Inventing Toys: Child’s Play or Is It?

Speaker: Bruce D. Lund, Lund & Company

Event Description:

Presented at the Roundtable meeting on 1-15-2007. Who comes up with those hot toys, dolls and games that children cannot live without? This year, as in many past years, it has been Bruce Lund who works with a small staff in his studio in Chicago.

This Christmas the hot toy has been TMX Elmo (for “tickle me extreme”), a Bruce Lund creation which sold more toys in one day than any other toy in history. Mattel named TMX Elmo the Infant and Preschool Product of the Year. And, the Toy Industry of America has nominated TMX Elmo as Toy of the Year. Moreover, another Lund invention – the Hydrogen Powered Rocket -- has also been nominated for Toy of the Year. Two Toy of the Year nominations is almost unheard of – all from a small team of creative individuals.

With some 25 years of experience developing new toys and entertainment concepts, Bruce will amaze you with his stories of how he and his staff actually came up with ideas for toys and gadgets that have become household names. While Bruce deals with the whimsical and wacky, he also is in a very serious and competitive business. Come hear how Bruce built a business and a team of creative individuals into the premier toy invention firm in the world.

TMX Elmo was developed in such secrecy that only a handful of people at its manufacturer, Fisher-Price, Inc. (a division of Mattel), knew exactly what it was until it was unveiled on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on September 19th. Those few members of the media who were allowed to see TMX Elmo in advance had to sign confidentiality agreements. The advanced, two-motor mechanics developed by Bruce Lund was held in such confidence that only five or six people at Fisher-Price were involved in development, about one-tenth of the number normally engaged in perfecting a new toy.

Even the sales force of Fisher-Price – and its customers – did not know precisely what the new edition of TMX Elmo would be. They only knew that 2006 was the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the first Elmo. Fisher-Price relied on its reputation to obtain shelf space in leading toy stores such as Toys ‘R’ Us and Wal-Mart sight unseen. Until September 19th, Fisher-Price only showed a mysterious silhouette of Elmo on this website. The reason for all the secrecy: concern that a competitor would bring out a similar product for the 2006 Christmas season.

The reaction to the September 19th announcement even surprised Fisher-Price. Parents began flooding toy stores three months before Christmas to buy TMX Elmo, generating demand for other toys in the process. Trade magazines termed this “the Elmo effect.” At the peak of the rush, buyers were paying some many times its normal $40.00 retail price on e-Bay. Some sellers were asking for $1,000 or more. Whether any sellers actually sold any Elmo’s at that price is not clear. But, Fisher-Price increased production to meet the unanticipated demand causing prices on e-Bay to return to the $40.00 level.