Gary Swisher was EVP of D&D for Spin Master and was the SVP and GM of Inventor Relations and Games at Mattel, Inc. He started his toy career working on a favorite from his childhood, “Hot Wheels” and stayed with that brand for 16 years, (just long enough to get his driver’s license). He left Mattel and went to the wild and crazy world of Jakks Pacific where he and his Marketing partner Jamie Wood built the Road Champs line into an Xtreme sports mecca (oh the fun of the XGames). He and Jamie then started Best Pals, where he got to use every last ounce of his Design skills to create a broad line of toys, led by a Six Flags Roller Coaster and a Big Foot Monster truck or two! In 2005 Mattel bought their assets, and brought them both back in. Gary then had the good fortune of working under Richie Weintraub, an icon in the industry that taught him more about being a good Design leader, than he thought was possible. When Richie retired, Tim Kilpin gave Gary the chance to lead Creative for all of Boys, Girls and Games at Mattel (making sure to keep him away from the world of Barbie :). He then had the joy of being the Creative liaison to the newly acquired MEGA BLOKS, he spent a year and a half traveling every other week to Montreal, (working with the most creative group of constructors the world has ever known). When Susie Lecker returned from MEGA she brought Gary back with a broad set of responsibilities including; GM of Inventor Relations, Games, New Ventures and Packaging, he also got to have fun with ABC’s Toy Box TV Show (what a different world that is). His focus was then on Inventor Relations Games, where he had the joy of working with Ray Adler and the Mattel Games team, as well as the amazing Mattel Inventor Relations Team.

Gary Left Mattel at the start of 2018, took some time to decompress and do some inventing (mostly Games), Then 6 months into his Sabbatical, he sought out Spin Master, the most innovation led company in our industry, he met with each of the founders, but started with Ben Varadi, and quickly realized this was the company he wanted to work for! He started off reporting to Ben Varadi, and realized quickly what an amazing Creative Ben is, with the widest view of the entire toy industry. He started with Product and Package Design, and then added Product Development to this united creative team. Near the end of his tenure, Gary reported to Chris Beardall, President of Toy for Spin Master. Gary enjoyed helping to build the strongest creative team in the industry!
He is now switching gears, and jumping into the INVENTOR side of the playground...its been a life long dream to do this, and he finds himself in a position to do that now. So keep an eye open for him at the POP Events, he loves these events for both the seasoned friends he has made, and the new people that bring fresh new energy to our business!