Photography: Leon Schoots / Styling: Belle Hemming
As a child growing up in Queensland’s Darling Downs region, Tim Schloss had a vivid imagination – so much so that even a routine trip to the chicken coop could be a wild adventure. “Mum tells stories of having to hide behind trees just to feed the chickens whenever she came with me, because there were all kinds of enemies about,” Tim says. “I grew up running around paddocks and trees, building cubbyhouses and making up games.”
Decades later, Tim is putting his imagination to good use making medieval-style swords and shields, magical castles and surprise puzzles out of recycled timber to furnish other kids’ fantasy adventures. A furniture-maker and aspiring architect, Tim didn’t plan on becoming a toy craftsman. He stumbled into making “imaginary adventure tools” in 2006 when some boys showed up to his workshop requesting wooden Lord of the Rings swords.
AT A GLANCE
Who: Tim Schloss, owner and craftsman of Schloss.
What he does: Makes wooden toys that inspire adventurous play.
Where In his workshop: in Beechworth, Victoria, and at craft markets and medieval festivals.
Why he does it: “I see myself as someone who likes to facilitate people’s dreams.” Visit schloss.com.au.
A few years later, he took some toy swords to a stall at the Olive Tree Market in Newcastle. “I was reticent at first because it’s a bit politically incorrect, but kids are going to pick up sticks and play with them, so why not make the sticks beautiful?” Tim says. It seems plenty of families agree. Schloss’s Good Ol’ Toys and Collectables has attracted a loyal following. Tim, who now lives in regional Victoria, and has a workshop in the town of Beechworth, travels around the country to medieval festivals and craft markets, running sword-making workshops alongside his stall.
Tim explains that the workshops began in response to his young customers’ curiosity and initiative. “I would always turn up at festivals or markets with half-finished swords, so I’d be finishing them off there and getting kids involved in helping. Or kids would say, ‘I really like that sword, but I don’t like that handle, can we change it?’ It was getting a bit chaotic, so we needed to formalise it,” he explains.
“It’s magical seeing what turns out of the block… The block tells me what to make and it just comes out”
TIM SCHLOSS, CRAFTSMAN
If you ask Tim his favourite toy to make, he’ll tell you it’s the one he’s currently working on: “I love making them all.” But the pop-up castles are particularly exciting. Crafted from one piece of wood, they concertina out to reveal a fairytale castle hidden in the log. “There are times when I’m finishing off a sword or a toy and I’m thinking, ‘How lucky are these kids to have such a toy?’” he says. “All of the toys I make, I want to feel proud to own them myself.”
While he’s busy preparing plenty of toys to be gifted for Christmas, the toymaker is eager to relax with his family during the festive season. Just don’t expect Tim to down tools. “Whenever I go on holidays, I’m always packing a whole heap of tools because I love what I do, so it’s just always play to me,” he says.
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