Page 38 - AVN Intimate Winter 2013

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FEATURE
Rothstein and his cousins, the Schwartzes, founded
Nasstoys more than 35 years ago when the trio began
manufacturing and distributing Spanish Fly liquid in a variety
of flavors. At the time, they were located in a small facility
in downtown Manhattan and also making sexual
enhancement pills.
“Back in the ’80s, New York City’s Times Square was a red
light district, triple-X playground,” Nasstoys President Elliot
Schwartz told AVN in a previous interview. “The market for
novelties and sexual paraphernalia in adult bookstores was
ripe. New York City was the home of Plato’s Retreat, Studio
54, and The Hellfire Club—a perfect testing ground for
merchandise of a risqué nature.”
This “perfect testing ground,” consisting of retail shops
and adult newspapers, provided an ideal venue for the
fledgling Nasstoys partners to begin importing and
packaging goods from Asia for sale in adult bookstores.
“In the early ‘70s, it was illegal to sell dildos and sexual
novelties in New York City,” Schwartz said. “After a visit to
the West Coast where this merchandise was being sold in
stores, Ted, Irwin, and I put the schlongs in four Times
Square stores, took the bust and won the case!”
In the next three decades the company would see three
major expansions from lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn
waterfront and, finally, to their current location in New
Jersey, directly across the Hudson River from New York.
Nasstoys’ catalog now boasts more than 1,000 items.
For more information on the 30th annual AVN Awards
Show, visit AVNAwards.com. ||
I’m honored to
have been chosen
to receive this
award
— Mark Franks,
Castle MegaStore Group
“
Ted, Irwin and I put
the schlongs in
four stores, took
the bust and won
the case
—Elliot Schwartz,
Nasstoys
“
38 INTIMATE SUPPLEMENT | WINTER 2013