Feb 21, 2011

Visions Of Papel, Vintage Designs Return

Like the scintillating scent of an exotic perfume lingers long after she leaves the room, the consistent appeal of Papel-designed mugs and giftware has spanned decades. Now, under the scrupulous eye of industry icon, Stanley Papel, some of these designs will be back in the marketplace for a commanding audience, marketed under “The Best of Papel” moniker.

“Although I technically retired a few years ago,” explains Stanley Papel, who carried on his father’s vision from 1955, “I continually hear such comments as ‘there’s nothing like this in the market now,’ and ‘this would really sell today.’ I’ve always loved this business, and it’s in my blood! When you know there’s a market for a product, it becomes important to bring it back!” More than 250,000,000 mugs were sold in the history of Papel between 1955 to 2005.

Papel has retained all rights to the designs that were ©Papel in the industry, and many of the top sellers will bere-introduced for direct import worldwide, beginning in April, 2011. The overseas manufacturer will initially produce only the top 60 designs. These will include a collection of Hole Mugs,Slant Mugs, and some of the best-selling Midlife Crisis series, as well as The Golf Club, and the infamous work of John Lamb, who originally created them in 1984. The collection will also include the Name Origin Mug program which sold in the millions. These designs are slated for exhibition in booth # 5F-D16, at the Hong Kong Gifts & Premier Fair, held April 27 – 30, 2011.

“It will be great to see the oldies but goodies back in the US market,” beams Papel. “It’s been a lot of fun, working with the old Papel artists and in many cases, we are recreating their original artwork since the actual has been long gone. The re-creation is especially challenging because we only have catalog images to work from. We already have interest from the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and we are in the negotiating process for the US and Canadian distribution of The Best of Papel. We have high hopes to have The Best of Papel on retailer shelves later this year!”

In addition to the mug re-introduction, Papel Designs will bring back several of its popular sock motifs. These will include 60 name sock designs, 16 dog breed designs and 12 of its best-selling expression socks designs, previously distributed by Encore (now Russ). Distribution is scheduled for March, 2011.

Stanley Papel joined the then Phil Papel Imports in 1972, while still in his 20s. Now, a young 68, he has been retired from the industry since 2008, but continues to consult with some of the gift industry’s major manufacturers.

For more information, please contact Stanley Papel at (310) 710-6020 or email at PapelDesigns@aol.com.