Hi Anthony, thank you for exhibiting at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair this year and taking time to share your story with us. What do you do in our industry?I’m still wondering at what point I officially get to say I’m “in” the toy industry. Does somebody send me a badge?   Until then, I’m the founder and creative director of Stimeez, a character-driven inclusive play universe shaped by neurodivergent needs. I spend my days somewhere between character design, product development, packaging, manufacturing, marketing, fundraising, sales, and asking people with much more toy experience than me an exhausting number of questions.   Why and how did you get into the toy and game industry?I’m a designer and creative director by trade. I’ve spent my career building brand worlds for others across agency settings, in-house, and through my own independent practice.   When my nephews were diagnosed with autism last year, our family was thrust into this world of sensory and developmental play. We started buying them a ton of functional toys to help support their regulation—squishies, pop-its, textured spheres, you name it. The higher their toy pile grew, the more one thing stood out to me: functional toys have a personality problem. They serve a real purpose, but few offer the character and world-building that invite imaginative play and connection with the people around them. I wanted to give my nephews, and millions of kids like them, a brand universe where fun and function were built in from the start.   So at the ripe old age of 36—with no clinical expertise of my own and no toy industry contacts—I began turning down client work, finding collaborators with the expertise I lacked, and spending more and more of my time building Stimeez.   So what exactly are Stimeez? Stimeez are vibrant little intergalactic visitors from the planet Stimulon, each with its own personality, sensory identity, and way of experiencing the world. By Earth standards, they might be considered neurodivergent; on Stimulon, there is no “typical” kind of Stimeez. They’ve traveled far to help kids connect with themselves and one another.   In slightly less fantastical terms, Stimeez is an inclusive play universe. At its center are character toys, each with a sensory, emotional, or developmental purpose built in from the start. We want kids to encounter a toy first and discover its benefits through play, with no obvious seam between the two.     What are you working on now? We’re in the middle of launching Stimeez Emotion Explorers, our debut product line: six 2.5-inch tactile vinyl characters designed to help kids and their play partners navigate feelings together.   The toys are intentionally simple. The system behind them is what sets them apart. Each character represents a different level of emotional energy through expression, posture, color intensity, and surface finish. Most social-emotional learning tools rely on prescriptive associations, where a particular color or face represents a specific feeling (the red face is angry, the blue face is sad, etc). We leave Emotion Explorers open to interpretation. One kid might look at Kern, chin up and fists planted, and see proud. Another sees brave, or confident, or ready. Those are all right answers. Rather than giving kids an answer key, we give them room to decide what they see.   We've been getting great feedback from the clinical community and are excited to start bringing Emotion Explorers into real-world guided play. Right now the presale is live, safety testing is complete, and we're about to enter our first production run.   You started with no clinical expertise and no toy-industry contacts. How did you begin finding the right people? The short answer is that I got very comfortable saying, “I don’t know,” and reaching out to people who did.   My personal connection to autism didn’t make me an authority on autism or child development, so I reached out to a close friend who works in occupational therapy. She pointed me to a few people, who pointed me to a few people. Eventually that chain led me to Kevin Durney, a pediatric OT with a background in fine art. We hit it off right away, and from the earliest days of Stimeez, he has helped ground our products in how children actually play, regulate, and connect. Helen Rottier is an autistic researcher and disability advocate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman Center. She brings both research and lived experience to our conversations about representation, language, and the assumptions built into our designs.   As the ideas started feeling real, I discovered that Googling "how to manufacture a toy" only gets you so far. So I cold-emailed Mary Couzin, who connected me with Jeff Jones, an industry vet with 40+ years in toys and consumer products. Jeff became our fractional COO and has helped me navigate all the invisible machinery required to turn a pile of ideas into something you can actually make and sell.   I started without contacts, but people have been remarkably generous with what they know. Stimeez is better because I never pretended I could build it alone.   You spent most of your career in graphic design and creative direction. Looking back, what parts of that life were quietly preparing you to make toys? Design is about more than picking colors and making layouts. It teaches you to think in systems, to build the architecture that allows an idea to stay consistent as it grows and evolves. Creative direction taught me not to be afraid of the big, weird, funny, offbeat idea, and figuring out how to make it live across different formats. All of that maps surprisingly well to building a toy universe.   The clearest precursor was Little Creeps, a personal project I started more than a decade ago. I would draw a funny little monster, and a friend would give it a poem to describe its backstory. Over the years, I designed more than 200 characters.   Little Creeps became my creative laboratory. The characters became homemade figurines, apparel, paintings, public art, and even a 12-by-20-foot mural at 2 World Trade Center. Looking back, you could say it was the spiritual predecessor to Stimeez—the same character-building instinct, now with much more intention behind its personality, materials, function, and story.   Were you obsessed with any toys, games, or objects as a kid? I’m a ’90s kid, raised on cartoons, collectibles, and unapologetically offbeat character worlds. I had tons of Batman action figures and playsets from the era, plus a bottomless pit of Tech Decks, Mighty Max sets, Pogs, and Pokémon cards.   I was less obsessed with any one toy than with collecting itself: the hunt, the curation, and the way every new addition made the world feel a little bigger. I think that instinct found its way into Stimeez: creating a growing cast kids can collect, get to know, and use to invent stories of their own.   How do you go about creating new Stimeez characters? I’m very non-precious about the process. A half-doodled sketch on the back of a gas bill becomes a slightly less-doodled drawing on scrap paper before eventually making its way onto my iPad. Sometimes it starts with a silhouette or an expression. For the more interactive characters, it starts with a movement or a sensory experience I want a kid to have. Once the idea is far enough along, I start working with 3D designers and engineers. That's when my big ideas face the reality gauntlet of physics, safety requirements, and manufacturing.     You’re still really early in this journey. Any big wins so far?Every preorder is a win. Support from my own community means the world, but the ones from strangers still get me. A parent with whom my story and vision resonated. A clinician who wants to try Stimeez in her practice. A collector who just thinks the characters deserve shelf space. Every one of them bought a toy they haven't been able to hold yet, from a company that didn't exist a year ago. I don't take a single one for granted.   The headline moment came when Innovation DuPage and Autism Angels Group selected Stimeez as one of two companies from more than 650 applicants across 10 countries for their 2026 Neurodiversity Entrepreneurship Program. What an honor!     So Emotion Explorers are available for presale. Are there any other Stimeez making their way to Earth soon? We’re nearing the end of development on Stimeez Fidget Friends, our follow-up line of larger character toys with interactive mechanical and sensory features built into each one. They address another problem we kept encountering: kids don’t outgrow their sensory needs when they outgrow the toys designed to address them. Emotion Explorers introduce the world; Fidget Friends begin to show how much further it can go. We’re aiming to launch the collection in 2027.   So the big question: Have your nephews tested Emotion Explorers yet? They have! One of them is fascinated with lining things up, exploring them, and then biting down on them as hard as he possibly can (in no particular order). Emotion Explorers happen to lend themselves to all three.   The other is drawn to sensory play, which is exactly what Fidget Friends are built for. A lot of the features in that line came from watching how he plays. I can't wait to get early samples in his hands.   Getting to hand them a finished toy is still the coolest part of all this. Two kids who have no idea they inspired a toy company!   I’m lucky that… I have an incredible wife, family, group of friends, and team of collaborators who have taken this strange little idea seriously from the beginning. None of this happens without their support. Check out the Presale Follow Stimeez on Instagram

Hey Liam, hard to believe it’s been a year you became part of the Bloom Report team! For starters, why don’t you share what you do in our industry? I currently work as the digital marketing and communications specialist at the Toy Association. That means I handle setting up emails, web designs/updates and a variety of other tasks on the backend that help move things along. The work many of our readers will know me from is handling production on the Bloom Report, which I have been honored to work on for over a year now.    Why and how did you get into the toy and game industry? I believe the best way to describe it is a hobby turned passion, and a stroke of luck.    When I was in my late 20s I was helping care for my grandma and so I stayed close to home a ton. I wound up consuming a lot of comics, manga, anime, video games (god I wish I had the time to do that nowadays hahaha). I eventually decided to see what kind of figures were out there and was blown away by how far the industry had come. I found myself going down a rabbit hole researching different companies like GoodSmile, NECA, Bandai Namco (I could spend a paragraph just listing companies I’m obsessed with) as well as finding out about counterfeits and how to avoid getting duped by one.    Then in 2024, I had been working for another organization in California (remote work) for a good bit when I decided I wanted to change things up. That was when I saw an opportunity with the Toy Association had been posted and decided to go for it. It turns out my obsessive research into how companies secure things like facial likeness rights for figures made me a natural fit with my team.   What is it about the Toy and Game Industry that you love? Creative innovation. One of my favorite things is seeing how fair toys have come from just 1-2 decades ago. I’ll see comparisons between some of the original action figures for One Piece/Dragonball with the ones currently being made for SH. Figuarts (and other companies) and the engineering and sculpting that has gone into them is night and day. I love seeing new developments and designs. I love seeing that NECA is making stuff like Muppet Show action figures.     What are you still hoping to accomplish? A question I’m still figuring out the answer to. I think on the one hand, I’d love to create more art. Get back to drawing comics. But I have been a bit burnt out on creative stuff in my personal life so for now, with Fall approaching, I’d like to have a phenomenal stew recipe if possible. Maybe try my hand at soft boiling some eggs (Way harder than it seems).   Do you have a mantra that you live by? “If you stop learning, you stop living.” This is definitely a huge mantra I live by because I feel most alive when I’m working on something and figuring it out along the way. I was taught how to do home improvement projects from a young age and that sensation of something clicking and becoming a new tool in your belt never gets old. Whether it’s in cooking, art, comedy, or just composing emails, I love experimenting and trying to find new ways to achieve something exciting.   What keeps you up at night? Most often the position I’m sleeping in. Each night I have to fidget until I find an odd new position I find relaxing. The following night that position will probably not work.   Also probably what I’m gonna eat tomorrow. I tend to review my plan for the next day in my head as I fall asleep.   What has kept you motivated to stay in the toy industry? I wanna keep being around so many talented and passionate individuals. I think the thing that inspired me most is how driven and excited my team is. They rise to any challenge given to them with a smile and a laugh. It inspires me to work as hard as I possibly can to do right by them for choosing to have faith in me. Shout out to Isabel, Tanyoka, Maddie, Janis, Jenn, Mary, Adrienne, Kristin, Ahren and so many others.   If you look back at yourself 10 years ago is this where you thought you’d be? Where did you think you’d be? What changed? What went right? I think 10 years ago I thought I’d be doing more comedy. It was 2016, and I was finishing college and actually got to open for John Mulaney at this big event at my school. I was doing a ton of stand up back then.    Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) was a huge thing and people were getting shows from that. You would hear people say they’re doing a show on some platform like Seeso or Quibi and just nod along thinking “Hey maybe someday.” Eventually a lot of that stuff fell through and the show biz industry is in a much different place. Not to mention going through a pandemic and taking care of family shortly after graduating.   At the same time though, I succeeded in some ways and changed in others. To quote Deborah Vance from Hacks “This was my dream, and I'm so happy I got it. But the dream changed, and so did I.” (Part of me would like to just get up and perform again in the future, so who knows).   What was your favorite project to date? I think it has to be Bloom Report because it’s both this massive pillar of history for the industry, and where I can do some of my more creative work. I also love getting the chance to get as much info about what’s happening in the industry as possible. I’m always ready with the scoops to share with my coworkers.   Genius of Play expert articles have also been a lot of fun. I find them really informative about how to encourage safe and creative ways of playing with young kids. Plus I find coding webpages to be a bit like puzzle solving.   What trends do you see in toys or games that excite or worry you? I see a lot of studios springing up and designing some wild figures. I think it’s so cool that someone can decide they want to make a Transformer of the Mystery Machine and it just happens and includes a swappable head for each of the Scooby Gang. That sounds like the fever dream and yet the toy industry makes it so and it’s the coolest thing ever.   I also love seeing artists get more involved with Toys making. There is this one designer named Yoshi, who makes these insanely cool, almost alien looking action figures. Many of them are original works but they stand out so much it borders on fashion. I think it’s that sort of wild creativity that fires me up to keep learning more about the industry and who’s in it. I am still trying to track some of his figures down so it’s what some collectors would call my “Grail” figure.   What advice would you give a young adult graduating from high school or college today? Living at home when you graduate may seem a bit cringey, but it’s a great way to save up and learn what the heck you want to do.    What advice do you have for people starting in the industry? Be open to trying new things. I’ve only been here a year and a half, but I have found keeping an open mind to things has let me do some pretty rad stuff. I also think sharing your passions is a great thing as well. I connected with some cool folks at the POP Pub party in February because I started chatting about the work I do and the figures I had been eying at Toy Fair.   Do you have a typical workday and how does it play out for you? Nope, some days I’m working on Genius of Play, some days I’m working on webpage updates and today I’m working on Bloom. This work requires adaptability throughout the year and I find that to be very refreshing as my work days go so fast.   No two days are alike and I feel so alive for it.   How do you recharge or take a break? I go for a walk, or work out. Generally just get away from the project so my brain can think about it from a different angle while doing those other tasks.   Were you obsessed with any toys, games or objects as a kid? Oh yeah, probably what caused me to regain obsession in my 20s. I was given a replica duel disk from the show Yugioh. It was the wild thing you wore on your arm that seemed more like a weapon than a card game device. It was so silly but I loved it. I also had a figure from YuGiOH that was some guy that turned into a rocket. Stuck with me.   For games, I was obsessed with games that really broke certain conventions of genre. Kingdom Hearts is a great example of that. It was a mix of beautiful, rounded Disney Animated films, with Sharp edged Final Fantasy Protagonists with massive impractical weapons doing monologues. It should have in no way worked but it did and that showed me that absurd ideas can be the ones most worth pursuing. Super Smash Bros. is another franchise I hold in a similar regard (Funnily enough a game that’s premise is based around having your toys fight each other).   Would you rather have one $100 toy or 100 $1 toys? Look if you’re seeing the picture below, you can safely say it’s one $100 dollar toy. I can’t lie, it’s all about fine articulation.   Where did you grow up and how did that influence who you are today? I grew up on Long Island. I don’t know if it necessarily influenced me as much as the people I lived with. I actually think a lot of my influence came from going to college at Binghamton, NY. I was performing stand-up with a lot of people who I’m still close with today and figuring out how to book shows that competed with the 20+ Acapella groups on campus.   What do you read every day, and why? A lot of news and twitter. Gotta keep up to date. Also love reading manga. Weekly reader of One Piece since highschool and a few other series.    Who would you invite to your dream dinner party? Larry David. I know it would be a disaster but that’s the point of inviting him. I wanna see what happens.   What are your favorite childhood memories? When I was young my father passed and I had to go camping for cub scouts. My mom stepped in and did the father son camping trip for me. Then all the other mothers subbed in for the fathers in solidarity. It was a moment that stuck with me on the importance of community in tough times.   Are you a dog person or a cat person? I like both, but lean towards cats.   What are your guilty pleasures? Video games. I love a good 100+ hour jrpg.    What is your favorite way to waste time on your phone? Mobile games. I play this one mobile game designed to make users pay money to progress but sort of take that as an added challenge to the game.    What’s your favorite cereal? Golden Grahams. I shouldn’t be eating it, but so good.   Do you prefer scary movies or happy endings? Scary movies. I’m terrible with them but I find they leave much more for me to think on. I like a happy ending but it needs to be hard fought and with consequence I believe.   What are your favorite TV or streaming shows and what is on your list to watch? Right now Hacks on HBO. I have 3 episodes left in the final season and have just been barreling through it. On my watch list after that is Succession and a few other shows (I’m so behind on tv)   What are your favorite sports and sports teams? I love the mets, partly cause I live near them but also because I love watching them try. I have yet to attend a game where they have won, but I have never had a bad time watching them try. Ya gotta believe.   Favorite movie of all time? Parasite by Bong Joon Ho. I went in blind and thought it was gonna be a horror film. Wound up keeping my on my toes and laughing the entire time.   What’s your beverage of choice? 2 parter as I believe temperature is a factor here.   Hot: A cup of black tea (Earl grey if possible) with milk. Cold: A mix of half seltzer and half sparkling juice. Makes it a little sweet but mostly refreshing   Tell us about your hobbies? As mentioned, I collect toys. It is both cool and extremely analytical for me because I log figures I want in a spreadsheet to evaluate how badly I want them against price and availability. Queens apartments generally don’t have a ton of space so I gotta be selective.   I also love exploring different movie theaters and restaurants. The city offers so many cool venues for that like the Roxy that I am really fortunate to have access to. Recently I put together a list of different restaurants and bakeries in my city I want to try out. I’ve also been trying to research better workout techniques. So far I’ve just been trying to survive working out but my body has gotten a bit stronger.   Summer or Winter? Summer. I get burnt so easily but I love warmer weather. If it gets too hot I get to nap in the AC like a cat.   What do you hope your legacy will be? That I was kind to others and supported those in need. Also that I convinced someone to embrace some sort of cool idea like an action story starring a 80 year old woman with guts.   I’m lucky that…. I get to work in the coolest industry ever.  

Dear Game Inventors,   We are delighted to invite you to the 5th International Game Inventors Convention which will take place live in Nuremberg as part of Spielwarenmesse 2027. The Game Inventors Convention offers game designers and authors a compact and professional meeting point to present your game ideas and prototypes to publishers and game agencies. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to network with game reviewers, trade media, content creators and other industry contacts. Please note that this is a networking and presentation event for showcasing new game ideas and prototypes, not a sales event. Watch the webcast with game author Stefan Freund and game editor Wolfgang Lüdtke, Kosmos, to find out if the event fits your needs. To the webcast. In 2027, our cooperation partner, the Bavarian Games Archive, will be on site to accompany you throughout the day and support you with advice and guidance. All information about participation can be found on our website. Registration is open!   If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time. We look forward to welcoming you and discovering many creative game ideas in Nuremberg!   Best regards Greta Neumann Tel: +49 911 99813-46Email: g.neumann@spielwarenmesse.comWeb: www.spielwarenmesse-group.com   JOIN OUR EVENTSUSE OUR CHANNELS    Spielwarenmesse eG, Herderstr. 7, 90427 Nürnberg, Germany