Setting the Scene with Tom Harper

We have previously looked at the design and production of Sindy’s fashions with Barbara Mansfield. This article looks at the other side of Sindy’s products, her very realistic and very profitable Scenesetters which for two and a half decades over forty years ago captured in miniature the furniture and activities of our daily lives.

Tom worked at the Canterbury factory for nearly 20 years on Sindy’s Scenesetters and also on some of her small accessories to complete her outfits. One sometimes forgets that even those little products needed to be designed and produced too.

Prototypes for Sindy’s late 70s SLR camera above left and her actual SLR camera above right designed and modelled by Tom Harper.

Early models for Sindy’s 1980s radio cassette player designed and modelled by Alan Willie.

Here is Tom’s story about working in R&D, the people he worked with, and which also tells us some of the history of Pedigree at Canterbury.

My working life started with a 5-year apprenticeship in draughting and engineering which included all aspects of draughting and building work including fitting and turning, carpentry, electrical, planning, surveying and welding. After some seven years I decided to look for another job.

I was looking for a draughtsman’s job and secured an interview with Mr Rodney Castle, Head of the Research and Development (R&D) Department of Pedigree Dolls and Toys in Market Way, Canterbury sometime during 1967.

The R&D Department had several functions

  • The drawing office who drew the blueprints for manufacturing
  • The design and modelling team who created Sindy’s scenesetters and other toys made at Canterbury
  • The soft toy designers
  • The fashion designers who designed for Sindy and for our other dolls.

Located with us, but not part of our R&D, was our sculpture team. They designed all the Pedigree dolls. I remember Eric Griffiths and after he left to join Royal Doulton, Peter Knevitt became our specialist sculptor. The team also included Charlie Saunders and two ladies, Jill and Glenda, who helped to clean and prepare the master wax castings, which were used for the electro-plated moulds.

I was successful in the interview and joined the Drawing Office. My duties were drawing components and products, and looking after the parts numbering system, logging changes, issuing new numbers, and looking after our museum (which is what we called our product archive). Our museum had one of each numbered item held for reference and could be checked at any time if something went wrong or needed to be ratified.

Each component was given a number, from a washer, a screw, to assemblies, dolls’ eyes, fur fabric, hair ribbons, leaflets, packaging, plus the complete product. This system set out all the components to make a particular product and was issued to every department involved in manufacturing the product, from stores, purchasing, production, time and motion teams, and quality control.

Then when the product meeting was held, and it was decided what was to be manufactured and sent to one of the assembly lines at Canterbury, all the items could be checked to see if they were available from the stores, what needed to be purchased, and the numbers of products could then be calculated.

Having held this position for a couple of years, I was made redundant (last in – first out) when Pedigree had some difficulties at the end of the 60s when Lines Brothers collapsed. I got a job as assistant works manager at a furniture company who supplied tables and chairs for the QE2 and the National Theatre.

I returned to work at Market Way, some 2½ years later, not working for Pedigree, but for an American consultant designer who was brought in to design new products for Pedigree. I was employed to design, engineer and produce models from ideas of the consultant so they could be presented to the Pedigree board. The consultant didn’t really last very long and when he left, I was approached by Ian Daniels, who was now Head of R&D to rejoin Pedigree, and to join the R&D model making team.  Incidentally, Rodney Castle designed the 1971 sit-on hairdryer, it was drawn up by Rodney and the proving model was made by Ian.

Most of the model making guys were still there from my days in the drawing office and I spent several years gradually working up to be a senior modelmaker. The team were very talented and although you may not know their names, you will probably recognise some of their work. I worked alongside Peter Bing, who’s sister dressed Sindy dolls in costume outfits. He designed the 1982 yellow Motorcycle by himself. Robert Montgomery, the Eastham E-Line kitchen. George Smith who loved and owned horses and designed all things equestrian, and you can see that love in Sindy’s marvellous model horses. Alan Willie who modelled Sindy’s radio cassette player above, and designed Sindy’s Toilet, which might seem a simple thing, but it is really nicely crafted. A few modellers changed over the years, but others were Peter Butlin, Don Gray and Roger Salter.

Apologies if I have left anyone out from my section.

Most of our ideas for development came from a number of sources, from in-house designers, outside designers who approached Pedigree with the hope that the item would go into production and give them royalty payments, the marketing department, the sales department, and factory personnel. Anything and from everyone, mostly from Pedigree, who suggested wouldn’t it be great if Sindy had this!

The ideas were discussed by marketing, sales, engineering, management, and a request usually from marketing perhaps with some input from the designers and R& D would be put into action.

Sometimes, simple items could be drawn up without the need for engineering modelling, but not very often. Normally, whoever was free at the time or had some interest or previous experience on a similar idea would be put in charge of producing an initial ‘looks like’ concept model, sometimes coloured but always to size. Usually, it would be one modelmaker who was involved in this type of project. 

This would then go to marketing for evaluation. If approved, it was back to R&D. The manager would choose a modelmaker and brief them, engineering would also get involved looking at materials, tooling, costing etc. Once the final ‘looks like’ model was agreed, drawings were made. One of the draughtsmen from the Drawing Office (including Eddie Fane and Pete Waller) would draw the model (the draughtsmen also drew the pattern blueprints for other products such as Sindy’s clothes to send to the Far East for manufacture).

For more complex items, an engineering/proving model was also made to the drawing to prove the drawings were correct and that the item could actually be made and assembled etc. An engineering model is exactly as the final product would be with all the measurements, draft angles (a taper applied to the walls of an injection moulded item to help release it from the mould) etc. This engineering/proving model was used by costing, engineering and production and for production assembly timings, line-jigs cutting and tooling, catalogue photography, instruction leaflet drafting, inner and outer packaging design, and stores. Final sign-off was between Marketing and the Managing Director, at the time Mr Ken Edey.

Sometimes a proposed product might go through the product engineering/proving modelling process more than once, as the review team satisfied itself as to what the finished product should look like. A good example of this would be Sindy’s 1976 ‘Barbecue’. Although the product was liked by the reviewers, they decided it would be better if it was 10% larger. This meant a remake of the components and another full model, including painting, was made and presented again. This time with success!

Shown left the evolution of the Barbecue components.

 From left to right:

  • First model
  • Second model 10% larger and painted
  •  Version for purchase.

Usually, a product development engineer would be put in charge of getting the product into production, this included for example setting up production lines and training staff, making sure stores had the correct items, making of line jigs to aid easy assembly, the design, sign-off and printing of instruction leaflets, sizing, design and production of packaging. Anything really to complete bringing the product to market. This position was paramount in liaising with all concerned to start and maintain production. It often required being on the assembly line to implement changes, and to offer help to the assembly line foreman to maintain efficient production.

If the item was to be produced by a third party, perhaps in Hong Kong, the drawings, ‘looks like’ model and all associated information such as the specification, colours, packaging, production run and quantities would be sent out to tender to proposed manufacturers by an appointed Pedigree engineering manager. They would collate the responses, confirm with management at Pedigree and award the contract.  

First samples were required to evaluate the product, with samples given to R&D to assemble and test, and to marketing to evaluate. All the feedback would be given to the manufacturers including any changes which needed to be made. This last part was repeated until all was satisfactory, and production was then allowed to start.

Over the years more and more products were outsourced to the Far East for production. A consequence of this outsourcing was that the need for our own museum diminished. Ken Gadd took over the parts numbering system, and when the museum closed, he continued to do draughting and engineering as well as selecting the correct materials for moulding.

Quality control issues were usually dealt with by the Production Manager who liaised with the Head of R&D, although we might be called upon to look at an issue and if necessary, propose a solution.

Like most of us, I was allocated tasks as required. I worked on various products such as accessories for other Pedigree dolls, for example Baby First Love and Matilda. Also on our popular range of pre-school toys.

I would work on different aspects of various Sindy’s scenesetters as needed, such as the frame for the 1978 Camping Scene Tent and the 1980 Airport Trolley. But my own personal contributions of which I am particularly proud are Sindy’s 1981 Country Garden, and my own idea and design for the 1985 Country Manor.        

We worked hard, but there was also the opportunity for fun. The brief I had been given was to design and develop a new set of skis and a sledge for Sindy’s 1978 mini scenesetter ‘Winter Sports’. It was decided for more enjoyable play that these items should be able to move. So, I designed both to have small diameter wheels to enable Sindy to move in a lifelike manner.

One big problem was how to secure Sindy to the sledge whilst making it easy to play with. This was accomplished by designing the sledge with a semicircle impression at the rear for her bottom, and a couple of foot retainers at the front. For the skis, boot retainers were moulded, into which special boots with tabs at the toe and heel could be inserted.

I decided that Sindy must actually be able to use the skis whilst in place and set about testing her ability to go down 6-foot-long plank set at a 35 to 40° angle onto the R&D PVC tiled floor. Sindy was dressed in her new prototype Winter Sports anorak, including the skis and her new boots. After several attempts, success was achieved, and Sindy was rolling nearly 30 feet beyond the plank without falling over. This test was also applied to the sledge, which also resulted in another great performance from Sindy.

To make sure that we were all happy with these results and perhaps to push things a little further, it was decided that it would be nice to see if once on the floor after the 6 foot slope whether Sindy could jump, land, and remain in the correct skiing position, still rolling across the floor. After a little experimenting, a ramp became a reality with a jump of approximately 3 inches in height. This proved successful and to our delight it worked consistantly.

Testing was in the final phase, when in walked Mr Ken Edey, our MD. We were as surprised to see him, as much as it must have been a surprise for him to see us setting up for another ski run. “What are you doing?” he asked. Having carefully listened to the explanation, he bet that Sindy would not accomplish the task. In the face of such a great challenge and a little fun, the bet of 10 shillings was made and accepted (we still thought in old money, so 50p today). Not only did Sindy perform the task with ease, but skied on to the end of the workshop, through the open doors and out into the car park in front of all in R&D.

“Thank you and well done” he said, walking off with a smile. The 10 shillings remains unpaid.

I also did the product engineering and produced the fully engineered model of Sindy’s 1980 ‘Magic Cooker’. A very complex product which Pedigree was very proud of. The concept of producing sound using different resistance was developed by an external electronics inventor called Norman Hopkins who sold the idea to Pedigree. Rodney envisaged and oversaw the design, Laurie Kline developed the masterchip, Peter Bing recorded the sounds and Eddie Fane drew the blueprints. It was Pedigree’s first digital toy and was groundbreaking for the time.

The cooker sold well although it was a costly toy. An interesting sidenote is that several months after its introduction, one of the sales team during his rounds in various toy shops noticed a similar product from Japan. This toy had the same functions as the Pedigree version, but it included additional kitchen units. It was much cheaper than our product. So, he bought one and brought it back to the factory to show our management. 

Curious, we disassembled the unit. Electronics had progressed significantly since we had started work on the Magic Cooker, so much so that you were now able to unmask a chip and reveal its programme secrets. Our own chip had been saved with several dummy tracks, which weren’t required, but acted like a signature to a painting. To Pedigree’s amazement, all the tracks, including the dummy tracks had been duplicated for the Japanese toy. Legal proceedings were taken, and the product was removed from sale. The copycat product was not an original idea, and the company had not been obliged to pay royalties to the inventor, nor pay for the electronics and engineering development. They could therefore offer what looked like a better value product at much less cost. It was a lesson learned for our future product development.

Toymaking is a very competitive business, hence we were always circumspect about what we were working on, and we didn’t discuss our work outside of the factory.

[Editor’s note – this is DCM’s company organisation chart in 1977. It acquired the majority of Germany’s Schuco Group soon after, and the American Aurora Plastics Corporation in 1978. (Source: DCM Group Brochure circa 1977)]

By 1977 our parent company Dunbee-Combex-Marx was continuing its expansion, and the Chairman Mr Richard Beecham was in the process of acquiring Schuco in Germany.  Pedigree had a strong R&D team and worked closely with other external design groups and had contacts with many others. Pedigree was very profitable and was challenged to think of new products for the whole DCM group. Rodney Castle was appointed head of the Creative Design Team (CDT) and some of the R&D team moved over to the team including Robert Montgomery and Barry Clayton. In late 1977/early 1978, I was asked to join as the senior development engineer. Some external recruits, including Nick DiMaggio, also joined in the section. As things progressed, another modelmaker Julian Bailey from the Pedigree R&D team joined the CDT, and to help Rodney a secretary, Jackie.

In theory, the idea of this team was quite visionary. The MDs of each company in DCM had a high degree of autonomy so long as they made a profit, and Mr Edey leveraging Pedigree’s R&D section to come up with ideas and designs which could be sold to the other subsidiaries of DCM was an interesting and potentially a very profitable development. Pedigree would always have first choice of the new team’s work, then the other DCM companies could view and chose to progress a particular item, and lastly a design could be offered to external companies if it wasn’t picked up internally.

I felt very honoured to be asked to join the new team and I worked for approximately four years in the section. I had some great experiences, for example travelling to Werrington near Peterborough to meet Jennifer D’Abo, an extraordinary lady who was then in charge of the DCM subsidiary Jean Sorrelle. The company made cosmetics, perfumes and novelty bathtime products for children.

I spent months trying to get a product meeting with Avon Cosmetics, with Rodney’s and Mr Ken Edey’s approval. Finally, we got an appointment, and Robert Montgomery and I went to visit them, in Northampton I think. We went to show them a novel soap item with a backup of toy designs which might fit in with their products. Having given one demo, we were asked if we could stay on and repeat the presentation in the afternoon. We were given a wonderful lunch and then we presented it all again. They were quite shrewd in as much as although they liked the soap idea, the real bonus was us introducing them to toys. We did come away with a cheque for Pedigree, but did not succeed in selling any of our ideas to them for production.

We worked behind a locked door, and only invited people were allowed in, and everything was top secret. We also had a lot more freedom to design and some company advantages such as slightly more pay, greater management status and less management control. But working in the team wasn’t without difficulties. After all these years, when reflecting upon this time in my career, I don’t think the purpose of the CDT was really understood. It created a ‘them and us’ situation with the existing Pedigree R&D team, and it presented problems, for example requesting machine time in the R&D workshop or progressing a CDT design through Pedigree’s R&D. Pedigree in Canterbury had always been a family with a common purpose and this was different. It could also be hard to sell our ideas to other DCM companies, I guess because it was “not invented here”.  We did have some success selling to external companies, maybe because they were just interested in buying a design that they could sell.

In 1980 DCM collapsed but Pedigree survived having been bought by the Chairman Mr Richard Beecham, backed by a group of investors. We carried on in CDT for a couple of years, although some questioned if it was needed, as the main reason for its purpose, i.e. providing design services for the toy giant that had been DCM had gone.

With the new money brought in by Mr Beecham’s investors there was a big push to produce new products for Sindy. Personally, I think some of the 1980s products were some of the best we had ever designed and made, but we couldn’t hold the market. We were now under pressure to cut the cost of our products by finding cheaper materials. For example, Sindy’s Range Rover was originally moulded from ABS plastic, but raw material costs were escalating so cheaper options were considered; it was trialled in polypropylene, but it wasn’t correct, and also talc filled polypropylene was trialled to give more rigidity which didn’t really work either.

Some in R&D saw the writing on the wall, some retired or left to set up their own companies or to join other firms, others became frustrated or disillusioned and resigned. Then we had the redundancies. I stayed until the bitter end. My wife Shirley and I had two school-age children to support, and we relied on a regular income. By then I was the only design person left in the company out of about 13 in my section in the early 80s. I believe I was kept because I had a good product history record and could turn my hand to any task that was needed such as tooling, leaflet design, model making, solving problems with products etc.

Gradually, all the factory and office equipment, tools and parts were sold off. I can remember a large quantity of office equipment piled high in a now ex-production space ready for sale or scrap. As the bread winner you put your head down and get on with your job, do your best for your family, but it was heartbreaking. We had been such a talented company, from our management to the assembly lines.

Those left at the very end were given a pen to commemorate Sindy and the day the factory in Canterbury closed 26.1.86.

There was life after Pedigree. I spent the next few years working with my own company, designing, engineering and building prototypes for clients such as The Science Museum, film companies, Seven Towns and Origins Design.

During this time Euro Tunnel was getting started and an Ashford based company Techpro Limited had secured the modelling work for them. I managed to join the team and helped produce the train layouts and marketing and sales promotion models for Euro Tunnel. Most of the models were put into the Euro Tunnel exhibition centre at Cheriton, and as their requirements diminished Techpro secured a modelling requirement for the new Taiwan Science Museum. I produced several exhibits and was asked to go to Taiwan and install all our work.

Robert Montgomery, who had joined Hornby, and I set up a design and prototyping partnership called Imagineering. We produced models for many clients around the UK including toys, DNA extraction equipment and items for robotic DNA purification.

I also got a contract with a design company to supplied display items for Kuwait Airways in the museum in their brand-new office in Kuwait. I headed up the production of all the items for the museum and again went out to Kuwait to fit our exhibits. I continued with my own company, making prototypes and developing products for clients until I retired.

On retiring, my hobbies have encompassed motorcycles, and motorcycling, photography, editing and remaking model kits, scratch-built model making, gardening and travel. Now nearing the age of four-score, I have had to let the motorcycling go, but still re-engineer model kits. I also produce detailed dioramas to decorate our home, when allowed by long-suffering Shirley.