Business Opportunities Weblog

August 21, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

BusinessWeek:

Playing video games all day can be tiring, at least according to Shawn Smith, who left his job as an editor at Ziff Davis’ Electronic Gaming Monthly to create an alternative world of his own.

In 2002, the visual artist began Shawnimals, a line of quirky plush toys, such as butt-kicking ninjas, bouncy radishes, and talking moustaches.

Smith, 32, hand-made the toys with his wife, Jennifer Brody, in Bucktown until last year, when he outsourced the work to China to keep up with orders.

Now Smith is expanding from toys—available in 200 stores at $6 to $30—to get back into the 2D realm of video games. He’s helping develop a game for Nintendo DL based on Ninjatown, a Shawnimals property. It’s scheduled for release next fall.

Photo by Saverio Truglia.

In Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Tags: Creativity, Niche, Toys