Local Toymaker Plays With Biblical Themes

by Sarah Kuziomko

One2Believe is not your typical toy company.  

While other companies focus on dressing Barbie in the latest fashions and trying to keep up with the Harry Potter mania, One2Believe steps back in time.  The company, based near Buffalo, NY, specializes in biblical toys and figurines that are meant to teach children about people who “walked with God”.

David Socha founded the company after being disappointed by the toys he saw on shelves; most of them taught nothing more than violence and promiscuity.  These were not the role models or “superheroes” Socha thought kids should be influenced by.

So he started his own company, and began offering toys with a moral lesson.

Take for instance the “Tales of Glory Galilee Boat” set, where as the website says, kids can “imagine what it would have been like to sail the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and his disciples”.  Children can not only read about this story in the Bible, but see it come to life right before their eyes.  

And that, Socha says, is what separates One2Believe’s toys from others on the market.  

“We need to convey that these are real heroes that walked the earth. Not made up, make believe….but, actual people who walked and struggled and with God’s help excelled…either in this life or the next.”

Looking ahead, Socha is set to pitch another toy line, called “Glow Crazy”.  The “As Seen On TV” set allows kids to draw, stencil and play games on a glow-in-the-dark canvas.  You may wonder what this toy has to do with Christianity until you turn the box over. There on the bottom reads Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven”, fitting for a glow-in -the-dark toy.

“This is our way to share our story with children and hopefully get them learning the greatest stories, about the greatest people who have ever lived,” concluded Socha.

One2Belive toys have appeared on the shelves of Walmart, Target and Toys ‘R Us.

To check out the latest biblical story figures or learn more about the newest line, visit www.One2Believe.com  and www.glowcrazy.com.