The Big Apple.
The City that Never Sleeps.
The Center of the Universe.
And now, SolidRoots has conquered it!
New York Toy Fair is the largest toy fair in the world. Anyone who’s anyone in the toy & game industry is there. And let me tell you, they were all there!
Jen & I were guests of our friends over at Endless Games. We met with Brian and talked about licensing one of our trivia games with them. That took all of an hour.
So what do two people do in NYC and some time? Well, if it’s February, you freeze. But you also go to a Broadway show, check out Rockefeller Center and FAO Schwartz, eat in Times Square, and ride the subway. Oh, and check out all of the fantastic games and toys at New York Toy Fair.
We spent parts of 3 days checking out Toy Fair and all of the amazing booths, being inspired by new products, and meeting new friends and partners. Of course, Brian and Endless Games were the highlight, but we also met with our project manager Matt from GPI, we made some new friends over at Channel Craft, and talked to several more people who have done some amazing work and created some incredible products. One man, who has been in the business for 30+ years, had some very high-end classic games like Scrabble and Monopoly and took about 15 minutes to just chat with us. He was incredibly encouraging, especially since, at these types of events, vendors are there to sell products, not chit-chat with other vendors.
The sheer scale of Toy Fair was mind-blowing. Mattel had their own /floor/ while several other companies had whole blocks where you could be transported into their own walled gardens of whimsey.
We couldn’t help but be inspired. And then we went outside.
The sheer scale of NYC is mind-blowing – and we only saw a tiny fraction of it!
Jen and I were staying in the Upper West Side, and me being a huge Seinfeld fan, we started off one day at Tom’s Restaurant, which was the exterior for Monk’s – the diner in Seinfeld. We actually ended that night by seeing Aladdin on Broadway.
We spent several hours at a couple of different 9/11 memorials – the tribute museum, then the actual footprint memorials and then the museum. Each of them were heavy and heart-breaking, but fitting tributes. We both felt like we had to look at every picture so that each person could be remembered.
We quickly hit Rockefeller Center and FAO Schwartz and caught the end of the big piano show. I can’t imagine taking a kid in there and trying to pick out a toy with them – utter madness. More than one kid was having a meltdown.
And before we left the city, we had to have some New York-style pizza. On the recommendation of one of our Lyft drivers, we hit up John’s Pizza. No Slices. Whole Pies. It did not disappoint.
We were only gone for 4 days, but it felt like a week or more. NYC is huge and vibrant and grimy. We’re so pumped we got to go and experience NYC & Toy Fair. We’re also really pumped to be back home and get to work on our next games.
Impressed and proud to be related to you two amazing entrepreneurs with heart. Love you guys!!