Make48 CEO Tom Gray interviewed Gary Aigner, the Chief Design Officer at PlayMonster, at the Beloit (WI) competition last year. PlayMonster, a leading, international toy and game company, is championing the power of play by creating quality toys and games for children, adults and families.
PlayMonster was initially started in 1985 under the name, Patch Products, by brothers Fran and Bryce Patch. Throughout the years the company acquired other companies and expanded product lines, until 2014 when the company changed ownership. Their continued growth led to rebranding into PlayMonster, where they make a positive difference in people's lives of all ages by delivering great play value through designing, manufacturing, and marketing innovative and fun toys, games and activities.
The inventor-friendly company relies heavily on the inventor community because the best idea can come from anywhere. Their diversified portfolio includes popular brands and products such as Koosh®, Colorforms®, Snap Ships®, Spirograph®, and "TOTY Game of the Year" Yeti in My Spaghetti®. Gary has been in the toy business for many years and works with inventors. “I was in the invention business myself at the beginning of my toy career and it can be tricky to navigate. My advice… don't be afraid to ask questions. There are plenty of people out there with good track records, who are reliable and willing to help. I think LinkedIn is a fantastic tool, I use it all the time. Don't ever be afraid to ask if you get stuck on how to do something.”
PlayMonster also redesigns and re-introduces brands that haven’t been around for awhile, and introduces the product to a whole new arena of consumers. The classic game, Koosh® is one of those games being reintroduced to a whole new generation. PlayMonster has developed more ways to Koosh® with games such as Sharp Shot® and Koosh Flix Stix. Koosh® was originally developed as an easier way to play catch and it was built on decades of quality construction. The classic toy has a number of new interactive features, but it’s still the original Koosh®. Tom and our crew were more than happy to test the Koosh Flix Stix game, and we can report it’s easy to play, but hard to put down!
You can find PlayMonster games and toys all throughout the US, plus in Canada, Europe, Mexico, Asia, Australia and more. PlayMonster has a world-class team across multiple states and four countries and is headquartered in Beloit (WI). They continue to aggressively build their portfolio of brands. To learn more about PlayMonster brands, visit www.playmonster.com and follow @playmonsterfun on social media.