July 9, 2016: Documenting Toy History

Over the past few years, both in book projects and at my site, battlegrip.com, I have used the exploration of toys and the toy industry as a way of unwinding from long days at the office. Games, as you know, are a subset of the larger toy market, and by studying the toy industry I often learn tricks and generate ideas that influence my decisions when working on new games and expansions. Whether it be distribution, project management, or the lifecycle of a toy or game, when reading newspaper articles, books -- and especially when chatting with industry insiders of the seventies and eighties -- I always take something with me after a few hours deep in toys.

Continuing education is important, even when you're fortunate enough to spend your days working on and playing games.

It's also important to relax and unwind at times, though, and that's what led to my current and completely unnecessary book project. Because, sometimes, fun is required and education can wait. If you're at all a fan of action figures of the seventies, eighties, and nineties, I think you'll enjoy my newest book. The project is as obscure as they come, and the last few months of collecting and documenting action figure carrying cases took me down a maze of rabbit holes from which I may never escape. Care to join me?

-- Phil Reed