has produced more than 100 product designs, most of which are made from mahogany wood and painted in bold colors.
Mandiri Craft's jigsaw puzzles, which depict animals, fruits and human beings, are priced at Rp 20,000 each. The center's most expensive product is a three-dimensional puzzle in the shape of a horse, which is priced at Rp 4.5 million.
The center's monthly sales currently stands at some Rp 10 million.
"Three years ago, when we still exported our products, our sales volume was Rp 65 million on average per month. As the export market has become sluggish, our monthly sales volume has dropped to Rp 10 million a month," Tarjono said.
Kajeng Craft, which claims to be the first toy maker in Indonesia, produces some 60 puzzle variants. The company makes their toys from teak wood.
The center's puzzles have a natural (non-paint) finish with a price range from Rp 9,000 to hundreds of thousands of rupiah. The center's production volume currently stands at 40,000 pieces a month.
Although Kajeng Craft's products are intended mostly for export, they also have a strong position in the local market, particularly in Yogyakarta and surroundings cities.
The market leader, particularly in Yogyakarta and its surrounds, is UD Karya Indah.
UD Karya Indah has earned recognition for its products from the Education Office in Yogyakarta and some of the company's toys are now used in schools across the province.
Amid stiff competition, some companies have been known to adopt quick measures to win a place in the market, by copying other people's models and ignoring safety requirements set for the production of toys.
Guidelines for the production of educative visual aids issued by the Education Office, for example, state that the paint to be used for the finishing process of these toys must be non-toxic.
In reality, there are many visual aid products colored with different types of paint, and not all are non-toxic.
In addition, the wood must be light and the wooden shapes must not be sharp or pointy. These guidelines have also been violated by some toy producers.
"Non-toxic paint is more expensive and producers do not want to incur losses," said Wardiyono, a visual-aid designer and the owner of Micro-sign Craft, whose workshop is located in Patangpuluhan, Yogyakarta.
Another consequence of this unhealthy competition is a drop in price of visual-aid toys, a factor that has led to a decline in the sales volumes of leading craft centers.
Slamet Tarjono blames this unhealthy competition for the decline in his sales. Many of his product designs have been copied -- mostly using poor materials -- and sold at lower prices than his original products.
Other producers have experienced the same problem.
"Next year, we might have to close down our business. Our sales volume cannot cover our production costs because there are many products similar to ours in the market available at lower prices," said Widianto, a maker of educational visual-aid products from Minggir, Sleman.
"We continue producing now only to use up our raw materials. Then we will close down our business."
