It took her nearly a decade, but Métis Black finally achieved her goal of giving silicone the place it rightly deserves in the adult novelty business. But when she started Tantus Silicone nine years ago, it was an uphill battle.
"Silicone is the safest material for sex novelties, and yet it was so niched out that you could only find it at a couple of women's boutiques when we got started," she says. "But we persisted, and silicone is so well-thought of now that everyone uses it on everything."
Tantus began as a company for lesbian consumers, using 100 percent medical-grade-quality silicone, which will last a lifetime if treated properly. The company started with non-phallic pieces, but went phallic within the first year and noticed an immediate jump in sales.
Business picked up so much that Tantus hired Ace Miguel as CEO, moved from Colorado to California to quadruple its space — and recently added another 2,000-square-foot suite. It all led up to the launch of its new gay line, Toys for Boyz. Prototypes were unveiled at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in January.
"We got industry people who really knew what they were talking about telling us what the pros and the cons of every design were so we could amend what needed to be amended," Black says, adding that she also decided on how to improve packaging. "Our pieces in the past looked better out of the package than in. Now we're coming up with packaging that actually does them justice: You're able to see the toys."
At AEE Tantus introduced "Mr. Universe," the biggest toy it has made (though Black negates the common belief that gay toys have to be big, this is big), as well as cock rings ("The safest available," says Black), a prostate toy called "The Captain," and some re-engineered pieces from its catalog with new sizes and colors. They also came out with larger, more advanced silicone beads.
The company is famous for its patented "Feeldoe," a strapless strap-on. "It's funny, because it's geared toward a lesbian clientele, but when we came out with a "Slim" version, the heterosexual sales overtook that. And now that we've got the "Stout," I've got more gay men looking at this toy. It's designed so that you have both hands free to hold on to your partner."
The Toys for Boyz line started with 20 products and six more are planned for release this month. Black, for one, would like to see more products that break the mold the business was founded on: heterosexual males' buying patterns. And, like Tantus, she believes companies should actually test their own products.
"I'd like to see a whole line of quality toys made for men. I think the choice of materials so far has been abominable. If a toy smells, it's putting out chemicals and your body is absorbing them. So having something that is hypoallergenic and is able to be boiled or bleached or put in an autoclave or dishwasher is imperative," she says.
"In this day and age, men deserve to have toys that are safe and are designed for their anatomy."
It's the emphasis on educating consumers — and stores — about health and sex that Tantus prides itself on. "For Sex Ed, you go to your local store and get a 19-year-old who's being paid eight dollars an hour to answer your questions, and he's been having sex for, I don't know, five years?" Black says with a laugh.
"We've always been big on educating our vendors, not just about our toys, but toys in general, and addressing sexual experiences that maybe they're getting questions about all the time, but they have no one to ask."
The Tantus website has downloadable articles, and they have done seminars throughout the country with different partners to teach store owners and workers about the importance of lube and toy design features, as well as changing perceptions of sex definitions.
"We're starting with the basics — dildos, cock rings, and butt-plugs that work for the body and are safe to use — then we're planning on a line of stroke toys and some prostate stimulation stuff with vibration.
"Boys have not been sold vibrators very well, but let me tell you, they work!" Black says. "It's going to be a new world!"
Contact Info: 619-426-6400; TantusSilicone.com; [email protected].
