Out of the Toy Box

November 4, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

I, for some crazy reason, thought that kids were watching less television. What with so many distractions like the Internet, cell phones and video games, I assumed that television watching among children was in a steep decline. No more glossy stares; no more drool  and no more incoherence as they laid on the couch watching yet another cartoon show.

Wrong! Kids are watching more television than ever. At least that is what a New York Times article aptly entitled, “Children Watch More TV Than Ever” had to say: “Nielsen reported last week ...Read More

November 2, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (8)

I have written in the past about the enormous impact that toy inventors have on society. Toy inventions have a steady and prolonged impact on children and they can therefore help shape the future of the world.   Adults choose careers and even clothing styles based upon the toys they favored as children. (If you doubt this, take a minute to talk with an architect and ask them what they played with as children. I bet an Erector Set, Lego or some other construction toy will immediately and passionately be mentioned).

Reuben Klamer, this year’s Toy and Game Inventor Lifetime Achievement Award winner, has had such an...Read More

November 1, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Toy Nation needs to attract the best and the brightest if it is too grow and prosper.  That is why it was so great to read Sharon Diminco (CEO of Learning Express) state in a October 23, 2009 Daily News Tribune article that the Learning Express “…franchising model has been a magnet for bright entrepreneurs who were either forced out or decided to leave jobs at big companies. The store owners enjoy working for themselves for a change, and they become passionate ambassadors for the products.”

This comment was particularly pleasing to me as...Read More

October 29, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Soupy Sales died this week. He is survived by “Black Tooth,” “White Fang,” “Pookie the Lion” and a ton of “used to be” kids who loved his pie in the face sense of humor. 

Soupy, whose real name was Milton Supman, was born in North Carolina. According to Wikipedia, “Sales got his nickname from his family. His older brothers had been nicknamed "Hambone" and "Chicken Bone"; Milton was dubbed "Soup Bone," which was later shortened to "Soupy." Other sources say that it was simply a play on his last name. Whatever the cause, it was a somehow...Read More

October 27, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

First, let me be very clear.  I do not normally read the Luann comic strip.  

My eye was, however, caught by what seemed to me at least a surprisingly interesting puzzle idea for an enterprising puzzle company. 

So, we are going to go multimedia today.  Please look at the Luann comic strip which I have pasted below.  When doing so, I am going to ask you to only pay attention to the puzzle idea and not to the very, and I mean very, lame and not entirely intelligible bran muffin joke.  And ...Read More