Have you hugged a toy inventor yet?

You should. It's National Inventors' Month! Inventors are the creative men and women, who toil mostly in anonymity, but through their inventiveness bring us new playthings year in and year out. We acknowledge in the The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook that in the toy industry, product is king and inventors are king makers.

Here is how some inventors profiled in our eBook see their special talents.

An inventor is …

“someone that loves life and curiously explores it, dreams out loud so that others may participate, and strikes a great balance between persistence and practicality.”

Garry Donner, Random Toys & Games, Ann Arbor, MI

Most successful products include: Scrabble Scramble (Hasbro & Mattel); and Uno Roboto (Mattel).

“someone who thinks out of the box, doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, persists despite repeated rejection, and can see things the average person doesn’t see.”

Clemens V. Hadeen, Jr., Fun City USA, Sturgeon Bay, WI

Most successful products include: MicroMachines (Galoob/Hasbro) and Nerf Sharp Shooter (Hasbro)

“someone who creates something out of nothing.”

Reuben Klamer, ToyLab, San Diego, CA

Most successful products include: The Game of Life (Milton Bradley/Hasbro)

“someone who is a bit crazy and has at least one foot in the twilight zone. Inventors are true magicians who can make something come from nothing; from a thought to 3-D reality is a very nice trick.”

Steve Rehkemper, Rehkemper Invention & Design, Chicago, IL

Most successful products include: Air Hogs (Spin Master)

“someone with the drive and audacity to think he or she can come up with something new and unique, even after so many rocks have already been turned over to discover so many great inventions. A relentlessly creative nut who, against all odds, continue to dream and build.”

Elliot Rudell, Rudell Design, LLC, Torrance, CA

Most successful products include: Geo Trax (Fisher-Price); Upwords (Hasbro Games)

“someone who gives the world something brand new or something that is a play on an old concept or theme that, in the end, makes it very different and unique. An inventor sees things in a very special way but can also see the practical aspects of the invention (it is marketable, particularly in our business).”

Howard Wexler, Howard Wexler, LLC, NYC, NY

Most successful products include: Connect Four (Milton Bradley/Hasbro)

Chances are you have played with some of their creations. So, go ahead, show a toy inventor some love this month dedicated to all they have done and will in all likelihood continue to do.

Funding a Fun Idea

Internet "crowdfunding" is replacing the age old method of "family and friend funding" to finance production of an idea. No more asking Grandma Maude or Uncle Charlie for their cash savings to turn an idea into reality. Kickstarter is one of several websites where an inventor can use a slick pitch video and incremental incentives to get "backers" to not only pledge dollars but get them to spread their "like" to their personal network of friends.

Acknowledged as "America's Wordsmith", David Hoyt has his word puzzles syndicated to hundreds of daily newspapers. JUMBLE puzzle books are everywhere. Hoyt's latest game creation, Word Winder, is already on the market in traditional board as well as digital forms.

So why is a pro inventor like Hoyt on Kickstarter? Inspired by numerous teacher interests in Word Winder, Hoyt has designed a special classroom version that is intended to be played where no word game has gone before; on the floor! His hope is to meet his funding goal and produce quantities of this school edition of Word Winder and get kids everywhere out of their seats and on the floor playing his game. https://Nightly Business Report

Checkout Hoyt's Kickstarter pitch. Perhaps you will become a backer, and oh yes, don't forget to pass on the Word Winder message to all your friends! http://www.kickstarter.com

From Whence They Came

Q: What does a person who has a PhD in psychology, a talent agent, and a rabbi have in common?
A: All three are toy and game inventors!


Richard C. Levy and I explored the "origin of inventors" in the 2nd edition of The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook. We asked eighty professional inventors profiled in the Handbook the question, "What did you do before entering the industry?". The answers reveal highly diverse backgrounds including accountants, programmers, teachers, software engineers, trial lawyers, mechanical engineers, a biologist, a magician, a talent agent and yes, a PhD in psychology who was a co-development partner on the highly successful Tickle Me Elmo.




In addition, a few professional inventors were fortunate to swim in the right gene pool where inventive parents set the stage for them to grow up in the industry. After living with the early development of classics like Othello, Colorforms, Mr. Potato Head, Battling Tops, Yakity Yak Teeth, Trouble, and Lite Brite, this special group came of age to ultimately license their own toy and game ideas.

A trained priest has been a long standing member of the professional inventing community. But now add another church man to the list, Rabbi Jeff Glickman. In addition to his day job, Glickman is actively pursuing a newly cultivated passion for creating games. He claims to have licensed two game ideas within the past year. Rabbi Glickman sees connections between life as an inventor and the scriptures. Here are a few of his perspectives on how some scriptures relate to toy and game inventing:

Ecclesiastes 9:8-10: "Let your garments always be white...What your hand finds to do, do it with your might." JG: Don't do anything halfway. Make sure all your ducks are in a row. 

Ecclesiastes 11:4: "He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap." JG: "Get out there and knock on doors. Lots and lots of doors. Create the right moment, don't wait for it."

Ecclesiastes 1:9: "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again: there is nothing new under the sun." JG: "Learn from other games that work. Reinvent things in a fresh way."

Genesis 28:6: "And I did not know." JG: "Some very obvious things we don't see. Bounce your ideas
off other people. They will give you perspective on your ideas."

We found the origin of professional toy and game inventors to be incredibly diverse as evidenced from whence they came to annually offer limitless, unique ideas for new playthings. Hopefully, it shall continue forevermore!