For this Nebraska Toymaker, It’s All About the Details

A lot of work goes into each product from Baldwin Toys, whose offerings span the price points.

Baldwin Toys owner and woodworker Kris Kratz says he makes his wooden toys on an assembly line. An assembly line of one.

Baldwin Toys is a one-man manufacturing shop where Kratz designs and makes small indestructible toys for kids and intricate artwork pieces for adults who still retain a childlike spirit.

An Alliance for American Manufacturing Made in America 2025 Holiday Gift Guide selection, Baldwin Toys is a throwback to the days before plastics became the major toymaking material. Kratz’s pieces are more like works of art rather than a mass-produced product that is eventually destined for the landfill.

As beautiful as his toys are, the smaller kids’ pieces are meant to be played with while the more intricate larger pieces are more for display.

“The small kid’s toys, like the name train, the little wooden dinosaurs and the little, small cars, those are meant to be played with,” said Kratz. “They are rough and tumble. You can chuck them across the room, and they’re 100% safe for kids from 2 and older.

“From like 10 on up, you get them into the bigger artwork like puzzle cars that disassemble and come apart like a puzzle. Just the bigger cars are like this, and these are some of the pieces adults and collectors buy for themselves.”

His assembly line process comprises a series of different workstations in his Hickman, Neb., shop that he moves around to when working on a larger intricate piece like cars with a rumble seat, trucks and trains. Instead of the product coming to him like on a traditional assembly line, he moves around to each workstation to assemble each part himself.

“I have a jig that helps the process, which is kind of like a Henry Ford assembly line,” said the 40-year-old Kratz. “I am doing a hundred things at once. I have little station where I keep moving around.

“For the big cars, like the rumble seat, I make six at a time. The process takes about a week for six cars. But, keep in mind, I’m also doing small kids toys too, and when I’m making small kid’s toys I’m doing 50 or 60 at a time.”

Business is good for Kratz in the wood toymaking space. His competition does not come from the cheap plastic toys that flood today’s marketplace.

“The specific type of person that is looking for wooden toys, they’re already past the plastic toys from China,” said Kratz. “They’ve already decided this is what I am looking for, and this is what I want.

“I don’t have a lot of competition, so the market is good. Everything I do is handmade. My toys are all hand carved. I don’t use any CNC routers like a few of the companies in the Northeast do. That kind of sets me apart into my own little niche.”

Kratz started woodworking in middle school after taking woodshop class and continued the hobby right through high school when he was making cabinets and furniture. He eventually met Steve Baldwin, a master woodworker who took him under his wing, teaching him new techniques.

When Baldwin retired six years ago, Kratz bought the business and kept the name because it is well known within the woodworking community.

“Steve was my mentor and we worked alongside each other for 10 years before he retired,” said Kratz. “I was just soaking up the knowledge in everything. When you meet someone like that you take the opportunity to soak up as much knowledge as you can.

“I get a lot of people that are tired of seeing their kids on their cell phones and all the iPads and everything. I get emails and calls from people that purchased items 30 or 40 years ago, saying, ‘I’m missing a piece, can you help me out?’ They always tell the story of passing it down. ‘I bought this for my kid when he was 2, and now he’s 40.’”

Kratz uses a variety of hardwoods for his toymaking but never paints the pieces. Woods are often chosen for their color. The darker wood is walnut, the lighter wood is cherry. The reds are from padauk, which is an African rosewood.

“I also use some exotic woods when I can get my hands on them, some of which is super expensive,” said Kratz. “Zebra wood, which is kind of striped, is rare but it’s fun to incorporate.”

Kratz sources his wood from a lumber yard in Omaha. After assembly he finishes each piece with Danish oil and spray lacquer to give them a bright shine.

While Kratz is manufacturing year-round his busiest time is during the holiday season, from October through December. He spends his time in February through September traveling across the country attending established art shows in major metropolitan areas.

These art shows are where his large pieces get noticed by adults who may be looking for a gift for that hard-to-shop-for person. They are magnificent and people buy them to display on shelves in their homes or offices.

“I have a couple of collectors that will buy a couple of items a year and all of a sudden they have a collection,” said Kratz. “I have one customer in Michigan, and he has bought all the big stuff and I’ve had to come up with new stuff just so he can purchase it. He has an entire wall of shelves with all the toys on it and it’s really cool to see.

“The large train is what I call a showstopper. When you’re in an art show, you want something that will draw people’s attention, so I have a big four-car train on the wall in my booth and that stops them. That train wins awards.

“That train is also a puzzle. There are 75 little pieces on it. It rolls on a track. It’s $6,000 and takes about two months to make. It’s my most expensive item.”

Small kid’s toys sell from $15 to $100. Gift items and games run from $50 to $150 and the collector’s toys that are puzzles are sold for $250 to $500.

“The master’s series is a whole other level, which are $1,000 and up,” said Kratz. “These are custom ones. Cars like the Porsche 911 or the Porsche 356 are modeled specifically after those cars.

“With those toys I am doing 15 to 30 minutes a day on it and then I have to do something else,” he said. “That is why it takes forever. Same with the train. With the train, I make all these little parts over the course of a couple of months while I am doing everything else. Then I slowly put it together. It’s overwhelming if you sit down and try to do the whole thing at once.”

It’s an extensive list of toys and collectibles that Kratz manufactures. Kids toys like little cars, jeeps, trucks, fire engines and dinosaurs with wheels are simple construction. The larger, eye-catching toys such as autos, planes, bicycles, motorcycles and boats are more detailed.

The rumble seat car that is 16-inches long, 7-inches wide can be put on a shelf and used as a conversation piece. The larger pieces are all puzzles that come apart and can be reassembled.

Kratz does not use glue, nails, staples or any other permanent fastener material. The pieces are held together by small wooden dowels that can easily be removed and reassembled.

Whether you are looking for a chess set or Chinese checkers, Kratz does it all. Toys, games, display items and collectibles made by hand in Nebraska are available for every member of your family.

“The unique thing is I have a wide range,” said Kratz. “I sell a lot of kids toys online, on Etsy and through my website. The art shows, which are like a farmer’s market for art is where people find my larger, classic pieces.”

To shop Baldwin Toys fine line of wooden toy carvings, go to www.baldwintoys.com.