Melange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2020 | Page 80

KEVIN DOLLAND’S interest in toys began, understandably, as a child, but his love for toys exceeded those of other children his age. His parents recognized this and indulged him, resulting in a huge collection of super heroes sharing their home. They were used to him playing for hours in the fantasy worlds he created, his toys taking on life-like forms as they battled against each other. Teenage years and young adulthood were accompanied by a temporary waning of interest in toys as other things took precedence in his life, which included his pursuit of a degree in telecom and upon completion, working at his family-owned business. But toys leapt to the surface again after the birth of his daughter, six years ago. Observing the toys his daughter played with, he noticed that none reflected her culture. His family business where he worked, the Spice Basket, was a cultural and entertainment centre, and as one of its managers, he assisted in making decisions about cultural events held there – essentially, he was surrounded by culture every day at work. It became clear to him that his daughter needed to have toys with which she could identify therefore, the Tamboulay story began. Kevin was determined to merge his passion for toys with his knowledge and love of culture to create stuffed toys and action figures of cultural significance. On Tamboulay’s website, Kevin’s cartoons are captivating and expertly drawn, but he hesitates to call himself a cartoonist, instead he likes to think of himself as a creator. Determined to bring toys to life for his daughter, he first thought he needed to hire a cartoonist, an animator and also a writer. He quickly realized, however that this was going to be a costly venture, including the fact too that there would be copyrights to consider. The ‘creator’ therefore made a decision. If he was going to do this, he would have to attempt it on his own in the first instance – he would learn to draw, to animate and to write. And, this he did!