A Toy Industry X Prize

Maybe it’s time for the toy industry to have an X Prize.  The X Prize is a wonderful award that rewards grass roots technological innovation.  It is based upon the emerging belief that there are incredible rewards that come from tapping into the intellectual capital of the “people” rather than just a few “experts.”  It’s proved to a highly successful approach as testified to by Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne winning the prize in 2004 for being the first privately funded space ship to go into space two times in one week.   

In fact, the X Prize was so successful that there are now X Prizes for the first privately funded group to send a space ship to the moon and back and a car that gets over 100 miles per gallon.  If you want to read more about these prizes read a fun article in the New York Times entitled “’The Amazing Race’, as Played in the Lab.”

So, what if the toy industry were to create a large cash prize for the individual or group that can come up with a ground breaking concept in toy play?  Not just another toy, but a way of playing that is so innovative that it will make consumers flood into the toy department.  It would not be patented but would belong to the entire industry as a platform on which to build success for individual companies and the toy industry as a whole.

Think of the inspiration that this would give to not only our traditional toy inventors but developers in other disciplines who never before thought about toys.  Scientists, mathematicians, artists, musicians and others would be drawn into the creative process and bring elements of play to our industry that we never imagined.  Imagine the torrent of creative energy that could be unleashed.  What do you think?