PM: So you wouldn’t recommend toy-making as a career? 

MR: Are you kidding me? Look, straight up here, this -- for me -- has been an ‘artistic’ pursuit. (Note that I used the word ‘pursuit’ as in ‘chasing, not obtaining.’) Let’s get real here -- not one of my fortes -- each quarter I call up several companies and ask two questions. First, "How much do you owe me?" And, second, "When are you going to pay me?"

I can’t take either of those answers -- no matter how big the company -- to my bank. It doesn’t matter that ‘Oops’ has a history of sales for 16 years, can’t buy a new pickup truck on history. This is not easy on relationships, either. Believe me. Try and imagine explaining your quarterly-phone-call-lottery ‘lifestyle’ to your mate. Good luck! However, if you are willing -- as I have been -- to take the pros with the cons... (And there are a lot of ‘pros’ & ‘cons’ out there if you get my drift?) Well, I did get to ‘spend’ the best ten out of the last twenty years in New Zealand and that’s not all bad. I’ve had my ups and downs. So deal, maybe the next card’s an Ace.

PM: You’ve mentioned your agent, Howard Jay Fleischer, a number of times.  Personally, I have never been able to find an agent who was at all interested in puzzles.  How did you find him?

MR: Again, it’s all about relationships and luck. I was lucky, very lucky, in meeting my agent Howard. Howard is not only my agent but is now a good friend and trusted business confidante. Howard represents not only my traditional toy business inventions but also my most technological advanced concepts, new media proposals and written properties.

Howard usually represents an ‘item’ not an ‘artist’ as such, with few exceptions. I happen to be one of those exceptions while still maintaining the freedom to choose which of my items he does represent. After all, everything is negotiable. However, because of our personal friendship, he usually gets ‘first look’ on all my stuff.

Besides that, he lets me hang out with him at his most awesomely fun office in Manhattan where we get down to business with all the major industry players. During any of the many industry shows held in NYC, we often take around sixty meetings. Major fun!

Howard is often referred to as the ‘Jerry Maguire’ of the toy and candy business. In the traditional toy business, puzzles are definitely a niche with a few exceptional successes, like Rubik’s cube or BeJeweled, of course. Those are the exceptions. And Howard is an expert at recognizing and developing the potential exceptions! I was introduced to Howard by Mark Mortimer who was, at that time, VP at Channel Craft. And I got that introduction because I asked for it. (That’s right, ‘I just asked for it.’ Sometimes, it’s just that simple.)

Howard is one of the few agents in the toy business who are ‘short listed’ by Hasbro and Fisher-Price. This means, if you contact those companies, you are sent a list of about a dozen agents worldwide with whom those companies deal with almost exclusively. You have to then contact those agents and make inroads with them prior to any of your material being presented.

Howard, as far as I am concerned, is the best! He has represented me for over ten years. If you wish to contact Howard, please do so through his website. Be patient. He is diligent and in considerable demand. If you want, for what help it might be to keep you out of his spam filter, mention in your email subject line; ‘Per Reilly’s Interview.’ Also, be prepared for this reality. In the toy business, an agent usually receives fifty percent (Yes, 50%) of the artist’s royalties. That’s standard and there is a reason for this. Unlike the movie business, where a writer spends six to eighteen months creating a screenplay and their agent usually receives fifteen (15%); in the toy business, the time and effort from an idea to presentation requires very little investment usually. Glue a few balls together, or make a simple drawing.

Consequently, the toy business is awash in submissions. In fact, all agents charge a nominal fee to review and consider a submission. And I believe Howard still charges the least of any agent. (Check his site for current requirements.) This is necessary to offset the filing, recording, assessment, and (usually) return shipping costs.

In fact, to dispel any unintentional false hope here, it is statistically as likely for someone to sell (or option off) a screenplay as it is to place a toy item with a company and have it go to market. And that’s not just from my personal experience in both areas but what the statistical numbers will show if you do the research.

Which is another issue, I recommend you do diligently, research. There is so much access now with search engines that there is no excuse to present a concept that already exists. And yet, Howard sees this on almost a daily basis in submissions. It is absolutely unacceptable! It will be a waste of yours and Howard’s time, attention, energy, and money.

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