The game I want most:

…I apparently I can’t get it until spring.  I saw this item in the last 10 minutes of the show and fell in love.  The game’s inventor, David Hoyt, was signing cards with me at the Top Trumps booth earlier in the day and he showed me this product in the 30 seconds he had before meeting Mike Gray from Hasbro to play games for the evening.  It’s called Word Winder andi n this game you use Boggle-like rules to mark letters that form a word in hopes of creating a path from one side of the playing area to the other.  The board is made up of lots of 4×4 letter squares so you can organize them and reorganize them any way you’d like. I cannot wait to get my hands on this one!

Word Winder Stats:

not for sale yet (I hear Mid-March)

Some other games I liked (in no particular order):

Faux•Cabulary by Out of the Box

This is an odd, but fun word-creation party game.  One player draws a card with a definition like “The Synthetic Fur Used to Make Cold Weather Garments” and the other players select 3 dice at random.  The card is read and players roll their dice once and use the face-up word bits to create a word that best fits the definition.  You get results like “AfroPuffFuzz” and “SuperFunkGrub” and the card reader gets to select the winner.  As a quick side note, I played this game with some Mennonites at New York Toy Fair and we had a blast.

Faux•Cabulary Stats:

~$25, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Fat Brain Toys, mom & pop stores

3-7 players

20-30 minutes

Ages 13 and Up

Sutakku by Smirk & Dagger Games

Curt Covert, inventor of Sutakku, stopped me at the fair because he knows I have an affinity for push-your-luck dice games and he was dying to show me Sutakku.  It’s exactly that, a quick-playing, push-your-luck dice game and the goal of each turn is to create a high scoring stack for the highest point total after 5 rounds.   The general rule is to you roll 3 dice and select 2 of them to start or add to your stack.  You always have to stack numbers that are equal or higher than the number on the top of your stack.  There are bonus points for stacking on a 5 of 6 because you’re really pushing your luck and you score by multiplying the number on the top of the stack by the number of dice in the stack.  The one interesting catch is that the dice don’t have regular numbers on them, but instead symbols which I haven’t decided if I love or hate yet.  You don’t get the quick – OH YEA! after you have a good roll, but if your opponent has had one too many beers they might think they busted when they didn’t.  So the jury is still out on the art – but I like the big dice, they feel good to roll (dice game lovers will understand that comment).

Sutakku Stats:

~$25 Amazon.com, mom & pop stores for a location near you: CHECK HERE

1 or more players

15 minutes

Ages 14 and Up

Blindside by Talicor ~$30

Aparently this game sold out on Saturday and while I’m not a huge fan of abstract strategy, I get the appeal of this game.  It’s like checkers mixed with chess on crack.  The board is made up of a bunch of hexagons and each player (max 2) has 7 hexagon movers that have little arrow inserts which dictate how far and which direction it can move.  The goal is to attack your opponent by jumping or landing on them and then removing their arrow(s) which depleates their mobility.  When one player gets all of the arrows, they win.  The board can also change shape so I see the hours of fun this could provide for someone who really digs abstract strategy games.

Blindside Stats:

~$30, Specialty Retailers and Amazon.com

2 players

25-30 minutes (so I’m told)

Ages 10 and Up

Oversight by Griddly Games

I saw this game last ChiTag when it was still in prototype form (another reason ChiTag is so cool!) and this year it was for sale!  This is another abstract strategy but it’s definitely “lite” abstract strategy.  You have a board with 49 tiles (7 rows by 7 columns) and each player has colored coins and their goal is to get 4 in a row.  On their turn, players may either place one of their coins on any tile (the tile colors don’t matter – they’re just to distract you) or shift one of the rows of tiles that has an arrow next to it.  You shift a row by pushing one tile in either end and this shifts all of the tiles and any tokens that are on those tiles.  It’s definitely easier to learn than it is to explain in an article and has a similar feel to Gobblet or X-Ceter-O where it takes some thinking to win. (pic includes Reisa Schwartzman, Oversight inventor)

Oversight  Stats:

~$16-25 Specialty Retailers and Amazon.com (now) and Marbles Stores (next year)

2-4 players

5-20 minutes (depending on how many players and how good they are)

Ages 7 and Up

Doggy Doo by Goliath

It’s a game about a dog that poops a compound (think Play-Doh) and it makes funny noises as the poop is working its way through the dog.  That’s it, that’s all you need to know.  But if you want to know more, kids get to feed the dog a “treat” (the compound) and then they roll a die to see how many times they get to pump the leash (which moves the compound through the dog).  If the dog poops on your turn, you get to clean it up.  The first player to get 3 pieces of poop on their shovel wins.  Wow.

As a side note, this game came from Chicago invention firm Lund and Company (of TMX Elmo fame) and it was invented 15 years ago but didn’t find a home until Goliath picked it up in 2009.  To read more about the game’s history, click HERE.

Doggie Doo  Stats:

~$20 Toys ‘R Us, Walmart, Target, Amazon, AreYouGame.com and more

2-4 players

~10-15 minutes

Ages 4 and Up

Pick Me by Tree Toys, not for sale yet

Plastic Barbie-like arms in a cup?  Yea – I didn’t care what this game was about, it already had me laughing!  You use little guitars to flick picks into the cup of arms and if you get one to stick you win!

I should also mention that this game was so popular with people walking by that most of the parts for the sample that was out were stolen.  While that must mean they like it, shame on fair goers for depriving other gamers from testing this one out!

Pick Me Stats:

not for sale yet

Some other notable games I feel I must mention:

GameChanger by Identity Games

This game has been all over the news and they had a huge, popular booth – which was probably also the best-looking one at the fair!  If you haven’t heard about GameChanger, it’s a game board that you use with your iPad (yep, you plug it into the board).  So now your board game has sound, video and is interactive.  Right now it retails for $80 which is pricey, but the game board is like an extension of your ipad and it recognizes were your mover is on the board.  The starter kit has 2 games and I hear there are going to be more game “skins” in the future so hopefully you’ll get a lot of mileage out of the $80 starter kit. (Pic taken by GameChanger — mine was blurry!)

Pajaggle by Pajaggle Inc.

I heard that the Pajaggle people had a great show and their product will soon have a much greater distribution.  Congrats to them!  Pajaggle is like a far more complex version of Perfection, just without the popping mechanism and annoying ticking timer.  The pieces are extremely intricate which makes it a little harder to find their home space and some pieces even nest inside of others.  The game play is pretty straightforward, race another person or race against yourself – it does come with a timer.  There are some other little games but sadly a bunch of them require two sets or more to play and at $30 a pop it can get really expensive so fingers crossed that their greater distribution will bring the price down.  UPDATE: Additional piece packs will be available soon for $12.99.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/kim-vandenbroucke-game-inventor 

Okay, I’m tooting my horn right now and I think the article is pretty bad-ass.  BUT what I really want all of you to know that they contacted me via twitter (although I have no idea how they picked me) and a strong — or at least decent — social media presence can really help your brand (personal or products).  Food for thought on this Thanksgiving weekend.

I was hoping that after my 1-day whirlwind trip to GenCon in Indianapolis I would have this amazing recap article to write, but I have to say after spending an hour and forty-three minutes in the Will Call line to pick up my ticket, I was pretty miffed.  Given that my ONE-day pass set me back $50.88 (a 4-day pass costs $78.00 + fees, just FYI) standing in line for that long really soured the start of the event for me.  (The pic at right only shows a small portion of the long, LONG line.) Granted, later in the day I talked to people who were in line 3 hours and longer – so I really shouldn’t complain, but it was pretty well annoying.  There, I’ve vented…I will move on.

Some of you may wonder why I went to GenCon in the first place since I focus on mass market/mass-appeal products and steer clear of the German-style and roll-play games, which is really the GenCon target market.  It’s because I’d heard that in the past couple years the family gaming section got larger.  And it was nice.  They had a whole section dedicated to the more casual gamer off to one side of the main hall, but you did have to walk through hoards of costumed men and half-naked women to get there (how I managed to capture such a preppy bunch of people above is beyond me).  But once I made it over to that section, I got to visit with the lovely folks at Winning Moves, Out of the Box, Buffalo Games, Spin Master, Telestrations and a handful of others.  Just like at ChiTag you can play games at every booth and buy your favorites to take home.  A special added bonus for me – they were showing my NEW game High-Low RACK-O at the Winning Moves booth and the people playing looked like they were really enjoying it so that was nice. (they’re playing it in the pic below at right)

Overall I’d have to say that it was nice but not worth the money unless you’re into RPG and German-style games.  GenCon has pages and pages of events listed in their program and for the ticket price to be worth it, you really need to take advantage of those, which often come at an additional cost.  (and trust me – it looks like a TON of people do!)  For the casual gamer, I think that ChiTag has more booths, more events centered around mass-appeal games, the show sales are just as good and the tickets are WAY cheaper (like a quarter the price!)  Still, if you live near Indy it might be worth it to go on Sunday and get a “Family Fun” badge which will get 4 family members in for $28 or you can splurge and get the “Family Fun Pass” for $40 that also gets you 8 “generic event” tickets.  To find out more about the Sunday Family Fun events you can click HERE.  GenCon runs through Sunday, August 7.

To see more GenCon pictures, please visit The Game Aisle’s Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TheGameAisle 

Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to ASTRA this year, but my inventor friend Mary Jo Reutter (read about her games HERE) did and she was nice enough to share what’s great about the ASTRA show from an inventor’s perspective.  Quick background for anyone who doesn’t know ASTRA stands for American Specialty Toy Retailing Association and they’re the ones behind Neighborhood Toy Store Day which is Nov. 12th this year.  The ASTRA show is held in June every year, but unlike Toy Fair the location of the show bounces around the country.  So without anymore boring chatter from me, I’ll let Mary Jo take over…

As an inventor, I appreciate companies that do something extra to promote my games. And I am more than happy to help!  It’s a win-win-win situation.  Win #1 — The exhibitor (publisher) wins because they have something special to draw people into their booth, giving added value to the attendee’s experience.  Win #2 — The store owner / buyer wins because they can get an understanding of the game, enabling them to better explain, or better yet demonstrate it to their customer. I’ve been told this always contributes to more sales.  Plus they now have an interesting story to tell to their customers; “I met the inventor of this game.” Win #3 — the inventor wins because a few more units may be sold. We can be certain that the game is being described correctly. That means it’s less likely to die on the vine.  It takes a village to get a product to market!

I’m really happy to see several companies recognizing the value of including the inventor in the marketing process. At the Educational Insights booth, besides myself playing Buck Buck Moose (with some very competitive buyers),  Dan Acuff showed his clever word game KaBAM, and Riley Wilkenson showed Sneaky Snacky Squirrel (a runnaway hit).  At the ThinkFun booth,  Joyce Johnson was demonstrating her new game Cartoon-It.  At Shains was Colleen McCarthy Evans showing her new game What She Said.  There were probably others as well,  and I certainly don’t mean to leave them out.  Most of all, the hard working self-published inventors, who are the champions of their games, understand the value of a good hands-on demo.

Perhaps the best part of the show is how nice everyone is! The store owners, the reps, the people manning the booths, it’s just a good vibe all around. So, from this inventor’s perspective it was worth the time to come out to demo a new game.  And I admit, I still giggle and blush when I’m asked to autograph the box!

Now for my wish. I wish ASTRA would find a way to extend Game Night. I had the fortune to demo the Fancy Nancy Fabulous Fashionista Game, which is being published by Briarpatch.  It was an exciting evening (even though I spent most of the evening placing little cardboard dresses in a cardboard armoire), there were some great games and great game companies there, but I know not everyone was able to get in. As in everyday life, it sure would be nice for everyone to play — playing a game makes every day better!

You can find out more about Mary Jo Reutter at her website: YouBetchaInteractive.com

You can find out more about ASTRA at their website: ASTRA.org

1. How did you get started inventing games?

I started designing games before I realized that’s what I was doing. I was creative director for a new media company, and our big client was the California Science Center (museum of science and industry). One of my jobs was to find ways to get people to stop and look at interactive kiosks (the computer-based touch screen kind), and to want to learn about subjects they might otherwise think are boring —  like hazardous waste or carpooling. The best way to do this was to present the content as a simple game. That came very naturally to me, and with each project I took, I kept moving more and more towards anything related to games.

2. When you first got into the industry what surprised you the most?

How nice all the people are!

3. Being an inventor is tough, is there anything you wish you would have been told or is there something you wish you would have figured out sooner?

That would be a big list. Since I never worked inside any of the big game companies I had to figure out how things work from the outside. I did have some amazing encouragement early on that kept me going and helped me to slowly figure out the processes (which I’m still learning).  The trickiest to learn from the outside is the development cycle. Knowing which of my ideas to work on is probably the most difficult to figure out. As relationships build, I get more of an idea of what fits best for whom. I think I’m starting to catch on.

4. You’re a very prolific inventor, is there one game you’re most proud of?

That’s an interesting question. I’ve learned to let my babies go once they’re out of my hands – I don’t have an emotional attachment. I’m always willing to help out as much as I can through the development, but I happily step aside to let the companies do what they do best. One of the things that thrills me is when a company does great art! Sumo Ham Slam, Laundry Jumble and Buck Buck Moose are great examples of what art can do to make a game appealing. All three were very close to my original design, but the art took them way over the top.  It was also satisfying to work closely on the Flip-A-Longs series and I hope we’ll be doing more of those.  But I don’t have a single favorite.

5. What game do you wish you would have invented and why?

Taboo. And Apples to Apples. Both have brilliant, simple game mechanics. I love Taboo because they got the whole thing right. A great name that’s provocative yet descriptive. The logo was fantastic in it’s day, and still holds up. The game is fun for a wide variety of people, has great replayability and no person is made to feel foolish (which is perhaps even more true of Apples to Apples).  And I love Taboo’s little buzzer (every time it comes out of the box, at least one person has to demonstrate how well it works as a shaver) – I just love the chachkies that come with games.

6. How did you get your TAGIE award home?  Did you hold it in your lap the whole flight back?  And where do you keep your TAGIE award now?

Ha! Yes, I thought about wearing it around my neck or as a tiara, but it’s far too heavy. I didn’t have to go through that crazy new TSA scanner, or they would have pulled me aside for a more thorough frisking. It was surprisingly easy to get through security. I guess there have not been any airport threats-by-award…yet. Right now it’s front and center on my entertainment center in my living room. I’m just off to give it another polish now (and another pinch to my arm to make sure I’m not dreaming).

I’ll post part 2 later in the week where I will review some of Mary Jo’s games!

Monopoly turns 75 this year — well it sort of turns 75 this year.  There are “folk” versions of the game that exist which were handmade by people long before the credited inventor, Charles Darrow (below right), created his game.  One of these folk games was acquired by the Strong Museum this year.  (see the “Heap” folk game made by John Heap at right)  This creates some haziness to where Darrow got the idea for Monopoly and who really came up with it.  In recent years, most have started to credit Lizzie Maggie, a Maryland Quaker, who patented a very similar game called The Landlord’s Game in 1904.  The similarities of the two games are staggering as they both have the same number of spaces and “lots”/”properties,” Go to Jail corners, one railroad per side, a version of an electric and a water company and players buy properties from a bank-like entity and you pay rent to the owner of the property you land on.  (sounds like a knockoff to me)  But regardless of this inventor nastiness, there is one date that is crystal clear: December 31st, 1935 – the date the patent was issued for the Monopoly game we play today.

Putting aside my unsettling feeling regarding the origins of Monopoly, one part of the story I do enjoy is that Charles Darrow initially showed Monopoly to both Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers (now both part of Hasbro) and Parker Brothers REJECTED it.  Why?  They said it had “52 fundamental errors” including the complexity of play and the length of a game. (I think they might have been onto something with that second one.  It’s one of the main reasons I’m not really a fan of Monopoly, although I respect its place as an American icon.) Oddly enough, back in 1909 George Parker rejected Lizzie’s version of the game for being too complicated.  So essentially the game was rejected TWICE!

So what did Darrow do?  He did what a lot of inventors do today, he started self-producing the game and sold copies to local stores.  When Parker Brothers saw how well Monopoly was selling they realized that their initial views on the game might have been a little off and they reconsidered Darrow’s submission.  So in 1935, Parker Brothers started selling the game and in that first year they were selling around 20,000 a week for $2 each.  Not bad considering a loaf of bread was ~8¢ and the average cost of a new home was ~$3,450. Ironically, 1935 was also year that the first cans of beer went on sale so it looks like game nights just got more interesting.

I think we all know the rest of the story from here.  Monopoly is now played in upwards of 100 different countries and there are a zillion versions of the game, including the one that was released this year for the 75th anniversary: Monopoly Revolution (you know “the round one” that spent so much time in the media right around Toy Fair last year).  People either loved or HATED the round version of the game, but the funny thing is – it’s not the first Monopoly game to have a round board.  Charles Darrow handmade a couple copies before he pitched his game to Parker Brothers (at right).  Personally, I like the 4-sided version better but it’s interesting to see how things come full circle. (ha! terrible pun.)

I should also mention that there is a new movie out called Under the Boardwalk:The Monopoly Movie which delves into the world of competitive Monopoly.  It also talks more about the history of the game and it’s worldwide popularity; definitely an interesting flick for anyone who is a game industry buff.  You can find out more about that movie HERE.

Information for this article was from:

• The Story Behind Strong’s Folk Art Game, National Museum of Play’s Play Stuff Blog, HERE
• Monopoly’s 75th, Hasbro Press Release, HERE
• Monopolizing History (citing Phil Orbanes’ book: Monopoly: The World’s Most Famous Game—And How It Got That Way), The American Interest, HERE

Last Friday night was the annual TAGIE awards which honor the inventor side of the toy and game community whereas the Toy of the Year Awards (aka the TOTY Awards) held in February honors successful products and brands.  BIG DIFFERENCE  Always held in Chicago in conjunction with the Toy and Game Inventors Expo and the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, the TAGIEs were at the Museum of Science and Industry on Chicago’s south side.  It was amazing.  The “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” exhibit is there right now so it make the location selection extremely fitting.

I also managed to end up at a table full of great people which always makes these events more interesting.  At my table: Peggy Brown (2009 Game Inventor of the Year Winner), Richard Gottlieb (Global Toy News), Christopher Bensch (Curator at The Strong Museum), Nic Ricketts (Curator at The Strong Museum), Richard Gill (Inventor of Pictionary), Catherine McMillen-Gill (Top Trumps), Gina Minola (Playology), Tracy Dudkiewicz and her husband (TAP Marketing).  The evening was hosted by the ever-so-funny Tim Walsh whose movie Toyland I’ve mentioned before, and the keynote was given my Mike Hirtle of Hasbro.

But enough about that, let’s talk about the winners!

Excellence in Toy Design

Nominees: Paul Rago & David Small, David Fuhrer

Winner: Robert Croak (Inventor of Sillybandz)

*Presented by Russell Hornsby, 2009 winner

Excellence in Game Design

Nominees: Donald X. Vaccarino, Joe Wetherell

Winner: Mary Jo Reutter (Laundry Jumble and many other games)

*Presented by Peggy Brown, 2009 winner

**In pic at right, from L to R: Mary Jo Reutter, Mike Gray of Hasbro, Riley Wilkinson of Educational Insights, Peggy Brown, and Lisa Guili of Educational Insights

Rising Star Inventor

Nominees: Joe & Dave Herbert, Daryl Hannah & Hilary Shepard

Winner: Dominic Crapuchettes (Wits & Wagers and other games)

*Presented by Jack Degnan, 2009 winner

Young Inventor of the Year:

Nominees: Scottie Ballantyne, Ali Ryan

Winner: Kate Daniels

*Presented by Seth Calvin, 2009 winner and John Ratzenberger (of Cheers and Toy Story fame -he’s the pig, Hamm)

**In pic at right, from L to R: Tim Walsh who hosted the evening, Seth Calvin and John Ratzenberger.

Excellence in Character Creation: The Jim Henson Company

Presented by Jamie Kieffer of Learning Curve Brands which is only fitting as they have the license for the Dinosaur Train line of products.  Lisa Henson accepted the award and we got to watch a nice montage video.

Humanitarian Award: Alan Hassenfeld and Ellen Hassenfeld-Block

Ellen accepted the award on behalf of her and her brother who are descendants of the original Hassenfeld brothers (of HASBRO fame).  She told a lovely story about how when she was young she thought SHE had invented Mr. Potato Head because her and her brother sifted through their father’s briefcase and found the pieces.  Not knowing what to do with them, the took them to the kitchen and poked them into a summer squash (which they really didn’t want to have to eat).  It’s was a very cute speech and it’s great to see how many people within the industry do something — other than create happy memories with their products — to make this world a better place.  **Ellen is pictured at right.

In Memoriam: George Lerner

George Burtch of Hasbro and Julius Ellman, George’s business partner, presented the In Memoriam award honoring George Lerner the inventor of the iconic Mr. Potato Head.  For this portion of the evening they created a great video which included the history of Mr. Potato Head from his time as a prize in a cereal box to where he is today – Top Tater!

**Pictured at right, from L to R: George Burtch, Julius Ellman and one of his sons.

Lifetime Achievement: Eddy Goldfarb

Reuben Klamer, the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Honoree, and Bob Wann of Patch Products presented Eddy Goldfarb with the Lifetime Achievement award.  After deciding to be an inventor during the war, Eddy got his start here in Chicago before moving to California.  He talked about the start of his career and even shared (for the first time ever) that he sold the concept for Yakity Yak teeth outright for $2,500–which means he has gotten ZERO royalties on that product!  Unreal!  He also talked about how this “new technology called PLASTICS” changed his business and how when he was showing theVac-U-Form to Elliot Handler at Mattel it burned Elliot’s desk!  Eddy also talked about how no one wanted his bubble gun but he persisted, which was an important message in his speech.  He also gave advice to new/aspiring inventors, “Marry a guy or girl that has a JOB!”  Love it!

**Pictured above, Eddy Goldfarb giving acceptance speech with Bob Wann of Patch Products looking on.

This Saturday is not only National Gaming Day, but it’s also Neighborhood Toy Store Day!  So for all of you game-loving folks out there I’m sure that you can find lots of cool free stuff to do in your area.

National Gaming Day (taking place at YOUR local library)

Libraries across the country are going to be turning their focus from books to games this weekend!  Supported by the American Library Association, National Gaming Day encompasses all types of gaming – tabletop (the unplugged board/card variety), computer and video gaming.

Did you know that last year 1,365 libraries participated?  That’s close to 31,000 people! This year they’re expecting many, many more which means that a library near you is probably participating!  So grab some kids, friends whatever and head to your local library to play some games!  Most will have open gaming in addition to organized events like the nationwide Super Smash Bros Brawl and Rock Band Tournaments. And most will have a brand-spankin’ new copy of Wits & Wagers Family thanks to a generous donation of 1,500 games from North Star Games.   This awesome game was reviewed earlier this year, to read it CLICK HERE.  (The pictures are from the 2009 National Gaming Day event at the Skokie Public Library in Illinois and taken from their Flickr page.)

So after you hit up your local library for some games, food and fun you can head to your neighborhood toy store and find some more games and deals! Purchase games that you tried at your library – or just buy a copy of Scattergories Categories…it’s a fantastic new game (shameless plug.)

Neighborhood Toy Store Day

Run by ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailing Association) the goal of Neighborhood Toy Store Day is get people to shop local!  The independent toy/game stores, which I often refer to as “Mom & Pop Stores” provide a great deal of variety versus the same old stuff you see in the game aisle of your local Target, Toys ‘R Us or Wal-Mart.  Throughout the year these small retailers often host community events such as game nights, author signings, story time and all sorts of fun stuff and this weekend under the heading of Neighborhood Toy Store Day many of them will be hosting some of these special events!  Just a couple examples:

Sparks Toy & Hobby Shoppe, Smithfield, Rhode Island, SparksToys.com

Sparks (store picture from their website above) is holding a Grand Reopening and Neighborhood Toy Store celebration.  They’re hosting the fine folks from Fun Q Games who will be doing some game demos.  I definitely recommend their game Triplica which is a fun, easy, family card game in which you are attempting reach your secret goal of getting three of one of the symbols (x, square, circle, etc.) in a row.  There are typically 5 cards (depending on number of players) with three symbols on each in the center of the table.  On their turn, players place another card with three symbols on it from their hand on top of one of the cards already in play.  If you get three in a row, you call it out, earn one point and select another secret goal.  First player to 5 points wins.  There are also two other games that can be played with the Triplica cards one of which is a solitaire version. Triplica is one of those games that can ONLY be found at a specialty retailer (okay…and Amazon).  But now you see why you should visit your local game store?!  Triplica Stats can be found below.

Dancing Bear Toys and Gifts, Frederick, Maryland, PlayAtTheBear.com

Dancing Bear is going to be spending their Neighborhood Toy Store day helping out their neighbors!  For every $10 spent you get $1 back to put into the local charity jar of your choice.  They have six local charities to choose from all of which benefit local youth in their area.  And if you think about it, you could make this a double charity day and buy something to donate to Toys for Tots…just a thought. (picture is from their website)

Cat & Mouse Game Store, Chicago, Illinois, Cat-N-Mouse.com

My neighborhood game store is going to be demoing the games on ASTRA’s  “Best Toys for Kids” list, which includes Spot It by Blue Orange Games and Anomia by Anomia Press.  Plus they’re going to be having some game-themed contests where the winner gets a family game collection filled with cool stuff like a travel Gobblet, Fluxx, Anomia, 5 Second Rule and some brainteasers.  And like Dancing Bear, they’ll be doing a Shop and Share day for two neighborhood schools. (store picture is from their website)

To find out more or to find a Toy/Game Store in your area: http://neighborhoodtoystoreday.com/

To find out more about a National Gaming Day at a library in your area: http://ilovelibraries.org/gaming/

Triplica Stats:
$15 at Specialty Retailers and Amazon.com
1- 6 Players
~10-15 minutes
Ages 7 and Up

It’s the first week of November so that means we find out the voting results!  No, not of the latest political election (although I’d like to hear who won for governer of Illinois…still waiting…) but the results of which favorite toys and/or games were voted into the National Toy Hall of Fame!  This year’s winners: Playing Cards and The Game of Life.

Just a little bit of history about the National Toy Hall of Fame.  It was established in 1998 to recognize “toys that have inspired creative play and enjoyed popularity over a sustained period.”  In that first year, 10 toys and only 1 game were inducted into the hall of fame.  Can you guess the game?  Monopoly (of course)  Sadly, that was the only game voted in until checkers in 2003.  Okay, marbles was also inducted in 1998 and jacks in 2000, but I don’t really see them as a games as much as a “pastimes,” you can–and frequently do–play them solo. But feel free to disagree.

Overall, in the past 10+ years there have only been 4 games (+2 if you don’t agree about Jacks and Marbles) and 2 electronic gaming systems inducted into the National Hall of Fame, that is, until this year.  2010 was a huge year for games!  Playing cards AND The Game of Life, which coincidentally is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.  So that ups the total to 8-10 games and gaming systems and 36-38 toys, depending of course on where you stand on the jacks/marbles issue.  That’s not a lot.

Still, I hope this trend continues and we can call the next 10 years “The Decade of the Game” and we’ll see classics like Operation, Risk, Boggle, backgammon and some of this year’s losers have the doors to the Hall of Fame flung open and they’ll be welcomed to their rightful place beside the notable toys of the past and present!  Just think about it — NINE more years with two each year will triple the total we have now.  It will still leave us far below the total number of toys, but at least it will look respectable.

If you’d like to put your two cents in about whether or not jacks and/or marbles are games, leave a comment below.

If you’d like to nominate a game for next year’s Toy Hall of Fame induction, click HERE.

Last Thursday I went to see a screening of the documentary Toyland and I’m pretty sure the audience was completely aware until the end that the theatre was packed with notable inventors and industry executives! The movie was being shown as part of the Naperville Film Festival and because the Chicagoland area is a huge hub for toy and game invention a bunch of the stars of the movie attended including: Burt Meyer (the inventor of Lite Brite and much more), John Spinello (inventor of Operation), Mike Hirtle (Head of Product Acquisition at Hasbro), Peggy Brown (inventor of Q-Bitz and Backseat Drawing) and Toyland‘s main character and narrator, Tim Walsh (inventor of Blurt! and TriBond).  The movie went on to win Best Documentary and I HIGHLY recommend you get a copy and watch it.  The movie follows Tim Walsh through the process of trying to license his invention “Crazy Chins” while also interviewing some of the industry’s super-star inventors.  Now it’s my turn to interview the star of the show, Tim Walsh:

1. What made you take on this project?

The director, Ken Sons, bought my book Timeless Toys and thought that a film based on toy inventors could be a compelling documentary film. I, of course, jumped at the chance to sit down with Betty James, Eddy Goldfarb, Reyn Guyer, Burt Meyer and other legendary toy and game developers. They are so unknown and unappreciated. I also thought it would be really fun to pull back the curtain on a really fun segment of our industry and show people the struggles, triumphs and history behind toy inventing.

Above right is Tim Walsh signing a copy of his book Timeless Toys for John Spinello after the movie.

2. Which was your favorite or most memorable interview?

It’s impossible to pick just one. Hanging out with Betty James for a day was amazing. I am thankful for that time because she passed away before the film was completed. We dedicated Toyland to her. Burt Meyer took us up in his plane. John Spinello’s wife made us the best dinner any of us had ever tasted. Filming inside Big Monster Toys was a thrill. All the shoots were just awesome. It was a real privilege.

Above right is Tim Walsh, Betty James (developer of Slinky), and Ken Sons

3. Was there anything you wanted to include in the movie but got left on the cutting room floor?

Yes, we went to the Wiffle Ball factory in Shelton, CT and interviewed David A. Mullany and his sons, who now run the business. David was 13 years old in 1954 when he inspired his dad (David N. Mullany) to create the iconic ball. I personally LOVED Wiffle ball as a kid and it was a real thrill to talk with them and see Wiffle Balls being made, but Ken (the director) really thought that the film needed to come in at under 70 minutes and so we cut that entire segment. We plan to produce a deluxe DVD in the future with that deleted scene and some other goodies included.

4. What was your favorite childhood toy or game?

Wiffle Ball was right up there. I was a big Nerf football fan too, so talking with Reyn Guyer was cool. My earliest toy memory was playing with Play-Doh, so hanging out with Kay and Bob Zufall, who named that toy and inspired its creation, was awesome.

My favorite part of the evening (beyond the movie itself) was hearing Tim Walsh call Mike Hirtle “trailer trash” because he’s in the movie’s trailer.  See below.  Mike really does have the best line in the whole movie when he says “I love this business.” I couldn’t agree more!

To Buy Toyland: CLICK HERE

To Visit the Toyland Website: CLICK HERE

To Visit the Toyland Facebook Page: CLICK HERE