--- title: Season 1 description: The podcast about the business of making sex toys, not just using them. Wayne Allen on 22 years of the ups and downs of manufacturing, trade shows and running E-Stim Systems. canonical_url: https://imakesextoys.me/season-1 language: en-GB date: 2026-07-01T21:57:33Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://imakesextoys.me/season-1. markdown-tokens: 4379 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://imakesextoys.me/season-1. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ![I Make Sex Toys Season 1](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/season1.jpg)This is where it all started. Season 1 of the I Make Sex Toys Podcast is the very beginning, recorded back in early 2024, when I finally sat down in front of a microphone and started talking about what it's actually like to make electric sex toys for a living. I'm Wayne, I run [E-Stim Systems](https://estim.store) out of a workshop in Watford, and this is the season where I worked out how to do a podcast more or less as I went along. We open with the origin story (how a couple messing about at fetish fairs turned into a twenty-year business, entirely by accident), then get into the stuff people always ask about. [Size](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/size-isnt-everything), [taboos](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/breaking-taboos-adult-industry), how a product goes from a [spark to the shelf](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/from-spark-to-shelf), and whether you can really take [e-stim gear through airport security.](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/travelling-with-e-stim) Along the way there's our first ever [US trade show in Hollywood](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/e-stim-shocks-hollywood), the first live streams and guests, the company turning twenty, a trip to one of [Europe's biggest shows in Germany](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/eurofame-hanover-with-caz), and a Christmas episode that got a bit out of hand. It's still the only podcast where a sex toy manufacturer talks about the making, not the using. ## Season 1 Trailer. [Enjoying the show? Why not leave a review](https://lovethepodcast.com/65ddf19c84b7944fdc91c0b2?utm_source=imakesextoys.me&utm_medium=button&utm_campaign=season1_reviews) ![I Make Sex Toys Christmas](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Christmas.jpg) ## About this episode Recorded in that strange no-man's-land between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what day it is. This is our Christmas live stream, which means it's less structured than usual and a good deal dafter. ## In this episode A festive end-of-year live. E-stim odds and ends, a few tech tales, and the sort of loose chat that only happens when the workshop's shut and everyone's had too much chocolate. See you in 2025. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holiday-hijinks-e-stim-adventures-tidbits-and-tech-tales/id1732763071?i=1000682168288&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Holiday Hijinks: E-Stim Adventures, Tidbits, and Tech Tales ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/holiday-hijinks) ![I Make Sex Toys and Leather Delights](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Leather_Delights.jpg) ## About this episode For once I'm not on my own. I managed to cajole Sean from Leather Delights into the studio, a bloke who's been making bondage gear by hand for thirteen years. Two makers talking shop, basically. ## In this episode Sean and I talk craft. Making bondage gear the honest way, what ethical manufacturing actually means in this trade, and how a small British maker survives in a market full of imports. A proper maker-to-maker conversation. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/market-magic-and-ethical-crafting-in-the-bdsm-world/id1732763071?i=1000679113080&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Market Magic and Ethical Crafting in the BDSM World ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/market-magic-ethical-crafting) ![I Make Sex Toys Female Pleasure](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Liz.jpg) ## About this episode Something different this time. Not boxes, not products, but how to actually use the kit, and specifically from a female perspective. I roped in Caz and our friend Liz, who'd never tried e-stim before, to talk about it honestly. ## In this episode A frank conversation about e-stim and female pleasure, myths included. Liz comes at it completely fresh, never having used it, which makes for a genuinely useful chat about what the first time is actually like. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/electroplay-unplugged-shattering-myths-and-embracing/id1732763071?i=1000677006315&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Electroplay Unplugged: Shattering Myths and Embracing Female Pleasure ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/electroplay-unplugged-female-pleasure) ![I Make Sex Toys Halloween Livestream](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Halloween.jpg) ## About this episode Our Halloween live stream, Wayne and Wifey, with a bit of the test team gatecrashing. There's a new product in here, a fan club apparently, and a lot of electrode questions. All done in under the hour, thank you very much. ## In this episode Caz and I run the Halloween live. A product launch, an electrode Q&A, and the usual live-stream carnage. If you like your show notes with a bit of chaos baked in, this is a good one. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e-stim-systems-halloween-live-new-product-launch-and/id1732763071?i=1000675925181&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: E-Stim Systems Halloween Live | New Product Launch and Electrode Q&A ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/halloween-live-product-launch) ![I Make Sex Toys - wouldn't you think of the Children](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/adults_only.jpg) ## About this episode Are you morally outraged yet? You should be, I could be sitting here with no clothes on. This episode is about the genuinely daft business of advertising adult products in a world that would rather we didn't exist. ## In this episode I get into what it's actually like trying to market something perfectly legal that half the internet won't let you promote. The restrictions, the double standards, and the think-of-the-children reflex that makes running this business harder than it needs to be. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wont-somebody-think-of-the-children-advertising/id1732763071?i=1000672929226&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Won't Somebody Think of the Children | Advertising Adult Products in a World That Doesn't Want Us ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/wont-somebody-think-of-the-children) ![I Make Sex Toys at EroFame](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/erofame.jpg) ## About this episode Fresh back from Germany and one of Europe's biggest adult trade shows, so Caz and I sat down to talk about it while it was all still fresh. Third time lucky going live, too, once I stopped pressing buttons fifteen seconds before we started. ## In this episode Caz joins me to debrief the show. What a big European trade event is really like, the driving and logistics behind it, and the good bits that make it worth the effort. Live, jerky video and all. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eurofame-hanover-e-stim-systems-at-europes-biggest/id1732763071?i=1000671804338&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Eurofame Hanover | E-Stim Systems at Europe's Biggest Adult Trade Show, with Caz ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/eurofame-hanover-with-caz) ![I Make Sex Toys 20th Birthday](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/20th_birthday.jpg) ## About this episode Twenty years. Back in September 2004 we took our first ever order, and somehow we're still here. I recorded this one in a hotel room in Orlando, technically on holiday, because I clearly cannot help myself. ## In this episode A short anniversary episode. The milestone, how far the company has come, and what's next. Recorded on the other side of the States with the podcasting gear I definitely wasn't supposed to pack. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e-stim-systems-turns-20-anniversary-story-new-products/id1732763071?i=1000670322823&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: E-Stim Systems Turns 20 | Anniversary Story, New Products, and What's Next ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/e-stim-systems-turns-20) ![I Make Sex Toys with Joannes Reviews](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Joannes_Reviews.jpg) ## About this episode This is the audio version of one of our monthly live streams, and the first one with guests. We had Ian, Rachel and Joanne from Joanne's Reviews in, and it went about as you'd expect when you get that lot together. Chaos, in the best possible way. ## In this episode A guest-heavy live stream. E-stim chat, a lot of laughing, and the sort of tangents that only happen with friends on mic. If you want the technical and the daft in one place, this is the one. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laughter-tech-and-electro-thrills-live-guests-from/id1732763071?i=1000668781938&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Laughter, Tech, and Electro Thrills: Live guests from Joanne's Reviews ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/laughter-tech-electro-thrills) ![I Make Sex Toys Podcast Live Q&A](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Q_and_A.jpg) ## About this episode It took us two years to finally do a live stream, and this is it, in podcast form. The whole point was to answer your questions directly, because you're the people who actually use this kit. So that's what we did. ## In this episode A live question-and-answer session. Your electrostimulation questions, answered as they came in. Products, how things work, and the odd curveball from the chat. Proof that we do actually listen. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e-stim-live-q-a-your-electrostimulation-questions-answered/id1732763071?i=1000663835878&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: E-Stim Live Q&A: Your Electrostimulation Questions Answered ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/live-qanda-your-questions-answered) ![](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Hollywood.jpg) ## About this episode This one is recorded in Hollywood, of all places. We took E-Stim Systems to the ANME Founders Show, our first ever trade show in the US after years of doing Europe. Here's what it's actually like taking a small British company to America. ## In this episode A field report from our first US show. Why we went, what running a stand overseas involves, and the glamorous reality of international business, which is mostly logistics. Welcome to Hollywood. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e-stim-shocks-hollywood/id1732763071?i=1000662831992&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: E-Stim Shocks Hollywood ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/e-stim-shocks-hollywood) ![](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Airport_Security.jpg) ## About this episode Can you take e-stim gear through airport security? It's one of the questions we get most, and it came up on Joanne's live stream, so I thought I'd answer it properly. Short version. Yes, and it's a lot less dramatic than you'd fear. ## In this episode I talk through travelling with e-stim, what security actually makes of it, and how to sidestep the awkward conversations. A short, useful one, born out of a chat on Joanne's stream. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worry-free-travels-mastering-airport-security-with-e/id1732763071?i=1000657658591&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Worry-Free Travels: Mastering Airport Security With E-Stim Gear ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/travelling-with-e-stim) ![I Make Sex Toys Inventing Ideas](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/inventing.jpg) ## About this episode How do we come up with new products? We think about them, then we play with them. That's not a punchline, it's the whole method. This episode is about how an idea gets from a spark to something you can actually buy. ## In this episode I walk through how we develop new kit, why using our own products is the thing that makes it work, and how we decide what's worth making and what isn't. Test and develop, test and develop, until it's right. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-spark-to-shelf-the-journey-of-product/id1732763071?i=1000653776023&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: From Spark to Shelf: The Journey of Product Development at E-Stim Systems ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/from-spark-to-shelf) ![I Make Sex Toys, Breaking Taboos](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Breaking_Taboos.jpg) ## About this episode People hear 'adult industry' and their heads go straight to the worst assumptions. Prostitutes, drugs, dodgy back rooms. The reality is a workshop, a lot of soldering, and a mountain of paperwork. This episode is about the taboos, and what running this business is actually like. ## In this episode I get into the perceptions we deal with, why they're mostly wrong, and the odd situations they've landed us in. It's the honest version of what it's like to run a normal manufacturing business that just happens to make something people won't talk about at dinner. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-taboos-lessons-learned-in-running-an-adult/id1732763071?i=1000651783490&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Breaking Taboos: Lessons Learned in Running an Adult Industry Business ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/breaking-taboos-adult-industry) ![I Make Sex Toys Big Brother and Reality TV](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/Reality_TV_IMST.jpg) ## About this episode The early podcasts got a response I genuinely didn't expect, so thank you for that. This one is about a question people always ask once they find out what we do. How did E-Stim kit end up on television? The answer involves more reality TV than you'd think. ## In this episode I talk about the telly work, the shows our gear has quietly turned up on, and what it's like making equipment that ends up in front of cameras. Turning up the amps on reality TV, basically, with nobody at home realising what they were looking at. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/look-mum-im-on-tv-turning-up-the-amps-on-reality-tv/id1732763071?i=1000650882252&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Look Mum I'm on TV - Turning Up the Amps on Reality TV ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/look-mum-im-on-tv) ![Size isnt everthing](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/S1e2.jpeg) ## About this episode Everyone's first question about sex toys is the same one. How big? So this episode is about size, and why it matters far less than people assume. I'm Wayne, I've been making this kit for twenty years, and the smallest thing we make tends to surprise people. ## In this episode I go through the range from the smallest electrode up, explain why size is the wrong thing to fixate on, and get into what actually makes electro-play work. There's a bit on running a business in the adult industry along the way, because that's really what the show is about. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/size-isnt-everything/id1732763071?i=1000649102328&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: Size isn't everything!! ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/size-isnt-everything) ![I Make Sex Toys - How it all started](https://imakesextoys.me/images/season1/S1e1.jpeg) ## About this episode This is where it all began. The very first episode of I Make Sex Toys, recorded back in February 2024. I'm Wayne, I run E-Stim Systems, and for twenty years the whole job has been making sex toys that electrocute you. Not in a Frankenstein way. In a rather nicer way than that. This one is the origin story, and the honest version is that we started more or less by accident. ## In this episode I introduce myself and the company, explain what electrostimulation actually is, then go back to 2004 and the fetish fairs where the whole thing started. There's the overpriced kit that made me think I could do better, the couple who were just working out what they liked, and twenty years of refining products because customers kept telling us what worked and what didn't. Still here, still evolving, still making the stuff. **Listen:** [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-e-stim-systems-started-20-years-of/id1732763071?i=1000646776897&uo=4) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/22fobbc0L0Lv4BWOHNOuDw) · or press play above. [ Read more: How E-Stim Systems Started: 20 Years of Electrostimulation Manufacturing ](https://imakesextoys.me/season-1/how-e-stim-systems-started)