| | | Construction Toy This was my first plastic product, and was designed on a drawing board. A toy company took it on, but after paying for patents the company was acquired by a large multi-national and forced to drop all new projects. A largely self-funded moulded prototype was made, but due the lack of funds, most of the mould cavity inserts had to be made by myself, in two weeks on a borrowed CNC mill. Although the prototype worked very well, a licensee could not be found and the project put on hold indefinitely. Engineers and architects love it,as do very bright kids, but it may be too hard for the mass market. Much was learned about moulding and the value of market research. We now know that more children can lay bricks than build space-frame structures. However, work has resumed and the major problems now overcome - watch this space. |
