A jolly man in red makes magic inside his toy workshop, but it's not Santa Claus up in the North Pole. It's Howard Fleischer in Ossining.

"I'm not Santa, but I'm happy to be in his world," the owner and manager of RoyaltyPros Licensing said.

Growing up in a family of six kids, Fleischer's interest in toys was a constant in his life.

"There was always play involved in our life," he said. "I was one of those kids [who] always liked to take things apart ... and that sort of progressed into playing with different toys and figuring out how they work. My brothers and sisters all had an array of different toys, so I'd play with my sister's toys, and I'd play with my brother's toys and my own. I just loved the whole thing. One thing that was meaningful to me was that my parents always would spend time playing games. We played Scrabble, we played Billboards, there were many different games that we would sit and play."

It wasn't until his time studying abroad in Paris as a SUNY New Paltz student, however, when Fleischer took his love of toys to the next level. That's where fiddling with a bunch of straws at a local cafe led to him creating a new toy called the Riddle Cube.

"I lined up 12 straws that looked like a cube," Fleischer explained. "It was like an epiphany. I wanted to be able to pick [up] that two-dimensional cube and turn it into a three-dimensional cube...So, [the Riddle Cube] illustrates three dimensions. It's a straight line, it's a flat surface that's two dimensional, and then it turns into a three-dimensional cube ... I [also] decided to use an elastic cord, so you can make every letter of the alphabet from A to Z."

The invention led to the beginning of his toymaking dreams taking off in 1988.

"I was showing [the Riddle Cube] to some friends in Sag Harbor, and the executive vice president of Saks Fifth Avenue came over to me and said, ‘What are those things?’" Fleischer explained. "He gave me his card and said, ‘When you're ready, come to me…’ The following Father's Day, I introduced it at Saks Fifth Avenue ... Since then, we have licensed this concept in many different forms, and it has sold many millions of units."

After introducing The Riddle Cube to the world, Fleischer officially launched his licensing company RoyaltyPros Licensing in 1989. Since then, he has created and then licensed many toys and games like Scrabble Slam to major companies. One of his most popular inventions is the infant version of the Riddle Cube: the Quubi.

"I licensed [the Quubi] to a company called Fat Brain," Fleischer said. "Fat Brain has the best quality toys for infants and children. They saw my concept that I had where I put some beads on the tubes and strung it, and they saw it as a great baby toy ... I'm told it's the No. 1 selling baby toy in Target, and it's now being launched around the world."

From near and far, the Quubi has won the hearts of babies and their family members, including local officials in Westchester County.

"I have many videos that people send me of children playing with the Quubi," Fleischer said. "Even [Westchester County Executive] Ken Jenkins had a grandchild recently. I was at a meeting with him and his wife, and [I] gave them the Quubi. Several months later, I got a frantic call saying, 'Howard, our baby's favorite toy got lost. He really needs another one.' So, of course I arranged for them to get it. It's that kind of [instance] where people say it's one of their baby's favorite toys.

After 40 years in the business, Fleischer says there's no greater feeling than making magic for children around the world.

"It's amazing," he said. "The first time I saw my product on a shelf, it was just out of this world...I'm doing something that I'm passionate about. I'm doing it for people who are passionate."

And his advice for aspiring toymakers? "I would encourage anybody who has a vision [and] a dream, especially in the toy industry, [to] just go for it, but do it in a smart way," Fleischer said. "I have many people that ask me to help them or for advice, and the No. 1 thing I tell them is, 'Research, research, research.' Nobody wants to see something that is the reinvention of something that's been out there. If you don't do your research, then you're susceptible to that. So, follow your dream, and know that the path to success is built on many failures."