The National Ultimate Frisbee Championships

The Sarasota Polo Club was home to the National Ultimate Frisbee Championships this weekend (October 28-31, 2004). This year is the 25th Anniversary of the sport which was created by some students at a Maplewood, New Jersey high school in 1979. One of the students was Joel Silver who went on to become a mega-producer in Hollywood as the head of Silver Pictures and the producer of the Lethal Weapon and Matrix movies. Called Frisbee Football at first, the game evolved into the sport known as Ultimate. Today it is played in over 42 countries, with an estimated 100,000 people playing it worldwide. If the attendance this weekend was any indication, I would say those numbers are low.

Teams from all over the country came to compete in a three-day elimination tournament in the hunt for The Ultimate Cup. It's an incredibly fast game, with the players constantly running. There are no player substitutions during play, only after a score or an injury timeout. According to the rules there's no break when a change of possession occurs (i.e. no time out, no recovery time) and all players must make a seamless transition from offense to defense or vice versa.

I learned alot about the sport from Dan Roddick, an Ultimate legend who worked for Wham-O as the head of Frisbee promotion from 1975 to 1999. He said that the culture of Ultimate is fun, rowdy and a bit irreverent. After hangng out for most of the afternoon, this was obvious in the chants and cheers that would irrupt from the crowds and teams seemingly every few minutes. Apparently it takes amazing eye-hand coordination to even properly watch the sport. Tents were set up to sell beverages, food and more beverages, but also books, DVDs, and videos on Ultimate. I asked and sure enough, this event was being shot from all angles for a future DVD/video. T-shirts were also big sellers with one of my favorites being a line featuring an angry little monkey known as Furious George. But the T-Shirt of the day had to go to Dan Roddick who was sporting one from a Bridgeport, Connecticut Frisbee Festival and featuring a nice nod to the Frisbie Pie Pan that started it all.

An archived entry from this blog tells more about the history of Frisbee and you can check out the history of Ultimate here.

Poof-Slinky Brings Back Mr. Machine

He's loud, he's big and he's back. Poof-Slinky is reintroducing this 1960 classic designed by Marvin Glass & Associate's Leo Kripak (who not surprisingly was once a watchmaker) and Burt Meyer. From the Marvin Glass chapter of The Playmakers:

Marvin's Mr. Machine, a seventeen-inch-tall walking “robot” introduced by Ideal Toys in 1960, dramatically showed the possibilities of plastic. As demonstrated by Mr. Machine’s release, plastics offered the prospect of updating old toys previously made from metal, wood or paper. Mr. Machine, a revision of the old tin robots of the 1950s, hit it big, earning Glass enough in royalties to turn Marvin Glass & Associates into a toy design dynasty. Released in 1960, Mr. Machine spawned a board game and even became a part of Ideal Toys’ corporate identity as the marching mascot who ended their commercials with, “It’s a wonderful toy. It’s Ideal!”

This retro toy will come with a DVD featuring the original Mr. Machine TV commerical, a US patent certificate, a collector's manual detailing the history of the toy, a numbered certificate of authenticity and, of course, Mr. Machine's wrench!

I just sold the Mr. Machine featured in the book and pictured above to The National Toy Hall of Fame at Strong Museum so if you're ever in Rochester, New York, be sure to check him out.

A Tour Through Toyland...Inside Timeless Toys

Some friends who've paged through Timeless Toys (formerly The Playmakers) have told me that you really have to see it to "get it." And since I sincerely hope you "get it" and then, you know... get it, I thought I would give you a tour of my favorite pages.

Timeless Toys begins (and ends) with some very cool ENDPAPERS. Here we took some great PATENT DRAWINGS and made a blueprint style collage.

The first section is 1900s--1920s, and although I feel pulled by Lionel trains, I had to choose this CRAYOLA spread as my favorite. The original artwork by my daughter and that colorful lineup at the bottom would make anyone wax nostalgic.

The 1930s--1940s section is dominated by the Monopoly chapter which runs 13 pages and features a rare full-page shot of the original Landlord's Game. However, I've got to go with this MONOPOLY spread as my favorite. It's got a picture of Charles Darrow himself AND (get this) the actual rejection letters Darrow received from Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley in 1934 (courtesy of Charles Darrow's son, William Darrow). This TONKA layout is a close second.

Next up are the 1950s, which witnessed the release of so many cool toys we had to give this decade a section of its own. For my money you can't beat the $2.50 fun of a game of WIFFLE BALL. If you were more of an indoor kid, then LEGO is it.

Wham-0 rocks because of the outdoor fun that is Frisbee, Hula Hoop and Slip 'N Slide. Yet for me, the bounce of SUPER BALL beats them all.

Marvin Glass also got his own section, what with Operation, Mouse Trap and so many other hits coming from his crazy group of desingers. I love the low-tech--high tech dicotomy of TOSS ACROSS and SIMON.

Within the 1960s--1970s section the B's have it. BATTLING TOPS and BIG WHEEL are the Best.

The final section is the 1980s--1990s. I had to include the game the got me into the toy buisness in the first place! This shot of Trivial Pursuit is great, but it's the combination of TRIVIAL PURSUIT and the RUBIK'S CUBE disassembled that sealed the deal.

Finally, I ended the book with a collage of THE MAKING OF TIMELESS TOYS, featuring photographers Herb Booth and Dawn Butters plus some very adorable models -- my wife and kids! It's the perfect ending.

Thanks for coming, watch your step and be sure to exit through our air-conditioned gift shop.

Operation Gets An Upgrade

A few nights ago on Scrubs, cast members played Operation to celebrate the game’s 39th birthday and were challenged by Sam's new ailment, Brain Freeze.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans voted to pick a new ailment for Cavity Sam, the eternally patient patient from the Milton Bradley game. Brain Freeze, which is represented as an ice cream cone in Cavity Sam's head, beat out Growling Stomach and Tennis Elbow and has been added to the game.

According to Erick Arneson at About, in 2003, votes were cast both online and by phone for one of three possible new ailments. The final tally was Brain Freeze, 54%; Growling Stomach, 27%; and Tennis Elbow, 19%.

A national Operation Scrubs sweepstakes is underway at NBC’s Scrubs website where fans can enter to win a three-day, two-night trip for four to Los Angeles to visit the set of Scrubs. The prize includes a one-day pass to Universal Studios.

The Playmakers Book Goes Into Its Second Printing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Keys Publishing
PMB 180 5342 Clark Road
Sarasota, FL 34233-3227
(941) 926-8004
www.theplaymakers.com

Sarasota, Florida (October 22, 2004) – Keys Publishing announced today that its book, The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys has sold out of its first printing. “We couldn’t be more elated at the early sales of this book,” said author/publisher Tim Walsh. “To sell 3,000 copies of a $50 gift book before the holiday season is remarkable.” The Playmakers was released in February of this year.

The Playmakers is a celebration of classic toys and a tribute to the people who brought them to life. “In our country, if you create music which sells a million copies, you’re on the cover of Rolling Stone. If you write a book that sells that amount and you’re on the New York Times best-seller list,” says Walsh. “But if you create a game or toy that sells over 100 times that amount, you’re… “Who?” William Gruber, Merle Robbins, Eleanor Abbott – these people have touched countless lives through their creations (View-Master, Uno, and Candy Land respectively), yet very few know who they are. I hope The Playmakers helps to change that.”

Keys Publishing has gone back to print for 6,000 more copies of the book featuring blurbs and endorsements from some well-known people who know a thing or two about play. Some noteworthy comments include:

"The Playmakers is a walk through the enchanted land of toys. For those of us who live in this fantasy land, it is a wonderful story of our best and brightest." — Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman, Hasbro Inc.

"The Playmakers is as close to time travel as I’ll ever come. What a cool, beautiful book – full of all the toys I had, coveted or never knew existed." — Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated columnist

"A fun book that all can enjoy – It’s awesome baby!" — Dick Vitale, ESPN sportscaster

"The Playmakers is personal, detailed, lavishly illustrated…and well-organized into witty, bite-sized essays…. a pleasure to read.” —Scott G. Eberle, Vice President for Interpretation and Director of Play Studies, National Toy Hall of Fame and Strong Museum

"If you want to see joy and wonder fill a person’s face, watch someone open The Playmakers …the most interesting history of our favorite toys and games ever told.” — Reyn Guyer, developer of Twister and Nerf

Tim Walsh brought 15 years of experience to the project. In 1990 he co-invented TriBond, a board game that has sold over 3 million copies in thirteen countries. In 1994, he invented the board game Blurt!, which has sold over 1 million copies. Both games are sold by Mattel. The Playmakers is his first book.

Happy B-Day D & D

For Dungeons & Dragon’s 30th Anniversary this year, roll-players from across the globe will be participating in "the biggest celebration of the greatest role playing game ever -- the Worldwide D&D Game Day!" The event will take place October 16th. For more details draw your swords and go here.

In 1974, Gary Gygax dropped out of high school and borrowed $2,100 to print 1,000 books detailing the rules to a new game he had developed with his friend Dave Arneson. They called it Dungeons & Dragons. Reportedly inspired by his father’s fantastic bedtime stores of enchanted rings and cloaks of magic, Gygax co-developed what is considered to be the first role-playing game. Its popularity led to a Saturday morning cartoon in the mid 80s and a movie in 2000 starring Jeremy Irons.