The Toy Book - 2016 NY TOY FAIR EDITION

Talkin'
Toys
NEW YEAR, NEW NAME:
PATCH BECOMES PLAYMONSTER
The Toy Book catches up with Bob Wann, CEO of PlayMonster
Patch Products is now PlayMonster! What’s
the story behind the new name?
The name was changed to PlayMonster to
better represent the diversity and quality of
the company’s product line, which is a reflection
of our mission and values. We started the
process several months ago with motivation
to simply update and evolve our logo, but
as we researched and examined the changing
marketplace, we saw an opportunity to
create a playful new brand name that better
expresses our belief in the power of play and
that play is not only about fun, but also about
making a difference in people’s lives.
The new name also better reflects that we
are champions of play, a belief and attitude
shared by all of our employees—from the
management team to sales people
to product creators.
How has PlayMonster evolved
over the past 30 years?
PlayMonster was founded as Patch Products
in 1985 and named for co-founders and
brothers Fran and Bryce Patch. The company
started more than 30 years ago with children’s
puzzles, but has since grown into one of the
world’s leading manufacturers and marketers
of award-winning games and toys that enrich
the lives of the young and the young at heart.
The company has grown tremendously over
the past five years alone, because we’ve
expanded from being a games-only company
into a multi-category toy and game company
developing play for all ages, with our infant
toy line Mirari, all the way to our best-selling
games such as The Game of THINGS… for
adults. With this variety of products, we’re
now shipping millions of units of toy and
game products per year, three times as many
as we did five years ago. We wholeheartedly
believe in bringing high-quality play to
people of all ages, and will continue to do so
under the PlayMonster name.
PlayMonster has experienced rapid growth
over the past few years, and is now a top
30 toy company. To what do you attribute
this growth, and how do you plan to maintain
it?
We’ve continued to be picky about the
games we create and take under our brand.
We only want to produce quality products
that have timeless play, not a toy or game
that’s frivolous, or some short-term fad that
will not have long-term appeal. A good
example of this is our popular party game 5
Second Rule. We first started working on it
seven years ago, and today it’s even more
popular than it was when it first launched. It is
still a top seller because of the fun interaction
it creates. Ellen DeGeneres enjoys it so much
that she frequently plays the game on her
show, and the interaction between her and
her guests is hilarious. In the same way we’re
picky about specific ideas, we’re also careful
in the acquisitions we make. We look for
long-lasting play value, often with a point of
continued on page 246
118 THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2016 | TOYBOOK.COM