Gary Ahlert wants to be wowed. But exactly what he is looking for is
hard to say.
“It’s really hard to define. If I could do that, I’d be in my beach house
in the Bahamas right now,” jokes Ahlert, president of Creative
Group Marketing, a company that represents inventors in the licensing
and marketing of toys and family-oriented products.
Noticing that the toy industry had not produced any runaway hits (like
Beanie Babies or Tickle Me® Elmo) in several years, Connecticut-based
CGM launched Toy Search America 2003 over the summer.
Their hope is to solicit ideas from private inventors that can be licensed
with toy manufacturers around the world.
“There is almost no in-house development of toy products,” explains
Ahlert, estimating that roughly 90 percent of toy ideas originate from
private inventors.
To date, Ahlert estimates CGM has received hundreds of submissions to
Toy Search America, the first-of-its-kind event for the company. Of those,
15–20 ideas have already been accepted for possible representation.
Ahlert likens the process of picking a successful toy idea to choosing
a puppy or a house. “When you see it, you just get a feeling, ‘That’s
the one.’ It just hits you,” he says.
CGM is looking for a wide range of product ideas including children's
toys, games, sports items, children's interactive books, movie scripts,
and health and beauty items. (See CGM's web site: creativegroupmarketing.com)
While Ahlert says it’s difficult to define exactly what makes a potential
“hit,” certain themes turn him off. “Violent games, military things. I
tend to stay away from them,” says the 58-year-old Ahlert. He gravitates
toward “things that make me laugh, things that are family-oriented.”
To encourage submissions to Toy Search America 2003, CGM is waving their
customary submission fee of $125.
As for the future, Ahlert remains flexible. “If we get a decent amount
of submissions and we get some successful products, we may do this again
next year,” he says. “We’re just going to play it by ear.”
To submit to Toy Search America 2003, call Creative Group Marketing at
1-800- 678-8972.
