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Successful Toy Inventor Bounces His Way
To A Hit Again With Oball
Oball Is Sure To Be Big This Holiday Season
Santa Cruz, CA—David Silverglate, inventor of the ever-popular
Woosh (the fabric-covered flying ring licensed to Hasbro) has created
another exciting toy that is bowling over customers and flying off
toy retailers' shelves this holiday season because it is simple,
clever, sensible and beautiful: the award-winning Oball.
A ball is simplicity itself, and everyone loves balls. But the cleverness
of Oball comes from a design where overlapping rings form a sculpted,
lightweight ball that is easy to catch, hold, throw, hit, kick and
crush. It's sensible because it's soft and springy, you
can play with it indoors without breaking windows and yet a car running
over it won't hurt it. The color patterns and fused ring geometry
make Oball a thing of beauty. Oball is great for playing soccer, volleyball,
baseball, catch and for fidgeting. By many folks' definition
(including Parents' Choice, Oppenheim, Dr. Toy and Parents' Guide),
these kinds of features make it an exceptional toy for all ages. Plus,
the price of $6.95 makes Oball a great gift for the holidays.
"I've worked in the electronics industry for over 20 years and
15 years in the toy industry. As a parent, the noise, the batteries
and the limited play value makes me avoid electronic toys for my own
kids," said David, the father of three boys. "I prefer
simple toys like Woosh. Oball came out of years of searching for cool
new balls, but it began as a completely different toy concept that
I was working on at the time. Oball seemed like my best first shot
as a startup toy company."
Rhino Toys, Inc. is a Santa Cruz, CA, toy manufacturing company that
was founded by David and his wife, Suzanne on January 1st, 2001.
Rhino Toys already has more than 700 specialty retail stores through
which
it sells Oball, and it will debut two additional aerodynamic toys
at a Toy Fair 2003.
The Silverglates decided to start their own toy manufacturing company
because they believed they could do a better job of bringing David's
concepts to market than anyone else could. Because of consolidations
in the toy industry, it has become increasing difficult to license
toy concepts to toy manufacturers and, if a concept was lucky enough
to be licensed, the Silverglates were frustrated by the lack of control
over the execution of their concepts.
With a degree in physics from University of California at Santa Cruz,
David has used his expertise to create toys that fly, float or otherwise
play better. He holds nine patents in the fields of toys and opto-electronics.
About 4 million units of Woosh have sold since OddzOn (makers of
Koosh) licensed it in 1989. David also invented and licensed a number
of other
toy concepts including SkyBlaster to OddzOn and Hoopla to Kidpower.
Suzanne Silverglate is vice president of marketing and sales and
COO. She has worked in various sales and marketing management positions
during the past 12 years. Jurgen Lew, CFO, was most recently general
manager and COO for Klutz, Inc., a $45 million publisher of children's
books and toys. He also was executive vice president and COO for OddzOn,
Inc., the division of Hasbro that made Woosh and SkyBlaster.
Oball is just the beginning for Rhino Toys. David has about 200 toy
concepts of his own, plus extensive contacts with other toy inventors
whose products could be licensed to Rhino Toys. The toys all share
a background in physical activity, science and high play value. Watch
out—you're going to be hearing a lot from them!
Oball has already won five coveted honors, indicating it has struck
a chord with the toy industry:
* Gold Portfolio Award from Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
* Silver Award from Parents' Choice
* Best Vacation Children's Products from Dr. Toy
* Parents' Guide to Children's Media Award
* Best of Show from ASTRA at NY Toy Fair 2002
For more information on Oball, Rhino Toys or store locations where
Oballs are sold, visit www.rhinotoys.com or call 831-458-5118.
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