Fully interchangeable with other models, R-Line owners can mix-and-match parts to build unique performance models or just add a little horse power to the current Automoblox styles.

Patrick Callelo’s journey to manufacture his vision is one of the scariest entrepreneurial stories we at Follow Function have ever come across. His design skills were brilliant, his passion intense, but his attempt to bring the final product to market was nearly a total failure. To read his story, scroll south….

The Story:

Patrick's tale is one that makes all product designers stuck in an unfulfilling, surface-modeling hell, weep with envy. Here is a man who actually did it. He had an idea for a product, designed it, manufactured it, marketed it, and built a successful company around it. However, the path he took to his success was by no means a pleasant one, which allows the rest of us to feel a bit better about having never put our own necks on the line.

In the fall of Patrick's senior year at Carnegie Mellon's design school a wood manufacturer sponsored a project to create a new product for the wooden hobby market. He reached deep into his brain and pulled out a modular toy car system that inspired children to create their own designs, rather than just duplicating an image displayed on a package.

After graduation Patrick freelanced for two years and eventually took a job at PharmaDesign, a company that makes custom promotional items for the pharmaceutical industry. Here he learned how rapid and efficient Far East manufacturing proccesses had become. Next, he was hired at Colgate-Palmolive where he was immersed in the power of brands.

Patrick had a long commute to the Colgate offices and spent his time reading books about visionaries like Benjamin Franklin and Sam Walton. At night he labored over his business plan for Automoblox. Finally, despite the responsibilities of a young family, Patrick quit his job, and started a company.

Through recommendations, Patrick found a manufacturer in China that made him feel confident. The factories were spotless and came with an impressive list of clients. He signed up for a booth at the American International Toy Fair and happily awaited his first shipment.

But after receiving the shipment, Patrick gladly would have traded it for a swift kick to the groin. The parts were terrible. They were scratched, the color was off, the size was off, and none of the interlocking parts interlocked. Our man with the plan spent most of the trade show apologizing and promising that the final product will work "just fine".

[one of many failed attempts to improve quality standards at his factory]

Around this time, Patrick met Henry, an older gentleman who had worked for twenty years in the manufacturing industry and spoke fluent Cantonese. Henry said that if Patrick paid his airfare, he would accompany him on his next trip to China. Patrick agreed immidiately, and the two set off to check on his failing factories.

They met Patrick's contact in the Chinese manufacturing company and quickly lied by informing them that Henry did not speak Cantonese. Together, they enjoyed an awkward three-hour car ride to the place of origin for all those miserable parts. Instead of the impressive, spotless factory that had been promised, they ended up touring a cramped, low-tech facility that looked like it would be sturdier if it were constructed from Lincoln Logs. His contact said that they had switched because this factory offered a better price, but interestingly enough, Patrick's price had not gone down at all.

[the actual factory, not the one Patrick had been promised]

The manufacturing company Patrick had hired may have been good at some things, but manufacturing sure wasn't one of them. They also turned out to be a bit on the stupid side, mouthing off in Cantonese to one another. After overhearing just a few conversations, it was clear to Henry that it was time for Patrick to take his business elsewhere.

Luckily, this story has a happy ending. Patrick soon hired the company Henry once worked for and production has gone off without a hitch ever since. Automoblox is becoming a huge success (thanks in part to independent retailers like us who are privileged enough to carry them) and Patrick is a personal hero to guys and girls everywhere with big ideas and the courage to follow them.

[Patrick Calello with his kids]