Merrick Company Offers Cutting Edge Toy Development Worldwide

What began as a small family business in a Merrick garage has now transformed into an International enterprise, offering toy design and development to some of the largest names in the industry.

Design Edge came to life in 1987 when industry veteran Mark Nuccio decided to branch out on his own after working as vice president of research, marketing and development for a corporate company for nearly two decades. 

"I wanted out of the corporate world," said Nuccio. "I got tired of it and I decided it was time for my own company. The time came to move on."

After a decade of hard work, the company began to soar and Nuccio felt it was time to pass his business on. Nuccio's son, Matt, took over as head of Design Edge in 1997. 

A combination of hard work and success brought expansion to the small-town shop and shortly after Matt's takeover, Design Edge ventured to Hong Kong to open up shop where Matt recruited a fellow Merrick native to help run the show.

"I was always more about the product and the project, but Matt has it all down," Mark said. "I think it's unbelievable what he has done. A lot of sons come into businesses and they just don't get it or they don't work hard. He has the know-how, the marketing skills and he just knows his stuff."

"He opened up Hong Kong, an entire division that does work over seas," Mark added of his son. "He's done so much."

Through the years, Design Edge has been in the spotlight with best-selling items like Tickle Me Elmo, Living Dead Dolls, G.I. Joe and its original product, PetCakes, which can be found in local Walmart stores.

Most recently, Design Edge broke new ground with its work on FauxCabulary, a board game for ages 13 and up that takes a new spin on words. FauxCabulary hit the shelves last June from the same publishers as Apples to Apples and has since won three awards and become a hot item on Amazon.com.

"It's getting amazing reviews all over the place and it's really blowing out, which is unique because games usually take up to five years to take off," Matt said of Fauxcabulary, which was showcased at the annual New York City Toy Fair, which took place from Feb. 12 to Feb. 15 at the Jacob Javitz Center.

As time goes on, Matt hopes the Design Edge family continues to develop at a steady pace with its own production and its multitude clients.

"I'm happy with the course we're taking and I'd like to see us keep growing laterally," he explained. "I hope we can keep offering more and more services to our clientele with faster service and higher quality."