World, please welcome "Looney Laundry" to publicat

I thank you all for the kind words and comments and Seo for shrinking the rules PDF. That was a valid concern Johan and I appreciate your pointing it out. For starters, I used Grand Prix International for everything (including web design) www.grandprixintl.com . I decided early on that I wanted a one stop shop instead of piecemealing everything together. They used a free lancer who does art work for Hasbro games up in Boston. While the talking is only in english currently, my goals (in my dreams) would be to have versions in different languages (especially Spanish seeing that Texas and Mexico are so intertwined).

I also decided early on that I'd rather spend a little extra and have it look perfect since first impressions are important. My goal is to have a game that had mass market appeal (ie Wal-Mart, Toys R Us) in the offshoot chance they'll be interested one day. In the meantime, I have accepted that I'll probably be better accepted at independent game stores for the time being. I plan on joining Discover Games and Astra-toy.org to get the slow train moving.

As for using electronics, the fact (good or bad) is that todays kids games usually need a wow factor if you're targeting the mass audience. Candy Land doesn't really cut it (my opinion). I had Grand Prix design the working prototype before taking the next step since no hamper...no game. I would rather lose money early on and cut my losses if it couldn't be done. Then they had to get me a quote for the price of the game. It has to be in the accepted price range for kids games or it won't sell.

I acknowledge it's a few dollars more than my hoped for price of $19.99: however, I'm not Hasbro and can't print 100,000 games at a whack. I also used heavier boards, vacuum packs etc in the box to give it a good quality. I personally hate cheap kids games that break in half and once again, 1st impressions matter. If I need to cheapen it one day, I'll see where I can cut corners, but in the meantime, I plan to sell it through the independent stores who sell games up to $29.99.

Mind you this is only a verbal committment 2 months ago, but FAO Schwarz said they'd be interested in trying it out. Until they order, I'm cautiously optomistic. I have about 12 independent stores including Learning Express here in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. I give myself a year for things to slowly start moving. I sure hope they do! As for shipping, I'll ship it anywhere at cost (it weighs 4 pounds). Shipping is such a booger that I wish didn't exist :)

Scott

Before I started this process, I had to decide whether the game could be made for a price that I could make some money AND it would be in the accepted price range for childrens games. Regardless of what one thinks of Wal-Mart, Hasbro and globalization, one has to decide if their game can be sold at the industry accepted prices. I know nothing about most of the games that are being developed here and what their cost is (I assume it's a bit higher due to the niche audience). Since my game is designed for the masses, it needs to be priced in that ball park. The design costs aren't figured in the game cost since those expenses are deductible as R&D. My cost is based on actual production costs. I'll make up the R&D as it starts moving.

As for how many I have to sell to break even, that's the million dollar question. It's not because I didn't plan right, it's because when you start dealing with taxes, expenses, sample games, advertising etc. that profit you planned on becomes quite slim. Toys in general are low margin so I could either price myself to where I make a higher margin but sell less and have the inventory in my garage alot longer or I could price it competitively for it to move. I chose the latter so time will tell if I made the right decision. I think I'll make a respectable margin when it's all said and done!

I've delivered close to a hundred games to area stores to sell with about 7 more stores to go. As for the burping noise, I acknowledge that it might be a turn off for some, but for others it'll work. Kids like bodily noises and functions (Gooey Louie, What's in Neds Head etc.) I think the burps are in good taste! If anyone needs help or suggestions, let me know. I feel good about the process, how evcerything turned out etc.