Santa Doesn't Make Toys

Off to the Big Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:47:00 +0000

Like many of you, I will be among the TIA estimated 20,000 attendees at Javits next week. Aren't we excited!?!? I look forward to seeing all those 100,000 products especially the 7000 "never before seen in the world"! I may try finding those 7000 since after Toy Fair, few will be at my local Target, Walmart, and TRU. With such an overwhelming and mind boggling amount of product, I just might settle for locating 174 new exhibitors among the 1200 clustered along the Javits aisles. Have a great Toy Fair!

If you have a minute with everything going on for Toy Fair, check out my guest post on the Purple Pawn, a blog about our industry.

25 Ways to Leave Your Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Many will recall that popular Paul Simon song from years back, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". Tim Moddie, a spirited entrepreneur, has been around toy and game invention over thirty years. He is an original member of the infamous Twin Cities inventors group, Elvenbasch, with Girsch Design, Leisure Design and continuing for seventeen years as an indee inventor and writer. Needless to say, he has presented many toy and game ideas over the years. Reflecting on marketers' negative reactions to many of those licensing opportunities, Tim came up with a list of twenty-five reasons for rejection of big ideas. Perhaps he should have taken a hint from Simon and put those ways of getting rejection into lyrics for a sad, tear jerking country ballad. Why not try to turn all that sadness into a hit tune?
Behind toy and game inventors dreams of big royalty payoffs is the real world of rejection. It is a commonly known stat that marketers will reject 9 out of 10 concepts shown by inventors. Stretching that statistic to the biggest marketers who see so many ideas, the odds of an inventor concept making it to retail shelves might reach 1 out of 1000. Those woeful numbers aren't sweet music to any inventor.
When I was on the acquisition's side of the table from inventors, I tried to be sensitive to their disappointments by offering more detailed reasons for rejection. It might be a thought on what the concept was missing, or a suggestion on how the idea might morph into a different form, or a way to give the idea a new twist. Looking back on what might have been heard on the receiving side of the table, at best, the inventor might do more work on the idea, at worst, the dreaded rejection was being postponed.
Little did I know that Tim Moodie was keeping tabs when I was rejecting or "leaving" his idea. Perhaps I should have shortened the responses and just given him one of the simpler rejections he had heard from other reps like: "No Fun", "Boring", "Pass", "Next". Here are more of Tim's twenty-five rejections. The words are different but all had the same meaning of rejection:"We've Seen This Before" "Too me, too" "Too close to an Internal Design" " Too expensive" "Too Many Costly Parts" "Won't Sell at the Right Price Point" "Marketing Won't Like It" "Doesn't Fit Our Marketing Strategy" "Not a Market We Want to Enter""Is This Legal?" "This Would Be a Safety Problem" "Not Cutting Edge" "Can't Put a License on It" "Won't Sell Enough to Justify TV" "That's the Dumbest Thing I've Ever See" "It's a Circus Novelty" "Too Confusing" "No Kid Would Do That" "No Play Pattern" "I Don't Get It" "Counter Intuitive"
If you are an inventor and wish to add what you've heard to this list of rejections email it to trmoodie@aol.com. Perhaps it will be included if he ever writes a country ballad.

Milton Bradley's Footprint

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Milton Bradley, the man, lived a long life in Springfield, MA. Today, if you had need to locate to that city and were in search of a downtown apartment, you might choose Stockbridge Court. By watching the rental facility's promo video, you would learn that the "distinctive apartments" were once a thriving industrial complex and the headquarters for the Milton Bradley Company. Such is the change of urban land use from a place producing board games, art materials (including the famous "No Roll Crayon) school furniture, and guillotine-like paper trimmers to the distinctive Stockbridge apartments in the heart of downtown Springfield. Indeed, the MB has had a long and storied place in western MA.

When I joined Milton Bradley in 1969, the company had already moved much of its manufacturing from what was known as Park Street (aka Stockbridge Court) to neighboring, suburban East Longmeadow. No longer hampered by "loft logistics" for work in process, production was done in a 1.1 million sq.ft. highly efficient and profitably run facility with a great mixture of several thousand humans and state-of-the-art machines. In the 70s, then CEO James J. Shea Jr. took great pride in running "a fully integrated manufacturing operation where product components came in Door 1 as raw materials and would go out Door 44 as finished goods packed in standardized shipping cartons". Along the way from start to finish, all those games were printed, mounted, die-cut, molded, assembled, inspected, and packed off within timed standards. Game components changed with the coming of Simon and other magical electronic games which diluted the "made in America" imprint to in some cases "packaged in America"-- with components from some distant sources in Singapore, Taiwan, or China.

The footprint of Milton Bradley Company" presence certainly remains in western Massachusetts today though some merely in bricks and mortar. In addition to the Stockbridge apartments, another tenant does business on the 26th floor of Baystate Tower (now known as Tower Square) which was the location of MB corporate office in the 70s. Later, those corporate offices were moved from the "tower"to a dedicated ground level building ultimately transitioned into an elementary school after Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley in 1985.

And what about that sprawling 1.1 million sq.ft. fully integrated manufacturing wonder today? Yes, it is still on the corner of Shaker and Denslow Rds. employing hundreds in East Longmeadow. If you ever happen to journey to Springfield, MA, perhaps to see the Basketball Hall of Fame, you might include a ten mile trip from the Hall for a drive-by view of the wondrous facility. The size of the plant might give hint to why James J. Shea Jr in days past gave an executive order to "make those games in America"! Will those days ever return? Perhaps. There's that old adage: "where there's a will, there's a way".

Attention Game Shoppers

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:31:00 +0000

When a new game candidate was considered for launch into mass market retail, two basic question were always asked of sales and marketing, "How many units will each of the top five accounts order?" And, will all accounts order X00,000 units annually where X=3, 4 or 5? Fair questions. Without strong sales forecasts, the numbers just wouldn't support attempts to launch a new SKU onto shelves at Walmart, Target, TRU, and K-Mart (today, the fifth account no longer exists). After all, those retail shelves are the display cases for mass-market consumer eyeballs to view games in the land of "doorbuster sales".
Very often good playing games failed to reach forecasts needed to be judged as having "hit" potential and were returned to inventors. Fortunately, now inventors with new and interesting games are getting the attention of consumer eyeballs not at retail but rather on digital internet displays. One example of such a display is a collection of games selected by Matthew Baldwin as worthwhile for gamers' playtime in themorningnews.com. It is safe to say, none of these games can be found on the shelves of the mass retailers. Potential consumers of any of these games will quite likely order from amazon.com, funagain.com, boardgamegeek.com, or other such e-commerce sites and not deal with a cashier in check out lanes at the mall. So, what does X = for the marketer in the ethernet arena?

Connecting the Dots

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Steve Jobs referenced "connecting the dots" in his now famous commencement speech at Stanford University on June 12, 2005. “Connect the dots” is now popularly used to mean serial clues/dots when properly connected foretell a calamitous event. Early in his career, inventor Dr. Howard Wexler found his own way to make a serial connection. After many months of seeking a unique game format, he realized that all games at that time were played on a horizontal plane. Wexler found a way to connect four circular disks or chips of like color onto a vertical plane and Connect 4 was born. Since its introduction by Milton Bradley in 1974, Wexler’s discovery has grown into a top game brand with Hasbro.
Coincidentally, in 1970, after receiving a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Howard joined Hasbro where he invented the very first developmental line of 17 infant toys, called “Your Baby”. This was a breakthrough line, since forty years ago, there were no toys for babies. All previously marketed playthings targeted pre-schoolers. Howard says that while he is best known for Connect 4, he is most proud that he was influential in introducing the world to infant toys.

Connect 4 and his baby toy line are not the only industry contributions originated by Howard Wexler. During his highly creative and productive career, he has personally invented and licensed over 120 toys and games. But as he admits, Connect 4 is his "Gone with the Wind" largely due to the worldwide acceptance of its fast yet challenging play. Since introduction of the original two-player version, Connect 4 has been marketed as a miniature "travel" edition (Connect 4 Fun on the Run), as a handheld LCD electronic form, as a computer game and most recently as a brand extension called Connect 4 Launchers. Through the years, Wexler has continued to actively assist Hasbro with designs.

Beyond his search for his next WOW! item, Howard has now extended his talents to philanthropic endeavors by helping young budding creative thinkers in two projects. He will direct an accredited course in Creativity at CCNY where students will learn creative thinking through invention of toys and games with the ultimate goal to license their creation to a company. Secondly, he will partner to lead a program in entrepreneurship at Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School called Toys by Teens where teenagers will be exposed to all aspects of running their own toy company.
Now as throughout his long career, Howard Wexler continues his passion for the hard work of invention knowing it requires days, weeks and months of deliberate, focused thinking. It begins with identifying a specific unmet niche in the marketplace through "connecting the dots" to the type of new toy or game that fills that niche. He’s done it over a hundred times in his career and will very likely do it again. Is there another Connect 4 coming?

Wexler meets Connect 4 sales reps in India.

A Celebrity in Our Biz

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:54:00 +0000

It's time to say goodbye to the old year and retrospect all the people, events, and accomplishments during the past 365 days which lead to selection of the Top "this", the Best "that", or the Worst "whatever". Thanks to Richard Gottlieb and the great job he does with Global Toy News, our industry now has the first annual "Global Toy News Person of the Year". Nice going, Richard, to initiate such an award. And certainly a well deserved congratulations to the energetic and creative recipient....http://tinyurl.com/6vb7ptr

Best Wishes to All in T & G World

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:23:00 +0000

Wishing everyone happy, peaceful, and wonderful holidays and a healthy and successful 2012. . May you find more time in the new year to: CONNECT, CREATE, ENJOY, EXERCISE, GOOF- OFF, HELP, LOVE, OBSERVE, PLAY, READ, or whatever floats your boat. I'm saying goodbye to 2011 and will be back atcha in 2012 after I SHOP, WRAP, ENJOY, ENTERTAIN, DRINK, LAUGH, AND BE MERRY!Best 2 U All, Ron W

No Reading Required

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:21:00 +0000

A common message on a toy package is "some assembly required". Those words may result in a parent needing a toolbox, an ability to read blueprints, and possess basic engineering skills before the "knocked down" parts assemble to be the plaything shown on the package. A notice of "no reading required" on a game package is the industry's signal to adults that young players need not know how to read cards, spinners, dice or boards to enjoy game play.

Reading in games, or more specifically, reading to comprehend rules may determine if consumers ever get to the intended play. With the short attention span of today's consumers, lowered reading levels, and desire for instant gratification, players want to open a box, set up the pieces, and get into play with minimal reference to rules. (Methinks this attitude is one contributor to the popularity of I-games where user friendly symbols and emoticons get players into the action without wading through a page or two of challenging verbiage.)

A rules intensive game like Monopoly was fortunate to appear on the market back when consumers were more patient and tech-less. It is common product acquisition belief that if Monopoly was introduced as a rules-laden board game today, it would likely not become a classic. Its longevity may partially be the result of what Mike Meyers, former Senior VP of R&D at Milton Bradley/Hasbro Games, dubbed the Rules Shepherds Theory. His contention was that one literate and patient person (the shepherd) reads the rules and then explains how to play to two or three other players. These players in turn pass known rules on to other new players, and familiarity grows exponentially through an oral history. Good shepherds, often parents or grandparents, bring the non-reading players into the game with some familiarity with the basic rules without reading all details of play.

Game inventors Tim Moodie and Richard Levy tried their own unique idea to make rules user friendly in a VCR game marketed by Mattel in 1992 called Wayne's World. Since the game already had the electronic medium, their thinking was to complement printed rules with a riveting audio-visual explanation of the rules right on the VCR with the box of components nearby. Their efforts to make the rules MRR (minimal reading required) may have touched on other comprehension issues that could be called SHR as in "some hearing required". Unfortunately, the short appearance of Wayne's World game on the market made it impossible to determine if consumers would more strongly embrace hearing rules rather than reading them. Check out this You Tube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=parXcDqvixQ to see an entertaining effort of one of the first audio-visual efforts to market a game with reduced rules reading.

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

This Dr. Is Always In!

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:15:00 +0000

Visits to a Dr. are often not pleasant: something ails, there's an injury, a general malaise. This is not true during any encounters with a unique Dr. who specializes in fun times, happy hours, and things playful. O.K., she is not an M.D. or even a D.D.S., but her unsurpassed knowledge and experience with playthings makes her a prominent figure in our world of toys and games. Stevanne Auerbach has certainly earned the highly respected and special title of Dr. Toy.

I became aware of Dr. Toy's expertise forty year ago in my early days with the Milton Bradley Company. Stevanne Auerbach was chosen to review the Company's product line for games with intrinsically educational as well as entertaining value. The selection was printed in a brochure for circulation to educators and general consumers. That piece was important to Milton Bradley since the Company prided itself on marketing games that were both fun and "Keys to Learning."

Dr. Toy's stature as an expert on play and playthings has grown immeasurably since those early MB days. Our industry boasts of thousands of new playthings launched each year, the majority targeting children. Dr. Toy knows which are safe, challenging, entertaining, and have suitable play value for specific ages. Much of that information has been online since 1995. The site provides company links, parent links, and posts by industry professionals who offer helpful insights on how the industry creates new playthings. Specific products are cited as recipients of the coveted "Dr. Toy's Best Products Awards". Over her long service to the industry, she has recognized over 5000 products be they classics, green, seasonal, or best values for the price. Her publications are must reads for anyone active in the toy and game business.

The devotion and efforts Dr. Toy has directed toward the industry as author, creator, advocate, and promotor of play makes her a real industry treasure. Visits to the Dr's website should be regular and frequent rather than the annual encounters with Drs. practicing more serious specialties.

www.stevanneauerbach.com

www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2011

www.drtoy.com/

Wish Upon a Star

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:36:00 +0000

The popular kiddie tale tells of Geppetto seeking the magical powers of a star with his wish. He knew he wanted a boy and with the infusion of some fairy dust and design alterations to iron out kinks and imperfections, he got his beloved Pinocchio. Toy and game companies use a form of wishing to make their dreams come true. They do not look to the heavens and wish for successful new products. They enlist the creative powers of professional toy and game inventors.

My partner, Leslie, and I attended a new conference segment of the terrific Chitag weekend where over twenty marketers presented their 2013 "wish lists" to inventors. During my own years in toy and game acquisition, the Company had changing views about circulating wish lists of annual new product desires .

At first, there was a rather open ended, less directed view to let external creative genius be free to invent without constraints. Hopefully, a new concept would come "out of left field", " be uniquely innovative, excite through whole new designs, and result in mega sales.

This "wish-less" approach morphed into more marketing based wish lists to guide inventor thinking. Wishes were defined for each product category with general specs so new concepts fit price points, themes, media licenses, demographics, and what was hot in pop culture. New concepts would then fit more tidily into Sales and Marketing plans for the retail climate. (BTW, even in this approach, the door was always left open to a big WOW! not hinted on any wish list!)

Today, I'm a firm wish list believer. Companies know best what they can develop, market, and sell in the current tech driven, highly competitive, retail constrained marketplace. When companies give inventors helpful guidelines for current wishes, they will get product concepts suited to their market strengths. That will be a whole lot more productive than using Geppetto's path of pinning wishes on a distant star. (And that's no fib!)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:00:00 +0000

An important part of a company's new toy and game acquisitions is trolling the professional inventing community in search of the proverbial "needle in a haystack". You know, the kind of "needle" that has a potentially TV promotable feature that will sell 500K pieces annually for an indeterminable number of years.

Chicago has long been a popular destination for such searches. It is something of an epicenter for toy invention. Many former in-house creatives went independent in the Windy City after Marvin Glass and Associates disbanded in late 1988. One such inventing house borne out of "broken Glass" was Lund and Company, headed by Bruce Lund.

My visits with Bruce were always filled with his unique, whimsical game concepts. Mixed with the work of playing his new product concepts was friendly social chatter. During a chat about sports, I learned Bruce was a Chicago baseball fan. How could I resist not telling him my true baseball story? Through pure fluke, on a summer day in 1960, wearing Cub uniform No.18, I actually pitched my 58 mph fastball in batting practice to the Cubbie pitchers from the mound at Wrigley Field !

Bruce processed this piece of personal trivia in a very creative way. Toward the end of my next visit, he announced that we would continue the meeting on a nearby Chicago Park District baseball diamond. Unbelievably, he had rented all the necessary baseball gear and enlisted his design team to be batters while he positioned himself as catcher. Apparently, he wanted to see if an aged arm weary acquisitions rep could throw anywhere near home plate 60 feet away. Thankfully, the toy gods let all the overage sandlot players escape without injury during our fun time.

Like me, Bruce never became an overpaid big league star in what the sports world insists calling baseball, "the national past time." Click on the Lund and Company link to see a few of the home runs they've hit in the toy world since our silly day on a Chicago baseball diamond. You can see their true talents have produced a long list of awards. Forget baseball; the Lund team is clearly in the major leagues of creating playthings to the delight of millions of kids.

www.lundandcompany.com

Awards: 2007 TOTY Winner Toy of the Year "TMX Elmo", 2007 TOTY Winner Preschool Toy of the Year "TMX Elmo", 2007 TOTY Nominee "Hydrogen Fuel Rocket", 2008 TOTY Nominee "TMX Friends", 2009 TOTY Nominee "Discovery Scanopedia" and more . . . www.GlobalToyNews.com

What's Your Favorite Game?

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:17:00 +0000

Everyone has a favorite game. One played incessantly with friends where one never tires of winning or losing so long as there are hours of entertaining play. Richard Levy was asked recently to identify his favorite game as run-up to contributing with other authors on a new book called Kobold Guide to Board Game Design. http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/kgbgd

What did he name out of the hundreds of games exposed to him over his long career? Parcheesi! Certainly not a technically enhanced game by today's standards but rather one that has been around for hundreds of years. In fact, it continues to be marketed currently by Winning Moves Games.

Here are Richard's thoughts on why Parcheesi is his favorite. http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/front-page10600.php By the way, my favorite classic board game when playing with grandsons Tommy, James, and family is Sorry. With that crew, the simplistic "move pawns on a path around the board" is transformed into a highly competitive, "take no prisoners", boisterous action game!

So what's your favorite game?

B There or B Square

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 21:22:00 +0000

There were silly, catchy sayings in the 50's like, "Be there or be square". Apparently, this was an appeal to be somewhere important or you were considered a "square"! Forwarding to 2011, the "there" is definitely, Chitag/TAGIE, November 17-20.

Mary Couzin, the grand creator of this top industry event, promises that this year will be bigger and better than ever. It has something for everyone who has any interest in the toy and game business.

Novice inventors will hear the essentials from in-house execs. Professional inventors will be exposed to the "new product wish lists" of active marketers. Product licensees will get to review new product opportunities from creative licensors. There will be a marque dinner to honor this year's industry "stars". And as a grand finale to something for everyone, consumers will meet face to face with the companies that supply playthings to the shelves of TRU, Target, Walmart, and specialty toy shops.

It is a REAL happening for all who have a stake in the vitality of the industry. So don't be "SQUARE", join me "THERE". See you later Alligators!

For all the information check with Mary Couzin, President, Chicago Toy and Game Group.
Chicago Toy and Game Fair - November 19 - 20 www.ChiTAG.com
Toy and Game Inventor Conference November 17 - 18 www.Tagie.net
The Toy and Game Inventor Awards November 18 www.TagieAwards.com
World's Largest Co-Op of Game Inventors www.DiscoverGames.com

Oops---OP

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:21:00 +0000

OP but soon to be D as in Digital

Sadly, The Toy and Game Inventors Handbook, once called "a bible for inventors", is now "OP", as in OUT OF PRINT. That means the end of hard copies. Fret not! Richard and I are exploring Plan B. We see this as an opportunity to leave the printed page and join the digital age. We are exploring e-publishing hoping for a new, popularly priced, digital" inventor bible". Stay tuned, toy and game inventors. there may soon be a new spiffy handbook coming for your Kindle, Nook, or IPad!

Beyond Board Games

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:17:00 +0000

When writing The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook, we asked eighty professional inventors about their creative careers. One question was, "Who inspired you to become an inventor?"
David Hoyt's answer to that question ensured a place in our published profiles and guaranteed that he would one day be a subject on my blog as well. That answer credited me as motivating him to continue as a "toy dreamer" even though he encountered many rejections and "nos" in efforts to license his ideas. (Thank you, David, but my job as VP, Inventor Relations was to cheer lead the company to the inventing community, critique ideas, soothe disappointed inventors, and worst of all--return rejected ideas.) Interestingly, Hoyt's answer went on to cite what the pros know, "Do not look at a "no" as a sign of failure but rather an opportunity to improve as an inventor as long as the faults are applied to future inventions."

And improve he has! He saw that game play can take many forms on a variety of media. Since those early rejections by Hasbro Games of more traditional game formats, Hoyt has successfully developed online games, mobile games, console games, newspaper games, instant lottery games, casino table games, video slot machines games and, of course, board and card games. Millions of players enjoy his syndicated daily games and puzzles found in many hundreds of newspapers around the world. He has seen his very popular JUMBLE "paper/pencil puzzles" published in some thirty books.

Along the way, David learned the value of partnering with other creatives to broaden possibilities of licensing game ideas. He partners with Jeff Knurek to expand the JUMBLE brand. He has co-produced SPLIT card and board games with inventor, Steve Flaherty and PICTURIFFIC with inventor, Jim Keifer. When seeing that media celebrity could drive some of his game play with consumers, Hoyt licensed one of the all time popular TV show hosts, Pat Sajak, for a line of his game designs.

Much of Hoyt's current focus has turned to social networking games. He is part of a team developing game titles for Facebook . PICTURIFFIC is now ready for release. Bringing his creativity and enthusiasm to this newest medium, Hoyt says, "Budgets are bigger, production value is bigger, the play is bigger, everything is bigger. Sometimes it feels more like the movie business than the game business."

Check out all his accomplishments.

http://igamebank.com/PDF/Hoyt%20Puzzles%20and%20Games%202011.pdf

Looking at all of David's successes since weathering my early rejections, I am flattered that some of my advice in some way contributed to his highly successful and productive career as Hoyt Interactive Media.

Summer Doldrums

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 16:37:00 +0000

A summer of climatic calamities . . .

It has been quite sometime since my last post. As we've turned the corner into September and look back several months, the Toy Dreamer clearly has been silent all summer. But as Bob Glaser, Publisher of Toys and Family Entertainment, aptly stated recently, "There's about six weeks or so during the summer that is historically the worst time for the toy industry. It's a phenomenon that occurs every year...." I'm going to use Bob's comment as the seasonal excuse for an absence of blog posts on Santa Doesn't Make Toys. And the "historic" summer doldrums have been further exasperated in New England by a series of climatic and geologic disruptions like tornado, earthquake, and hurricane. Oh well, enough for excuses. Welcome to autumn and a resumption of more regular blog posts on Santa Doesn't Make Toys.

. . . and a time to take cover !

Answer To Our Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Old inventors never die, they just reinvent themselves. This thought could not be more true than in the case of Charlie and Maria Girsch who ventured into new careers away from where they were originally ordained. As creators of new toys and games, they decided to seek the favors of the Toy Gods rather than offer blessings to the followers of the Church. Yes, it's true. Charlie, the ex-priest, and Maria an ex-nun, decided to apply their collective wit and wisdom to new playthings rather than spread the Word of the Almighty.

The Girsches came into the toy industry in the early 70's through a contact with Reynolds Guyer, who hired Charlie to help sell his ideas after Guyer's mega-successes with the Twister and Nerf concepts. In the 80's, Charlie and Maria took over Guyer's unsold ideas so that he could pursue other artistic interests. They soon hit with two breakthrough products: a playset for the bathtub called Tub Town and a wrist carrying case and launch pad for miniature cars called Wrist Racer.

One of their game creations won Germany's Children's Game of the Year in the 90's. It was during this time that I visited them regularly during Hasbro Games "inventor swings" to the Twin Cities where Charlie and Maria were cornerstones in the nineteen member creative community known as Elvenbasch. They did not crack into the Hasbro Game lineup with a new entry, but I gave them high marks for several memorable and unique game features like: being able to win a "trivia type" game without knowing anything; putting games on a never-before and yet-to-be-used popular medium; and designing a cool and very humorous spin on the classic shell game.

Continuing to use their creativity, Charlie and Maria did a slight change of course and went on to write a book about inventive thinking called, Fanning the Creative Spirit. That lead to the launch into the keynote speaking circuit, creativity workshop, and brainstorming business called Creativity Central. This venture took them down pathways a bit off new toy and game creation. Their workshops focused on training personnel in the art of finding inventive solutions at workplaces like Target, General Mills, 3M, Kraft Foods, and the YMCA.

Today, the Girsches are back in the play, learn, and activity world with a first-of-its-kind family networking application called FamZoom which will soon be available in Apple iTunes stores. FamZoom's tagline, "Invented by Grandparents," says it all: warm and fuzzy, safe and secure, fun and easy! Once again, the Girsches are channeling their creativity a bit away from just creation of new toys and games.

A new toy or game needs a mix of factors to be successful today. Coincidentally, those factors seem to start with the letter "P" as in Product features, Play value, Pricing, Packaging, Personality, Promotions, and PR. Knowing from whence the Girsches started their career journey, they could easily add another P as in Prayer.

Wide World of Toys and Games

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:53:00 +0000

Toy and game licensing contracts ask the question, what is the "territory" the licensor grants product marketing rights to the licensee? A worldwide or "all territories" deal is complex, but there are advantages to both parties. An inventor is often willing to give worldwide marketing rights to a single partner IF that marketer can produce, package, and ship a product to retail shelves in all corners of the globe. A global marketer must decide if the product that plays in Seattle will make it as successfully in Shanghai and Sydney. In my days with Milton Bradley and Hasbro, the entire globe was certainly our marketplace.

There are some classic toys and games recognized as global brands. That elite status often takes years to build. But my friend, Richard C. Levy, a globe-trotting game inventor and marketing maven has devised a campaign to generate interest in his new game, Coffee Talk, marketed by Pressman Toys. Coffee Talk was co-invented with former Hasbro Games Marketing VP, Gary Carlin. Shaaa-zam! The game has magically appeared in remote places in the world where there are no Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks shops. Talk about spreading the word for a product and getting it before international game players! Shown below, in the hands of various locals, is the unique Coffee Talk package looking just like a retail sack of coffee not filled with beans, but rather playing pieces for the new game! www.coffeetalkgame.com

Chess Playing Armenians

Mongolian & Yak

Just shown at Toy Fair 2011, Pressman ships the game mid-June in its distinctive coffee pouch package. Hey, if a word game can be a hit packaged in a simulated banana skin, why shouldn't a game like Coffee Talk hit the toy shelves looking like a sack of coffee? And after all this grassroots global exposure, you can bet there are already some deals for foreign language editions of the game. Game players worldwide await its arrival! To follow Coffee Talk around the world, and to become a fan, go to www.facebook.com/coffeetalkgame

Lijiang, China Youth

Over the Big Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 18:09:00 +0000

When we wrote The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook, Richard and I knew that toy invention was certainly a global enterprise. In fact, we had relationships with creators of some of the best selling toys and games in the USA that had originated in design studios in Europe, Japan, and Israel. But our schedule and publisher specs lead to a book that clearly was focused on professional inventors housed on the left side of the Atlantic and the right side of the Pacific. Though geographically specific, the publication did achieve our intentions to shine a light on the creators and creative process of new toys and games. In addition to profiling toy and game inventions of some eighty U.S. professionals, it gave a bit of industry history and many helpful how-to do and what-to-do tips to license ideas.

Today, thanks to Al Gore's invention and the Google internet highways, our Handbook can now be digitally updated, complemented, and expanded to a more global perspective of toy and game invention. An interesting site from "over the pond" I recently found can be accessed by going to http://ideasuploaded.com . Ideas Uploaded is written by Tara Roskell, a freelance graphic designer and aspiring inventor based in the UK. Ideas Uploaded is a blog where Tara shares everything she's learned about the invention process through her own journey as an inventor. The blog also contains interviews and podcasts with successful inventors from disparate locales.

Who knows? Perhaps some savvy author team will search the internet using key "invention" words and produce a hard copy publication entitled The Global Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook. Good luck with the challenge of doing such a new publication!

Old Faces, New Places @ NYC Toy Fair 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:28:00 +0000

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.

A Must Read Book

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:00:00 +0000

In today's wired world, there is no limit to information access. We are Twittered, Plaxoed, Facebooked, and Linkedin. Ask a question and the vast ethernet network is ready to respond. That is all well and good, but for my information I for one still look to the comfort and support of the expertise captured in a bound book originated by a known authority.

Hopefully, an inquisitive toy or game inventor sought the advice contained in The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook. (Always good to engage in a bit of self promotion). But for those inventors seeking to navigate the broader arena of consumer product licensing, there is an important new book by my co-author, Richard C. Levy. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cashing In On Your Inventions (Second Edition) is a must read all inclusive information compendium for any inventor's personal library.

How much time do you want to spend on Google sifting through a multitude of dubious sources in search of information related to defining, selling, protecting, and licensing ideas? If time is money, isn't a tell all tome of "turning an idea into a windfall" a truly invaluable resource at less than $20?

There are numerous sources for information on how to protect intellectual property, including free literature from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office. There are books on how to invent and sell inventions that are written by patent attorneys, IP managers and agents trolling for business. Most of these people are all hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas. Richard is a marketing dynamo who has co-created, co-developed and licensed hundreds of products that combined have generated $1 billion in global retail sales.

Where Richard's book excels is in its practical, down-to-earth, non-theoretical, real-life information on how to protect your wallet and bring your ideas to market. You are fortunate to be able to peek over Richard's shoulder as you turn the pages of this book and learn the secrets to his success.

Written in a crisp, energetic, insightful manner, this eye-opening book is crammed full of Richard's firsthand experiences that are enhanced through interviews with experts in disciplines ranging from prototyping and off-shore manufacturing to patents and trademarks. He reveals his personal strategies. He shares templates of licensing, option and hold confidential agreements that could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees.

So, if you are a serious inventor or designer who has licensed or wants to license original ideas to industry, you can benefit from this quintessential tool for turning ideas into money-spinners.

Simply put, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cashing In On Your Inventions (Second Edition) is an essential addition to any inventor's library and just plain fascinating reading.

Knowledge is power and this is one powerful source for any inventor who wants to sharpen all the important and related skills. Read, dream, invent--with an added edge! If there is one disappointment I have with this book, it is that I did not co-author it with Richard!

Forever Greg "The Inventor"

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:09:00 +0000

The Time: The dawn of microprocessors/electronics in the toy business.
The Mission: Put some magic into the Playskool line.
Good Fortune: To meet and work with an inventor team known as Hyman/Greenberg (or fondly called, Greg and Larry).

Nothing like a royalty check to make inventors smile.

The actual assignment "back then" was to redesign a clunky, mechanical action toy called "The Computer" that looked like something that would have made Fred Flintstone happy. Fortunately, the electronic consulting talents of Hyman/Greenberg were then part of the world of Milton Bradley/Playskool, and they used the power of microprocessors to bring lights, sounds, music and game play into a happy breakthrough playmate that was to become known as, Alphie the Robot. We could not imagine then that the efforts of the Playskool design team, Mike Meyers, Paul Lapidis and the wizardry of Hyman/Greenberg were actually creating a toy that would be successfully morphed for over 30+ years to Alphie 2010. (A sad page in the long history of Alphie was the all-too-soon passing of Greg's warm, funny, and talented partner, Larry "The Colonel" Greenberg.)

Little did I know when Greg's skills spawned the innards of Alphie that I was dealing with a true electronics genius, who fortunately for the industry, chose to focus his talents on creating new toys. Greg has proven that he is an inventor extraordinaire. No inventor I know can claim creation of more than 85 electronic toys that he has placed since licensing Alphie in 1978. And certainly no other inventor can claim a more entrepreneurial start than Greg, "The Inventor", who at age ten in New Rochelle, NY advertised to teach third and fourth graders about electricity in 12 one hour sessions. ( I would have participated in that 1957 offer, but I was already a year out of H.S. and living a great distance from NY.)

The beginning days of Greg, the Inventor

So many years after his flirtation with teaching electricity and invention, Greg Hyman reflects on his early interests in things mechanical and electrical with the question, "How many people can live the dreams they had back in the third grade and actually make money doing it?" The answer, most likely, is those creative minds that share Greg's idols, Thomas Alva Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, and Alexander Bell, and also have similar inventive skills.

What started in 1976 with Creative Playthings' Little Maestro Piano Organ and mushroomed with Alphie shortly after, Greg's creations and those he co-developed with others have added the proverbial "bells and whistles" to a long list of winners including See & Say Story Maker, Talking Barney, Tickle Me Elmo (and a whole host of Elmo extensions), Baby All Gone, Talking Handheld Monopoly, and on and on.

Greg has plenty of Elmo's in his world.

Like most inventors in the tough business of selling ideas, to get to the success level Greg has reached takes hundreds of models and renderings only to have some of the favorites end up as trophies on workshop shelves. He has ridden the roller coaster of toy creation very well by taking to heart the quote of his idol Thomas Edison, "Invention is 1 percent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration". "Greg, the Inventor" has given the industry a lot of great products, but no one knows better than he that it has not happened without a good deal of perspiration that started way back in his third grade.

All in the Family

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:38:00 +0000

It is every toy and game inventors dream to see a newly licensed product at Toy Fair. I lived that dream in '09 when Cadaco released my game, Quad*doku. Toy Fair '10 was dimmed a bit for me since I had no such dream...zip...nada. But it was still a vicariously pleasant time to see the new game co-developed by my wife, Leslie Lawrence, on the Haywire stand at Javits. And it was good news that a number of key trade buyers expressed interest in carrying Out Numbered during 4Q this year. We can only hope that buyer interest and comments in February translate to shelf space at holiday time.

It may be great where you are in a dream on center stage with a newly released product. But I can say that it's equally as great to see your life's No.1 associate live the dream. After all, "It's All in the Family" and the royalty checks hit the same mailbox. Good luck, Leslie! May you have a BIG winner!

A Lucky Man

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:45:00 +0000

When we wrote "The Toy and Game Inventors Handbook", we touched briefly on some families that founded or had significant impact on the growth of toy companies like the Hassenfelds, Pressmans and Sheas. There was an oversight I see now that should have been included. That is Les Berger for his founding and continuous involvement with Cardinal Industries.

Now, 66 years after Les (Laszlo) Berger used his knowledge of plastics to turn out Mah Jongg set, dominoes, poker chips and dice, the company, which has become one of the largest game manufacturers in the world, is still run under his influence and that of his wife, Sylvia. Son, Joel Berger, and son-in-law, Scott Canner, lead the sales efforts that each year sell Cardinal products into all national accounts. Daughter, Bonnie Canner, heads a robust and productive development program which every Toy Fair introduces attractive and highly salable additions to the Cardinal line. Together they have built the company to where it is today.

In some ways, Les Berger's story is the most compelling of toy company founders. He left his family in pre-war Hungary as a young man landing in the USA with little financial assets but with strong ingenuity, personal drive, and business acumen. Like any company hoping to sustain business, Les Berger changed his company's direction at key times expanding core products to include imported toys and licensed television shows and brands for the Cardinal game line. Today, those licenses include properties like Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Marvel, Fox's Glee and others found on a variety of Cardinal puzzles and games.

Les Berger and his wife remain active today in the business that he readily admits has given his family much happiness and success. His hope is that new generations of the Berger and Canner families will stay in the business he founded and has guided over a long career. He wrote a short book entitled, The Saga of a Lucky Man, which chronicles his travels leading up to and through his years in the toy business. With his 66 years in the industry, he may consider himself a lucky man, but the industry should consider itself lucky to have his family as a part of the toy and game industry.

Creative Factor at Toy Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Ron Weingartner) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:36:00 +0000

Promoting the session to Bob Fuhrer: inventor, agent, and strategist for Ken-Ken

My co-author, Richard Levy, and I did an encore of 2009 at the Creative Factor resource center this past Toy Fair on February 15. We were pleased to be part of a knowledgeable group of specialists brought together by Brett Klitsch and sponsored by the TIA to "focus attention of inventors and other creative professionals on the intricacies of working in the toy and game industry".

Explaining an intricacy of working in the Toy Industry

In this information age when one can stare at a monitor and be linked in various degrees of separation, the three day Creative Factor trumped digital texting and comments by putting high profile personalities and real experiences into the highly relevant sessions. There could be no substitute to hearing industry realities from such experts as Nancy Zwiers of Funosophy, Steve Zuloff of Can you Imagine Corp., Richard Gottlieb USA Toy Expert supreme, Stephanie Azzarone of Child's Play Communication and on and on. Hopefully, the TIA will make the series of topics available in recorded format as part of its continued commitment to the industry's creative sector.

Standing room only of hopeful inventors

No question the attendees at these sessions have dreams of participating in future Toy Fairs through hopefully licensing ideas so they can join the annual display of 100,000 products. And why not continue to try and create new products for the toy and game industry when this year's billing said there were "7000 products never before seen." With that kind of target to shoot for, it's a great incentive to generate a never before seen gidget or gadget? Who wouldn't want to be the originator of the Toy of The Year? Dream on.....