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!  

           

Aim to Please, Please

After decades around the Milton Bradley and Hasbro Games R&D Departments and after viewing thousands of inventor concepts, I have been convinced it is possible to make a game for any topic, for any age, and for any gender. Games can be designed for any challenge; be it skill and action, strategy, Q&A, twitch reaction video games, etc.

Now along comes games that expands that premise even farther. This introduction is apparently intended for screen obsessed, multi-tasking, physiologically properly equipped players when called to   a very necessary environment.

Check out the video to see a play platform coming to that special room near you.
World's first p-controlled video game

I never would have thought of such games since I have always seen visits to that location as a matter of necessity and not a place to seek amusement. It also begs a key question, how will this play experience be handled if it is to broaden market share to the opposite gender?

On the plus side, these games may well open sales opportunities at previously untapped retail outlets: local plumbing supply stores. Oh, by the way, don't forget to flush!

Newbie Exhibitors @ The Big Show

For anyone serious about the toy and game business, the place to be each February is New York City at the TIA sponsored International Toy Fair. For the really serious players, the Javit's event is likely the fourth fair in a lineup that has taken them to Hong Kong, London, and Nuremberg. After another annual bout with weather elements, many attendees question the wisdom of holding the fair in NYC. They would prefer some other cavernous hall in Orlando, Dallas, or Vegas. To me, weather is not that important. Battling the elements only seems to occur between the hotel exit and the entrance to a Javits bound bus. What is important in February is not outside on the streets, but what goes on inside the Center along its miles of aisles.

Rain, sleet, snow are certainly irrelevant to newbie exhibitors who come to Javits with high hopes and higher expectations. This year, the TIA reported Toy Fair included 239 first time exhibitors.

2013 newbies, Rob Appelblatt and partner Tim Crean, unveiled a spin on the timeless light strategy classic game, tic-tac-toe, with a uniquely designed version trademarked as TIC STAC TOE TM. Like other first timers, Appelblatt spent hundreds of hours on product preparation and thousands of dollars on the Javits floor space, product samples, and a booth display to confirm strong personal belief in the game. He says, "family, friends, and co-workers all loved the game, but presence at Javits was a true opportunity for genuine, outside validation".

Four weeks after the Big Show, Appelblatt is following up on what he calls, "great interest from retailers, distributors, and potential marketing licensees for TIC STAC TOE TM." He sees the positive results as payback for the amount of effort and energy put into readiness for Toy Fair. That effort included molded parts, multiple prototypes, packaging, a YouTube demo, and even an APP. Appelblatt says, "We were forewarned by many that we had gone way beyond what a typical inventor would do, but I think this is one of the reasons we had such a successful show."

TIC STAC TOE TM  @ Toy Fair

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP6vOBXmiZQ

How to Play the APP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuMNRbeIa-I

As he sorts through opportunities from Javits 2013, Rob Appelblatt offers this advice to newbies who may appear at Toy Fair 2014. "Trust and follow your gut instincts. That should lead you to the right decisions as long as you do your homework and constantly critique and challenge yourself. You will meet people who will give reasons why you won't succeed. Hear their reasoning, but don't let them get the best of you. Stay true to your vision but be malleable as you learn things from others that will greatly improve your chances for success."

Hopefully, Toy Fair was as successful for the other 238 first timers as it was for Rob Appelblatt. The play industry needs the annual infusion by start-ups making the commitment to launch their dreams in the aisles of the Javits Center. Regardless of the weather on the streets of Manhattan, they bring sunshine and smiles into hundreds of booths.

Toy Fair Inside Out

There are thousands of Toy Fair images thanks to iphones. These are just three of mine.

Toy people love New York

2 of the 3 are big toy celebrities

Famous faces in a sea of Javits Center faces.
Hope your iphotos captured fond memories of Toy Fair 2013.

The Creative Factor at Toy Fair

On Monday. February 11, Richard C. Levy and I shouted out SNL's famous line, "Live from New York City!" For the past seven years, we have hosted a TIA Creative Factor symposium for toy and game inventors. This year, we were MML (Monday Morning Live). The nor'easter notwithstanding, our room filled with intrepid men and women who traversed slushy Manhattan streets and driving rain to get to the Javits Center for the 110th Annual Toy Fair. Our attendees proved their resilience living by the old adage, ""often the hardest part of any challenge is showing up!"

This year, we did something different. Rather than a speech format followed by an audience Q and A, we started with answers to ten questions we felt inventors often find of most interest. (See our answers as recorded by attendee, David A. Miller, Executive Editor of Purple Pawn) Answers

  1) Is New York Toy Fair the best place to sell ideas?
  2) Do you need an agent to license an idea?
  3) How do you know if an idea is original and never done before?
  4) What are some reasons why companies reject ideas?
  5) Does collaborative invention improve chances of licensing an idea?
  6) What are the major points to prepare to pitch a prototype to a marketer?
  7) What can you expect if a company asks to hold your prototype?
  8) Should you produce and market the concept yourself?
  9) Should you hire an attorney for patent and trademark applications?
10) How are mobile gaming and interactive toys affecting the market?

These questions and dozens more from the audience made for a fast-moving sixty minute session. Afterwards, we continued to entertain questions in the hallway as inventors' natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge would not surrender to the clock.

Between what we imparted firsthand and the information in our just released 2nd edition of The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook, there is a possibility that some in the audience will not attend our 2014 session. They will be too busy admiring the products they licensed to one of the more than 1000 plus Javits exhibitors.

The TIA frequently says that the Toy Fair showcases 6000 to 7000 "never seen before products". It's a good bet some of those new toys and games will come from inventor graduates of past TIA Creative Factor programs, We certainly hope so!

Curtain Up! Light the Lights!

The 2nd edition of our critically acclaimed, The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook, is now available as an ebook for the Kindle tablet on Amazon. The price is $9.95.
CLICK HERE TO  Order Now!

    So much has changed in the industry since our original Handbook was released in 2003. We have done our best to refresh the book's content during this past year of energetic reporting. Also new in this edition is a "Websitary" of selected URLs important to independent inventors and industry followers as well as hot links to key websites imbedded throughout the book.

Thanks to several licensing attorneys and agents, we believe the advice and document templates in Chapter 9, Molding the Deal: The Gets and the Gives, have no equal in a self-help book for toy and game inventors. In fact, we can confidently say that this 2nd edition, thanks to the contributions made by the professionals we interviewed, leaves other books of this genre languishing.

The Handbook continues to profile over 80 professional inventors containing sage advice from some of the industry's best and brightest talents. In addition, there are 35 company profiles (together with contact information for submitting new concepts ) who welcome submissions from external sources.

We trust that even the most seasoned, successful inventors and industry executives will find this book a valuable resource and stimulating read about the new product process that sustains the toy and game business. Thanks in advance for your interest in our work.

Your writing team,
Richard and Ron

What Did You Do This Summer

So how did you spend the summer months in 2012? Travel to exotic locations for stimulating sightseeing? Bask at the seashore coated with lotion to protect from harmful UV rays? Or just do all business and no play in attempts to spawn ideas creating new toys and games?

I've been absent from my blog since late March and most forms of summer fun, (fall and winter, too) to concentrate with co-author Richard C. Levy in the preparation of our publication, The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook, for release as an ebook. We were gratified with hardcopy sales since its release in 2003. However, when our publisher notified us the book had sold out and would not be reprinted, that was motivation for us to update and move our work into the realm of digital readers. So, the 2nd edition will be digital like so much of other communication around us.

By foregoing travel, beach time, gardening, raking, shoveling and other seasonal activities, I am delighted to announce, "mission accomplished"! The Handbook will be available on Amazon for Kindle readers February 1 with versions for other tablets later in the year.

Indeed, the industry has changed significantly since the original hardcover publication. Inventors today are faced with even more challenges in attempts to license toy and game ideas as playtime, like our 2nd edition, has become more digitized. With invaluable help from some new contributors, active links to useful websites, and encouraging words from industry leaders, we believe the 2nd edition will continue to be a message of hope and direction to the creative talents that have been and will continue to be the lifeline of new products for the industry.

Richard and I hope that The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook 2nd edition, like its predecessor, will be one small steppingstone for inventors as they work to make their toy dreams reality. If we meet that goal for a few inventors, our project was well worth the collective loss of other leisurely pleasures.