And on the subject of laughter, a personal favorite of mine, Marvin Glass says, “Humor is the greatest antidote to self righteousness, intolerance, bigotry, and other hallmarks of fascism, naziism, communism, colonialism, and all the isms that have plagued mankind.”
I would have enjoyed such a conversation with him. I couldn’t agree more. I have come to exactly those same conclusions, and it is often the subject of this blog, and much of my new book.
I am quite concerned about the rising prices of toys and how that will be accepted by the consumer. How will our industry and our business willl be impacted? Higher prices mean higher royalties for us., and that would be good. I've got my fingers crossed that that will be the case.
On the other hand, ( . . . she wore a glove. My mother used to love to finish the sentence when someone started to use this expression) perhaps higher prices will mean fewer units sold, and that would not be good. Fewer units sold, means less royalty, even on higher priced goods. It could be a wash, or not.
Perhaps higher costs to make toys may mean fewer technologies and mechanisms will be incorporated, resulting in a reduced demand for what we do, which is inventing new technologies and mechanisms. That would definitely impact royalties. Dang! I sure hope I am wrong about that.
Just yesterday another client described us as a 'great partner' that he and his company love to work with, and we try to be just that.
Another industry/client/colleague yesterday described our team as being fantastic with mechanisms. Based on TMX Elmo and many other things this team has done, I would say that is true. I have heard this same sentiment expressed by many others time after time, in different words.
So, we must be doing something right. Our goal is constant improvement - to keep getting better and better in all aspects of how we conduct our business, not just in building product, but in responding to clients, and being great collaborators and partners in every way.
We strive for excellence and constant improvement. Why do less?
We invite you to use us to help you be more successful.
I have been 25 years in the business of making business, personnel, and product decisions, using long-term and in-depth analysis, as well as instantaneous judgments. These many years of experience enable me to make rapid decisions and insightful evaluations. I do not intend to brag, but I believe that I am simply stating fact. Intentional thinking, experience, and thoughtful observation and analysis, lead to wisdom.
If you are a start-up toy company, a small company, or part of one of the majors, I believe that you will benefit profoundly from our sharing our wisdom with you.
I recall walking into a splashy new toy company several years ago and seeing no long-term future for them. They were all sizzle and no steak, and now they are no more. I see many toy companies that are doomed to struggle in the underbrush, barely surviving year to year, and I could help them if they would but ask. I believe that we could bring critical evaluation of what they are doing that works, and what they are doing that doesn't - fresh thinking and ideas that could lead to a greater magnitude of success.
I believe that the wisdom we have acquired over 25 years and more can be of enormous value to toy companies large and small. As a team we bring more than 100 years of toy industry experience. We can provide insight, fresh eyes, honest opinions and the unvarnished truths that cannot be had from in-house associates. We know mechanisms, we know electronics, we know how to develop scripting, imbue product with personality and play patterns, we know play value. We know technologies, and we know what has worked or not in the last 30 years.
We can contribute, not just as a purveyor of new product concepts, but as fresh eyes to help one survive, transform and grow, assuming a company is willing and able, and interested in change - and most are not, just as most people are not willing to change.
You want to be successful. We can help.
WE UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
Simple truth: Everything men do is to impress women.
With a degree in Botany and Zoology and as a lifelong naturalist, I view the world through the eyes of a biologist. My world view and understanding of human behavior, business, and all aspects of life is typically in terms of biological concepts.
A business is an organism that must compete with like organisms as well as different in order to feed itself and survive. Each employee, associate, whatever the name used, is like the leg of a caterpillar and must work in concert to propel the business forward in the never-ending search for food, or revenues in this case.
A friend once told me, "Everything men do is to impress women." Male Birds court and sing, male insects display and blink their lights, gorillas beat their chests and battle rivals, all in the name of attracting the female of their species.
We are just another creature in the greater scheme of things, not so unlike God's other creatures who live only to reproduce and carry on the species. We are ruled by passions, instincts, not just intellect. One of the most powerful primitive instincts, second only to survival, is the need to mate and ultimately reproduce. While there are exceptions to every rule, they do not negate the rules to which they are exceptions.
So yes, I do believe that men do everything they do, race cars, write books, go to work in their chosen field of endeavor, play sports, invent toys, create new technologies and write this blog, ultimately to impress women. No wonder women think men are such simple creatures.
