I feel like I got a few good ones but the companies I looked at all have high standards or don't even offer such jobs. I've been think about just applying but to what exactly? "let me make toys pls?" The ones in my country seem pretty fricked too....maybe if they are desprate enough...
Why are you asking neets on IQfy of all places. I guess go to spector creative and beg him to be your teacher or some shit, I dunno
>Why are you asking neets on IQfy of all places.
because I'm also neet
typically the "idea guys" are also artists/engineer/drafter, not only do they come up with the concepts for a toy but they also can depict it using 2d drawings and 3d modeling or sculpting and describe how it functions, if they cant make a blueprint of the individual parts they can work closely with an engineer/drafter to create one, they also do all this with some business sense in mind as there boss wants ideas that are profitable and marketable. Its not impossible for you to become an idea guy, but you should show up to the interview being able to show them that you can conceptualize a toy with the business side of manufacturing and profit in mind. Dont just show up and say "I have a cool idea".
but I have cool idea
whats your idea (im not going to steal it)
what if toy but good
Okay check this out.
An iron man arc reactor that clips onto your shirt, right? I know, I know, been done. But instead of yellow LEDs, we use... wait for it... BLUE! SO IT LOOKS LIKE THE MOVIE? And instead of blinking and making a moronic sound effect every few seconds and then shutting off after 10 seconds, you just press it once and it stays on. And if you want it to turn off, press it again. It can time out after 15 minutes if the kid forgets.
That'll be $60,000 please.
Circa 2001, battle droid action figures that fold up like how they fold in the transport. Only requires 1 extra point of articulation and it will make children actually happy instead of disappointed.
Children don't give a shit about droids from a 20 year old star wars sequel full of political babble aimed at manchildren. They don't even give a shit about the kiddy modern disney star wars.
Nice reading comprehension idiot
>Circa 2001
The toy industry has been pumping out garbage that shouldn't have passed QC for decades. We get toys that blatantly don't look or behave the way they do in the related media. We get common sense ignored to shave a fraction of a cent off each unit for maximum shekel squeezing. We get hideous plushies that aren't on model, play features that don't make sense. The people making toys are totally disconnected from what makes a good toy and don't think of the kids at all, and they always have been.
Frick off Michael. You will never work in the toy industry. #freemelinda
There are NO (ZERO, NOT ONE) crinkly baby toys with reflective surfaces. Search for yourself, you'll see. Massive hole in the market.
Why should I buy your toy when the autistic child with this very specific desire will gladly play with tinfoil or the cat's toy?
Because tinfoil and the cat's toys aren't made to put in a human mouth and the chemicals used to make those would probably make the baby moronic. Tinfoil also tears easily, meaning the moronic baby could easily choke and become a dead moronic baby.
Mirrors are not reflective fabric.
My daughter has a crinkly toy with a mirror on it.
How about a glowing floating color changing ball that can go in the bath for little babies just starting to be interested in lights?
>Light up toys in the bath are probably dangerous!!
Glo-Pals did it and they got a partnership with Sesame Street. Their stuff is alright but they make cubes that sink. A ball the baby could slap around would be superior.
How about just a shopping website that bans Chingchong sweatshop spammers? It's impossible to discover new quality toys because every search result on every site is dominated by fake Chinese brands, it's a fricking plague.
Sorry, Anon, but you're just too moronic.
You are just jelly because you couldn't come up with that
This is the real advice. There are no strict 'idea guys' in the toy industry. You are a 3D modeler, engineer, tooling engineer, art director, etc who ALSO contributes ideas. A person who has no other skills that are applicable aside from throwing out ideas is useless. Because often you need to understand the industry to have good ideas. You need to know about the retailer/toy company relationships, retail buying/distribution channels, toy manufacturing, costing, production timelines, etc.
Yeah this, toy making is like any manufacturing job. It is fun to come up with ideas, but then turning that idea into a product that will make the company profit is a whole other monster. Even if an idea is great, you have to show it'll sell and be enough to justify its execution.
Which reminds me, that I think its easy for us as collectors to see something and be like 'why haven't they made [insert character] yet?!' and there is a lot that goes into it. Though, to be fair, we see what products dont sell and are just bewildered why they'd even make a figure in the first place. I heard some companies have plans in place to legit make things knowing it won't sell as a strategy to keep their products in the shelves, or out of contractual obligstion, etc. just as a few examples. Very strange business strategies.
This is the actual good advice. If you really have no relevant skills but are dead set on wanting to work in the toy industry, I'd suggest aiming for a position, probably intern or unpaid at first, that requires less technical skills, but where you can get your foot in the door and learn from others around you to move on up. Something like copywriting, marketing, file management, trade show travel team etc.
I'm going to school for art but also marketing. Having the business side of education really does help since pretty much all of the toy industry is based on profit and if you can't generate that then places don't want you.
Work on your ideas independently and use crowdfunding to make it them a reality. Get a few successes and you now have your experience you can use to get a job at a legit company
OP what are these ideas you have? Completely new inventions (like Bop It, Robo dog, slinky, lite brite, etc), or just "make XYZ character as a figure/doll"? Also, if they revolve around a specific IP, forget about it, because a company will also need to already have the license to that IP or else the idea/concept is useless to them.
>h-how do I get a job in the industry guys my ideas are so good I could t-totally save all of toydom!!!
lol
lmao
Grow up. Your ideas are either A: shit B: unrealistic or C: wouldn't make any money. Nobody gets jobs as """product idea guys""" in the toy industry coming up with ideas like that, with or without nepotism.
I've always wanted to work in toys but working at a toy company is actually driving me insane. Specifically, dealing with japanese licensors and Chinese factories.
working with licensors suck but Japanese ones are hands down the worst.
Before the factory can start cutting steel on the mold we need to get approval on the sculpt. Usually that means 3d greymodel renders. Once that gets approved we go into paint and deco masters. But japanese licensors ALWAYS wants to see the sculpt in FINAL colors, which wouldn't be an issue except they won't give a sculpt approval until the paint and deco prints are to their satisfaction. Still, not an huge issue except they only review once a week so even minor changes on anything not sculpt related can take extra weeks or even months.
And the worst part is their feedback is dogshit, no redlines or anything. They'll send stuff back saying they want the jawline curve adjusted but provide not even a simple overlay line of what they want. Usually it's two sentences poorly translated to English and almost always boils down to "follow the source more" except the FRICKING SOURCE IS LOW RES ANIMATION PRODUCTION MATERIAL THAT HAS INCONSISTANCIES BETWEEN VIEWS OR JUST DOESNT WORK IN 3D. And anytime you want to try and communicate or ask for clarification you lose another week because again, they only meet once a week.
I don't need to rant about China factories, their priority is to cut corners as much as possible but at least they're fast at communication and making changes. I hate working with the Japanese because it never feels like they put in any effort to actually work with us in getting the toy to meet their standards.
I got so worked up I forgot to end with a point: ideas aren't worth much compared a high BS tolerance, project management, and communication. It's easy to look on the outside and criticize the execution of toys and think you understandwhat to do better, but believe it or not many of the things that are "wrong" with them were made to get approval from the licensor or other production reasons. You can almost never get something made exactly how you want it to. And the people you think would care about the execution don't really care as much about making a good product but rather ensuring they check off their lists.
So you're saying the company you work at deals with the Pokemon license?
I've never worked on Pokémon but I know people who have and yeah, they are some of the pickiest people. But at least they actually have a lot of experience with physical product so they have a ton of useful material and rules they share. A lot of licensors we work with don't even have basic things like pantones selected for their characters!
Jesus fricking christ. That sounds painful. Like teaching the licensor how to do their job haha
Are you able to say what the IP you were talking about was? Or at least the licensor if they've got many IPs?
The one I've got the most gripes with is Toho. That's all I'll say. They have a lot of bizarre rules that make your head spin. The pantone thing was not from them though, I can't say who it was.
That's surprising. I've heard Toho is super picky but figured they'd have their shit together.
I've also heard for decades that Capcom is an absolute nightmare to work with. People from every company that have worked with them complain about them. Sota, Neca, Jazwares employees have all b***hed about them. Maybe that's who you're talking about 😉
Sorry dude but you're literally expecting the licensors to have the same 3D/sculpting/toy designing skills YOU're supposed to have. Spoiler: they don't have them and that's not their job. It's super easy to tell if something looks close to the source or not but it's actually pretty difficult to pinpoint exactly what's wrong, especially when it comes to facesculpts, and the later part is your job, not theirs, so yeah, you're the one at fault here.
So what Japanese licensor do you work for?
Typical reaction of someone who's an incompetent frick and always rejects the fault on someone else. Thanks for proving you're unable to do your job.
get eyelid surgery so you can see the world more acculatery
>blames others
>blames others for blaming others
kek
>make accurate sculpt
>some slanty eyed Jap who can't see correctly says it's wrong
Wholesome six inch kino action figures?
you have to be 18 to post here.
Ideas are like air, cheap and plentiful. Just about anyone can imagine shit, but a smaller portion of society can translate imagined things into technical drawings and/ or 3D models (digital or IRL). If you can do that too, then you’re a step above the dime-a-dozen ‘idea people’. If you can’t, either learn how to or hire someone who can do it for you.
I don't think you get in as an idea guy. I think you get in as a modeler, sculptor, or other artist/designer, then eventually get trusted with expressing some of your ideas
Often to get cushy jobs like 'idea guy' you have to either know someone or work your way up from a lower level position and apply from within internal job postings
get outta here boymoder, go back to rotating 3d objects with your brain
It seems like you're better off doing the shit by hand and out of garage or small production company. Muscloids come to mind and it's not even like they're great toys but people fricking collect them. I saw a MOTU collector verbally jerking off some "Barbarian Rage" and it's a fricking shitty statuette.
I gotta an idea but I need to really get good with blender.
Start a company, make a prototype, then make a crowdfunding campaign.
Working for other people is lame.
Does seem like working for yourself is the only way in many fields anymore. Too many morons at the top of established companies.
The only crinkly pretend magazines that exist are made by a random lady on Etsy. There are also no crinkly baby grimoires, torahs or korans.