A press release:
With the increasingly competitive landscape of the toy development and retail industries, crowd funding has emerged as a gateway for toy innovators to display and gather support for ideas that may have been passed up by large toy companies. ToyBacker today announced the launch of Toybacker.com, the first crowd funding [sic] site dedicated solely to the toy industry.
The site will serve as a hub for creative toy innovators of all types to share their ideas, gather funding and bring their products to fruition with financial support of the consumer.
"As crowd funding companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have benchmarked thousands of fully funded projects, from 3D printers to nationally distributed feature films such as Veronica Mars, we recognized the need for toy innovators to own their own [forum,]" said Carlos Lopez, Co-founder of ToyBacker. "As an [sic] veteran licensor, fan of toys and supporter of other Kickstarter projects, I am excited for Toybacker.com to convene innovators and hopefully catapult great ideas."
Toybacker.com's crowd funded, two tier platform will not only allow great ideas to be developed through direct consumer support, but it will also offer any campaigner that gets fully funded the option to have Toy Backer act as direct agents. They will be able to facilitate placement to a sponsoring toy or kids licensed product company.
Lopez, is an industry veteran who has worked with companies such as Marvel, Disney, Nickelodeon, LEGO, Li & Fung to name a few all of which have garnered him experience in licensing, design, product development and manufacturing. ToyBackers, CCO and other Co-Founder Jason Reilley, also brings his vast design experience having worked as art director with companies like REVLON, and various other high profile companies since 1994.
ToyBacker Boast substantial support and backing from vendor partners in Hong Kong with whom they have long standing history.
ToyBacker is now accepting campaign and contributor submissions online.
Maybe it's just us, but isn't creating your own crowdfunding site just for toys is a little like creating your own YouTube just for videos of people doing jumping jacks? A needlessly niche version of an established, ubiquitous brand. Still, anything that gets more cool toys is a good thing, so we wish ToyBacker luck.
