As Steve Walterscheid walks through his expansive Tumalo home, he passes colorful stick figures peeking out of corners and hanging off ledges.
The little bendable people cling to a metallic banister as other creatures - aliens, bugs, dinosaurs and zoo animals - creep up walls and window frames, and scale the refrigerator. Walterscheid's family is not home, but his Benders are everywhere.
The flexible statuettes are the 43-year-old's creation that in just six years rocketed him from a Portland bartender who tinkered with wire to an inventor of more than 100 Bender characters sold in at least 20 countries.
Below ground, in Walterscheid's shop, Benders lie in multiple stages of assembly or destruction. They hang by magnet appendages from every shelf or curl together in piles of headless, handless or footless pieces.
A shoeless Walterscheid plays with some of the new toys he's creating and casually points to the dusty original Benders. They are three times taller than those sold now, with enlarged genitalia.
He shrugs at their anatomically correct figures, saying he didn't originally make them for children's toys.
They were like mini art sculptures.
“As they developed more into a toy, some toy markets didn’t like that,” Walterscheid said. So he toned down the Benders’ sexuality, swapping pigtails and skirts for females’ voluptuous curves. Some female Benders, however, still have cleavage.
Benders resemble something found in a museum with their artistic shapes and tactile appeal. In fact, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City is one of the largest Benders customers, Walterscheid said.
Most have black, emotionless faces, so Bender owners can shape them into any activity — from grumpy caveman to calm yoga master.
“Joe Bender can be anybody,” Walterscheid said.
Joe Bender can be a kayaker, rock climber, skier, rock star, tennis player or golfer, to name a few. And all are “irresistibly attracted to anything metal,” Walterscheid said.
The most popular Benders are Monkey Benders, which have the most powerful magnets and happy faces.
“Monkey Benders are the most like a toy,” he said of the monkeys, two of which are named after his sons, Max and Leo. “There’s just a magical quality to magnets.”
But the toys aren’t just for kids, Walterscheid said. When he started making them, he never thought they’d expand past gifts for friends and family.
Coming out of the basement
Six years ago, Walterscheid began making copper-wire figurines, which he then called Fat Stevies, in his Portland basement. He found that coating the wire in vinyl made a skin-like appearance and adding magnetic hands and feet made them fun to play with.
One night, at a party held at his restaurant and bar workplace, Walterscheid dropped Fat Stevies on some of the diners’ plates. One diner was Paul Schneider, who owns three Portland craft and jewelry stores called Twist.
“And that’s where it all started,” Walterscheid said.
Schneider hadn’t met Walterscheid before, but was infatuated by the simple creativity of his figurines.
“They were just little human forms and they appealed to me,” Schneider said, adding that Walterscheid’s high energy sealed the deal. “Steve’s just such a goofball. He has so much enthusiasm that you know he’s doing this just because he wants to.”
Schneider requested more figures, so Walterscheid began spending all night crafting mixed drinks for bar patrons, then spending all morning in his basement, bending pieces of metal into thousands of figurines.
Soon his creations drew a small following and Walterscheid could barely keep up with demand.
After three months of working the “labor of love,” Walterscheid decided to license his invention to Portland-based toy and gift company Hog Wild, which developed the Benders name and handled manufacturing and distribution.
Twist no longer carries Benders, Schneider said.
Walterscheid eventually moved his family to Tumalo because the climate reminded him of his native New Mexico. He regularly travels back to Hog Wild’s Portland office to collect his royalty checks — 5 percent of the sale price for every Bender sold.
For Hog Wild executives, the collaboration was sales dynamite.
“For us it was a big deal,” said Joe Rooper, president of Hog Wild. “We knew we could promote the product; he just didn’t have a name or marketing pizazz for it.”
Rooper said the product appealed to him because nothing like it existed: It was cute, unique and perfect for small, artistic stores.
The toys are now manufactured in China, Rooper added.
In the first year, Hog Wild sold roughly 10,000 Benders, Walterscheid said. Now, sales top 1 million annually.
At least six Central Oregon retailers sell Benders, including REI and Sunriver Sports. Leapin’ Lizards Toy Co. only sells Benders in winter and summer and Pomegranate Home & Garden plans to stock Benders this spring.
The figures, also available online, cost between $5 and $15 per can. The more expensive Bender cans have multiple figures inside or accessories.
The figures are now made of galvanized steel, which is more durable than copper, and are covered in colorful vinyl sold in decorative tin cans.
“The packaging is part of the product,” Walterscheid said. “You can use the tin can as a podium, but a lot migrate to the fridge.”
Walterscheid travels to yearly toy trade shows with Rooper, where they try to market Benders to specialty stores, but never to major retailers like Wal-Mart or Target.
“We want to keep the product unique and let the mom-and-pop stores have a unique toy,” Walterscheid said.
Their largest Bender retailer is REI, which sells 15 different Benders, including rock climbers, skiers, boogie boarders, kayakers and campers.
Benders are popular gift purchases at REI, said Mike Foley, senior public relations associate at REI headquarters in Seattle. Perfect for that hard-to-gift person.
“It’s a product that inspires people to get outside,” Foley said. “It makes a great gift for someone who is an outdoor enthusiast.”
Most Benders come with props and accessories. Yoga Benders come with a yoga mat and booklet of yoga positions.
Bikini Benders come with a folding chair and either suntan lotion, a magazine or a boombox.
Camper Joe and Jane Bender come with tents, a camp chair, grill, two logs and roasting sticks with either a hot dog or marshmallows on them.
Skateboarder, snowboarder and surfer Benders come with ramps and motorized boards. Adjusting the Benders’ bodies makes the boards twist and twirl.
It’s that detail — UFO Joe Bender glows in the dark and has a ray gun — that sets Benders apart from other toys, said Walterscheid, who’s always trying to brainstorm new Bender themes.
‘Little boy in a big boy’s body’
Hog Wild executives and Walterscheid keep a long list of possible Benders and every year, Hog Wild chooses two or three designs for production.
While most stay similar to Walterscheid’s original designs, new Bender creations are breaking the faceless, hairless mold.
Anime-like Mop Tops, which Walterscheid said are supposed to look like British teenagers, are part of what Walterscheid hopes will be the next wave of Bender products: animation.
“My hope is that somebody will take some (Benders) and animate them,” he said. “They could be animated for TV or have their own show.”
Stop-start animation isn’t Walterscheid’s area of expertise, so he’s hoping someone smart and creative will take on the project.
Walterscheid also hopes that Joe Bender one day will become a household name, maybe even as a spokesman for a health-products line.
“I hope Benders will be around 20 years from now,” Walterscheid said. That is, if they are not handled too aggressively. Excessive bending could break the Benders, Walterscheid warns, but they can handle most activity.
Walterscheid has licensed other toys, some of which Hog Wild sells, including Acrobots, Rocket Pens and Snap Watches. But none are as popular as his first creation, the Benders.
Failed products lie in tubs in his shop, including Marbles of Wisdom — clear marbles that hold Confucian sayings. Walterscheid was sure they would sell well.
“This is a fickle business,” Walterscheid said. “You have to let (failures) be like water off a duck’s back.”
Walterscheid estimates that 50 percent of his creations are successful.
“You never know what people will like,” he said. “You don’t know what the market will do.”
Walterscheid continues to brainstorm and develop new toy ideas. One day, he’d like to distribute his products himself, without the help of companies like Hog Wild.
Schneider, Walterscheid’s first customer, said he doubts Walterscheid will stop that kind of ingenuity.
“It’s neat to see somebody of his talent turn it into something real,” Schneider said. “I’m a huge admirer. He’s basically a little boy in a big boy’s body.
For more information, visit www.bendertimes.com or www.hogwildtoys.com.
Anna Sowa can be reached at 541-383-0304 or at asowa@bendbulletin.com.
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