An Idea That Would Have Made Noah Proud

Legend goes that storks carrying animal babies crashed, thus jumbling the babies together creating “Jumbies” (“jumbled” plus “babies”). This new generation of beanbag characters includes Bunker the Dingbat, a combination of a dingo and bat, Arthur the Camelot, a camel jumbled with an ocelot and four other two-animals rolled in one.

The parents of this whimsical menagerie are John Beck and John Bilotta, both of Orange County. Together, they concocted the idea, the “legend” and motto: “The storks really messed up this time.”

“Jumbies are the newest, hippest thing for beanbags, and they are getting a phenomenal response,” said Wendy Bautista, assistant editor of Bean Bag World magazine, of the $5.99 Jumbies. “They are certainly innovative and fresh as far as beanbags go. Two animals fused to one is a new concept for beanbags.”

At Farr’s Hallmark in Fullerton, one of the first stores to receive Jumbies, manager Dan Coloman said that the store sold out its first order--60 pieces--in a month. Marlee Dressen, owner of Party Pizzazz store in Pacific Palisades, who received her first batch two weeks ago, wonders if Jumbies are the new Beanie Babies. The real test, she said, will be after summer when the kids come back from vacation and if they start giving Jumbies as party favors.

Beck and Bilotta, who call themselves Chief Jumbie Officers or CJOs, came upon the idea when they were casually discussing teddy bears. Bilotta, a 42-year-old freelance cartoonist with 22 years of marketing and business experience, was bouncing ideas off his friend Beck, 31, who has worked in the toy and collectible business.

“All of a sudden it was like the sea parted,” said Bilotta, “what if we took two animals and put them together. Suddenly Beck got it.”

Bilotta said his interest in wildlife was first ignited when he received a Wild Animal Book in the mail from a Saturday morning cartoon kids club at age 8. Then at 9, he remembers playing with his friends, all pretending to be animals. Only Bilotta remembers he was a bear-cat, or even half saber-toothed cat and half wolf.

Like Beanie Babies, which each have a birth date, Jumbies have a date of jumble (DOJ). Zumbo the Zelephant (“zebra” plus “elephant”) has the DOJ of Beck’s birthday because the Jumbie idea was conceived on that date. Billy the Giraffalo (part giraffe, part buffalo) has Bilotta’s birth date because he had to “stick his neck out on this business venture.”

Unlike Beanie Babies and other beanbag toys with their embroidered eyes, Jumbies have plastic bug-like eyes. Bilotta explained that right before their collision, the Jumbies screamed, and their eyes ended up freezing that way.

“The eyes are the funniest thing. They are my most favorite quality about Jumbies. They look straight at you,” said Melissa McGlensey, a fifth-grader at Hillsborough School in Anaheim Hills. The 10-year-old and her sister, Becky, 12, Beck’s neighbors, served as consultants during the Jumbie development process.

Bilotta and Beck also tested the Jumbies on focus groups of kids from Oakgrove Elementary in Aliso Viejo and Orange County Elementary in Fullerton. Bilotta said the children gasped each time he brought out a Jumbie to show them.

Jumbies were first unveiled at the Los Angeles Gift Show in January. The first line and the Web site came out in May. Beck said more than 27,000 have visited the site and the company receives more than 100 e-mails a day. Jumbies now have garnered more than 250 accounts since February and are sold in more than eight countries, including Canada, Japan, England and Germany. They are available in every state in the country at independent toy stores, Hallmarks, florists, Las Vegas casino shops, tourist shops, and at hospital gift shops, including Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles.

A few Jumbies have even shown up for sale on Ebay.

Janie Daniels, a “beanieologist,” said that Jumbies appeal to adults as well. She has written about Beanie stuffed animals for five years for various beanie bag publications and has even written a book called “The Beanie Invasion.”

“When I first saw them, I laughed so hard. They are really cute and have character,” said Daniels, 40, who lives in Woodbridge, Va. “I mean, how many times have you wanted to call someone a dingbat, and now you can give them one.”

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Marian Liu can be e-mailed at marian.liu@latimes.com.