The only option was to make my own.
Every mass-produced RGB flashlight I bought for my festival art broke after a few weeks.
Joel Pinkham, Master Toy Maker
As you can read on the Our Story page, everything started with Simrat the Jellyfish, a glowing, fiber optic umbrella I created to connect with people at music festivals. But without a reliable light source, it was hard to keep that experience alive.
At the time, there weren’t any solid, consumer-grade color-changing flashlights on the market. So I thought, why not make my own?
Me, circa 2011, holding a copper pipe fitting I cut using my very first metal lathe. One of the earliest steps in building what would become AOAM.
I headed to the hardware store and started playing around with parts. I ended up using threaded copper pipe fittings to build a basic flashlight body, and that’s when the idea hit me:
- joel pinkham, master toy maker
I sourced an RGB light, figured out how to bring all the pieces together, and built the very first working version of what would eventually become our first generation color changing flashlight.
Some of my first color-changing flashlights, made from copper. I experimented with patinas using different chemicals, powder coating, and lathe work to create unique and beautiful finishes.
In the early days of AOAM, I worked with whatever I could get my hands on, simple hand tools, a sandblaster, a powder coater, and a small metal lathe. It was all trial and error.
Today, our shop is equipped with more advanced tools, but a lot of the high-skill manufacturing, like CNC lathing and injection molding, is now handled by expert partners in China.
Toymaker Chris demonstrating how to use our laser cutter to my older brother and his family.
A few years ago, I flew to China to meet some of those manufacturing partners in person. Back then, I didn’t know much about production or how to avoid costly mistakes. That trip ended up being a huge learning experience and a turning point for AOAM.
Working with talented engineers and seeing the process up close gave me the foundation I needed to bring my ideas to life on a larger scale, without losing that hands-on creativity I started with.
Me in China, meeting with contract manufacturers and learning about the production process firsthand.
To be real, the beginning of this project had its fair share of rough patches. I made some bad hires early on, mostly because I didn’t fully understand the engineering roles I needed to fill. It’s tough to hire someone for something you can’t quite explain yourself.
On top of that, it wasn’t always easy to be taken seriously. I mean, I’m talking about building light-up toys, running a company called Ants on a Melon, and doing things in a pretty nontraditional way.
But over time, I’ve grown. I’ve learned how to manage complex projects, hire the right people, and communicate with professionals in a way that gets results. That growth feels exciting, because it means the work is more fun, more efficient, and still rooted in the same creative spirit that got this all started.
Me (Joel) in the shipping area of our workshop in Springfield, Oregon.
The copper prototypes are long retired. Here is how an RGB Critter gets made now.
Chris and I design every product, our website and our mobile apps here in Springfield, Oregon.
Our global network of contract engineers turns each design into circuit boards and firmware.
Machined aluminum bodies, injection-molded parts and circuit boards come from manufacturing partners in China.
The RGB Critter BT was tested by an independent lab for FCC and CE radio and EMC compliance.
Website orders are packed and shipped from our workshop, and every light carries a 2-year warranty.
From the workshop
The light engine this story built, plus our best-selling kit.
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