Monday, August 23, 2010
Toy Broker List
When I finally submitted my second game, Treasure Hold 'Em t in 2010 to Marra Design and Associates (the same toy broker I hired for Global Quest), I was very pleased and impressed with how much market research they did for me in terms of determining the true potential for my game. Most importantly, I respect people that do not sugar-coat their professional opinions and present a good argument supporting their thoughts. Ultimately, after taking different perspectives into account, I still have to make my own decision and take responsibility for my own actions. I am a firm believer in taking what you like, throwing out the rest, see what happens, adjust, then try again.
For example, perhaps you read my interview with Ed Akerman - the Legendary Man Who Launched UNO. I asked him what he would advise other new inventors, based on his experience? He suggested getting a toy agent/broker and contacting major toy companies directly in order to see if might give you 15 minutes to pitch your game. I liked the idea, so that is exactly what I did. One of the companies I contacted was Hasbro. They have indie inventors trying to contact them all the time; which is why that have a list of respected toy brokers for you to use to pitch your idea for you. The following is a list of seasoned professionals in the toy and game industry. The standard fee for them to evaluate you invention is usually around $125-$150 per game. Trust me when I say that this is NOT a big money maker for toy agents. From what I understand, this is simply a fee used to weed out every Jack and Jane Doe who simply wants to send out the 1,000's of half-baked ideas stored in a notebook with no real ambition to bring their inventions into the marketplace. for the past two years, this has been a great learning experience that has come from lots of trial and errors. Everything that I learn, I am happy to share it with you. I hope this has been helpful. Beast of luck with your ambitions and please share your experiences (positive or negative) with us!
The following list of Toy Brokers/Agents are featured on the Hasbro website. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily endorse or promote any of these particular agents. I encourage you to do your research on each of these individuals listed and make your own best judgments. I have personally used Marra Design Associates, Inc and was very pleased with the thorough and honest feedback they gave me for Global Quest. I also had the privilege to meet Mary Cousins from Discover Games at last year's New York International Toy Fair. In 2009, Ms. Cousins received an entrepreneur award at this highly respected trade show. The extensive experience and backgrounds of these brokers can help you avoid a lot of unnecessary mistakes that I have made in the past. Then again, reading my blog could help you avoid a lot of mistakes as well, lol. Enjoy!
Mike and Lynn Marra (USA)
MARRA DESIGN ASSOCIATES, INC.
7007 Dakota Avenue
Chanhassen, MN 55317
952-937-8141
Fax: 952-934-1180
Email: MDA1Mike@aol.com
www.marradesign.com
George Delaney (USA)
DELANEY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
6956 Hawthorne Lane
Hanover Park, IL 60133
630-289-1583
Fax: 630-837-2952
Email: delaney369@att.net
Jonathan Becker (USA)
ANJAR COMPANY
New Product Submission Department
42 Russet Road
Stamford, CT 06903
203-321-1023
Fax: 203-321-1079
Email: jsb@anjar.com
www.anjar.com
Andrew Berton/Adam Wolff (USA/UK)
EXCEL DEVELOPMENT GROUP
1123 Mount Curve Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403-1128
612-374-3233
Fax: 612-377-0865
Email : info@exceld.com
www.exceld.com
Mary Couzin (USA)
DISCOVER GAMES
6842 N. Kilpatrick Ave.
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
Tel: 847-677-8277
Email: discovergames@hotmail.com
Peter Carr (USA)
CACTUS MARKETING SERVICES
1553 South Military Highway, Suite 101
Chesapeake, VA 23320
888-215-7040
Fax: 757-366-9913
E-mail: cactuspete@cavtel.net
www.cactusmarketing.com
Howard Fleischer (USA/EUROPE)
ROYALTY PROS
20 West 22nd Street, Suite 1503
New York, NY 10010
212-366-6876
Fax: 212-366-6862
Email: info@royaltypros.com
www.royaltypros.com
Paul Lapidus (USA)
NEWFUNTIERS
1936 Balzac Court
Redding, CA 96003
800-846-0701 Toll free US & Canada
Voice: 530-223-3330
Fax: 530-223-3033
E-mail: Paul_Lapidus@newfuntiers.com
www.newfuntiers.com
Ronald Hofstaetter (EUROPE)
WHITE CASTLE GAMES
MuseumsQuartier, Museumsplatz 1/6
A-1070 Vienna Austria
(43) 1 522 04 78
Fax: (43) 1 522 04 78
Email: r.hofstaetter@whitecastle.at
www.whitecastle.at
Mike Moody (UK)
SEVEN TOWNS LTD.
7 Lambton Place
London W11 2SH United Kingdom
(44) 20 7727 5666
Fax: (44) 20 7221 0363
Email: mikem@seventowns.com
www.7towns.com
BRITISH TOY & HOBBY ASSOCIATION (UK)
80 Camberwell Road
London SE5 0EG United Kingdom
(44) 20 7701 7271
Fax: (44) 20 7708 2437
Email: admin@btha.co.uk
www.btha.co.uk
Richard Brown (UK)
CACTUS MARKETING SERVICES
109A Hamilton Road
Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 7BL United Kingdom
(44) 800-389-8408
Fax: 01394-275275
E-mail: games@cactus marketing.com
www.catusmarketing.com
Dugald Keith (Australia)
Imaginiff Design
17 Viva Street
Glen Iris
Victoria 3146, Australia
61 3 9509 9551
Fax: 61 3 9509 9551
Email: skeith@bigpond.net.au
Malcolm Hall (Australia)
Malcolm Hall & Associates
P.O. Box 171
Asburton, VIC 3147 Australia
613-9886-9122
Fax: 613-9886-9133
Email: mha@ozonline.com.au
Alex Holzer (Australia)
Blue Opal Australia Pty Ltd.
135 Bamfield Road
Heidelberg West
Victoria 3081, Australia
61 3 9450 9800
Fax: 61 3 9450 9850
www.blueopal.com.au
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Sounds like you had a great experience at this point in your game design journey. I am about to tentatively dip my toe into the game designing waters with a family game that should be a hit. :: fingers crossed ::
ReplyDeleteHow has your experience been so far in your journey? Have you made a prototype yet and taken it to any toy brokers? I'm anxious to hear about your experience. Best of luck and thank you for reading my blog!
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
Luis
I am a little worried without having to have a small entity patent before providing total game info to a company. I do see that the Marra site is BBB accredited. :) Are there more fees involved than the $130. to review your game, and get it to companies to get it in the market? Any other outside fees to the inventor besides the $130? Help. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou may email help at Lake10440@aol.com
ReplyDeleteNice job man wish to see you in person, once i am called by anybody for presentation. Thanks for the beautifull, nice, short but comprehensive, knowledgeable blog and wow that too free of cost.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting blog. You are very knowledgeable about this subject. Please check out my site.
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I am new to this blog and new in this industry as well but like all of you have a great idea . Now this is not a game but more of a toy accessory type ( yet not on the market ) ,my question would be as to know which toy broker would fit best for it . I have approched hasbro ( but they did give me this list of brokers too ) . So can anyone help as to choose the right broker . I can tell you more of the nature of my idea . here is my email: Mikaellamaeva@hotmail. Thank you for any feed back .Invilg
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Luis!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Cristian and with my partner we have created a game here in Chile. We are in a journey similar to you contacting brokers and getting our game recognized. I went through all your entries in this blog and I would like to contact you to know more about your experience with your games. Do you have an email where I can write you? thank you!
Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though. south african brokerage firms
ReplyDeleteI haven’t any word to appreciate this post.....Really i am impressed from this post....the person who create this post it was a great human..thanks for shared this with us. Pepperstone review
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ReplyDeleteMost of them companies are not interested in no ideas.
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