Posted February 26, 2009

It is a spring-like day in Chicago as I write this, sun bright, sky blue, air a balmy 52.  Ah, and a young man’s thoughts turn to . . . playing hooky and getting the Harley out on the road before Winter whallops us again.

As mentioned in an earlier entry, at the recent Toy Fair in New York I crossed paths with my good friend Roger, formerly with Sweden’s Alga Games, and he gave me a photo he had taken many years ago in a visit to our offices on Rockwell St. in Chicago.  This is the very same Roger that once saved my life on my first trip to the Nuremberg Toy Fair years before.

Now it just so happened that Paul McCartney was visiting that day and Roger snapped this picture of him mugging with the “Kort Alphabet” card game we had licensed to Alga . . .



Well, not really.  That was me before I earned my gray hairs, but I was told many times back in the day that I bore a strong resemblance to Sir Paul.  Never was sure if that was a complement.  Behind me was our wall of fame - complete with VacMan, Dizzy Dryer, Lucky Loc and others.

Fast Forward a decade and more, and there I am giving Elmo some words of advice on life, love, and creating great toys.



When Elmo was on vacation recently, he stopped in Chicago - and you’re not gonna believe this, but one thing led to another, and through an unlikely string of events, Elmo ended up staying at our house one night.

In the course of the evening, over a couple beverages, we became fast friends.  We cooked up a mess of my favorite BugMan Chili™, some Allen Brothers steaks, and we all got along famously, even the kids and the dog liked him.  So it was great to see him again when I was in NYC and to get this pic snapped.  Shoulda got some pics of him at the house - maybe next time when he is passing through.

Well, that’s it for now.  Thought it was about time to add some pics, so enjoy.  And remember, if you wish to put a smile on someone's face, just give them a toy.

Posted February 25, 2009

In 1992 we changed our company name from Lund and Company, to Lund and Company Invention, L.L.C. to focus our collective mind on the fact that we are inventors, not designers, and that has resulted in our becoming better inventors.  We adopted as our mantra, or mission statement “We bring small things to life,” and in doing so we have in fact done more, and gotten better at just that.  Both are cases of looking where we wanted to go, and the change in our work followed naturally from that.  Intentionally stating what we were and wanted to be has helped us as a team to be far better at those things.

The toy industry can create its own such mantra, or mission statement.  It must be short, sweet, and powerful, and one that speaks of the creation and marketing of  great products that are safe and innovative, products, that inspire, delight, educate and otherwise enrich the lives of others. By creating that clear and powerful vision, and reminding themselves, and all its members of it constantly, the industry will become the kind of products we will be known for.

We can create in the mind of the public, that this is the kind of industry we are, and the kind of product we are dedicated to.  Each member company can put this pledge on all their packaging, like the Good Housekeeping Seal, and it will distinguish TIA toy companies from other toy marketers who do not subscribe to this high standard.  We can visualize ourselves as a great industry that creates great products that are important to children; and to our society as well.  And visualizing ourselves as great will make us greater - perhaps greater by far than we might ever believe possible.

Posted February 24, 2009

This is about the power of visualization and imagination in shaping our future: When riding a motorcycle, the bike will go where you are looking, whether you really want to go there or not. If you don’t keep your eyes on the road, your bike will wander off as well. Whatever mechanism causes this, the same goes for our businesses, as well as our lives.  Our life will follow where we look or will turn out how we visualize it.

Long ago I was in the leatherwork business, living in a little shotgun house in Durham, NC.  I was commuting to my workshop way out at the crossroads known as Frog Level, and then to my retail shop on Franklin St., in Chapel Hill.  I stumbled upon Victor Papanek’s books, Design for the Real World and was inspired to study product design as an avenue to becoming an inventor.  I wanted to invent things, though I didn’t know what, and I wanted my products to be sold, not just in Chapel Hill, but around the world.

Long story made short, I went to the Insitute of Design in Chicago, received my MS in industrial design, and by a miracle was hired by a toy invention company after I had almost given up my search for a job as a designer. I have made my living for 30 years as an inventor. And as I had long ago imagined, the products we create are sold around the world. I did not set out to create products that would be sold worldwide, but I imagined it, and it came true.

In many ways my life has become what I long ago imagined, without consciously working toward realizing those imagined outcomes.  I have seen, and I am proof that what we imagine is what will be.  So it is important that your imagining is in line with your desires in life, and not your fears, as those too can come true.

Posted February 23, 2009

The toy industry has given itself a black eye in the arena of safety and has mishandled the problem about as well as can be done. Toy companies, and by extension our industry, irritated the governments of China and the US and made the public suspicious of our good stewardship of the quality and safety of toys that we provide for their precious children.

Like the handling of the famous Tylenol scare long ago, industry leaders could have, should have stood up, admitted failures of oversight, shouldered the responsibility, rather than lay low, attempt to pass blame, or even act holier-than-thou in drawing comparisons between themselves and other companies.

As a result, all manner of restrictive legislation has been passed for which the industry and all in it will suffer. In their desire to appear as white knights to the rescue to their constituents, politicians have written and passed regulations that go beyond fair and reasonable - that are both punitive and verge on the ridiculous. Some of what is now prohibited would be humorous in its absurdity were it not for the fact that so many companies may be faced with bankruptcy as a result.

As I understand it, these laws are retroactive. These new standards apply to all toys, even those toys which met yesterday's standard and are already on the market. Ma and Pa stores, thrift shops, as well as major retailers are faced with the daunting, if not ruinous task of testing all toys on their shelves, removing and destroying any that do not pass, or face severe criminal penalties.

Logic has not prevailed. The consequences will not be significantly safer toys, but the loss of many jobs, closure of stores, and an increase in the cost of toys. Already, some reports indicate as many as 10,000 Chinese factories have closed, or will close by end of this year.

For decades the toy industry has been very attentive to the issues of safety. And mistakes and failures in oversight have occurred. By now many changes and improvements have been made, and a greater commitment still to consumer safety has been made by the Toy Industry of America (TIA) and virtually all the mass market toy companies. In the end, I hope reason will prevail alongside good safety standards and practices. I hope to be one voice of reason in striking this balance.

I would like to acknowlege the tireless efforts of Mr. Alan Hassenfeld of the Hasbro family, Mr. Danny Grossman of Wild Planet, and other members and staff of the TIA for their heroic work behind the scenes. The entire industry owes you a round of applause.

We are committed to creating great products that entertain, illuminate, inspire and delight. I hope we can work together one day, or in some way touch your life and leave a lasting positive impression.

Posted February 19, 2009

Toyfair in New York  is a wonderful time to connect with old friends and industry contacts, as well as make new ones.  I saw my friend Roger Gehrke, a Swede who speaks six languages fluently, maybe more, and never fails to remind me that he "saved my life" years ago on my first trip to the giant Nuremburg Germany toyfair.  Jammed tightly into the commuter train to the fair, I was lost in the city center train station, and he found me and let me follow him to the the show venue.  Designed by vaunted German engineers, the Nuremburg fairgrounds are an impossible maze of halls, utterly befuddling to my feeble mind to navigate easily.

As we clung to the pole, rocking side to side with the movement of the train, and squeezed close by the crowds of fellow communters, Roger turned to me and said, “Looks like someone lost their passport”  Looking down, it took a moment to recognize it as a passport, and then to recognize that it was in fact my passport.  Holy Mackeral!  Were it not for him I might still be in Germany trying to arrange passage back home to America.  Thank you Roger.  You are one of my heroes.

Did you know Sweden has fewer residents in the entire country than we have in the Chicagoland area?  Everyone must know everyone else in the entire country.

The mood of this show was positive.  Everyone realizes that these are tough times, and there are good times ahead.  Once we are through this year, prospects will surely be brighter.  The industry continues to be under pressure from dwindling retail outlets, and therefore fewer places for a company to offer their products to the consumer, as well as new safety regulations that will probably result in many businesses failing, retailers, manufacturers, and Chinese factories alike. In China, already thousands of toy factories have, or will soon close.

But enough about me, lets talk about you.  Any thoughts, or observations?  Any musing or questions that you might care to share?  Love to hear from you.  Anything I have shared of interest, or not so much. Can we talk?

Very best,

Bruce

Posted February 10, 2009

It was spring in Chicago this past Sunday and a great day to get out the motorcyle for the first time this year.   Ahhhhhhhh.  What a joy and a pleasure.  If you ride, you know what I mean, and if you don’t, it can’t be fully explained.  Like water and snow skiing, it is exhilarating and fills all your senses to the brim - “Blows the stink off you,” as my mother used to say.

I think the warm winds of spring, the sunshine and blue sky will make us all feel better, and give us a more positive perspective on the economy.  I know being out on the bike on a beautiful day has given me a more positive view today as I write this.

But back to the business of play.  Our team has put its nose to the grindstone over the last eight weeks and created some sensational products.  One project was largely completed last Friday, and using the metaphor (or is that a simile?) of my friend Ron Weingartner, the product ‘sings.’  That is to say, it is elegant, exquisite, it makes you smile, it grabs you by the proverbial short hair, and makes you go, "Oohhh, is that cute!"

Great products need to elicit some form of  visceral and instinctive response.  A great toy will do one of three things:

• Astound and amaze (the ‘Oh Wow!' factor)
• Make you laugh hysterically (a few chuckles won’t cut it)
• Grab your heartstrings, and make girls go ‘Ooooh.’ (I love it when they do that!)  Be achingly cute and adorable.

Our TMX Elmo did the first two.  It astounded and amazed, as well as made young and old laugh til they cried. A friend related a story of a woman he knew grieving from the recent loss of her husband. He watched as she took out her granddaugher's TMX Elmo to play with.  She explained that she often did that when she was feeling particularly sad, and that it always made her feel better. That is the power of laughter.

From watching others play with TMX Elmo I learned about the very real benefits of laughter. It has been proven to have real positive benefits on our health and well being.  Go out and make someone laugh today, and go ahead and have a good laugh or two yourself (just not at the expense of others). Laughter heals, restores and renews. Laughter does a body good. The world could use more laughter. Lots more. We are doing out part. “We bring laughter to life!”

Posted Feb 4, 2009

As noted earlier in the week, model rockets were a fascination for me when I was in Jr. High, and, I hate to admit, right through High School.  Other than playing tennis, designing, building and launching model rockets in the stillness of dawn with my friend Garyi was my true passion.  Many hours spent building and spray painting in my basement workshop.   And I have been a morning person ever since.

Mounting an M-80 in a rocket became a source of fascination, and many a sound sleep was disrupted by the overhead detonation and thunderclap of one of these childhood favorites.  Could’a lost an eye or a hand on more than one occasion, or ended up in some form of incarceration.  The Good Lord was watching over us.

All this rambling is by way of getting to the point that childhood playthings become instrumental in one’s adult work.  Toys are important, and can change the world.   Playing with rockets as a child inspired me to the work that I do today.  And our Hydrogen powered rocket system is one small example.  It is the first consumer product to utilize Hydrogen.  While it did not garner much media attention, it is an entirely new technology for hobby rockets, and for the toy industry overall.

This toy rocket creates Hydrogen and Oxygen from water (H2O), using D cell batteries.  When a spark ignites this mixture, they recombine into water, and instantaneously release the energy that was put into separating the gases initially.  This explosion will launch a toy rocket, or power an internal combustion engine.  We even won an award from NASA for our Hydrogen powered RC vehicle system.

Toys are important, and can change the world.  Just ask the Wright Brothers, or Frank Lloyd Wright.

Posted February 3, 2009

Mattel just reported dismal 4th Quarter sales results, and like every other company in America, they are cutting budgets and laying off workers.   Here at Lund we are battening the hatches because it feels as if we may be sailing into stormy waters ahead.  But we are not cutting staff, or cutting back.  Companies can cut expenses, but they can’t save their way out of a difficult business environment.

We have hired, and expanded the categories we work in, and intend to spend/invest our way through this current economic downdraft.  For Mattel, and others, innovation investment may be the best long term solution.  The toy industry needs to create great products, innovative and compelling products that people have to have, products that deliver great value once the consumers have spent their hard earned dollars.  I was contemplating a couple of licensed character toy concepts recently, and concluded that, as toys, they were crap.  Good for a chuckle, like a Gemmy-type animated novelty dancing hamster, catchy music, but zero real or enduring play value.

We endeavor to create great toys, with deep play value and multiple play patterns that engage the user again and again, to surprise, delight, and tickle their funny bone.   We work hard every day to create toys that are a great value, embodying new technologies, but also imbued with entirely new play patterns, humorous scripting and choreography of their movements.

And the consumer will buy and value great products.

And another thing….

I have almost gone out of business a couple times in our 25 year history, as a result of my own ineptitudes, as well as simultaneous failures of many companies that have licensed our products.   I was ready to shutter the doors, but instead, we put our collective heads down, resolved to make better toys, better ideas, and better executions of our concepts.

The result of getting our proverbial ass kicked was that we were forced to become better at what we do.  Today, we create product that is light years beyond what we were doing not so many years ago.  And to weather this storm, we will have to rededicate ourselves to inventing even better products, to being better at what we do, in every aspect of our business. 

The players of our industry, large and small, can answer this wake up call by dedicating themselves to creating better product, more compelling and innovative toys and games that the consumer must have, and will be well satisfied with once they get them home.  Difficult times like these can sharpen the blade.  The Chinese character for crisis is literally “opportunity riding the dangerous wind.”  In this very difficult business climate there is great opportunity for us to emerge better, stronger, faster, and create “must have” products that the consumer and user will delight in owning.   Good luck to us all.

Posted February 2, 2009

In our work inventing and developing toys, we are always hoping to discover something, or to accomplish something previously thought impossible.  Our process is often much like that of a scientific laboratory investigating new phenomenon.  At times it really is rocket science, especially the work we did on our Hydrogen Rocket System, and are currently doing on non-lethal projectile launchers for the Department of Defense.  More on that later.

Since High School I have been fascinated with the world of plants and animals, and the process of experimentation and discovery.  Like my 11th grade science fair project, using a movie camera, a telegraph key to depress the record button at one minute intervals, and the second hand of an alarm clock for the timer, I was able to do stop motion photos and movies of plants bending toward a light and in response to gravity.

With the help of a fellow student, Armand Ensanian and his Galvanograph, a scientific instrument which measured minute electrical impulses and made traces on a moving graph paper scroll, we were able to detect electrical signals in a plant in response to damage of its leaves by cutting or burning.  Beyond that, and beyond belief, we found that the plant exhibited similar electrical signals in response to bringing scissors or a flame close to its leaves, but not actually touching the plant or doing any damage. It was a Twilight Zone moment.  We may have been doing early research into what years later was published in a book, “The Secret Life of Plants.”

Posted February 1, 2009:

Back from Florida.  The Super Bowl partying was pretty quiet, but a good time was had by all.  Even before the first Super Bowl, football has been a passion of mine.  I played the backyard variety every afternoon and weekends each Fall, perfecting our plays and subterfuges, even playing on New Years day each year in the snow and ice.  I have the scars to prove it. 

Those years of play lot football paid off one day when as US Naval MidShipman we played on a water-soaked field, in a drenching downpour, against the enlisted men of our ship, DD822 Robert H McCard.  We were losing and it was late in the game, I told my fellow Midshipmen to give me the ball, and in succeeding runs and passing plays pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.  At least that’s the way I remember it.  

And another passion of mine that dates back to those school days was invention, scientific experimentation, and launching rockets.  A perfect background for the our business today of creating new technologies, and new applications of existing technologies, in the never-ending quest to create wonderful Toys and Games, to excite and delight all who encounter them.