Customer Reviews

The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Pitch, License, and Cash-In on Your Ideas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Being a game inventor for over 25 years, I felt like I was reading my biography as I read this book. It is totally honest about the chances of selling a game to a game company (I don't do toys). However, it is also valid as it relates the stories of inventors regarding the satisfaction and passion the we derive from the creative process. It is well written and enjoyable to read.

I wouldn't call myself an inventor by any stretch of imagination but I did come up with a new toy idea that has become a big hit via word of mouth. I wanted to submit it to some toy companies for review and had no idea how to do so. I purchased this book looking for direction on how to submit ideas, look for patent information, industry contacts, etc. This book offers it all. It has been a great resource for getting me started in some sort of direction and the amazing thing is one of the authors gives you his email address and was very responsive to my questions.

You can have track and a train, but without an engineer you're going nowhere. Richard and Ron are experienced engineers who take their readers on a diesel-powered trip through toy land, visiting all the way stations critical to the commercialization of playthings.
 
The currency of this book comes in the form of quotes from over 150 successful independent inventors, company executives, brokers, sales reps and others that power and drive the toy business. Nothing in the book is theoretical. It is based upon their hands-on, empirical experiences. It is state-of-the-art.
 
I have lots of great ideas. This book has already started to open up opportunities for me just as the railroads opened vast regions of our nation to settlement and trade.
 --Martin Brown, San Francisco, CA

The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook gave me instant erudition about the arcane world of marketing and licensing inventions. Thanks to this book I have more poise, confidence and a sense of security when I approach potential licensees.

Before you buy this book, get a few highlighters because you will want to mark all the gems of knowledge the authors unselfishly share with readers.

Roz
Harrisburg, PA

The authors take you into the innermost sanctum of the toy industry through colorful, informative interviews that span dozens of subject areas. The toy industry at its rip-roaring, zany, zappy best. All other books I have read about licensing concepts to toy companies pale when compared to this work. This is the book of record.

Joel, Danbury, CT

Though the title promises (and the book delivers) practical advise on getting your toy and/or game idea on store shelves, THE TOY AND GAME INVENTOR'S HANDBOOK is chock-full of fascinating background on how our favorite playthings came into existence. HIGHLY recommended!

I agree with another reviewer: the author's intent seemed to be to discourage the reader. Not that he shhould have been all rosey, but it was always down.

Also note: while the title says "toy and game" there is VERY VERY VERY little mention (much less, any info) about games. It's all about toys.

Written by industry veterans... even though a few years old, truly helpful support and fascinating reading! I so enjoyed this book.

As someone who just recently got into the game business, (I co-ivneted a game that will hit the shelves in 2009) I was anxious to get my hands on a book that could help me understand the industry on a number of different levls. This book did it for me.

It gave me a great deal of background on how the industry evolved and, in particular, it gave me a fascinating look at the blockbuster games from the last 50 or so years.

If you want a book you can pick up and put down and use as a handy reference, you'll enjoy The T&G Inventor's Handbook

Kevin Carroll, Author of Think Outside Your Blocks and Make Your Point!

After I read this book, I still had no idea where to start. All I would like to do is find a good company, that can make my toy. It is so hard to find any prototype companies without selling you hard. This book had lots of great history and idea's of other toy inventors that made it, but nothing that really helped me start from square one. This book just gives advice an old histroy of toys. Is there actually a book out there that can start you from square one, instead of feeding you toy history and other stuff I don't care to waste my time reading? No one ever talks about square one after you get an idea. What was the very first thing a toy inventor did with their idea? No sugar coding, just the very first thing to get it made?