A short foreword from both CEOs Claudia and Michael TOBIAS.

When our children reached the classic “Matador age”, we were surprised to discover that we couldn’t get Matador anymore since production had been stopped in 1986. When Matador then happened to one day come up in conversation again, we decided to get to the bottom of it. It all went very quickly from there, within a few weeks we were the owners of the Matador brand. For us one thing was immediately clear, Matador had to be Matador again. It would have to be made of wood and not plastic – a piece of nature in a child’s bedroom. In May 1997 we launched our first Matador set on the market. Within a short space of time, the sets had sold out. Due to a lack of our own machines, in the first year we had to outsource production to ancillary companies. A few months after the Matador brand was purchased we were also able to buy the all-important specialist machines. The repair of the machines was technically very complex and cost-intensive.
Today, 99.5% of Matador is produced in Austria and is exported to many other countries – we have now managed to rebuild the brand. We are continuously focussing on improving our quality, in particular to implement the increasingly stringent international safety guidelines long before they come into force.
We exhibit Matador at as many toy festivals and other events as possible and we offer to the people – wherever it is possible – to try out our toy. For these, we still often supervise the play on the tables ourselves, on the one hand because it is an excellent opportunity to identify the weaknesses of individual elements and on the other because it is so nice to witness the enthusiasm that kids and adults have for Matador at first hand. Humanity and nature, and therefore customer contact is a key priority at Matador.
In this age where everything changes so rapidly, it is important not just to follow the greed of gain, but rather to really identify what is important for us and our children. Our motto is therefore:

“We don´t make toys – we make children happy”

Claudia and Michael TOBIAS CEOs and owners