The Toy Book Podcasts by Adventure Media & Events

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Learning Resources' Senior Product Manager Michael Blaustein to the show.

Blaustein's career in electronic toys includes experience at Tiger Electronics and VTech prior to joining Learning Resources and helping to launch award-winning products, including Botley the Coding Robot (2019 TOTY winner: Innovative Toy of the Year) and Coding Critters (2020 TOTY winner: Best Preschool Toy).

On the show, Blaustein discusses how his early work answering video game customer hint lines led to work as a video game developer. Additionally, he explains how the Code & Go Robot Mouse opened the door for more innovative learning products and the importance of creating tech toys that don’t utilize a screen. Finally, Albritton and Blaustein discuss Learning Resources' new MagicCoders.

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Lev Nelson, co-founder of Sky Castle Toys.

Over the past decade, Nelson held positions at OzWest and Zing prior to founding Levelhed Creative and co-founding Sather & Fun Toys. Now, Nelson has teamed up with Josh Loerzel for Sky Castle Toys, a new company with a goal to "disrupt complacent toy categories."

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Lizzy Newsome, owner and curator of Kappa Toys in Las Vegas.

Newsome's design-minded stores carry a wide array of hard-to-find international toys and collectibles combined with a carefully curated selection of nostalgic retro classics for kids and adults alike.

On the show, Newsome discusses her toy retail journey from Austin to Las Vegas and the differences between being a traditional toy buyer and a toy curator. Additionally, Albritton and Newsome discuss the newly launched Kappa Toys location in the experiential Area15 destination in Las Vegas that showcases glow-in-the-dark, neon, and blacklight reactive toys. Finally, the duo discusses the evolution of brick and mortar toy retail in the post-pandemic age.

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Patti and Jonathan Becker, the duo behind Anjar Co. and Becker Associates.

Anjar and Becker Associates have licensed more than 1,000 products, generating more than $2 billion in sales in more than 85 countries, and in recent months they've been all about Wham-O. On the show, Albritton and the Beckers discuss the history of properties, including Gumby, Barrel of Monkeys, and Fireball Island along with how the licensing industry has changed over the years. Additionally, Patti and Jonathan discuss their recent work building a new licensing program for Wham-O before sharing information on upcoming opportunities and an exclusive announcement.

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Adam Borton, founder of Creating Unique Toys and the newly launched Toy and Game School — a digital education platform is designed to teach students the fundamentals of the toy and game industry.

On the show, Albritton and Borton discuss the choice to explore the toy industry in their college studies and the curriculum offered by the Toy and Game School.

In this week’s episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Paula Monteiro, head of marketing for Wikitude.

Wikitude is the worlds leading augmented reality (AR) software development kit with over 1 billion installs. On the show, Monteiro discusses how her background with the United Nations and education gives her a unique perspective on the kids' space, and how AR has grown rapidly over the past few years. Additionally, she and Albritton discuss the unlimited creative possibilities for AR and delve into Wikitude's work, including the creation of the Black Panther experience at Walmart.

In this week's mega-sized episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Richard Levy, a multi-hyphenate with more than 40 years of experience spanning the entertainment, toy, publishing, and licensing industries.

On the show, Levy —who once worked in marketing for Paramount Pictures — shares stories of his early career in the toy industry, including the sale of the electronic Star Bird to Milton Bradley which kicked off a string of hundreds of toys and games that he created or licensed. Among the biggest hits in his back catalog: Furby. Levy was part of the team at Tiger Electronics/Hasbro that brought the pioneering electronic character to market. The cult-favorite toy is currently back on the pop culture radar thanks to a BIG feature in the new Netflix Original Movie, The Mitchells vs. the Machines.

In this week's episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Martin and Alysha Horstman, the creators of Pixicade, an innovative new platform that kids can use to transform their drawings into playable mobile games.

On the show, Albritton chats with the husband and wife duo about how Martin's tech skills and Alysha's background in art came together in developing Pixicade. Additionally, Martin explains how his game engine will revolutionize how video games are made; and the crew discusses the complexities of ensuring that the Pixicade platform and ecosystem remain kid-safe and COPPA-compliant.

In this week's episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Monsterfoot Productions' Ahmet Zappa to the show.

Zappa is a multihyphenate whose work spans publishing, TV and film, music, and more. He produced Disney's The Odd Life of Timothy Green and created the Star Darlings property, and now he's gearing up to develop projects based on the Weird-Ohs monster hot rod model kits of the 1960s. 

In this week's episode of the "Power Kid Podcast," host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes CreateOn's Steve Rosen and Aaron Singer to the show.

CreateOn's partnership with Magna-Tiles is rapidly expanding to included licensed building sets from iconic brands, including Sesame Street, Dr. Seuss, The World of Eric Carle, Build-a-Bear Workshop, and The Beatles. On the show, Albritton digs into the backstory of CreateOn and how Rosen and Singer met and entered the toy industry.

The trio also discusses CreateOn's production operation in Illinois and the vision to build manufacturing infrastructure in the U.S. Additionally, Rosen shares how his background in developing licensed slot machines is similar to working with toys, while he and Singer explain how they leveraged their business to support first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic.