Out of the Toy Box

November 19, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

One of the joys in life is to, over a beer or something stronger, talk about the great” what if’s” of history. What if Joe Louis in his prime fought Muhammad Ali in his prime?   How would Babe Ruth fare if he were playing ball today? What if Negro League teams played major league teams back in the bad days of segregation?

Well we are going to have an opportunity to find out. The Strat-O-Matic Baseball people are bringing us a 103 card Negro League set. Now, those beer drinking guys and there more sober compatriots can sit around a board, throw the dice, compare the stats and pitch Negro League teams against any major league team in...Read More

November 17, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

 “If you don’t make failure acceptable, you can’t have original and unique.” That’s what Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former Walt Disney executive and now leader at Dream Works has to say in an excellent New York Times interview entitled: entitled: “The Benefit of a Boot Out the Door”

The toy industry has been being understandably cautious since the recession hit. This is, however, an industry that thrives on the new and different. Caution maybe a wise course for the short terms but a disaster in the long run....Read More

November 16, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

I continue to track the, at least to me, bizarre phenomenon of a steady decline in the world’s fertility. We are undergoing a totally unprecedented and history making shift in population growth…we are not replacing ourselves.

So, I just had to pick up the October 31^st – November 6 issue of The Economist. The picture on the cover depicting a baby in free fall and the words “Falling Fertility” demanded that I buy the issue. I am glad I did.

Here is the opening paragraph:

Sometime in the next few years (if it hasn’t happened already, the world will reach a milestone: half of humanity will be havi...Read More

November 12, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Scott Trayor of 360Kid offers a very nice piece of analysis of this year’s crop of “Must Have” toy lists. In a blog posting entitled, “Must Have Toy List Mashup,” Scott analyzes the various lists that have come out so far this year from Kmart, Toys R Us, Funfare Magazine and Time to Play.

Here is how Scott puts his findings:

·         A little more than half of the toys are technology-based

·         A little less than a quarte...Read More

November 11, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Smart Toy Fair attendees are going to take the time during this year’s event to hear Will Wright, the creator of the Sims, give a keynote speech on the topic: "The Evolution of Entertainment, A Toy's Place." Wright, the genius who created classics like Sim City (the biggest selling video game in history), The Sims and Spore is a seminal thinker and creator in the world of play.

Wright and Lane Merrifield, the creator of Club Penguin, are keynote speakers at Engage! Expo 2010, the virtual world, web-enabled toys, virtu...Read More