The Throwflake 2023

Product Release: Winter 2023

Role in Design & Development:

  • Creation of concepts

  • Collaborating with one of our vendors in China for mass production

When Two Worlds Collide

The Throwflake® is 50% Christmas-time decoration, 50% shuriken (or “ninja star”), and 100% awesome. We’ve been creating these for the past five years now, but they have only been available as a holiday gift for our partners and friends. We’ve been asked (again and again) to offer these for sale, and so this year it’s on. Make your holiday tree ready for whatever comes down that chimney with the TJB Throwflake® With 6 (very sharp) points and an included lanyard, you'll be sure to get lots of questions about this one.

DETAILS

  • White Powder Coat Steel

  • 1oz, 2.75" x 2.75”

  • Designed in Portland, OR

  • Made in China

  • Launched for retail at $39

The Throwflake®: A Quick History.

On a trip to visit a partner in Asia a few years back, some members of the TJB product team were in a conference room for a meeting. Up on the top shelf, in a dusty corner, the product team saw something remarkable: shurikens, or, as they are better known, ninja stars.

There was an immediate desire to make throwing stars. It was innate, and illogical from a business point-of-view, but it also couldn’t be denied. And then the idea struck: we could make them into holiday ornaments. They look like snowflakes, anyway, right? Right!

We called our lawyers to see if this was a good idea. They were unequivocal: no, it was not. But we pressed on anyway, and we asked the lawyers to trademark the thing that we were calling the “Throwflake”, half throwing star, half snowflake. They thought we were joking, but we weren’t. And so, our first trademark was born. Probably could have been something else, but it wasn’t.

A couple of things of note:

  • The Throwflake® is sharp and needs to be handled appropriately. Is it “knife sharp”? Nope, but it’s still sharp enough that it can do some damage to a tree in the front yard.

  • The Throwflake® is not a weapon, it’s a holiday ornament; please treat it accordingly. Don’t throw it at people (or anything, really). That should go without saying, but the same lawyers who got us the trademark have also made it clear that we should tell you this.