Blog March 2009
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Tuesday, 31 March 2009 06:21 |
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Posted March 31, 2009 On Discovery. Many of my friends at Hasbro have a distinct, edgy, self-deprecating sense of humor. I love it. But it wasn't until I visited there one time and encountered a barmaid at my hotel with the very same sense of humor. At that moment it occurred to me that this is a regional characteristic, a Rhode Island, or maybe just a Pawtucket, sense of humor. Who knew that a sense of humor, like an accent, could be regional? Maybe I discovered something. An accent is easy to document and categorize regionally, but I'm not sure how one would document and categorize a regional sense of humor. A question for sociologists, or ethno-humorologists, or whatever. I love the process of discovery. I am eternally hopeful that we will make discoveries in the process of our work. Whatever form it takes, wherever it occurs. To observe something, to create something, or perhaps to come to a realization that you feel no one else has ever observed or thought is a rare moment. I have such moments on occasion in the work we do, as well as in life. And, every so often I will hear someone else share a moment of discovery of their own. My friend Bill Breeze, from Hillsborough, North Carolina was prodigiously strong. As another strong friend of his put it, Bill and he were from a time “when men was men.” His friend once picked up a 1200lb section of railroad rail by himself, which normally takes ten men. He was even on the Tonight Show, Bill told me so. Bill was often used as a piece of heavy equipment when he was a young farm worker. He was by far the strongest man I ever knew, and when he died I was honored to speak at his funeral and share a few stories. There I met his cousin, also incredibly strong by nature, who once picked up the rear end of a pickup truck out of a ditch and set it back on the road. Now, these rural farmers never worked out or trained, as is so common today. They came about their strength by nature and hard work. While meeting this cousin of Bill's, my good friend David, Bill’s son, leaned in close and whispered in my ear, “He got six fingers on each hand, and six toes.” |
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Monday, 30 March 2009 06:02 |
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Posted March 30, 2009 "It’s just an idea . . ." I suspect that important ideas, ideas that have real impact such as the Panama canal, the interstate highway system, the human genome project, etc, have all been soundly criticized and even denounced or ridiculed. I cannot count the number of times I have been told something will not work, cannot be done, or is a waste of time, only to accomplish it. Indeed I have been guilty of that myself on countless occasions, critiquing the ideas of others or failing to believe something possible that I later found to be possible by dint of hard work and the suspension of disbelief. Everything starts with an idea, just a thought, delicate, ephemeral, like a bubble. Ideas, like tiny seeds, need fertile earth and nurturing to survive and grow. Good ideas, like seeds, can be remarkably tough and durable and sit waiting until conditions are favorable for growth. In fact, the test of a good idea may just be this waiting period. I find that I get infatuated with an idea. I liken it to seeing a pretty girl and falling ‘in love’ instantly, willing to sacrifice a knuckle to win her over. But then another comes along, and I instantly forget the first and fall into infatuation with this new one, and on and on. None of these infatuations should lead to marriage without much time passing and study of the individual to see if they are worth investing your life in. I, or we, fall in love with our own ideas just the same, and waiting can be a useful way to see how strong the infatuation with any one idea really is. We call it marinating. Let ideas sit awhile and marinate, and come back to them later when the infatuation has passed to see how much you truly love them. Everything starts with just an idea, a thought. Or as we like to say . . . “Imagination changes everything.” |
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Friday, 27 March 2009 08:13 |
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Posted March 27, 2009 " . . . It’s just a thought." How many times have I heard that, and how many times have I said it myself to deflect criticism of an idea? Thousands and thousands of times, no doubt. And what is the most common response to an idea or suggestion? It is to criticize or explain why it won’t work, can’t be done, or why you just don’t like it. It comes naturally to us. But the world is not built by critics. The world is created by people with ideas that other people think are stupid, crazy, impossible, or not worth anyone’s time. We are not entertained by movie critics, but by the movies that filmmakers spend their time, hard earned money, and sweat to make. To paraphrase a line from a Woody Allen movie, "Those who can, do . . . Those who can’t, criticize." I often wonder what the response was when the person whose idea it was to build the Eiffel Tower first shared his idea with others. Or the Suez canal, or putting a man on the moon, or any of the great achievements of Man. Everything begins with just a thought. Everything. |
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Thursday, 26 March 2009 06:59 |
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Posted March 26, 2009 On the Beginner's Mind - (Thank you, Mr. John Ruh) In our work, as John noted yesterday, we have to have the ‘Beginner's Mind,’ that innocent state of mind - a way of thinking and believing that all things possible. He was right. I had forgotten that term. The Beginner's Mind does not know what cannot be done, and thus all things become possible. Typically, as we age and learn we develop this acute sense of what can’t be done, what is impossible. We become clever, logical, and incisive in our thinking and we begin to start demonstrating to others how smart we are at perceiving what won’t work. Most all of the designers I have worked with over these last 25 years have been keen to explain to me why ideas I suggest will not or cannot work. I am always entertained by their explanations and often frustrated, I will admit. But of course, they are on the threshold of discovering the processes of invention. These processes make the unlikely possible, and on occasion, the impossible possible. But only if you can approach the work with the Beginner’s Mind. When we take on a project that we do not believe can work, we will always be right - and it won’t work. It is a tribute to the designers, inventors, and tinkerers who have been successful contributors to our team that they have been able set aside their inborn, natural critic to undertake projects without prejudgement of the likely outcome. In doing so, they are often surprised at what they accomplish. There is a special joy in making something that one didn’t think could be made, in doing something one didn’t believe could be done. We do that time and again because we are willing to believe all things possible with the innocence of thought, the absence of doubt, the suspension of disbelief . . . the Beginner's Mind. |
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 08:11 |
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Posted March 25, 2009 On inspiration. Sources of new product idea inspiration are all around us. Our (now cult classic) game Fireball lsland was inspired by 3D, vacformed maps that I envisioned as a game board when I first spied them in a catalog long ago. My mother was the inspiration for our game Escape the Blob, marketed by my good friend John Reynolds and his team at Spears games in the UK, back in the 90’s. Seventh grade science class was the source of inspiration for our Hydrogen Rocket, and the technology in VacMan came from a book on pneumatic structures. Hasbro inspired us to create Baby Sip n Slurp when they told us they weren't going to look at our products anymore if we didn't start showing them what they wanted to see. Inspiration can be pleasant or it can be painful. But it can always be useful. We read trade journals and catalogs and scour toy stores, hardware stores, and any and every place our daily lives take us. We walk miles of trade shows aisles, constantly looking for that spark, technology, or observation that we might translate into a new toy or game. As a biologist by training and having a lifelong fascination with the exquisite design details of plants and animals, I am often inspired by form and function from the natural world - the movement of a snake, the trunk of an elephant, the jump of a kangaroo. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is my friend Chuck, the BugMan. Subject of a yet to be released PBS special, “A Naturalist in Cannibal Land,” he has spent his life traveling the world collecting bugs of every type from the jungles of South America, Africa, Indonesia and more. He has created displays for the Smithsonian and other museums and is a regular each year at the Wisconsin State Fair. He has some amazing stories to tell. He brings us specimens of the most amazing bugs, beetles, butterflies and moths, flying frogs and lizards, spectacular mineral formations, and ancient fossils of creatures that lived long ago. These are breathtaking examples of design in nature. Our patented, multiple award winning Talking Electronic Microscope and Talking Electronic Telescope are examples of product inspired by the marvels the Bug Man has shared with us. And we are going to be producing a children's TV show pilot based on the wonders of nature. Stay tuned. Inspiration is everywhere. |
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 06:12 |
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Posted March 24th, 2009 On the meaning of life. I determined years ago that the meaning of life is to make a difference, a positive difference in the lives of others. Works for me. You may have a different answer. As humans, we have an innate desire to leave our footprint behind, some mark by which others will know we were here once upon a time. We hope to leave something of ourselves behind, children in many cases, or by the change we affected, the contribution to the world that we made. In my case it is the toys, games, and other products we invent and develop. I am reminded of my first mentor in the toy business, Harry Disko, now gone to greener pastures, but once Marvin Glass’s right hand man. He started on the bench as a model maker, legend has it, and on his first day found the shop too messy for his taste and took it upon himself to clean it. From that day on he made sure that the model shop stayed clean and neat, just the way he liked it. Keeping the shop clean was not his job, but Harry was one to mold the world around him to his liking, often to the benefit of everyone else. He ultimately took over managing the business for Marvin, allowing Marvin to be the flamboyant celebrity inventor loved by all, while Harry did the proverbial heavy lifting. Marvin would give out compliments and raises and Harry would come along behind and rescind the raises. The ‘atta-boys’ and kudos they got to keep. Marvin did the hiring. Harry did the firing. He didn't mind getting his hands dirty. He ran a tight ship. It was Harry that gave me my first and only real job. He believed in me enough to give me a chance, and that has made all the difference to me. Thank you, Harry, wherever you are. I hope Heaven is full of racetracks and raspberries. |
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Monday, 23 March 2009 06:16 |
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Posted March 23rd, 2009
Really, April is National Toy Invention Month. Please spread the word.
Now, Marvin Glass was almost comical in his eccentricities. He once got a good deal on a used Rolls Royce limousine, owned only recently by a Chicago mobster who was gunned down by his criminal brethren, and enjoyed being chauferred about town in it until it occurred to him that those who offed the former owner might recognize the car and think that perhaps their intended victim had survived. From that time on, Marvin always lay down in the back seat to avoid being seen, and not too long after sold the car.
Never one to be less than flamboyant, he once flew his partners down to Jamaica for an 'idea' session. On arrival he found he had forgotten his swim trunks, and had the presence of mind to call back to the office to have one of his people go to his Evanston house, fetch the trunks, and fly them down to Jamaica for him. Air travel was cheap in those days.
If you have stories to share about Marvin himself or the colorful history of his studio, please share. It is a part of our collective toy industry history.
In somewhat the same vein, a Milton Bradley Games associate told me he was once up in Canada, playing golf with one of the (fabulously wealthy and inebriated) inventors of Trivial Pursuit, an avid golfer who had bought his own golf course. On one hole this inventor hit a tree, fell to cursing and club throwing, and then somehow managed to hit that same tree again on his next swing. Then he got out his cell phone and started yelling. When they finally moved along to the next hole, the sounds of a chainsaw were heard as that tree was ‘made redundant,’ as they say in the UK. Ah, the things one can do with money. |
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Friday, 20 March 2009 06:04 |
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Posted March 20th, 2009 April is National Toy Invention Month (Actually, I just made that up.) But I do think it is a good idea. Chicago is the home of modern toy invention, as well where most of the enduring classics of the 50's , 60's, 70's, and beyond had their origins. So, most every toy has a story, some more interesting than others. Nerf Darts are an example. A simple little toy, like a mini stomp rocket - you pound on the bellows and the 6” foam rocket sails across the room. When it was first presented to Parker Brothers, who introduced Nerf foam toys to the market in the 70’s, the Parker Brothers representative opened his mouth in surprise, and the dart sailed right into his open maw. He bought it on the spot. Luck favors the prepared mind, or mouth. And 'Whoops!' the iconic (and most overused word in the toy industry today) Rubber Vomit, was created of latex and chunks of foam rubber. Marvin (Glass) hated it. He refused to show it, much to the consternation of the proud inventor. When the Chicago King of Novelty Toys, whose name escapes me in the mists of time, had come to the mountain to meet with the great guru of toys, Marvin Himself, the inventor burst into the conference room uninvited and threw it on the table in front of them. Marvin was shocked, but the client loved it, and then Marvin did, too. Sold! The rest is gag history. The classic game Operation started off as a gold mining game invented by a Chicago lad and entered into a contest sponsored by Marvin. The winner got $500, a tidy sum back then, and then a job at MGA. It was my good friend and mentor Mel at Milton Bradley that reportedly turned it into the zany medical-themed game we know as Operation. And Marvin Glass himself, there was a piece of work. Few like him, before or since. |
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Thursday, 19 March 2009 06:27 |
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Posted March 19th, 2009
March is Toy History Month - brought to you from Chicago, the home of modern toy invention.
As you might surmise, the toy industry has had its fair share of interesting personalities, and behind every successful company and every product there lies a story. You don’t have to be a lunatic to run a toy company, I have often said, but it helps.
One such personality was Marvin Glass, a pint-sized madman genius who founded the legendary Marvin Glass and Associates - the first, biggest, and greatest source of new toys in the history of the world. I don’t know what was in their water or what they were drinking or smoking back in the 60’s down on the first floor of the Alexandria Hotel (with the brothel upstairs). It is hard to explain otherwise the series of spectacularly timeless toys they created. I'm sorry I missed those days.
Marvin Glass was the invention source of Mr. Machine, dozens of hit games such as Rock em Sockem Robots, Mousetrap, Operation, Simon, classis toys and novelties such as Chatty Cathy, Rubber Vomit, Giant Sunglasses, and countless more. Entire websites are devoted to this history.
One of our first offices was in Chicago on Sunnyside at Ravenswood, sandwiched between the IC and the EL tracks. Love the name of that street. It conjures up happiness still. Our next door office neighbor and soon to become good friend Warren Landsman introduced himself on the day we moved in, and to my astonishment I learned that he was Marvin Glass’s next door neighbor in Evanston.
Warren was himself a war hero. He had tracked Rommel in the deserts of N. Africa on a modified Harley Davidson bike and single handedly brought in ninety Italian soldiers who had just had more than enough of this darn war and were ready for three squares a day in an American prisoner of war camp.
The stories of Marvin’s eccentricities are legend, and Warren could vouch for some of them firsthand. His second floor windows looked down onto Marvin’s backyard, the renowned location for Bacchanalian parties that have sadly gone out of fashion.
And each toy has its own story as well.
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 06:14 |
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Posted March 18th, 2009
Have you invented something today?
--Mark Lobmier
I have had the enormous pleasure of knowing many remarkable people in my life. Mr. Bill Breeze, the strongest man I have ever known, Kathleen McGuire, the woman without fear, (God rest their souls) and Stu Martell, creative genius. Each left an indelible imprint on my life, and no doubt on many others.
I have a good friend Mark who is remarkable in his wisdom. Wisdom is a quality not often found. I find that many, if not most people are so involved in their own lives or so firmly attached to their own opinions and pronouncements that they have little to offer others. On occasion you might find someone who can listen and comment on what they hear, and the result is a new insight on your own life. That would be Mark.
As an inventor I need to invent things because when we license our inventions we get paid only when they sell to retailers. But as a businessman I need to handle insurance issues, client contacts and sales, office/building and equipment issues, human resources issues, patents and other legal issues. In the course of a day, or week, or even a month, the key work of inventing stuff gets crowded out by all the other tasks demanding attention.
A question he asked me one day cut to the heart of what we are, what I do: “Have you invented something today?” That is the essence of what I do, the headwaters of our business. If I or we don’t invent something today, then all the other activities, legal, HR, Insurance, etc, are for naught. I need to keep reminding myself that I need to invent something today, and yesterday, and tomorrow. Just like in the Hokey Pokey song, “That’s what it’s all about!”
So Mark’s question has become our mantra, on my computer desktop, posted on the walls for all to see. It is the heart and soul, the essence, the headwaters of all our other activities. Have you invented something today?
Perhaps you have some essential task that needs to be done, above and beyond all else, yet it gets crowded out by the rest of life's competing tasks of a more urgent, yet less important nature.
What is it you really need to do today? |
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Monday, 16 March 2009 14:47 |
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Posted March 17th, 2009
Do one thing, and do it right. --Colonel Sanders
Michael Jordon was a sensational basketball player, but only so-so at baseball. Today we try to be great at one thing, rather than mediocre at many. It wasn’t always that way, however.
One thing that we do well is to investigate simple mechanical technologies. We explore and tinker with them, sometimes over a period of years, until we develop wholly new applications for something simple, inexpensive, and familiar to everyone. This is the Edisonian invention process, hands on playing with magnets, electrical components, pneumatics, gears and cams, sound, light and harmonics.
And, just between you and me, I believe that one day we will discover something big, something important, something that will have a use and application far beyond the toy industry. Who knows, but we may have already and not yet realized it.
Other times we have a known opportunity in mind, such as the next Tigger, or Elmo, or feature baby doll, or some other category of product. In this process we try to come up with a feature or action that would be perfect for that character, whether it's doing a cartwheel like Tumbletime Tigger, standing up from a seated or prone position like TMX Elmo, or jumping entirely off the ground like our Turbo Tail Tigger.
We have found what we are good at and we strive to get better at it every year, to become the best we can be. We endeavor to become . . . simply the best. |
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Monday, 16 March 2009 06:38 |
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Posted March 16, 2009 Sometimes you just get lucky. Of course, many people are not aware that luck requires a lot of work. You need to make sure you are at the right place at the right time to be its recipient. We were very lucky to be a part of the TMX Elmo phenomenon with the 10th anniversary of the now famous Tickle Me Elmo. But five years of invention and discovery, perspiration and inspiration prior to that prepared us for that good fortune. Good fortune favors the prepared mind. Much of our work involves trying to identify a mechanism, a technology, a phenomenon to investigate and explore and see what we can do with it and how it can be used. Every day, or at least every week, or hopefully every month, we hope to discover something truly new and exciting with a potential application in a range of products. Our hydrogen rocket technology is an example of one such discovery. And having developed the rocket, the H2 powered lawnmowers, power tools, etc over a period of years of R&D, prepared us to to be lucky enough to get an Army research grant. I often tell people, if they are interested, or even if they are not, that our business strategy boils down to being lucky. Each year, for 25 years and counting, we just manage to get lucky. But I guess it is all the hard work and hard thinking we do that prepares us for the good fortune that finds its way to our door. |
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Friday, 13 March 2009 06:19 |
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Posted March 13, 2009
Scratching my head and wondering what to write about. Each and every day we have to figure out what to do, what to make, and how to make it. No one puts in an order or a request, and I like that. I have had my own business since I graduated college, except for my five-year stint with the legendary toy invention firm Marvin Glass and Associates, and working there was much like being self employed. Our work as inventors is all speculative. We make what we want, and create what we will. Then we hope that someone will have a need for it and get excited enough about it to invest their hard earned millions in development, production, and promotion with the expectation of getting a return of millions on their investment in our idea. It is a crazy concept for a business, but somehow we make it work year after year. It requires a degree of irrational optimism of which I have an abundant supply. I hope we have something for one of you reading this that will make you tons of money when you bring it to market. |
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Thursday, 12 March 2009 06:04 |
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Posted March 12, 2009 You invented hydrogen powered what???
As toy designers, developing green, non-polluting hydrogen powered lawnmowers for the City of Chicago Park District seems a bit of a stretch. But when we redefined ourselves as Inventors, it opened up for us the nature of the work that we undertake.
The hydrogen powered lawnmowers for the Chicago Park District and the hydrogen powered Chopper custom bike are projects that I strongly believe need to be built by someone. And since no one else has done it and it needs to be done, and since we can do it, then I guess we will. Anyone want to help? We could use some financial assistance on these projects.
From toy rockets to lawnmowers, hydrogen powered power tools to RC cars, and more, our work in the area of low tech, high energy output hydrogen powered product has led us down some interesting paths. We are currently working on a non-lethal weapons system for the Department of Defense that will also be of interest to game wardens, law enforcement, and others who need to dissuade and discourage rather than wound or kill. Read Wired Magazine's take on this here.
I love this work. I can't think of anything else I might enjoy doing. I love the processes of exploration, tinkering, and discovery. Every day we undergo different challenges and opportunities. I hope that we can make a contribution to your life some day, if we haven’t already, through our efforts to create wonderful new products that inspire, excite, and delight.
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 06:25 |
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Posted March 11, 2009
Wandering around in the dark, we hope each day to discover something.
Years ago we wanted a new way to launch a toy car - a mechanism that utilized something other than a spring or motor. In an idea meeting we hit upon the idea of making Hydrogen gas out of water (H2O), igniting the gas to create an explosion, and thus launching a toy car. We built a quick rocket prototype in one day, and BOOM! we were astonished as we watched the world's first Hydrogen powered toy rocket soar high above our office parking lot and onto the roof of our next door neighbor. It was an exciting, Eureka! moment of discovery.
Our Hydrogen powered toy rocket was quickly licensed to the Estes Cox Corporation and has sold for years. This was the first toy, and possibly the first consumer product, to create and utilize Hydrogen as a power source.
For many years we have continued to explore how Hydrogen can be used, and the results have led us down many interesting paths. We have patented a Hydrogen powered lawnmower and worked with a major retailer and manufacturer of small engines to develop and commercialize this system.
We received 2nd place in a NASA sponsored technology contest. We have developed and patented Hydrogen powered tools and equipment and have worked with the Chicago Park District to use our non-polluting Hydrogen Powered lawnmower in Chicago’s extensive parks system. And you may yet read about our Hydrogen powered chopper at an upcoming biker rally. |
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Tuesday, 10 March 2009 06:53 |
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Posted March 10th, 2009
Persistence makes all things possible.
In our world of R & D (Research and Development) we come up with many stand-alone products such as our games Fireball Island and Dizzy Dryer, or dolls such as Baby Sip n Slurp, just to name a few. But we also engage in long term exploration of technologies that intrigue us and we believe have potential in toys. Researching a technology takes years, with many directions and applications explored.
Baby Go Boom, inspired by Billy the Bass, began a five year exploration of a motorized hinge mechanism that used in different ways, and in combination with other mechanisms led to many products that eventually came to market and many that did not, including Tumble Time Tigger, Get Up n Bounce Tigger, Hop Along Katie, and many others.
The culmination of our years of investigation into this simple hinge was the elegantly simple mechanism found in TMX Elmo and the TMX Friends Cookie and Ernie. It is primarily a simple, one-motor hinge that was capable of doing more than any comparable toy mechanism ever. And only our years of prior study would have prepared us to create this mechanism.
Overnight success takes twenty years. |
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Monday, 09 March 2009 07:17 |
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Posted March 9, 2009
Sorry, I’m late. Every clock in my house is set at a different time zone. Takes the slower members of society a bit more time to adjust to the time change.
On the issues of toy safety and the impossible new standards and deadlines recently imposed, on top of the current economic crisis, a voice of reason has spoken out. In a letter dated March 4, Representative John Dingell, Chairman Emeritus of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the author of the original 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act, sent a letter to the Consumer Product Safely Commission (which his bill founded in 1972) requesting that they reconsider the “unrealistic deadlines for rulemakings and compliance, as well as too little implementation discretion for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)." This from the man who authored them into existence. Read the full letter here.
In the finest example of the Socratic method I have ever had the pleasure to read, he questions the ability of the CPSC to implement the act. He questions the realistic danger posed by the presence of phlalates in the front fender of a youth ATV, or the small amount of lead added to the steel frame of an off road dirt bike to prevent rusting.
He questions the CPSC as to whether they are aware of the tremendous economic hardship that sudden and retroactive implementation of these new rules will have on small companies.
He urges us to add our comments to his, to support his call for a reevaluation of the implementation of these new rules. I urge you to do just that. Please let your voice join his, and mine. Kudos to you Representative Dingell. Thank you for being a voice of reason that needed to be heard.
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Friday, 06 March 2009 06:51 |
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Posted March 6, 2009 Everything I know is wrong. Allow me to explain.
Long ago I thought I knew everything worth knowing. And I thought I knew everything that I didn’t know, such as brain surgery, higher mathmatics, economics, etc. It was a great awakening for me to learn how little I knew, and how much I didn’t know that I didn’t even know that I didn’t know.
One of the great toy companies of the 70’s and 80’s made a famous dough product with a wonderful smell. They wouldn’t sell dough sets that made food items, however, as they didn’t want kids to eat them, or to suffer whatever legal issues might come of that.
Another aggressive, fast growing toy company of that era introduced their own dough line, and most of it was about molding fake food items out of dough. It was a hit, and the former company had to eat its proverbial lunch (probably made of doh as well). They held sacred that they shouldn’t and couldn’t mold foods out of dough, and they were wrong. They lost many millions in business as a result of ‘knowing’ something, and being wrong.
This same great toy company was a leader in R/C vehicles at the time and believed that kids wanted realistic vehicle performance, not crazy stunts. That very same aggressive up-and-coming toy company with the fake-food-dough then proceeded to introduce a wild action, crazy stunt R/C vehicle, and it was a hit. The former company got its head handed to it again. They thought they knew kids wanted real vehicle action, and they were wrong. And thus they were driven out of the R/C category.
Most everything I know or hold true will be proven wrong one day. Believing something doesn’t make it true. It is useful to question our basic assumptions, our sacred beliefs in business and in life.
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Thursday, 05 March 2009 07:12 |
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Posted March 5th, 2009
On games:
My definition of a game (since you asked) is “a machine for human interaction.” Whether by card, or die, ball or board, the activity of playing a game engenders, encourages, and creates the interpersonal communication we call fun. It's hard to define precisely what that is, but we know it when we see it or experience it ourselves. Fun is the magic that happens in the air between people, and above the actual game equipment.
We recently learned that our game Fireball Island, marketed in the late 80’s by Milton Bradley, is considered a cult classic, one of the best board games to come out of the 80’s, and the subject of at least two websites: www.fireballisland.net, and http://www.fireballisland.com/. Whaddaya know? I’ll be dogged. A cult classic.
This was one of the first products we did way back when we first started out. I use the royal ‘we,’ as it was pretty much just me working on it way back then. It was a hit in its day and has followers still. I was inspired by a 3-D distortion print, vacuformed map, and spent weeks, maybe even months in development. The end product prototype was very close to what was made, with a few exceptions. Instead of caves, we had a helicopter which flew from landing site to landing site on the island. My best friend Randy, may God rest his soul, was instrumental in suggesting changes that radically improved the game play. It is still an intensely fun game experience. Play Fireball Island if you get the chance.
And on the subject of games, I believe that game playing is a very important medium throught which kids, and by extension adults, learn about the concepts of fairness, competition, playing by the rules, the benefits of both graceful defeat and being a gracious winner, the consequences of cheating or other ill mannered behaviors, the pain of losing, and the joy of being a winner. Games teach us as children many important lessons not learned elsewhere, or otherwise.
Play games. It is an investment in fun. |
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Wednesday, 04 March 2009 10:16 |
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Posted March 4th, 2009
On doing the impossible.
We have learned that we can indeed do the impossible if we set aside our preconceived notion that some desireable end result is impossible. Setting aside that belief makes the impossible become possible. Sounds like circular, tautological logic, but it is a simple concept, and true.
When we worked with Fisher Price to develop the mechanism that became TMX Elmo they wanted us to add an arm action and to accomplish all the actions with only two motors. We were convinced that it was impossible, and would require at least three motor mechanisms. We believed that what they wanted could not be done.
But we set aside that disbelief, and went about the task of doing just that. It was not easy, and some spectacular teamwork was required between designer, model maker, and electronics expert to accomplish the task, but I believe the end result is one of the most elegant mechanisms ever utilized in a toy. It is one we are very proud of.
TMX Elmo, as you may know, sold more units in one day than any other toy in history, was 2007 Preschool and 2007 Overall Toy of the Year, and brought smiles and laughter to tens of millions of people, if not more. So we continue our work, seeking to do what others might think cannot be done. We love doing the impossible because we know if we do, no one will have done it before us, because they would have thought it impossible and not even attempted it.
We are pushing the envelope of mechanisms and mechanical technologies, and attempting to do things with age old phenomena that are entirely new to the world of toys. I love what we do. Different challenges every day. So hard that it seems impossible sometimes. And we love that.
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Tuesday, 03 March 2009 09:13 |
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Posted March 3rd, 2009
On doing the impossible.
Impossible is a concept and most often just someone’s opinion, rather than an ‘intersubjectively testifiable observation,’ aka, a fact. It is possible to accomplish the impossible once one believes something is in fact possible. Does that make sense? Believing something to be impossible makes it so. We choose to categorize certain things as impossible, and in doing so we make it true for us. Not for others, just for ourselves.
Conversely, setting aside one’s belief that something is impossible and acting as if it were possible, makes it possible. We once had a cartwheeling doll, and Fisher Price asked if it could be done as a plush animal - a Tigger character. We thought, "probably not," as the weight and thickness of the plush would interfere with the movement and it would not translate. But we gave it a try and our team made it work. The end result was Tumbletime Tigger - a very successful and award winning product.
Perfecting the mechanism was a big project and we encountered electronics problems that the designer on the project thought were impossible to solve. Because he was convinced it couldn’t be solved, he could not solve it. It took another electonics expert to solve that problem.
Once we had perfected the cartwheeling plush mechanism we breathed a great collective sigh of relief, enjoying a moment of triumph, until we were told by Fisher Price that the Tigger would have to do a cartwheel in the package - to be shelf demonstrable. Surely this was impossible.
Couldn’t be done unless the package was six feet long. No way. But if the product was to come to market, it would have to do a cartwheel in the box. We set about solving the problem, and with Tigger suspended in the box from a pivot on his back we made Tigger do a cartwheel, in the package. The end result was a breakthrough in on-shelf package design.
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Monday, 02 March 2009 12:54 |
Posted March 2, 2009
I was contemplating retiring some years back. Always figured I would return to leatherwork, and open a small shop in a little tourist or university town. I’d spend my days making beautiful, things of the finest leathers in the world, handbags, luggage, attaches, garments, sculpture. Or I could rent out boats and jetskis in Pompano Beach, and spend my days in shorts and a good tan.
But then it occurred to me that at this point in my career I am better now than I have ever been at what I do. More knowedgeable, and better connected, I know more people, and as a team our skills are more highly developed. We are inventing and developing better products than ever before.
This is not the time to quit. Now is the time to put the pedal to the metal, and put to use my gifts, knowledge and abilities to the greatest extent that I can, and to do the best work of my life, to the glory of God, and to the benefit of the world. My friend Reuben Klamer, inventor of the Game of Life, is still inventing at 87 years of age.
With persistence, and perspiration, over time, we improve at what we do. I am amazed every 5 years or so, when I look back and compare, to see how much better our products are now then only 5 years ago, and year by year we get constantly better. We have to, or we would be out of business.
At this stage of my life I am physically stronger than I have ever been. From years of weight training I am now lifting weights I would have never imagined, and setting personal bests almost weekly, when I really expected that the best I could do would be to maintain strength, not increase it. If we make constant improvement a goal, we will constantly improve. We can get better, faster, stronger, smarter at what we do if we strive to do that, and if we are to survive in business we have to.
And it is important to me to realize that it applies in my life as well. I can get healthier, stronger, more loving, better in my relationships with those around me. I don’t have to ever stop improving in each and every aspect of my life. One day back when I was thinking I was getting old, I was at the my local motorcycle dealership, and I met a rider who was 85. He had just stopped riding two-up with his wife. He was just beginning to think of getting a trike. To him I am just a kid. And so a kid I will be til I am 85.
Be the best you can be, and then keep getting better. You are not old til you’re dead. Go out each day and do the very best you can. And then do it again tomorrow. To do less is to waste the gift of life we have been given. |
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Bruce Lund, Founder
Lund and Company Invention, L.L.C.
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