Posted November 3, 2009
Thank you, Julie Cooper.
I went to my very first Toy Fair in New York City in February of 1985. I was a bit disappointed that a game we had only recently shown to Milton Bradley, and had been scheduled to be at toy fair only weeks later, had since been dropped. Big High, Big Low.
Wandering the many showrooms, I encounterd toy legend Julie Cooper, of
Ideal Toy Company. He kindly asked how we were doing, as newly minted toy inventors on our own for the first time. I related our tale of woe and disappointment, ‘Close, but no cigar,’ a brush with fame, coulda' been a contender, but got knocked out in the first round. These were all
stories, mind you, about the fact that Milton Bradly loved our game only weeks ago, intended to bring it to Toy Fair, and then changed their corporate mind, dropping the item. (See recent blogs on the power of
stories and how they can be confused with fact.)
We were crestfallen, deeply discouraged and wondering about our ability to make it in this biz. Julie asked us, “You came close, didn’t you?” and we said yes. “You were on the right track, weren’t you?” and we admitted that we were. ”If you are on the right track, sooner or later you will be successful.” It made sense to me, and so we've kept at it these last 25 years since.
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