Introducing Santa Doesn't Make Toys

Dreamers filling their heads with new thoughts at New York Toy Fair 2008.

Welcome to the dreamers, aka toy and game inventors, blog. Likely, readers are adults that know Santa and his elves don’t make those toys in the frigid North Pole. That myth was driven out of us with advancing age. We learned that the red suited cherub served as nothing more than a seasonal marketing icon who fronts for companies that import all those kiddie wishes from the largest country on the planet. I don't want to be too hard on Santa especially since he may help the holiday demand for one of our items and gets us personal fame and a lot of cha-ching in our Bank of America accounts. Perhaps some of us are still idealistic enough to think that beyond those personal rewards for our toy biz efforts, there may be the hope those creative efforts can change the world through play! ( Is that just an election year hangover?)

No guarantees, but my hope for this blog is that exchanges in this digital stream will make dreams reality whatever your personal motivations. Likely you already possess creative talents, boundless hope, and unique perceptions for you to recognize what exists now as you dream about what will be in the future. You are someone that can "see, dream, define, and do". So as you read something on this blog from time to time, please share your wisdom on the topic. (Helping thy fellow toy/game colleague may get you an EZ Pass to the eternal Playroom).

Much of the commentary on this blog will be triggered from what Richard Levy and I co-authored in The Toy and Game Inventor’s Handbook (movie rights still available). One compliment given the book is that it is “the Bible” of the industry on its subject. We have received many less spiritual compliments from satisfied readers who recounted labor saving tips as they have navigated the seas of idea licensing and product marketing. Several have actually attributed our words as directly allowing them to prosper in the business as a result of what they found in the Handbook. (If you haven’t seen the Bible, check it out at www.greatideagear.com/toybook.)

So as this blog is launched, look to Santa Doesn’t Make Toys as visits to “new testament’ readings which extend the reach of the Handbook into an interactive and inclusive medium to complement our ink on paper version. I would like to think we can involve many of the persons quoted freely in the Handbook as they embellish their experiences since they have been out and about the industry since the book’s release. The advice of the professional inventor community profiled in the Handbook was and can be very inspirational especially as “practicing” inventors offer insights on past and current successes. And for those newbies just dreaming of future megahits still incubating in the depths of their creative marrow, this blog will hopefully provide an audition stage to “Dance with the Stars”. Look at this blog as shareware for toy and game inventors as they continue to be the life blood for Santa workshops.