The Industry’s 'Rock Stars’

Play is more than just fun, and toy and game inventors are more than just a cog in the wheel. As Playthings columnist Richard Gottlieb wrote after attending the first TAGIE Awards, he was struck by not only by the depth of talent in “Toy Nation” but by the outsize impact we as an industry have on the our culture, the economy and society.

I think we as an industry need to think of ourselves as being vital to the well-being of our society and place a higher value on the people that create the products we sell. We need to promote play and elevate inventors to celebrity status. If we don’t treat ourselves as important why should anyone else?

It didn’t take long for chefs to become celebrities, so I wouldn’t think it would take too long for toy and game inventors to become celebrities. For your business, think of the publicity that would result — and the volume of additional product sales that could drive.

We are an entertainment industry just like the movie, music, book, theater and restaurant industries. Why is it that our creative talent isn’t in the media and their names on the tip of everyone’s tongue? Tim Walsh, author and game inventor, rightly says, “If you sell a million books, you’re on the New York Times Bestseller List. If you sell a million CDs, you’re on the cover of Rolling Stone. If you create a toy or game that sells over 200 million copies, no one has heard of you.”

It can take just as long, or longer, to develop a toy or game as it does a book, a movie or a CD. As opposed to many other entertainment options, the result is an entertainment experience rich enough to be passed down to future generations. Why? Because toys touch people in an emotional way—and many of those emotions are timeless. There’s reason people collect toys on a large scale.

And as studies are beginning to show, play also has an effect on a child’s future. How many toys have helped shape the lives that followed? Think about doctor kits, chemistry sets, model airplanes and other playthings that in some way have helped point a child towards his or her eventual career.

Yet, if play is so very important, why are the people who help foster it—toy and game inventors—devalued in the media? A reporter for a major news magazine replied when I asked why the media didn’t write about toy and game inventors that “people didn’t care about them”—that they “weren’t any different from plumbers.” I’d argue that they are very different. Toy and game invention is a little invention, a little art, a little design and a little passion. The result is somewhat akin to a mass-market piece of art; a dream or idea put into a concrete form for everyone to enjoy.

In Europe, particularly Germany, products are often bought based on their inventor. For example, Klaus Teuber, creator of Settlers of Catan, has a following for his games the way John Grisham does for his books. Winning Germany’s prestigious Spiel des Jahre award means another 200,000 to 300,000 games sold there. I have been with inventors at the Essen Fair and experienced the adoration the people have for their inventors. I also experienced this on a smaller scale at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair when manufacturers held signings with inventors Peggy Brown, Garry Donner, Michael Steer and Aldric Saucier. People stood in line to get their autographs.

So, how do we go about promoting our inventors?

• Send your inventors on promotional tours at retailers that stock their creations.
• Send out press releases about your inventors and the stories behind how their products came about.
• Libraries are incorporating play into their activities and schools are using toys/games in their curriculum. Show schools, libraries and parents how your products can benefit kids—and send your inventors to schools, libraries and similar spaces to talk about what they do and to autograph their toys and games.
• Submit your inventor’s names for the Toy and Game Inventors of the Year [TAGIE] Awards and attend the event honoring them so the media will see their importance and write about our industry.

Someday I’d like to see a revision of the Coca-Cola commercial in which people sing I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony), but replace the word 'sing’ with 'play’. I’d like to see that version of the song stick in every head the way the original version did in mine. I want everyone who hears it to remember that we should all be playing together. We need to teach the world how important play is for society; part of how we can do that is by publicly acknowledging toy and game inventors’ contributions and promoting them as people who create entertainment experiences important and influential enough to be mentioned by name.