Blogs

Sherry is a consummate creative who has a legacy of leading and building businesses that develop and incubate quality products and services especially in the educational and finance markets.  His...

What do you do in the industry? I am the quintessential toy guy. I started as a liaison manufacturing engineer for Kenner Products in the 70s fell in love with industry and have been active in the in...

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Can We Preserve our Close-Knit Industry? By Nancy Zwiers   Few major industries are as close-knit as the toy industry.  Many people say they love their jobs, or their companies, but how m...

2022 marks 60 years since Barbie moved into a place just as fabulous as she is — her first Dreamhouse!   Over the past 60 years, Barbie’s Dreamhouse has transformed from a simple fo...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this blog post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation superpowers. Each post defines a t...

Elliot has been in the toy industry more than 50 years, beginning his career at Mattel Toys and then (crazily and without much of a clue) early-deciding to launch out on his own as an independent prod...

  Can We Talk About Pleasure? By Nancy Zwiers   What gives us pleasure?   One of the defining aspects of play is that it is never done for some extrinsic reward; rather we play fo...

FIVE WAYS TO ENJOY NATURE WHEN YOU CAN’T GET OUTDOORS Exploring nature has great benefits for us all. For children, in particular, it can provide countless learning opportunities in...

Businesses with one employee and a single foreign buyer are eligible for export credit insurance from the US Export-Import Bank.  EXIM says that companies who export are 17% more profitable than ...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this blog post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation superpowers. Each post defines a t...

What exactly do you do in the industry?I’m the Spokesperson of the Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG. I’m responsible for marketing and corporate communication, as well as press and pu...

A Professional Brainstorm Facilitator\'s Best Brainstorm Tips By Nancy Zwiers I have been a facilitating strategic brainstorm sessions (“Clarity Sessions”) across multiple industries for ...

What exactly do you do in the industry? I am a content creator   What is your claim to fame in the industry? Inventor of Apples to Apples   What has been your biggest achieve...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this blog post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation superpowers. Each post defines a t...

You have to be rich or highly-educated to apply for a patent.  Right?   Last week I spoke to Crystal Hammond, USPTO Assistant Outreach Coordinator, Damian Porcari, Director of the Elijah J...

If you were a kid in the early 2000’s or anytime after that, you might be familiar with the animated Barbie films — the first of which was released over 20 years ago in 2001.   ...

    The hype is relentless. Mere months after you first heard about NFTs, it seems like you’re already behind. Pepsi has released profile picture NFTs. Adidas has released ‘met...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this blog post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation superpowers. Each post defines a t...

Pictured above: The Gathering Pictured upper left to right: Elliott Eddie, Mason Williams, Ken Johnson, Albert White. Lower Left to right: LaMont Morris, Charley Harrison, James Howard, David Vonner, ...

David, I didn’t see this coming and I never thought you would leave Goliath.  What is going on? My wife, Mary and I have been talking about our future.  She is a physician taking care...

The Power of New Beginnings By Nancy Zwiers   “For a web begun, God sends the thread.”  -This old proverb was inspired by spiders who miraculously produce the silk they need...

As we close out 2021, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the best Barbie releases of the year and make some predictions for what we can expect or hope for from the 2022 releases!  ...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this blog post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation superpowers. Each post defines a t...

Take Your Ground and Empower Yourself By Nancy Zwiers   “Take your ground.”  This was a phrase I first heard during my entrepreneurial training when I started Funosophy Inc. i...

Barry Burlison was a highly talented and creative individual. He always found a way to make things he developed work and as such sell at retail.   In the late 1970\'s I worked with him on an ing...

Fashion Doll Studio421 Wirtz RoadCrown Point, IN 46307info@fashiondollstudio.com   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Shoemaker Toy in Running for “Coolest Thing Made in Indiana” Contest ...

After receiving news of the death of Michael Nesmith (Mike from the Monkees) on Friday, I thought back to the Monkees’ TV show and, more specifically, my favorite episode of the show.  &nb...

How To Put On Your Cape-abilities In this post, you’ll continue to find strategies that you can use to shake up your thinking and unleash your innovation super powers. Each post in this series ...

Barbie enthusiasts of all ages have planned their travel around the Barbie Totally Throwback Bus Tour, celebrating 50 years of Malibu Barbie.  Instagram user #JudyRae41 posted pictures of her gro...