A man and a woman from Idaho had an idea and little more than two nickels to rub together. It was an idea so outlandish, so big, that anyone with a lick of sense would discount it out of hand - my(short sighted and limited-in-imagination)self included.

          

This couple imagined the highways of America having solar panels incorporated into them so as to generate electricity and support the somewhat fragile national electric grid.

 

 

          

They envisioned roadways with LED lights embedded in them to become endless LED displays providing signage warning of accidents up ahead, changing lane markers, displaying speed limits, or moving traffic over and around roadside hazards.

          

With the University of Michigan as a partner to create a translucent roadway surface, and with the Department of Transportation funding them, the couple is now on the way to demonstrating the large-scale feasibility of this futuristic idea for highways of the future.

 

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Recently returned from my yearly motorcycle tour - a little jaunt around Lake Michigan. What is a motorcycle tour like, you might wonder?

          

Imagine sitting outdoors in a saddle for about 10 hours a day.

In the sun and the rain. Wind, heat, or maybe cold.         

And your chair vibrates a lot, a whole lot. Oh, and it roars.

And the air temperature is 60 degrees or less, or maybe it is 110 degrees.        

And you are being buffeted by winds of over 100 mph. (That would be a windchill of maybe -40 to -90 degrees F.)

And cars, motor-homes, and semi trucks are passing by you just a few feet away at 150 mph or more.

Oh, and every couple hours you get a few minutes to get up and walk about. Makes one tired by the end of the day.

Then go outside tomorrow and do it again, regardless of the weather.

 

That is the physical component of what a motorcycle tour is all about.

 

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700 miles in 110-degree heat? Just do it. Rain coming down sideways because the winds are so high? Put your head down and hang on tight. Persist. Just like in life. Just like in the toy business. 

            

On the road I never know where I will end up for the night, or even if I'll find a place at all. Unpredictable, like life and like business.

            

Put your head down, twist the throttle and put the miles behind you. "Miles to go before I sleep." Hour after hour, hundred miles after hundred miles, through wind and rain, heat and cold, bugs and traffic. Vibrated, buffeted by the bowwaves of semis and storm gusts, baked under a hot sun, or chilled by a cold wind.

            

Just keep going, see what you see along the way and see where you end up at the end of the day.

 

 

 

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Going on a long-distance motorcycle tour can be exhilarating and grueling at the same time. It is a metaphor for life and a metaphor for being in business. I have been going on long-distance bike trips for as long as I have had my business, 26 years and counting. 

            

Once a motorcycle trip is scheduled, I go rain or shine, hot weather or cold, windy or not. As it is unpredictable, you deal with the weather as it comes. When the day comes, you just ride. 

 

 

            

Jut like life and like running my business. There are good days, weeks, and months as well as bad.  

 

Ride the waves, ride the bull, hang onto the hand grips and just ride through it. 

 

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I was interviewed recently for a documentary series on one's calling.

 

 

Do you have a calling?

What have you been called to do in the world? To follow your calling may be one of the greatest gifts life has to offer.

          

I have a calling, one general, one specific. I have been given a strong, healthy body and a mind full of curiosity that loves the thrill of solving problems and overseeing the process of bringing new things into the world.

          

I believe it is our sacred duty to use our gifts to the greatest extent that we can. We are called to use ourselves until we use ourselves up, to the glory of God, to the greatest good of man, and because we owe it to ourselves to be the best we can be and to do the very best that we can do.

            

Do we deserve less? Do our world and fellow man deserve less than our best?

          

My calling is to work with talented colleagues to create marvelous things, and I derive great joy and satisfaction from that. I have been most fortunate to have found my calling after decades of searching for it.

 

Look for your calling if you have not yet found it. Follow your interests and what you do that brings you joy. Therein might lie your calling, awaiting you to find it.

          

I wish you every success.

 

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In our work of inventing and designing toys and games, we utilize what is described by some as the Edisonian approach to invention and development. It is a trial and error process; build it, test it, modify it, test it again, modify it, try it again, over and over until we get it to work satisfactorily.  

 

 

          

Then we try to license it, showing it to prospective client companies over and over sometimes over the course of years, until we sell it or give up. Actually, we never give up. Sometimes we license a concept a decade or more after it was first created. "You can run but you can’t hide" is one of our unexpressed mantras. 

          

As we develop our less-than-lethal-weapon-system, like a paintball gun on steroids, we have been beset with gremlins. With such a complex system, it is difficult to get to the desired end result using the trial and error approach that works so well in toy development. 

            

We have had to step back to the beginning and optimize one component at a time, making each one consistent in its performance. We are being scrupulous to change only one variable at a time so that we can be confident that we know the consequences of each change, and record carefully the results of each change and series of tests. That is the essence of the scientific method. 

            

While this is not our usual modus operandi, this is how it gets done when the complexity of the invention is beyond that of a typical toy. We have done a lot of hard thinking and analyzing of results and processes to come to this (obvious in hindsight) conclusion.

 

It appears to be working.

 

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One story of the Toy Trail was told to me by a long-time industry acquaintance and former Kenner sales rep. She told a story so good, that years later someone told her her very own story. It had gone out into the world, been told and retold, and came back to her once more. 

            

The moral of her story is to always tell the truth.  Her friend, a pilot flying big jets to Hong Kong and back, once acquired a lovely Rolex watch while he was there. It cost him thousands of US dollars, but he got it for far less than if he had purchased it in the US. It was a very nice watch. 

 

 

            

Coming back into the good ole US of A, he was asked by the customs officer if he had anything to declare. To avoid paying a hundred dollars duty he cleverly explained that he did buy his watch in Hong Kong, but that it was a cheap knock off and not a real Rolex at all. 

            

The customs officer asked if he could examine the watch. He took it behind the counter and put it in a little blue fabric bag and proceeded to smash it with a hammer. The nice new Rolex was totally destroyed. 

            

The officer explained, “We don’t allow conterfeit merchandise into the country.” For which we are grateful, but Ouch! 

            

As a reminder, the moral of this story is to always tell the truth. It is hard to go wrong with the truth. 

 

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Out on the trail we will encounter once again and renew relationships with many old friends and acquaintances, talented designers and inventors, industry execs, and interesting characters. 

            

You all have your stories to tell, brought back from toy fairs past, no doubt. Staying in deserted German castles or driving stick-shift rental cars in London and shifting with the left hand whilst driving on the wrong side of the road, perhaps. Pants stolen from your hotel room while staying in a New York Welfare Hotel, maybe? An unintentional mugging of New Yorkers by a mild mannered North of England Brit? Entire Bedouin tribes being assassinated, perhaps?

 

Those are just a sampling of my stories from the Toy Trail - I know you have some stories, too. Give 'em up. 

 

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Fast food fills the stomach,

Toys provide food for thought.

Airplanes transport people,

Toys inspired the creation of the first airplane.

Scientists make discoveries,

Toys inspire people to become scientists.

Wooden blocks lead to revolutionary new architecture.

Toys are a root cause of change.

Toys are a change agent,

Inspiring many who have changed our world.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Wright Brothers, and others.

I played with toys, did you?

I see the thread of connection between the toys

I played with and cherished and what I do today as an adult.

Chicken McNuggets make kids fat.

Playing with toys exercises the mind and body.

Toys are not cereal.

Toys are not fast food.

Toys are different.

Toys are important.

Toys matter.

Toys matter to children.

Children become adults.

Toys matter to our culture

Toys matter to the world

Toys change the world through those

Whom they influence, teach, and inspire.

 

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IBM was perfection once. Xerox, too, and Polaroid and Kodak. What happened?  

Google is perfection today. Microsoft is close. Tomorrow is another story. 

            

The toy industry was once dominated by Marx, Ideal, Topper, and others. Now they are all gone. Why? What happened? What can we learn from this changing of the guard, where formulas once perfect no longer compete successfully? Did these companies simply take their eyes off the ball, or was it something more?

            

I worked closely with the owner of a small toy company years ago. We were very successful together, and with success the owner began to have more money, and with more money he found more distractions - women, racing teams, etc. He took his eye off the ball - swing and a miss - OOB (Out Of Business).

            

I could see it coming, the bridge out up ahead, but I couldn’t do a thing to avert disaster. We lost many products that were on the market or in development. We lost a lot royalties owed to us. We spent too much money on bankruptcy attorneys.

 

 

 

Perfection is a worthy goal, albeit hard to attain. There is much to be gained from the effort, though. Long term survival in business most likely requires that one cleave to that goal. Keep your eye on the ball, or end up a dinosaur. 

 

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Perfection exists in the toy industry, as well. The Frisbee is absolute perfection, as is the top and the Yo-Yo in their many variations. The classic of yesteryear, Kenner's Super Sonic Powered Vehicles, approaches perfection. Indeed, many of the industry classics are so because they are quite simply perfection - functionally and aesthetically.

 

 

            

I know there are many others. Can you share some that you consider perfect? I would nominate our TMX Elmo, but that is just me, and I am not entirely objective.

 

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There have been althletes in most every field of athletic endeavor who have approached perfection. Thomas Edison did so as an inventor. Ghandi as a leader and human being. The Safe House in Milwaukee, the coolest restaurant bar in the world, is perfection. Not one thing could be done, improved, or removed to make it more perfect.

 

 

          

Chicago’s Arun's restaurant, a 5-star eatery, is Thai food perfection, and the 5 stars are a well-earned testament to that. Margie's Candies, a Chicago destination for sports stars, the Beatles when they visited our fair city, the Mayor and his guests, and even presidents, is another quite different form of perfection.

          

We can aspire to perfection, and in doing so stay on a path of constant improvement. Survival in business and success in life requires constant improvement. The quest for perfection yields worthwhile results, regardless of how short we may fall.

          

What have you seen, encountered, or even done yourself that approached perfection?

 

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I could go on and on, waxing on the eloquence, elegance, and perfection in the design of natural systems large and small, animal, plant, and otherwise. Many books and papers have been written on the subject since man first studied the world - so I won’t attempt to do so.

            

 

 

The world is full of functional beauty; the glorious and perfect beauty of nature. It is not a decorative beauty like a piece of art on the wall or a beautiful dress, but a beauty that arises from design solutions that ensure survival of the individual and of the species in a world of harsh competition.  

 

Like the toy business. Like every other business.

 

 

            

In nature there is perfection and an infinite variety in how things are designed to perfectly serve their function. We who create man-made things can certainly aspire to that perfection. It is rare to achieve, but not impossible.

 

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Few things in the world are perfect, and yet there are some. Not me, certainly, and I’m not sure about you. Those few examples of perfection can set an example to us all of what we might aspire to in our lives and in our work.

 

  

          

I am speaking of man made creations, however. In nature, every design is perfect for its purpose. That was my first fascination with design, the perfect design of living things, each to its own specific need. The maple seed and the dandelion seed are perfect examples of means of propagating the species. The hydraulic system spiders use for flexing their legs is perfection.

 

 

I collect bugs, rocks, skulls and skeletons - all manner of natural artifacts. I marvel at their variety and their perfection of design. Absolute perfection. The holes of the fragile shell of a sea urchin skeleton function to stop the propagation of cracks that might develop, protecting the integrity of the animal.

            

Like researchers in a scientific laboratory, the process of discovery does not lend itself to being done virtually, to my way of thinking. There is no alternative to building and testing, a cycle of experiments, modifications, and testing again and again.

            

 

 

I am reminded of this Edisonian invention process by a patent issued recently for our TMX Friends mechanism. It is a “mechanical mystery,” in the words of an industry executive. This mechanism does more with one motor than any other toy ever, and perhaps more than any product of any sort, ever. I myself can barely believe that it can do so many different things with only one motor.

 

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Invention and product development today is mostly done in a virtual space. Using computers, we can model and even test simulated 3-dimensional objects, mechanisms, and systems prior to building the real thing. Often the computer simulations and testing are so thorough as to eliminate the need for real world testing. 

 

 

            

Automobiles, for example, may now be designed entirely in the virtual world, and simulated wind tunnel testing can be performed virtually, aimed at improving the design's aerodynamic characteristics. This can be done so accurately that the real vehicle need never be tested in a real wind tunnel.  

            

This was not the case years ago, when real models required real wind tunnel testing. Then real modifications to the real model were made and another series of wind tunnel tests performed, and more modifications made to the model for further testing, and so on, and so on, ad nauseum. 

            

This was a very slow and iterative process that took place in the real world, unchanged since aerodynamics was first a part of car design considerations.

 

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Toys are far more than just P & L statements. Toys are much more than just container loads of goods. Toys are immensely more than just packaging and TV ad campaigns. At  their best, they can be the most cherished and loved possessions of a child’s life. Except for my motorcycles, those few favorite and treasured toys I had as a child are the most cherished possessions of my own life, still.

 

Toys have something almost sacred to them. They are like the Royal Crown Jewels of England, but even more precious and loads more fun. 

 

 

            

What about you? Were toys special in your life? Were they cherished and treasured by you as a child, and are they perhaps, still?

 

Toys are not like other consumer goods. The products we create in the toy business are meaningfully different from those made in other industries. They become the sacred relics of our childhood, and indeed of our lives. 

 

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I have watched him play day after day with several diecast vehicles of different scales. He lines them up in a row, side by side, he rolls them along, and he carries an armload of them around the house, clutched close like something precious - and to him they are. 

 

 

          

I have watched him play for hours upon hours with a large plastic dump truck of some sort - ramming it hundreds of times into the baseboards and anything else that won’t get out of its way. When he plays with that toy the dog is constantly on the move to stay out of the way. The trucks goes rocketing across the floor on its own, or it is pushed along at a recklessly high rate of speed, as if life itself depended on it. 

            

Toys are precious in the life of a child. As adults we often can't appreciate how precious these treasured toys are to a child. Or maybe we can if we just think back . . . 

 

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When did you last have the privilege of watching a child at play?

            

I have had the opportunity recently to watch a two year old boy playing with his toy cars. “MINE!” he yells emphatically as he holds an armful of them to his chest. It appears that he has just acquired the concept of ownership, and with his armful of toy cars he is rich. 

            

 

 

I have watched this little boy, Bartholomew Buckwaltersonburgsenski (not his real name), play hour upon hour and day after day with a cute little pull-back-wind-up car not much bigger than his fist. I never realized those were such great toys.

 

I am astonished at how much play value a simple toy can have. He pulls it back and watches it roll slowly forward on the floor, then on the arm of a chair, on the table where another person turns it around and sends it back, on the counter top to watch it roll off and fall to the ground, on the (very patient) dog, on the couch, back on the table, on the stereo, and on and on it goes. 

 

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There was a recent New York Times article on toy safety regulations - on the struggle and potentially devastating consequences of defining a children's product. Is a football a toy, or is it a general use item, as many adult play with them as well? Is a Halloween costume for children? The lines are blurry and the entire debate becomes a morass of conflicting opinions of what is and is not a children's product.

 

 

        

Take a deep breath, count to 10, and get ahold of yourself. I suggest the K.I.S.S. approach - a deceptively powerful rule of thumb for all aspects of human endeavor. "Keep It Simple, Stupid" or "Keep It Stupid Simple." Regulate only the offending products: magnetic construction sets, Polly-Pocket-sized dolls, and whatever else has been found to defy safety standards. Keep a close eye on only the offending companies.

 

Leave everyone and everything else alone. Keep It Stupidly Simple. The alternative leads to madness. It already has, and more madness will follow without benefit in kind. 

 

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I hate to say I told you so, but the efforts of Wal-mart and others to reduce the number of SKU’s, thereby reducing the variety of product offerings on the shelves, has not worked. (I told you so! Sorry, couldn’t help myself - I don’t get a chance to say that very often.)

            

Wal-mart has found that while customers like the clean look of Project Impact, they stopped shopping there, according to a recent article in Fortune. So they are putting products back on the shelves that had previously been dropped.  

          

 

 

We sure do hope that includes toys. There's nothing sadder than a little tiny toy department in a great big Wal-mart, with few choices to be had. Instead, it should be a world of toys, a toy destination for the consumer. If there is a toy to be had, then Wal-mart should have it. Perhaps, 'When you think toys, think Walmart'?

            

The consumers asked Wal-mart, “Where’s the beef?” and Wal-mart heard them. Let’s hope they heard “Where’s the toys?” as well. Wal-mart, my advice to you is   stock those shelves with toys!

 

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