Check out the case study including concepting and packaging art here.

In an article posted on All Things D, as well as an issued statement, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said, “this partnership is so special because it represents an exciting leap forward in enabling people to connect their virtual and real worlds. Hasbro inspired play through their famous toys, games and action figures and we look forward to working wit ha company that continually creates meaningful and fun brands.”

Kunoichi recently helped prepare product concepts for almost 20 Hasbro / Zynga board games and toys. We look forward to seeing what makes it to market! Look for the the initial wave of products in the fall!

What are the odds on a movie adaptation of the graphic novel series based on the television series based on the... I'm done.

A comic based on a show that was based on a comic character; DC Comics announced that they will be continuing the long-running cult-favorite Smallville television series in the form of comic books and graphic novels. Season 11 will be released first on digital platforms in mid-April with a print version following shortly in mid-May.

The trend of continuing television shows in the comic medium is nothing new to the comic publishing industry. The practice was made popular in the comics industry by Joss Whedon’s famed Buffy the Vampire series, releasing a successful and well-received Season 8 (40 single issues and 8 collected editions) where the television series left off over four years earlier.

As Buffy continues on with it’s newly released Season 9 and quite a few other television-to-comic titles adorn comic racks, it’s no doubt that Smallville Season 11 will have fans (and would-be viewers) clambering for the latest stories regardless of what medium they’re offered in.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Nickelodeon is premiering a brand new animated TMNT series and Playmates, the long time license holder for the 80s comics, cartoon, and toy juggernaut, is providing a fantastic new assortment of products to capitalize on the new entertainment. The new products come in two distinct likenesses including comic book and animated inspirations. Check out images of the products here and here.

G.I. Joe Retaliation – Paramount and Hasbro’s sequel to the much hated G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) hits this summer. This time fans are more excited. The visuals in the trailer and Super Bowl spot closely resemble the traditional look of the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra mythology. Plus, the addition of the Rock and Bruce Willis bodes well. Hasbro’s new products are a big improvement over the 2009 figures, adding back in a bit of the colorful nature the brand has had in the past. Will the movie be any good? Who knows, but the toys look pretty awesome!

The Avengers – Robert Downey Jr. and friends join forces for one of the summer’s most anticipated movies. Hasbro and other license holders are showing off a wide assortment of products including a Hawkeye Nerf bow, action figures, masks, and a deluxe S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier that is over 3 feet long. I plan to throw out my desk and replace it with the helicarrier.

The Dark Knight Rises – Batman has solidly spent decades in the toy aisle, sparked specifically by the Super Friends cartoon show and the 1989 Batman movie by Tim Burton. In 2012, the Caped Crusader returns to the big screen in his 8th live action feature film. Mattel has an assortment of action figures, bobble heads, games, vehicles, and more. The best licensed product comes from Mattel’s biggest competitor; Hasbro is releasing a Batman Mr. Potato Head called Bat Spud!

Power Rangers – Saban’s Power Rangers continues to charge forward with brand new offerings in 2012. Bandai is providing action figures as well as role play masks and armor.

With New York Toy Fair 2012 coming up, there should be even more news on the horizon!

Brian Torney is a writer, consultant, Jedi Knight and Vice President of Kunoichi, a leading transmedia services provider for entertainment brands. A 7-year veteran of the toy, game, publishing and children’s entertainment industries, Brian ideates new and existing brands, connecting storytelling across multiple new, traditional, and social media. These are not the droids you’re looking for.

Click on the image to see what he's aiming at...

EA purportedly plans to release a Mass Effect 3 third-person shooter game on iOS that would unlock rewards in the console version of the game. The supposed game storyline (another Cerberus rescue mission, bleh) is not incredibly novel, but we applaud the growing trend of mobile-based rewards tied into console play! Accessing the in-game world of a console-based game on the run is pretty innovative.

Anna is Account Director at Kunoichi, where she guides the creative interactive strategy for high-profile clients in the toy and game industry. She facilitates the actualization of new and existing intellectual properties as animated series, interactive experiences, mobile and social campaigns, brand bibles, comic books, packaging art and custom transmedia solutions combining all of the above.

About 60% of the products that the company reviews are toys. Compared with other consumer products, toys have the strictest regulations – and the younger the child, the stricter the standards. Seeking insight on this essential and low-profile profession, I traveled to AMTS’s lab in Alsip, IL., where six intrepid lab testing employees wile away the day with inductively coupled plasma, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and rubber duckies.

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)’s code F963-08; the mandatory requirements for toys in the U.S.

AMTS’s testing falls under two categories: compliance testing, and everything else. Compliance testing determines whether the product meets the applicable federal, state and European-mandated standards. “Everything else” goes beyond that, usually focusing on the toys’ longevity. For instance, how many times do you think shoppers can press the “Try Me” button on an action figure package before the battery runs out? AMTS gets to actually push the “Try Me” ad infinitum (or build a machine that does it for them at a measurable rate) until the battery dies. And that’s just the tip of the awesome iceberg.

Let’s focus on the iceberg metaphor for a moment, because it’s an apt description of compliance testing. Like the Titanic, most toymakers don’t see it coming. And unprepared ships can sink. Major toy companies have entire departments dedicated to testing, but smaller toymakers don’t have those resources on staff. Enter Ozzie Cartagena, AMTS Testing Consultant. Cartagena handles the initial stages of the testing process – Consultation/Evaluation and Scope - helping toymakers chart a course around the proverbial iceberg.

Ideally, the Consultation/Evaluation is done “in person” – meaning the potential client sends at least one physical sample of their product. Simply a photo won’t do. “I need to know if graphics on a toy are a sticker or painted on,” Cartagena explained. Every paint shade needs to be individually tested. So do all the different materials. Cartagena creates a comprehensive inventory of all the components.

ICP-Optical emissions spectrometer

After he’s dissected a toy, Cartagena must classify it. Which tests a toy undergoes depends on who’s going to play with it. And that demographic might be different than the owner intends, thanks to a tricky little factor called “play value.” Take for example a furry hat with cat ears and a tail. Is it an article of clothing, or a toy? The hat maker might intend for it to be only a hat. But as Cartagena notes, if it looks like a plush doll, then it’s likely a child will play with it. Anything with “play value” falls under the toy category, along with its stricter regulations. The more categories a product falls under, the more testing it must undergo; and the more testing, the greater the cost.

Even when a product’s category is clear, there’s still an ocean of regulations to traverse, written by lawyers and scientists. “Sometimes they take three paragraphs just to explain you have to ‘pull’,” said William Gonzalez, an AMTS Toys and Juvenile Products Testing Consultant. But once these initial stages are complete, Gonzalez takes over and the real fun begins…

Tools of the Trade: A case filled with testing supplies, including choking hazard measurement devices (top left) and metal probes that simulate children’s fingers (bottom left).

AM Testing & Services primarily performs compliance testing, which is divided into three categories: physical, chemical and flammability. Collecting samples for the chemical testing leaves behind some bizarre leftovers: rubber ducks with cutout faces, dolls with scratched-out eyes, wheel-less trucks. If not for the legal implications, AMTS could open an exceptional art gallery.

But AMTS looks more like a lab than an art gallery. It’s difficult not to think of the AMC show “Breaking Bad” when speaking with Mike Bauer, AMTS’s director of technical services. Like the shows’ hero, Walter White, Bauer is quite accomplished: He currently holds three U.S. patents. Also like Walt, Bauer has some very cool machines in his lab, such as the one he uses to analyze toy paint samples. First, the sample is dissolved in acid to mimic human digestive juices. Then, it’s filtered into a vial and placed in the ICPOES (optical emissions spectrometer) which shoots the sample into a fire and measures the light emissions coming off the flame. These wavelengths can reveal heavy metals. “Basically, it’s a furnace with an electric eye that looks at the results,” Bauer summed up. The whole procedure takes place in what looks like a massive blue and white microwave. It’s delightfully impressive, compared with the miniscule technology of everyday life.

William Gonzalez demonstrates how he measures how much force is exerted in pulling on a toy part. The toy is off-screen to the left; the metal clamp is attached to it.

However, nothing steps outside of everyday life like the physical abuse tests. The AMTS testers get to pull, twist, drop and intentionally try to break the toys they evaluate. Both before and after this stress testing, the toy and any pieces that did break off are measured against a cylindrical opening that indicates how large an object must be to not present a choking hazard.

AMTS has an army of tiny articulated metal probes that they explore toys with, assessing where a child-sized finger could reach. This investigation requires both expertise and imagination. “I play with everything,” Bauer said. “It helps to understand the developmental stages of children – depending on how old a child is, they will use [the toy] differently.”

Graduated cylinders (test tubes) line the walls at AM Testing and Services’ lab in Alsip, IL.

Some toys require custom testing solutions. Consider toy airplanes, which pose the obvious danger of accidentally being flown into a child’s eye. Bauer invented a test to measure ocular damage caused by toy airplanes that takes a picture of a pig’s eye before and after the plane is flown into it. (For medical purposes, pig eyes are very similar to human eyes, according to Bauer.) The test is included in the American Society for Testing and Materials’ (ASTM) methods. “I have you to thank for all the times I have to dig into a bucket of eyeballs!” Gonzalez jokes to Bauer.

All the animal eyeball handling is forgiven when we come to a hooded area of the lab with a blowtorch behind a shield. “We’re allowed to be pyros here,” Gonzalez said. Flammability testing is unique in that it is not a Pass/Fail test. “Anything is flammable,” Bauer said. Flammability testing assigns a degree of flammability to a product.

A cylindrical device used to gauge whether an object poses a choking hazard to a child.

While it’s fun to melt toys, AMTS is always mindful of the real-life hazards they work to prevent. The job has changed their worldview – along with some unexpected side effects. The team jokes about how they can’t shop like they used to before getting into the testing industry. “You can always tell someone [shopping in a retail store] who has worked in testing, because they go straight for the label,” Bauer said. Gonzalez adds that he often starts to test products right there in the store – twisting and pulling parts to gauge their safety. ”It gets in your blood,” Bauer said with a smile.

AM Testing & Services staff, from left to right: William Gonzalez, Justin Boeck, Ozzie Cartegena, Mike Bauer and Roger Mattila.

Anna is Account Director at Kunoichi, where she guides the creative interactive strategy for high-profile clients in the toy and game industry. She facilitates the actualization of new and existing intellectual properties as animated series, interactive experiences, mobile and social campaigns, brand bibles, comic books, packaging art and custom transmedia solutions combining all of the above.

Miller likens works of fiction to works of art – an experience to be had, rather than a message to be sussed out. It’s really great point that I think deserves to be highlighted.

Anna is Account Director at Kunoichi, where she guides the creative interactive strategy for high-profile clients in the toy and game industry. She facilitates the actualization of new and existing intellectual properties as animated series, interactive experiences, mobile and social campaigns, brand bibles, comic books, packaging art and custom transmedia solutions combining all of the above.

Apparently that is just what is happening with the first wave of consumer-level 3D printers. The Atlantic’s article details the experience of early adopter Brendan Dawes, who purchased a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic. Dawes is a creative person, but he has no experience in product development. The article displays a number of items created by Dawes, each increasing in quality as he goes.

The toy industry is perfectly poised to make use of this technology. Construction products like Lego continue to succeed at retail. The collector audience has created thousands of custom creations using existing toy parts. What happens when the audience is given more power to create? What happens when a child’s imagination is made tangible as a play thing?

Prices on 3D printers continue to go down. Look for the major manufacturers to embrace this technology early.

Also interesting to note is that the US toy market accounts for 26.8% of the world’s toy market, “that’s worth more than the music ($10.4 b) and movie industry ($9.5b) combined.” The graphic indicates that 1/3 of Hasbro’s sales come from Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Marvel products. Star Wars is the biggest license in the industry for winners Lego and Hasbro, accruing 3 times more revenue from toys than movies.

Check it out here.

I certainly do not want to make light of Peggy and Richard’s beliefs and opinions on the matter of gender stereotypes in toys and games, but I’m just not sure what Lego could do differently or better. Lego, as a construction product, has struggled to connect to female audiences (admittedly through predominantly male-targeted marketing). The brand has made multiple gestures in the past to elicit interest from this audience, but Lego Friends marks the first attempt that truly hits existing play patterns evidenced by girls, as pertaining to construction.  Apparently, the presence of pink coloring and stylized dolls is the wrong way of telling girls that construction or physical science-related products are also for them.

Looking through the Lego Friends product listing, I see various sets such as Mia’s Puppy House, including a cute dog house and other items; Olivia’s Inventor’s Workshop, with some goofy stuff and what looks like a robot; Stephanie’s Cool Convertible, a car complete with a few friends; Andrea’s Stage, including a piano and microphone; and the Butterfly Beauty Shop, a larger structure with multiple characters.

Is it alienating or incorrect to note that little girls like to nurture animals? We can use various existing case studies to confirm this sentiment, such as Hasbro’s monstrously popular Littlest Pet Shop, Pound Puppies or, you know, pretty much any plush animal ever sewn and stuffed. It should come as little surprise that, instead of Star Wars spaceships, Lego is selling a Heartlake Vet, Puppy House, and Pet Patrol.

Is it absurd to think little girls like to sing and dance? I don’t think I have ever met a little girl who didn’t frequently want to be in a singing or dance competition; the Lego Friends product Andrea’s Stage seems to duplicate a play pattern that is all over YouTube. Nearly every doll toy line has been used by little girls to portray a singing or dance competition and stage show. I’m not surprised Lego went in this direction, rather than, say, ninjas or robots.

The rest of the Lego Friends products directly relate to the “friendship” aspect of the brand. Friendship is important to both boys and girls, but girl’s brands often wear their themes on the vest. I would think it unlikely that Lego try to sell boys a line titled Lego Friends, choosing rather Bionical, Ninjago, and Hero Factory. Products like Stephanie’s Cool Convertible, Butterfly Beauty Shop, and Olivia’s Tree House are merely evidence of the important theme of friendship for young girls, just as the companionship of fellow Jedis or superheroes is displayed in boy-oriented brands. Admittedly, the friendship theme is played up on the girl’s line, but can you blame Lego considering a lack of previous success selling construction sets to girls?

These products are complex, colorful, and well-targeted. If Lego neutralized the gender-orientation of these products it would mean that they failed to capitalize on existing trends, chose not to deliver a product in keeping with the realities of their retail partners, and threw aside the entire idea of marketability. Yes, this presents identity barriers for kids. No, those barriers are not always a good thing. But I think Lego Friends is a step in the right direction. After all, the blocks may be pink, but they still click into place with any of the other Lego sets. It will be interesting to see what kids make of it.

Brian Torney is a writer, consultant, Jedi Knight and Vice President of Kunoichi, a leading transmedia services provider for entertainment brands. A 7-year veteran of the toy, game, publishing and children’s entertainment industries, Brian ideates new and existing brands, connecting storytelling across multiple new, traditional, and social media. These are not the droids you’re looking for.