Shortly after that he had a stroke of inspiration. “I had to create something that would be entertaining for my son without taking up floor space and creating a disaster in my house,” he explained. “I could not find anything that would fit what I needed, which was a buildable toy that was fun to play with but didn’t make a mess.”
After extensive searching, Stringham created MagTrax, a magnetic, modular, marble track that builds on the wall and includes several different track options to create exciting marble runs. The exact form of the tracks and connectors came after many months of designing, iterating, and testing.
In addition to the 26 different types of track pieces, including jumps, funnels, loop-de-loops, corkscrews, and a “Light Switcher” piece that can attach to and turn off lights. MagTrax is unique because it can be built on any type of wall surface, magnetic or not, by using the mini metal wall plates and putty included with the kits.
After filing a provisional patent for MagTrax, Stringham launched a Kickstarter in August 2019 that helped make the initial production possible. Since then, the popularity of MagTrax has grown significantly. The Utah-based team helps with the marketing, manufacturing, assembly, supply chain, fulfillment, customer support, and many other aspects of the business.
Additionally, the manufacturing also occurs in Utah using plastic manufactured in the U.S. “In addition to the benefit of being able to keep a closer eye on the quality of the product and being less dependent on foreign supply chains, we decided to make our manufacturing headquarters here to support our local economy,” Stringham said.
He noted the company is extremely grateful for the support and enthusiasm shown by their fellow Utahns. “People here have given us great encouragement through both the successes and challenges that come with launching a business, and we believe this is just the beginning.”
