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Meet the Crew
The Toy Guy, A.K.A. Chris Byrne
Over the past 25 years, Christopher Byrne has spent some
part of every day playing with new toys-not a
bad job, if you stop
to think about it. His first job in the toy industry was writing
assembly instructions for toys. It was during this time that he
was working for CBS Toys, (a division of the CBS network), and their
five toy brands: Creative Playthings, Gabriel, Wonder, Gym-Dandy
and Ideal.
At the time, he didn't know this first job would mark the beginning
of a lifetime of toy study and fun. The more he got into playing,
the more he became fascinated by the toy industry. Over the next
years he would become more captivated by trends and marketing in
the toy business. He worked for many companies at this time, writing
copy, fulfilling marketing needs, and performing duties in public
relations. Still, he had no idea where his career was heading. Then,
one day, Chris got his "big break." He got a call from a former
boss who was working with a new company that had just founded a
new board game, which was becoming all the rage in Seattle. She
was putting together a marketing team for the game, and asked Chris
if he wanted in on the action. That popular board game ended up
being Pictionary. "Well, I went to the interview, got hired on the
spot, and spent the next eighteen months playing Pictionary," he
says. Of course it wasn't all fun and games. He spent a great deal
of time traveling with the inventor, Rob Angel, and created promotions
for the marketing firm of Pezzano & Company to spread the good word
about Pictionary. At the end of this period, Pezzano & Company could
say they had definitely helped put the game on the map,
selling
more than a million Pictionary games, when selling 100,000 games
at that time was considered a
big hit.
"People tell me that I'm like the kid in the movie Big," he says.
"That's not really true. After all, he was a kid who was suddenly
thrust into the grown-up world. I'm a grown-up (sort of) whose primary job is to get into the world of kids. But what I've always loved
about that movie is that the character understood what kids think
is fun. It doesn't matter what the toy is, the fun is what really
counts. You never see a toy become a big hit that isn't fun, whether
it's a game, a Cabbage Patch doll, or even today's Pokémon." After
working on Pictionary, Chris started writing for different magazines,
consulting on marketing programs, and began studying the toy market.
He wrote for several trade magazines, including Toy & Hobby World,
Licensing Today, and Trim-A-Tree Business. It was about this time
he began to make television appearances. "I got a call one day from
the Today Show. They needed to talk to someone about toys and what
was going to be new for the year. I'd never done TV before, but
I thought, 'Hey, that sounds like fun.' And it was." Today, Chris
is the editor-at-large for Toys & Family Entertainment and Royaltie$.
The Toy Guy is available year-round for speeches
to parenting, business, community or faith-based groups; media interviews; in-school programs; and, to answer questions about the business
of toys.
E-mail The Toy Guy at mail@thetoyguy.com.
Jeff McKinney
Editorial Director
TheToyGuy.com
Jeff originally hails from Philadelphia,
PA, but grew up around the country and spent a few years of his childhood in Europe. Jeff’s love of toys began at a
young age when he was introduced to Star Wars and his
life-long love of action figures, which continues today, was born.
Jeff’s expertise covers all categories of toys—mass, market,
specialty and especially video games, which he can often be found playing—in addition to action figures. Jeff has been the editorial director and head video game reviewer for theToyGuy.com since 2001. He has also contributed to Toys & Family Entertainment
and Royaltie$, two U.S.-based trade magazines. In addition to his work with theToyGuy.com, Jeff writes a weekly video game column on The Play Forum @ TimeToPlaymag.com and contributes regularly to TimeToPlaymag.com.
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