Inside the Iranian family’s toy business

There is a small shop in downtown Tehran called Saba Toy Service where broken toys are put back together again. It has been a family tradition to give new life to old things for nearly 50 years and Omeed Khalegi is the one upholding it now. 

“We enjoyed repairing, giving a life back to something that is broken,” Khalegi told Al Jazeera.

Most of the toys brought through the door have sentimental value for the owner. Sanctions have made good quality toys hard to come by due to import restrictions and a difficult economic situation, so Iranians find it cheaper to repair than replace.

But that does not come without its challenges. Newer toys require some advanced knowledge of electronics and circuitry and Khalegi is trying to overcome this obstacle by doing research online. 

“The old toys were all mechanical, and it was somehow easier to deal with,” he explains. “But now you have to keep up with the different parts, the electronic parts.”

Khalegi and his brother Sabah say they have no manual for this kind of work. Spare parts that they cannot buy or find anywhere, they make themselves. 

Sabah began his career at his father’s workshop in Iraq and opened his own business after his family moved to Iran in the 1970s.

“As a kid, I always spent my time with my father, I used to see the mechanical movements of the gramophone gears and loved them,” he tells Al Jazeera.

“I used to buy broken toys and repair them and my dad helped me fixing them. I loved toys. I enjoy seeing a small girl or boy happy when their toy is repaired. I get happy too. These are my experiences.”  

His small house in old Tehran is a sanctuary for lost and forgotten toys: On Sabah’s table, they all get a second chance.

From gramophones to aerial drones, three generations of the family business is a reminder that what is broken can be fixed.

This report was originally produced by Al Jazeera English’s correspondent in Iran, Zein Basravi and reversioned for social by NewsFeed’s Hassan Ghani.