Help Desk

The Help Desk

Something wrong? Something confusing? Dad and I fix both.

Dad runs the desk, I check the toys · Updated September 11, 2026

Reach a human

Pick the one that suits you

a grown-up replies within one business day, usually the same evening

Common fixes

Orders, broken toys, returns, the Imaginator and safety

Where is my order?

You can order the Lab's own toys online: my crew, Tex, Imaginator toys, Printer Poop, the Oops Shelf, plus tees, totes and mugs. Checkout is the cart in the toy shop. Designs licensed from other designers are only at my market stall.

Shipping: flat $4.95 US shipping, free on orders over $35. I print in 1 to 3 days, then it is 3 to 6 days in the mail. Your Shopify confirmation email has the tracking link the moment it ships. December adds elf-season delays, so order early.

Change or cancel: email or text Dad fast, before the printer starts. Once your order is printing, it already exists, but Dad can still fix the shipping address any time before it ships.

My toy arrived broken (or wrong)

I make this easy, because a sad kid is against Lab policy:

Take a photo of the toy.
Email or text it to Dad within 14 days with your order number.
Dad replaces it (or refunds you). You almost never have to mail anything back; broken toys may stay with you as spare parts.

Returns

Unused toys can come back within 30 days of delivery for a refund of the toy price (you cover return shipping). Email first and Dad will confirm the address, because for smaller things he often just says keep it and refunds you instead. The Oops Shelf and Genuine Printer Poop are final sale, and custom prints are yours forever unless the Lab made them wrong. Full rules in the terms.

Imaginator & custom order help

Made a toy in the Imaginator and want it printed? Press Print it! and send it to the Lab from the Imaginator itself: Dad sees the exact design and colors you chose, so there is nothing to copy or type. Designing a toy is free; printing it is the paid step, and a grown-up approves the exact revision before anything prints.

Safety questions

Age grading, small-parts warnings and material safety sheets live on the toy safety page. Texas Toy Lab is a registered CPSC Small Batch Manufacturer. Children's Product Certificate work is underway; none is finished yet. If you ever have a real safety concern about one of my toys, contact Dad immediately by phone or email; you can also report any product concern at SaferProducts.gov. Dad and I take this side of a kid-run business more seriously than anything.

On a computer? Start a text from here

Type your message and your mobile number, and the Lab's robot sends you a text from (512) 399-2625 with your note in it. Reply to that text and you are talking to the Lab. (On a phone? Just tap to text.)

How the text line works: a text to (512) 399-2625 gets an automatic acknowledgement at once, and a missed call gets an automatic text back. Routine replies are drafted by the Lab's software from the facts on this site, checked by a second model, and sent after a five-minute window in which Dad can pull them (at most three automatic replies per number per day). Anything unusual, and every voicemail, waits for Dad. Text STOP to stop, START to restart, and MARKET to join the market-reminder list.

One text, only to the number you give, only because you asked. Standard message rates apply on your side. No marketing texts unless you ask for them: text MARKET to (512) 399-2625 for one reminder before each market the Lab is booked for, and reply STOP at any time to leave.

> from dad’s desk_

Business stuff

Wholesale tables, sponsorships, press, school talks and everything else grown-up starts at For grown-ups. Quick answers to the eleven most common questions are on the FAQ page, and the message form reaches the family.

← All grown-up pages

Where: Austin, Texas
Made at: The Printer Ranch, the Lab’s own printers
Run by: Joseph, the inventor, and his dad
Company: Crabtree Ventures LLC

The small print: Licenses (whose designs we print, and how) · Privacy · Terms · Data & AI · Accessibility