The story behind the brand
A Hulk head, a spice rack and a £20,000 Lamborghini.
How an eight-year-old, a birthday present and one very useful print became Martini Manufacturing.
Most businesses start with a plan, a spreadsheet and a nervous conversation with the bank.
Martini Manufacturing started with an eight-year-old, a birthday present and a bright green Hulk head.
The birthday present
For Kobi’s 8th birthday, Dad and Nana D clubbed together and bought him a Bambu Lab A1 Combo 3D printer.
The thinking was simple. Kobi is into gaming, computers and anything with a screen, so here was something techy that would keep a very curious kid busy for a while. Maybe a few weekends. Maybe a month if we were lucky.
The first thing he printed was a Hulk head.
Not a test cube. Not a little keyring. A full Hulk head—because when you’re eight and you’ve just been handed a machine that turns computer files into actual objects, you don’t waste your first go on a cube.
It came out green, angry and, to Kobi’s enormous satisfaction, real. Something that had been a picture on a screen was now sitting on the desk looking at him.
The printer stopped being a birthday present. It became a machine for making things.
What came next
What came next was Roblox. Kobi’s print queue quickly filled with Roblox characters. Noobs, mostly. Lots of noobs. Then a tung tung tung sahur—which, if you don’t know, is a walking log with a face and a baseball bat, and which Kobi assures us is very important.
But the print that really got our attention was a spice rack.
Kobi decided, entirely off his own bat, that Nana D needed somewhere to keep her spices. So he found a design, sized it, printed it and gave it to her. It was a proper, useful, grown-up object made by an eight-year-old for someone he loves.
That’s the bit that made us think this might be more than a hobby. Not the noobs. The spice rack.
From hobby to business
Eventually the obvious question came up. If Kobi could print things people actually wanted, could he sell them?
Kobi already had a business plan, and it was watertight. He would sell all of his 3D prints to Mam and Dad. We had to gently explain that Mam and Dad were not going to buy them, and that a business needs customers who don’t already live with the product.
Kobi has taken this well. He’s now open to selling to other people too.
So, with a bit of help from Dad, Martini Manufacturing was born. We started working out what Kobi could make, what people might actually pay for, and how to build a brand around the things he’s genuinely into.
The answer was fairly obvious: 3D-printed toys and figures, gaming accessories, useful bits for the home and desk—spice racks included—personalised items and, eventually, fully custom designs.
We’ve never pretended to be a big factory. Martini Manufacturing is exactly what it says on the tin: a small, family-run business built around one kid’s imagination and a Bambu Lab A1.
A father-and-son project
Kobi is the young entrepreneur behind the brand. But like most eight-year-olds launching a manufacturing company, he needed a hand with the less exciting parts.
That’s where I come in. I’m Reece, Kobi’s dad, and I run a web and digital agency in Middlesbrough—which turns out to be quite handy when your son needs a website, a logo and someone to answer customer emails at 9am on a Tuesday.
The split works like this. Kobi does the parts he loves: choosing what to make, testing prints, checking the quality and deciding what looks cool. I do the technical side, the website, the customers and the paperwork.
It still feels like Kobi’s business, because it is. But customers get the kind of service they’d expect from any proper shop, because that part is mine.
Yes, Kobi is eight. We still take it seriously.
The story is fun. The business isn’t a joke. If someone chooses to spend their money with us, we want them to feel properly looked after: good-quality prints, clear communication, quick answers and help if something isn’t right.
Running a business isn’t just about selling things. It’s reliability, patience, looking after people and taking pride in what you make. Those are useful things to learn at eight. Some of us are still learning them at forty.
Gaming, tech and “what could we make instead?”
Most of what we make comes straight from Kobi’s own interests. Gaming is the big one, which is why gaming accessories are becoming a core part of the range: controller stands, headset holders, desk organisers and the kind of things that make a setup look the part.
Technology is the other. 3D printing sits right in the middle of technology and creativity. You design something, test it, tweak it, print it and then actually use it.
What could we make instead?
That question is probably going to shape most of what Martini Manufacturing becomes.
The Lamborghini plan
Every serious business needs a strategy.
- 1Make cool things
- 2Sell cool things
- 3Save the money
- 4Buy a blue Lamborghini
Kobi has done his research. A Lamborghini, he tells us with total confidence, costs around £20,000.
We have not corrected him. Partly because it’s a nice number to aim for, and partly because a business that runs on hope and noobs needs all the optimism it can get.
For now we’re concentrating on steps one to three. The showroom can wait. Probably.
Proudly based in Middlesbrough
Martini Manufacturing is based in Middlesbrough, in the North East of England. We’d love to build a strong local following first, then gradually send more of Kobi’s creations to customers across the UK.
Supporting a local business always means something. In this case it means a bit more. Every order shows Kobi that an idea can become something real. Every customer teaches him something. Every share, recommendation or kind message gives him another reason to keep creating.
Today it’s a Roblox noob or a spice rack for Nana. A few years from now, who knows?
Kobi does. It’s blue.
Where we want to take it
We want Martini Manufacturing to stay fun. That matters. But we also want it to grow into a proper little brand that people recognise for interesting products, custom ideas and good service.
Over time we’ll be adding more toys and figures, gaming accessories, home and desk products, personalised items and custom prints. We’d also love customers to help shape what comes next. Some of the best ideas won’t come from us. They’ll come from someone asking, “Could you print this?” and us finding out.
Thank you for supporting Kobi
Whether you place an order, follow along, recommend us to a mate or just tell Kobi you like what he’s doing, it means a lot to both of us.
Nana D has her spice rack. The Hulk head is still on the desk. And if this eventually ends with a blue Lamborghini parked outside, Kobi will absolutely say he told us so.
Print. Create. Play. Repeat.
See what Kobi is making
Find something fun—or bring us your own idea.
Browse the latest ranges or tell us what you’d like personalised. Custom designs are followed up and priced individually.