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.

Old Faces, New Places @ NYC Toy Fair 2011

The annual Toy Fair, among other things, is a convocation of old faces belonging to the assembly of what are known as "toy people". They may be found in different booths - as after changing jobs, or in the aisles - as in not having a job but just strolling the Javits aisles unshackled of booth duty. Regardless of their circumstances, these toy people are generally friendly, social types when meeting others. There is much hugging, back slapping, flesh pressing and exchanges of warm smiles among old friends. A good Javits stop for me is to connect with the ever-smiling Mary Couzin, President and Founder of ChiTAG.

But in the Javits arena of toys and games, it is not just peoples' faces moving and changing places. Each year many products turn up in new booths often with a new package face. Indeed, this was true in the Poof-Slinky booth. Two old faces, mine and industry guru and co-author, Richard Levy found their games in a new stand after an acquisition of long time marketer, Cadaco, by Poof-Slinky. 2011 is a new place for Quad*Doku and Adverteasing.

For all those ad lovers in the 100 million viewers of the Super Bowl, Adverteasing,invented by Richard and Sheryl Levy, is a must buy and play. Adverteasing has been on the scene long enough to qualify as a classic in the game world. People love to recall all the classic jingles and slogans for the mass market media-driven products that pass by their daily subconsciousness. Now they have an opportunity to play the totally updated Adverteasing content in a jazzy new package under the Ideal brand from Poof-Slinky.

And for word play lovers, there is Quad*Doku, The Awesome Foursome Word Game, invented by me, now in the Poof-Slinky product lineup. It is the "fourmost", four letter, four intersecting word game. If millions of Scrabble Slam card games sold on the strength of four letter word play, Quad*Doku should be right behind since it involves four, four letter words on a turn. Getting a high scoring "quad", provides four times the word play challenge. Certainly Poof-Slinky would hope that it will get four times the sales of Scrabble Slam from its new face in its game line.

But old toy people faces don't just pop-up at Javits. The Levys saw dear friend, Reuben Klamer at a Broadway show, and I was able to exchange pleasantries with him at Hasbro. Reuben is the renowned inventor of Hasbro's Game of Life and Fisher Price's 1-2-3 Roller Skates among innovations he brought to the industry during his long career.

When you're at Javits in 2012, check out the face changes and like every year, you'll find many old faces in new places.