Steven Fink, Bang Zoom Design

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9/12/06
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Steven Fink, Bang Zoom Design
ANDREW KARDON
ven as a teenager, Steven Fink had lofty
Elmo—and the Barbie Fairytopia Mermaidia Elina
career goals. “Since high school, I knew I
Doll. There’s also the radio-controlled Extreme Cycle
wanted to be in the toy business,” he says.
for Tyco/Mattel and two new items for Zizzle: the Gut
“My initial focus was law and I felt my best opportu-
Wrencher R/C and the Super Cycling Sarah.
nity in the toy business was going to be as a lawyer.”
Fink’s passion for toys is clearly seen not just in
But in the year between college graduation and the
the products created by Bang Zoom, but in the com-
start of grad school, something unexpected happened:
pany’s Ohio-based office and his own home. Good
with the products, rather than the legal angle, was
tion) on any flat surface he can find. In fact,
Fink discovered what marketers do in the toy indus-
luck finding an empty space in the office, as Fink
try. And as a huge toy fan, the prospect of working
tremendously more appealing to him.
A passion for toys led to his first job at Tyco, as
an associate marketing manager on Matchbox,
puts toys (many from his personal collec-
Pictured above is Bang Zoom’s office.
Pictured on the right is Steven Fink.
where Fink was living out his dream and
robots and stuff from Ideal and Marx. But I
much as a hobby. “I never want-
also collect Mego toys, figures, and super-
ed to leave,” he admits. “I
heroes and Kenner’s Star Wars toys. I look at a
would stay there until the
lot of the older toys almost like artwork.”
wee hours and get there real
ing more about the business side of it and the prod-
A love for toys and the right connection led
get out of the company and be an inventor and get to
the ’50s and ’60s. Add in some fake backstory about
company was acquired by Mattel, which gave Fink
focus on every category of the toy business.”
insight into how one of the largest toy companies oper-
ates. A year or so later, he found himself recruited by
of the company, which would have taken too long, or
That led to Fink joining up with some former
associates and coming on board Bang Zoom Design,
Hasbro in Cincinnati as the marketing person on the
where he’s been ever since. As a partner and co-
“When you’re employed by a big toy company,
facturers and clients to market and sell the concepts
vehicle lines. But even there, Fink quickly realized that
his true calling was on the inventing side.
you’re often labeled as a certain type of person,” Fink
explains. “If you work on vehicles, you’re a vehicle
owner of the company, it’s Fink’s responsibility to
grow and build the business by working with manu-
they develop. But besides the marketing and sales
side, he’s also on the concept-development side,
person. And the girls’ group doesn’t want to hear any
which means he’s hands-on with the toys.
And I don’t consider myself any one type of person in
fall items and lines. Most noteworthy of the company’s
ideas from the vehicle person. Or if you work on the
doll business, you’re a doll person. You’re typecast.
the toy business. Internally in a big company, you’re
not really going to get much respect on what you say
14 TOYS & FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
of. The fictitious toy company was created by Fink
and his friend and current co-worker Steve Casino.
So it was limiting to me. I could either become CEO
Shortly after getting his feet wet with Tyco, the
Fink to create Gobler Toys, his own toy company. Sort
related to other brands, unless you’re on that brand.
uct side of it and design. I was like a kid in a candy
store. . . or a kid in a toy store.”
“My problem is that I collect so much
toys from the ’60s—like big plastic toys and
working in a field that he loved so
ment talking about toys and learn-
devoted purely to his toy collection.
stuff. I’m all over the place,” he says. “I love
testing whether he could survive
early. I loved being in the environ-
he even has a special room in his house
The website (www.goblertoys.com) features wacky
toys in the vein of those over-the-top products from
the company and its founder Ira Gobler, and you’ve
quickly got one of the most successful non-toy compa-
nies ever created. “It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s just
one of those things that we did because we loved it.”
Next up from Bang Zoom is The Amazing Eyeball
for Mattel, which is due out this fall. “Basically it’s a pet
eyeball,” he says. “It’s a motorized eyeball that blinks
and looks left and right and will follow your voice
around the room. If it’s excited, it’ll blink faster; if it
gets tired it’ll blink slower. And it will play games and
Developing roughly 150 new products per year,
go to the bathroom. It’s a really weird toy, which I love.”
inventions are the last three feature Elmos from Fisher-
he says that Bang Zoom does all inventions internally
Bang Zoom focuses on TV-promoted toys—big feature
Price—Hokey Pokey Elmo, E-L-M-O, and Shout
Companies interested in working with Bang Zoom
can contact Steven Fink at [email protected]. However,
and does not represent inventors.
SEPTEMBER 2006