Cubles

What Cubles does

Cubles is a privately held, founder-operated paperboard constructables company headquartered in Arden Hills, Minnesota. It designs, cuts, and packages precision-engineered kits that fold and click into fully poseable, articulated 3D character figures without scissors, glue, or any additional tools, using a patented accordion key joint system. The company's core technology is a factory-cut, pre-scored paperboard architecture paired with click-lock joints that are fully reversible and poseable at every major joint; the joints themselves are made from recyclable paperboard, yielding a 100% recyclable product with no plastic components.

The product portfolio is built around licensed character kits across four entertainment franchises — Dog Man (Dav Pilkey), Minecraft, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and SpongeBob SquarePants — supplemented by Color Me variants, Party Packs for group/event use, a Build a Bundle customizer, and a Thinking Nation educational line. Individual characters are priced at $7.49; themed multi-character sets range from $19.99 to $24.99, with bundle pricing offering free shipping on orders of three or more units.

Cubles generates revenue primarily through direct-to-consumer e-commerce on its own Shopify storefront at cubles.com, supplemented by a wholesale program targeting party supply retailers, gift shops, and event planners. It ships from a single Minnesota facility to U.S. customers only. The company was founded by Joel Morris, operates with 1-10 employees, has raised $190,000 in disclosed funding as of August 2021, and reports no institutional investors or external ownership. Its positioning emphasizes U.S. manufacturing, sustainable materials, and a sustainability commitment of planting 100 trees for every tree used in production.

Name

Cubles

Legal name

Cubles

Website

https://cubles.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cubles designs and manufactures patented, glue-free paperboard constructable character kits under license from franchises including Minecraft, Dog Man, TMNT, and SpongeBob, selling direct-to-consumer and wholesale to families, educators, and event planners from its Arden Hills, Minnesota facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Construction Toys

NAICS

Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (339930)

SIC

Games, Toys & Children's Vehicles (No Dolls & Bicycles) (3944)

akta.pro primary industry

Miniatures & Figurines (Display/Collectible) (CRALAKAB)

Keywords

• Paperboard construction toys
• Licensed character kits
• Children's activity kits
• STEM building toys
• Poseable paper figures

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Direct Product Sales: One-time purchase model for physical paperboard constructable kits. Individual characters priced at $7.49, themed sets at $19.99-$24.99. Bundle builder allows customers to mix and match characters with free shipping on 3+ items.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Cubles designs, manufactures, and sells precision-engineered paperboard constructable character kits featuring licensed entertainment franchises such as Dog Man, Minecraft, SpongeBob SquarePants, and TMNT. Each kit assembles into a fully poseable 3D figure using patented click-lock joints without scissors or glue. Products are sold individually, in themed multi-packs, via a customizable bundle builder, and through wholesale party packs.

Product overview

Cubles is a paperboard constructables company offering precision-engineered 3D character kits that fold and click together without scissors or glue. The product portfolio includes licensed character collections across multiple franchises—Dog Man (including Color Me series), Minecraft, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), and Thinking Nation—sold through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform with Build a Bundle customization options and Party Packs for group purchases. All products feature patented accordion key joints, are made from 100% recyclable paperboard manufactured in Arden Hills, MN, and provide approximately 45 minutes of screen-free building activity for children ages 6+.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dog Man Character Packs Precision-cut paperboard kits featuring characters from Dav Pilkey's Dog Man book series, each assembling into a fully poseable 3D figure via patented click joints; aimed at children ages 6+ and their families as screen-free building play.
• Dog Man Color Me Series Colorable paperboard character kits featuring Dog Man and Petey that can be colored before assembly, combining a creative activity with the build experience using the same patented click joints.
• Minecraft Character Packs Paperboard construction kits featuring Minecraft franchise characters (including Alex, Steve, and the Chicken Jockey Set) that fold into fully poseable collectible figures using patented click-joint technology.
• SpongeBob SquarePants Character Packs Paperboard construction kits featuring SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, assembling via patented click joints into fully poseable figures for children ages 6+.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Character Packs Classic-series paperboard character kits featuring TMNT characters such as Donatello, assembling into fully poseable figures using patented click-joint technology.
• Build a Bundle A customizable bundle builder that lets customers mix and match individual Cubles characters across Dog Man, Minecraft, SpongeBob, and TMNT franchises, with tiered shipping terms.
• Party Packs Pre-configured multi-character packs designed for party favors and group activities, featuring multiple characters from Cubles' licensed franchises for bulk party use.
• Thinking Nation Character Packs Poseable paperboard character collection associated with the Thinking Nation brand, using Cubles' patented click-joint construction.

Quantifiable outcome

• ~45 minutes of screen-free engagement per character built
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Dog Man (Dav Pilkey)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLicensed partnership for Dog Man character collectibles. Cubles produces poseable paperboard figures featuring Dog Man, Petey, Chief, Cat Kid, Bark Knight, and other characters from Dav Pilkey's book series. Includes both standard and 'Color Me' versions.
• MinecraftcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLicensed partnership for Minecraft franchise. Products include Minecraft Pack and Minecraft Minis Pack featuring characters like Alex, Steve, and Chicken Jockey in paperboard collectible form.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLicensed partnership for TMNT franchise. Products include character-specific kits like Donatello from the Classic Series, with advanced poseable designs.
• SpongeBob SquarePantscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLicensed partnership for SpongeBob franchise. Products include SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star paperboard character kits.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Smartivity: Smartivity produces STEAM-focused DIY construction kits for children (paper, wood, cardboard). It overlaps with Cubles on the 'engineering disguised as play' value proposition and the educational / parental demographic, but with broader STEM-project coverage.

Broad incumbents

• KiwiCo: KiwiCo delivers STEAM-focused activity kits for children, including hands-on building projects that develop spatial reasoning and fine motor skills. It targets the same 'screen-free educational play' use case as Cubles and is increasingly sold as party and gift bundles.
• Melissa & Doug: Melissa & Doug is a large educational toy brand with paper-based craft, pretend-play, and screen-free activity products. While not a 3D constructable, it competes for the same parent wallet share, occupies similar retail aisles (Target, specialty toy stores), and overlaps on classroom and birthday gift use cases.
• Ravensburger: Ravensburger is a long-established puzzle and 3D model-building brand with deep retail distribution. Its 3D puzzle line (buildings, vehicles, globes) directly competes with Cubles on the paperboard-construction axis, while its brand and shelf presence make it a broad incumbent in the space.
• LEGO: LEGO dominates the buildable-toy category with licensed sets across Minecraft, TMNT, and SpongeBob — the same franchises Cubles uses. While LEGO is plastic bricks and Cubles is paperboard, both compete for the 'screen-free constructive play' wallet share and overlapping licensed IP creates direct SKU-level competition.
• Canal Toys: Canal Toys is a global DIY and craft toy brand (Playmais, So Slime, I-Glow) sold in toy aisles and party-supply retailers. It competes for the same parent and party-planner buyer, with overlapping mass-retail presence and kids' craft-kit merchandising.

Direct peers

• Funko: Funko produces licensed character collectible figures (Pop! vinyls, etc.) across the same major franchises (Minecraft, TMNT, SpongeBob). It is the closest comparable on the licensed-collectible-toy axis, though Funko uses vinyl rather than paperboard — making it a direct category peer.
• CubicFun (Brain Flakes): CubicFun manufactures 3D paperboard puzzle/model kits that snap together without glue, the closest direct format competitor to Cubles. Comparable product architecture (pre-cut paperboard, fold-and-assemble construction), similar age target, and overlapping retail placement make it a near-direct peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cublesco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cubles