Taco
A tabby Bennie rescued by the taco truck outside her local park. Skin and bones, eating dirt — until she got her first taco lunch. The name stuck.
Our Story
The COI Play project began in 2020 — but the brand wasn’t officially founded until 2023, in Los Angeles, by product designer Bennie Mo, an animal lover and environmental advocate.
In those first three years, almost everything that could go wrong, did. The pandemic shut down the world. Personal hardship hit close to home. And from day one, we were going up against toy industry giants many times our size.
The project was delayed by nearly two years. Our early product launches struggled to find traction, and by 2022, we’d burned through most of our runway. The first three years — not a straight line in sight.
Taking Design In-House
Out of options, Bennie made the call to bring product design back in-house. Every kit, every illustration, every package would be designed by the founder herself. It was the only way forward.
Meeting Sandwich
On a walk during one of those low points, Bennie spotted a small calico cat with an open wound on her neck. She called the animal rescue hotline and walked away, trusting it would be handled.
For the next year, life got busy — but the calico drifted through her thoughts every so often. Was she okay? Did someone take her in?
A year later, Bennie passed that same street again. The cat came running. Still there. Still alone. The wound on her neck was bleeding badly now. That was the day Bennie didn’t walk away. She named her Sandwich.
From Rescue to Bestseller
That cat became Sandwich, the inspiration behind our Meow & Bark watercolor art kit and Sandwich Bookmark Craft Kit. Today, Sandwich-themed products are COI Play’s best-selling line.
ASPCA Business Ambassador
Sandwich’s rescue inspired us to become an ASPCA Business Ambassador. Her story reminded us that a small act of care can turn into a whole world of color.
What Sandwich Taught Me
When Sandwich first came home, she weighed just four pounds. The wound on her neck was severe, and the vet detail was sobering: by every medical measure, she shouldn’t have made it — but she had.
After a year of daily wound care (and several dozen scratched-up shirts), Sandwich came back to nine pounds. Sandwich’s spirit — surviving the worst, refusing to give up, still soft to the world — is everything COI Play tries to be.
“Even when life hands you the worst, you can still face it head-on.” — Bennie
More Rescue Stories
Sandwich is not the only one. Meet the rest of the COI Play family: every one of them rescued, every one of them now home.
Pumpkin
Rescued at three months old, blind in one eye and battling skin disease. Bennie brought him with her when she immigrated to LA. Today he sleeps in the sun. Fat, happy, home.
Lucky
Found at just two weeks old after her mother left her in our garden. She grew up sensitive and solitary, the family’s quiet champion mouser. Sleeps on Bennie’s bed every night.
In Loving Memory
Milky & Mini — Mini ran outside and was killed by a wolf; Milky ran outside and never came home. We couldn’t keep you safe, but we never forgot you. Every kit we make is a little bit because of you.
A Few Friends
Not all family by birth, but family all the same — friends and neighbors whose cats live in our world too.
Mori
Not ours — a friend’s cat, but he stole our hearts. Hand-drawn by Bennie for the Mori Bookmark Craft Kit (COI0020). Brand character, officially adopted.
Rocky
Rocky is a black boy cat from next door who shows up in our backyard every single day. Not ours. Maybe we are his. Painted him anyway.