Bomba=Pump

I first found the Bomba Friends about five years ago in a tiny store on one of the crowded downtown streets of Mexico City. They were hanging in a corner and I thought they were old stock. The owners were surprised that I wanted them, and even more surprised when I bought all they had. I was so excited to find out that they were still being made. I continued to order and buy them from the shop until I got a lucky phone call one day from the manufacturer and was able to buy them directly. That original shop and all of the other shops that carried Bomba Friends have since stopped carrying the toys. Hopper, Flopsey, Bernard and the rest have been replaced by the cheaper toys from China that have taken over Mexico's markets and pushed out the small, original brands and hand-made toys that I have always loved. I was so lucky to find Bomba Friends just in time! Bomba Friends have been made by the same family workshop in Mexico since 1945. Production has never stopped or changed. Today the workshop employs eight people, all members of the Briones family. Because there is so much work involved in the making of Bomba Friends, production capacity is limited to five-hundred pieces a week. That means we can only sell to select shops in the USA and Japan.

Bomba Friends are completely hand-made. Production begins with the plaster molds that have to be re-made after every seventh toy to preserve detail. Flour-based latex is then mixed by hand and poured into the molds. The molds are set out in the sun to dry for one or two days depending on the weather. After the toys have dried, they are taken inside. The seams are hand-sanded and the toys are fitted with their arms and little pumps and valves which have also been made in plaster molds. Lastly, they are carefully hand-painted down to the smallest detail and fitted with their candy-colored drums, brass bells, or shiny metal collars and tiny dog bones. Bomba Friends are air-powered, and totally non-toxic. Cositas Brand is the only remaining distributor.