Local Company’s Game A ‘Draw’ For Crayola Fans

By Nancy K. Crevier

If you live in Newtown, maybe even in Connecticut, it is a given that you know James Brunot of Newtown developed and marketed Scrabble. But you might not know that it was invented by a man named Alfred Butts nearly two decades before it was fine-tuned and introduced to the public.

“People get to know the names of authors on the best seller list or the directors of the best movies, but game and toy inventors go anonymous,” said Curt Covert of Sandy Hook and Justin Brunetto of Bridgeport. The two longtime friends are the principals of Smirk and Dagger Games, a Newtown company that has self-published eight “edgy” games with names like “Run For Your Life Candyman” and “Hex-Hex.” But it is the idea for a game pitched to the mainstream toy company Crayola that has landed them on the list of nominees for this year’s first Toy and Game Inventors Expo (TAGIE) Rising Star Inventors Award, a sort of “Oscars” of the inventing world held in Chicago, said Mr Covert.

This past spring, after more than a year of negotiating and brainstorming with Crayola executives, the big-name children’s activity developer licensed the two men’s idea for 3-D Sidewalk Chalk, one of only three products Crayola has licensed in the past two or three years, Mr Covert said.

The basic product is very simple: Five pieces of duel-sided colored sidewalk chalk; a pair of plastic 3-D glasses; and a “how-to” booklet. But when the chalk is applied to black asphalt or a cement sidewalk and the glasses are donned, the colors pop “nearly knee-high,” said Mr Brunetto. No matter what the skill level of the user, said the men, the 3-D effect works.

“We showed them the way to take elements that existed and put them together in a new way. It’s a dramatic result,” said Mr Brunetto, who is a creative director by day, as is Mr Covert. “Finding the right company that wants to move forward with an idea is a little bit of luck and a lot of determination,” said Mr Brunetto.

The luck and determination paid off when two years ago Mr Brunetto and Mr Covert met Steve Dash, a Crayola developer, at an inventors’ show in Florida. “He was looking for a proprietary game for Crayola. We pitched him at least eight ideas over a year, ideas that had ‘play value,’ and they came to look at us as their ‘kid experts,’” said Mr Covert.

The 3-D Sidewalk Chalk idea grew out of the Crayola product development team’s interest in the sidewalk art of famed Internet artist Julian Beaver, a feat that when viewed from a precise angle makes that artist’s drawings leap to life.

“They challenged us to do something like that for kids. We pitched them a huge stencil set that was already distorted, to get a 3-D effect,” explained Mr Covert, “knowing that wasn’t where we were going. You would need a camera in the kit in order to create the visual illusion after the kids make the artwork, because otherwise, it would only be 3-D from one specific vantage  point.”

That is where the 3-D glasses came in. When the development team at Crayola gave it a tryout, the idea was sold.

The 3-D Sidewalk Chalk, as well as two other related activity kits and specialty 3-D kits developed for particular retailers, hit the shelves of major retailers in April. “Initially, the sales were a little slow. But when the second wave of television ads hit in June,” said Mr Covert, “Crayola — not the retailers — sold out in two weeks.”

The 3-D Sidewalk Chalk won the Oppenheim Gold for best toy of the year from Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, an honor awarded by the independent consumer reviewer for children’s toys, was ranked in a poll by “brick and mortar” and online retailers among the top five hottest toys of the summer, and was seen on morning news shows. Then, just last week, Mr Brunetto and Mr Covert were notified that they had been nominated by the mainstream toy and game community for the Rising Star Inventors Award.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Mr Covert.

The men spend anywhere from a few minutes to several hours after work and on weekends noodling ideas and creating prototypes for their games. “Being creative people, you spend a lot for time coming up with creative ideas for others,” said Mr Brunetto, “but on your own time, your creative energy is channeled into something you love. For some it’s painting, or drawing, or sculpting, or some other creative outlet. For us, it’s making games.”

The TAGIE is not only a chance to be recognized for the many hours of work and play that they put into inventing a product, but the opportunity to rub shoulders with and speak with some of the biggest names in the toy and game industry, including representatives from Hasbro and Mattel. Speakers such as Richard Gill, the inventor of Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary, will be at TAGIE, as well as marketing and licensing specialists who will lead seminars. It is a great chance, said the men, to view other inventors’ products and pick up invaluable tips and share their products with potential buyers.

“The big companies are there as mentors and as buyers, so it is a great opportunity for education and to actually meet with product developers from those companies,” said Mr Covert.

“Really, everyone is there to give back to the industry,” said Mr Brunetto.

The men will bring with them six new products to pitch to the industry giants and showcase to the public when they go to the Chicago event, two of which they feel are very strong titles.

“One is a Transformers game that can be tweaked and redesigned with the right overlay for the right company,” said Mr Covert, “and the other is a drawing game.” Like other inventors, they tend to play their cards close to their chest, not willing to divulge the details of products that are not yet licensed.

It is a competitive business, they realize, with companies like Hasbro whittling down only 1,600 products of interest a year to maybe 7 to 15 that end up being produced. But they have faith that with their foot in the door with Crayola, that more success is in the offing.

Shoppers this holiday season may have to do a bit of hunting to find the 3-D Sidewalk Chalk sets, though. After the astoundingly successful initial run, Crayola did not produce anymore of the seasonal item.

It is possible that some of the large retailers still have sets in stock, said Mr Covert, and the product is currently available at amazon.com, but other customers may have to wait until Crayola produces another run of the item next spring, along with expanded products built around their idea.

To view 3-D Sidewalk Chalk in action, visit crayola.com/products/splash/outdoor/3dchalk.cfm.

Mr Brunetto and Mr Covert will be in Chicago this weekend for the four-day TAGIE event, keeping their fingers crossed that they will capture the Rising Star Inventor Award. But even if that honor goes to another, what they do know is that they will capture valuable contacts and ideas. Who knows? The next Scrabble may be in the making right in Newtown’s own backyard.