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Friday, Feb 6th, 2009

25 Random Things About Andrew Looney Links to Fan-Made board designs added to the WW5 and Martian Backgammon pages

Amorphous Blob Podcast Episode 27: UCon Interview with Andy Looney Two more BGG reviews of MPF: Fun game! and A Constantly Improving Game (with beautiful artwork)

What happens in WW5 if there's a tie? A Fluxx 4.0 Question about the Separation of War and Peace

It's a week until Toy Fair, our biggest industry-only trade show of the year, so preparations for this event are currently the dominant focus of attention here at Looney Labs.

We've come a long way since our last trip to Toy Fair... in particular, we now have a much better booth fixture than ever before, featuring a slatwall product display unit Alison designed and built last summer (and which I helped attach new lights to earlier this week).

Of course, we also have newly updated sales literature, which is also our best ever; we've recently started working with a company called Strategia Design, and they did a great job of spiffying up our handouts. PDFs are already available online for all the sell sheets will be using, so feel free to check them out!

One of the cool new things you'll find in our new literature is the recurring icon shown here, proudly proclaiming that we've been making games in the USA for 20 years. This is true even though Looney Labs is only 12 years old, since Kristin and I actually started business together in 1989 as Icehouse Games, Inc. (Join us this summer at Origins for the 20th International Icehouse Tournament!)

Another advantage to making our games in America is that it's much easier for us to meet the new safety regulations that are going into effect right now. We've started using the slogan "Certified for Safety, Certified for Fun" on our literature, and we'll even have the documentation on-hand to prove it, something which won't be so easy for our competitors whose products are made in China. (The many awards we've received, including six Origins awards for Best game in category, stand as our certifications of Fun.)

Other preparations include new outfits for the team -- we're all getting purple polo shirts with the Looney Labs logo embroidered in the usual spot on the upper left side.

But perhaps best of all, our product line has grown and now includes a super-hit, named Monty Python Fluxx. Building on the success of both Monty Python and Fluxx, we're expecting to attract a lot of new attention with our hottest new release.

To make sure everyone knows about it, we've got a new postcard mailing going out right now to retailers who'll be attending the show. And to make sure they can't resist, we've got a super hot show special - but that's only available to retailers who write an order with us at the show.

So we've got a lot going for us as we head into Toy Fair. Wish us luck!

Thanks for reading and have a great whenever!