"Da Vinci's Challenge" at NY Toy Fair 2014

My last post was a gallery of pics I took while attending the U.S. International Toy Fair at the Javits Center in Manhattan, NYC.

I haven't had a chance to post here recently, since I just had an awesome weekend-long birthday bash! I've also had many good things going on in both my business & personal life that are the culmination of years of patience and persistent effort.

Even though I posted a gallery of pics already, I wanted to now feature what was the highlight of the show, for me.

After a hiatus of several years, the game "Da Vinci's Challenge" made a return to Toy Fair this year! 

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Da Vinci's Challenge 

Official Facebook Page:

Da Vinci's Challenge

"Da Vinci's Challenge" is a visual strategy game, that I created as a graphic design student. One of my senior projects was to create an original board game. I found inspiration in the ancient symbol of interlocking circles, known as 'The Flower of Life'. The historic legacy of the design also made me use a classic theme for the look of the game. I hand-made the original version out of • carved stone pieces • a copper plate I etched for the game board • a stone block for the base • a wood case • & parchment paper for the rules.

Once I decided to use the Flower of Life symbol as the basis for the game board, the idea for the game play & rules came quickly to me.

There are 2 types of pieces, an oval & a triangle. Each player chooses their color & takes turns using their pieces to create 9 different patterns, or "Secret Symbols". The patterns are worth different point values, depending on their complexity. The player who scores the most points by the end of the game wins!

The game play is easy enough for children to learn, but there are strategic elements that add to the depth & challenge for advanced players. You can block your opponent's patterns, & also create multiple patterns by placing a single piece. At the end of the game, the pieces covering the game board form a unique design every time. You can look at the finished board & see all the patterns that have made throughout the game.

These are just some of the features that make "Da Vinci's Challenge" so unique.

The publisher decided to produce a new run of the game this year, with several major improvements. The new edition is planned to have a molded plastic game board with slots for the pieces, and also cups to store the pieces. I have personally updated the package design & the graphics for a more polished look. These are all things that were sorely lacking in the first printing, and make a world of difference in the gaming experience.

"Da Vinci's Challenge" is a creation that I believe is truly timeless. I hope that this gets to market again & reaches many people- to give them enjoyment, inspiration, and perhaps insight into the mysteries of sacred geometry & other esoteric wisdom.

Here are some of the pictures featuring "Da Vinci's Challenge" at the Toy Fair booth for Briarpatch, Inc. I got a few photos with my creation, with the updated graphics & components.Check out my Toy Fair photo album for more pics:

2014 Toy Fair Photos

 Me, Paul Mic, standing by the display for the new edition of 
"Da Vinci's Challenge", at the Briarpatch booth.

 

The updated components for the new edition of 

"Da Vinci's Challenge", at the Briarpatch booth.

  
 Me, Paul Micarelli, with the updated box for the new edition of
"Da Vinci's Challenge", at the Briarpatch booth.

 The updated box & components for the new edition of 

"Da Vinci's Challenge", at the Briarpatch booth.

The updated components for the new edition of 

"Da Vinci's Challenge", at the Briarpatch booth.

Toy Fair 2015

From Toy Fair 2015

Last weekend, I went to the Toy Fair that's held every year at the Javitz Center in New York City.

I design packaging & products for the toy industry, and several of our clients have booths at the show. We get to see the work we do throughout the year on display here. I also had product development meetings with a few companies and made some new contacts.

It's also good to walk the floor and check out what other companies are doing. The Javitz convention center is huge and there is alot to take in. I was only there for a day, which isn't enough time to really see everything.

I took some photos of the various sights at the show. There is a slideshow embedded below, and a link to my Picasa web album.

The Monkey Buddha Visual Archives:

Toy Fair 2015

This is me enjoying a glass of champagne, after a meeting toward the end of the day:

From Toy Fair 2015

NYC Toy Fair 2017

This weekend I made my annual trip to the Toy Fair trade show, held in midtown Manhattan at the Javitz Center.

It is a huge convention, featuring new products from toy & game manufacturers from around the world. I love seeing all the cool, fun things that are coming out on the market. There's definitely a lot to see, and I covered a lot of ground in the day that I was there, walking the whole show in 5-6 hours.

I also used the opportunity to make contacts with game publishers and toy companies to pitch ideas I'm personally trying to get to market, as well. I am especially focused on getting the strategy game I created, "Da Vinci's Challenge", published for retail again. Recently, a new edition of the game was produced, to be used as a promotional item by Swiss watchmaker, IWC Shaffhausen. I'll post up pics here soon.

Here is an album of all the photos I took at Toy Fair:

NYC Toy Fair 2017

Here are a few highlights, but click on the link above to see the whole album:

 An oversized monkey mask

 A cool figure of my favorite superhero, The Green Lantern.

I was feeling spaced-out around The Teletubbies.

 Samurai-styled Darth Vader & Imperial Royal Guards

 This awesome, life-size Dr. Strange statue had glowing rings of magical energy.

A googly-eyed Yoda doll sitting cross-legged.

Toy Fair 2014 Gallery

 This past weekend, I went to NewYork City for the U.S. International Toy Fair.

It is a trade show where many toy & game companies from around the world exhibit their latest products. The convention is held every February, at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

I've been going to the Toy Fair every year for most of my career, since it is a chance to see many of our studio's clients & other people we deal with in the industry. It's also a place where we can see all the product & packaging design we do throughout the year, in one place.

My last post was an announcement for the return of the strategy game I created, "Da Vinci's Challenge". I'll talk a little more about that in my next post.

In the meantime, here is a gallery of random fun photos I took while I was at the show:

2014 Toy Fair Photos

 

NYC Toy Fair 2016

Of course, I had to get a pic with this monkey character

wearing my favorite color, from the new game, EQ.

This past Saturday, I pulled myself away from the 2 year anniversary I was celebrating with my girlfriend to go to New York City. It was the weekend for the annual Toy Fair, held at the Javitz Center.

I've been attending for most of my professional career, since the studio I work for has done a lot of work for clients in the toy & game industry. I always enjoy going to see the many fun products on display.

This year, I was looking for companies to produce some game ideas, including a new publisher for the award-winning strategy game I created, "Da Vinci's Challenge". I made enough contacts & opened enough possible doors to feel like it was a worthwhile trip.

Here are the photos I took of the trip:

Picasa Photo Album:

"NYC Toy Fair 2016"

Brain Scrambling

This weekend, I'm going to Toy Fair in NYC for a couple days. One reason is to try to find a new publisher for the award-winning strategy game I created & developed, Da Vinci's Challenge™ based on the ancient Flower of Life pattern.

We have also developed some other new games, toys, & activities that we hope will create some interest. Toy Fair is an interesting show to attend & I usually feel some visual overload from trying to take everything in.

Besides spending the last few weeks trying to prepare for the show, I was in a minor car accident in the middle of January & have been dealing with that situation.

Then, I was in work last Wed. & my head started burning up w/ a fever. My fingers felt numb & my body had the chills, despite my head being on fire. The next day the fever went away, but then I had a painful throat infection that lasted several days. It was really bad during the week, but I still went in to work to make sure I got all the stuff done for Toy Fair. I ate nothing but soup for 4 days. To ease the swelling I tried gargling water + everything: salt, honey, hydrogen peroxide, & even cayenne red pepper after seeing it recommended online.

Saturday morning I felt relatively better, & ate some cherry water ice that was like a frozen miracle. Last nite I went out to eat with my parents & was so damn hungry that I tried to tackle a burger, my first solid food in days. Even though I had an ravenous appetite, my throat was so raw that each swallow felt like I was swallowing tiny shards of glass. My Dad was laughing at me, saying I looked like an alligator the way I was grimacing & struggling to put down each gulp.
 
FINALLY, I woke up this morning & could swallow with no discomfort at all! Hallelujah!!! Most of the day, I was still reflexively wincing each time I swallowed, even though it didn't hurt anymore.

No matter how much awareness we place on our well-being, we easily take for granted what a blessing it is to experience life free of debilitating pain.

Anyway, the physical discomfort was enough to frazzle my mind as I've been trying to focus on dealing with the rest of life's steady march of craziness.
I saw the optical animated GIF below & thought it was a good representation of my general state of mind during the last week.

WARNING!!!

IT WILL SCRAMBLE YOUR BRAIN!!!!

I also saw this other cool optical illusion GIF, "Hide the Corners" that is hard to stop staring at:

Press for New "Da Vinci's Challenge" Games

I picked up a bunch of trade magazines and publications from the Toy Fair in New York City this year. I'm going to post some of the previews that I've found for the 2 new games: Da Vinci's Challenge Card Game & Da Vinci Mancala.

• This is from the Toy Fair Times trade publication:

(click to enlarge)

• I saw this in License Magazine's coverage of the Toy Fair:

(click to enlarge)

• And one more article in some trade magazine called Toys & Family Entertainment:

(click to enlarge)

"Da Vinci's Challenge"- Toy Fair Announcement

Back in my days as a college student, I created the award-winning visual strategy game, "Da Vinci's Challenge™."


This is a timeless game- which encompasses mankind's history, creativity, and sense of mystery. I've posted about it many times on this blog:

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Da Vinci's Challenge

The game board is the beautiful circular symbol, known as 'The Flower of Life'- an eye-catching pattern of interlocking circles. This geometric design has been known to artists & thinkers throughout history. It was carved onto ancient Egyptian temples, & it was even studied in depth by the game's namesake, Leonardo da Vinci!

Play is simple enough for anyone to learn- but offers endless strategy, to challenge the most dedicated gamers.

Each player uses the shapes in their color (ovals & triangles), to create 'Secret Symbols'. These are configurations that resemble familiar icons- such as a Pyramid, Eye, Flower, and Star.  Each 'Secret Symbol' has a point value that depends on the difficulty to complete it.  The player who scores the most points by the end of the game wins, & becomes the Master of Da Vinci's Challenge!

I originally created "Da Vinci's Challenge" for a senior project, when I was a graphic design major. The original version was hand-made from stone pieces, a copper board, & a wooden case. I eventually pitched it to a client who published board games.

It was first released in 2005, and has won some of the top awards in the toy industry- including the Oppenheim Platinum Award & the Mensa Mind Games Select award.

After a hiatus over the past few years, a brand-new edition of "Da Vinci's Challenge" is on track to make a comeback, in the Fall of this year. It will be featured this month at the 2014 Toy Fair in the Javitz Center, NYC, at Booth #2507 for Briarpatch Toys.

I will be posting updates here in the coming months, and you can also visit the official Facebook page with news & related material:

 

Facebook:

Da Vinci's Challenge

International Toy Fair, NYC, 2/23/05

Da Vinci's Challenge debuted this year at the International Toy Fair at the Javitz Center in NYC. The response was excellent, with alot of credit going to Doug Lory, who played an excellent Leonardo da Vinci for the convention. It was overwhelming to see something I created and have spent so much time, thought, and effort on get a prime spot at the the booth of a major toy company, Briarpatch. The display was right on the aisle, right smack in the middle of the convention center. The fact that this was right on my 27th birthday was just the icing on the cake!

Here are some photos of the Da Vinci's Challenge display at the Briarpatch booth:

Doug "da Vinci," on the left, and me, in black
(Click to Enlarge)

My partners Alan Gorney & Alice Gorney, Doug "da Vinci", and me
(Click to Enlarge)

Toy Fair 2006 - Briarpatch Video

I found a video clip of the Briarpatch booth at the 2006 Toy Fair in NY, with Doug Lory playing Leonardo da Vinci. He is introducing the newest "Da Vinci's Challenge" game - Da Vinci's Mancala. There are also shots of the original Da Vinci's Challenge and the card game version, too. (It's after the Nerdy Wordy presentation...)

Watch "Da Vinci's Mancala" Video

Bad Action Figures

Since I'm getting ready for Toy Fair in NYC this weekend, it's a good time to post this great list of really bad action figures I saw a while back:

Cracked.com:

The 36 Worst Action Figures From Iconic Toy Lines

There are so many laughably bad characters, but my favorites have to be the He-Man "smelly" characters: 

Moss Man (which was Beast Man with green paint, fur, & pine scent) 

& Stinkor... yes, an action figure that looked & smelled like a skunk (which was just a Mer-man figure painted black & white). They are just awesomely bad toys.

"Why won't anyone play with me?!?!?!"

As kids, my 2 brothers & I amassed an extensive collection of toys & actions figures over the years. With such a vast collection, we inevitably had most of the crappy toys on that list. Batman's "Bob" & The G.I. Joe character "Chuckles" were off-the-charts lame.

I guess when you're trying to create so many characters for a toy line, a few duds are bound to slip in the mix.

There are plenty of other examples of action figure failures. One day I'll have to gather up some of the worst ones I can find & make my own list.

This stupidly grinning Lex Luthor that punched himself in the head comes to mind:

Even the packaging sucked for that that 1990's line of DC superheroes by Toy Biz.

Da Vinci's Challenge Articles

I am going to use this post to keep an ongoing record of all the print and web articles that mention or feature the Da Vinci's Challenge board game.
Rowan University Magazine
Micarelli's Game is Serious Business

MSNBC.com
2005 Holiday Guide - Get Smart! Toys for Kids

South Jersey Courier-Post
Are You Game?

2006 Toy Fair
Press for new Da Vinci's Challenge games

Washington Post
Da Vinci's Challenge - Easy to Learn, Hard to Master

About.com
Top 10 Mass Market Games of 2005
Top Toys of 2005Best Teen Toys
Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Games
2005 Mensa Winners
Da Vinci Code Games

Edplay Magazine
Top 10 Fabulous Products

Vineland Daily Journal
The Da Vinci Challenge

Calgary Sun
Oh the Games People Play!

The News Journal of Delaware
Toys Aren't All Fun & Games to This Mom

The Tennessean
Reap the Riches of Family Game Night

Today's Parent.com
Top Toys of 2005 - Preteen

Family Fun Magazine
8 Great New Games for Families

Wikipedia Article
Da Vinci's Challenge

All Info About.com
All Info About Da Vinci's Challenge

Board Game Geek.com
Da Vinci's Challenge reviews

Bella Online - The Voice of Women
5-Star Review - Da Vinci's Challenge

Major Fun.com
Hall of Fame - Da Vinci's Challenge

Da Vinci's Challenge Review
Article by Tom Vasel

Rowan University News & Happenings
Classroom Project Becomes Award Winning Game

Toy Directory 2006 Preview
Da Vinci's Mancala
Da Vinci's Challenge Card Game

Boston Herald article (on WTOP website)
Marketer's Follow "Da Vinci" Success with Merchandise

Future Games

 ePawn

I'm continuing my topical leadup to my trip to Toy Fair in NYC. My last post was about bad toys from the past. Now it's time to look at the more promising future of toys & games.

With the prevalence of smart phones & touchscreen computers, digital gaming is an unstoppable force in personal entertainment.
I see my little nephews & other toddlers easily navigating iPhone apps, and it seems inevitable that human interfacing with electronics will only increase in the future.

However, as long as we inhabit the physical realm, there will always be the need for physical interaction- with humans & objects alike.
The appeal of a tangible products or items is not going away anytime soon. That's why I think there's alot of potential for games or other applications that are a hybrid of physical and digital attributes.

I saw this cool demo on Neatorama of a game that uses a touchscreen playing surface & physical game pieces. It's called the ePawn Arena:

Searching for other instances of digital game boards, I came across this prototype by Philips Electronics from a few years ago:



As we become more enmeshed with electronic devices, it will become more "natural" to interact with virtual interfaces that augment our physical senses, intelligence, & consciousness.

At some point, if people engineer a truly symbiotic connection with future digital devices, like an 'Apple iThink', it will be interesting to see how perceptions of the virtual and physical worlds are combined in the mind of the person.

Boards and Pieces- "Da Vinci's Challenge"

After my weekend at Toy Fair a couple weeks ago, I have begun to contact game publishers about ideas for new products. I am especially interested in getting the award-winning game I created, "Da Vinci's Challenge", back on the market.

Recently, a new edition of "Da Vinci's Challenge" was produced as a high-end promotional item for Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen. I still have to post pics of this version here on my blog, but you can see photos on the offical Facebook page that I made for the game. Please 'Like' the page if you'd like to get news & info about it:

Facebook:

The Official Da Vinci's Challenge Page

Anyway, I was doing a Google search for something related to the game, and I discovered a site called Board and Pieces that archives classic abstract strategy games. It was started by James J. Bond, a librarian from Richmond, Indiana.

I was excited to see that there is an entry for my game, that describes the history behind the concept and the basic rules of play.

Board and Pieces:

Da Vinci's Challenge

It is always amazing to see a reference to something that I created, especially alongside so many other classic games.

I am working diligently to bring this timeless and fun game back to the market. My intention was always for "Da Vinci's Challenge" to be an enjoyable way for people to learn about visual pattern recognition, ancient history, and the mystical ideas of sacred geometry. I'm always encouraged by people who tell me they have seen or played it, and I hope that many more get to experience the wisdom it contains.

Barnes & Noble: "Da Vinci" Fever!

Although my game, Da Vinci's Challenge, has been selling well at Barnes & Noble they have decided to hype all things 'Da Vinci' this month, in light of the approaching Da Vinci Code movie. On their website they have a link to different Da Vinci items... under "Games & Gifts" they have all 3 of the Da Vinci's Challenge games featured!


I found out they were going to include my board & card games as part of their promotion at Toy Fair in February. My sister & her husband saw the "Da Vinci" display at the B&N store near us, so I went to check it out. Here are some pics I took there...