Welcome to another episode of the Toy Business Unboxed Podcast, where host Jason Hsieh talks with the people building the toys and games families love. This week, Jason is joined by Annmarie Percic and Frank Percic of Tomgrrrl Toys, the company behind Wyldshyres, a line of unicorn and dinosaur hybrid creatures designed to help kids work through their emotions. Annmarie came from logistics, and Frank brings the storytelling. Together, they share what it really takes to bring an original toy to market with no prior industry experience.
#213: From Playroom Idea to Vinyl Toy Line – Toy Business Unboxed
Episode Highlight
- 00:51 Meet Annmarie and Frank
- 01:55 A unicorn dinosaur idea
- 02:44 Stories built around emotions
- 04:07 Three years to production
- 04:43 Brand awareness is hard
- 07:43 Networking at Toy Fair
- 08:57 Why Amazon needs experts
- 12:55 Animation reels and books
- 18:06 Distributors, ASTRA, and licensing
- 25:42 Advice for new founders
A Late-Night Idea Nobody Had Made Yet
The idea for Wyldshyres started during a late-night conversation between Annmarie and a tattoo artist friend about how their kids and grandkids loved both dinosaurs and unicorns. The thought stuck with Annmarie for days, so she started researching. She found that nobody had made a unicorn and dinosaur hybrid toy. That gap in the market became the starting point for Tomgrrrl Toys.
Giving Every Character a Story and a Feeling
Frank joined once it was clear Annmarie was really going to get the toy made. With so many toys on the market, he wanted each Wyldshyre to have a backstory that helped it stand out. After seeing how many kids struggled with emotions and imagination after COVID, the two decided each character would help kids deal with a specific feeling. Frank now writes the stories, while Annmarie handles production, manufacturing, and the overall toy line.
Three Years From Concept to Production
Annmarie says the journey from concept to production has taken about three years. She worked with overseas manufacturers and leaned on a local consulting firm in Cleveland to guide her through the process. Her biggest early lesson was simple: you don’t know what you don’t know. Bringing a toy to market turned out to be far more involved than just making a product.
Brand Awareness Is Harder Than Going Viral
The hardest part so far has been getting people to know Wyldshyres exists. Annmarie admits social media can create the impression that products blow up overnight, but that is rarely how it works. Frank adds that since launching direct to consumer on their website last October, the real challenge has been steering people to the site when shoppers have so many options. That is a big reason the team is excited about Amazon, where customers can simply search and buy.
A Family Team Running on Self-Funding
Wyldshyres is truly a family business. Annmarie’s brother Anthony, her partner in their logistics business, is a silent partner in the toy company and was a driving force in getting it off the ground. Annmarie’s sister and brother-in-law also pitch in, and Frank notes that the toy brand is a second job for both him and Annmarie. The business has been self-funded so far, which is why they focus on being fiscally responsible and strategic with every move.
Why the Right Connections Change Everything
Annmarie believes meeting the right people has been the key to every step forward. Their first Toy Fair, where Wyldshyres was on the launch pad, opened doors to contacts like Tenacious Toys, which now sells their figures online. She was also named a finalist for Toy Inventor of the Year in the independent category. Frank admits Toy Fair felt overwhelming at first, but the relationships they built there are now paying off.
Plush, Comic Con, Animation, and Blind Boxes Ahead
The team is focused on Amazon, a plush release, and a Comic Con booth featuring a special collection of figures painted by local artists. For 2027, Frank is working with a professional animation studio on 10 short reels, each about a minute long, introducing Rikki, who is energetic and easily distracted, and Elsha, who is shy and timid. Annmarie already has eight more characters beyond the first two, plus one-inch minis that could become blind boxes or Japanese-style capsule toys. Jason added that blind boxes work because kids want to collect the whole set, and that capsule machines are a natural fit for tiny figures.
Advice for Newcomers in the Toy and Game Industry
Annmarie’s advice is simple: don’t give up, stay true to who you are, and keep pushing forward no matter how many nos you hear. Frank’s advice is to hold on to your vision, even when people try to steer you in another direction. He points to Walt Disney as an example of someone who kept believing through rejection. His tip is to live your vision day by day and block out the noise.
Conclusion
Annmarie and Frank Percic show that an outsider with a clear idea and a supportive family can build a real toy brand. Their journey highlights the value of patience, networking, and planning every piece of the brand to work together. From vinyl figures and a children’s book to animation and retail, Wyldshyres is being built as a full world. Their story is a reminder that brand awareness takes time, but persistence keeps the door open.
Connect with Annmarie and Frank Percic
If you’re interested in learning more about Wyldshyres or connecting with Annmarie and Frank Percic you can reach out through the following channels:
- Website: Visit Wyldshyres’ official website for the latest news, game updates, and more
- Instagram: Follow Wyldshyres on Instagram for visual updates, game previews, and creative inspiration
- Facebook: Follow Wyldshyres on Facebook for updates, discussions, and behind-the-scenes content.
Transcript
Jason Hsieh (00:51)
Welcome to another episode of Toy Business Unboxed Podcast. I’m your host, Jason Hsieh. For today’s podcast episode, we have a special guest, Annmarie and Frank, the co-founder of Tomgrrrl Toys, the company behind a wonderful new toy line that have unicorn and dinosaur and many different mystery creep creature that’s built was around big emotion. And her background is actually in logistics, not toys.
So in today’s interview I want to kind of uncover some of the story behind the toy brand, also all the wonderful ideas and also the journey so far. So thank you for both of you to jumping on for today’s interview.
Frank Percic (01:30)
Thanks for having us, appreciate it.
Jason Hsieh (01:32)
So I know Annmarie, you spent your career in logistics before you started the toy line. What was the moment that you actually decided to build a toy company? Like around like creating your own line and all that? Can you kind of go back to the moment where you started idea and the journey so far?
Annmarie (01:55)
I did I decided to I w with the start of the journey, sorry, I met with a tattoo artist friend and we were talking about how my granddaughter
Jason Hsieh (02:06)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (02:07)
And her daughter loves dinosaurs and unicorns and it was like a late night session and it was one of those things that was just kinda on my mind a few days later and I started to do some research on it and I found that there was not a unicorn dinosaur hybrid.
As a toy. So
Jason Hsieh (02:26)
I see.
Okay, okay.
Annmarie (02:29)
Third process.
Jason Hsieh (02:33)
And I think this is where Frank, you got involved. You also helped with some of the design, correct? Frank, can you also share a little bit about your involvement, how you helped her out and how this whole product came to life?
Frank Percic (02:44)
Yeah, just actually, you know, I came in kind of down the road after, you know, this was kind of the thing that was one of those things that was bugging her and she you know,
Jason Hsieh (02:52)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (02:52)
She started the whole background, how do I even get a toy to market and where the steps
Jason Hsieh (02:55)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (02:56)
Were and you know, when it kind of came to that we were I’m like, she’s really doing this and this toy’s gonna get made and you know, all the steps she had taken, you know, I told her, Well, you know, there’s so many toys out there. Even though this was an original IP, you know, I’d love to, you know
Just come up with some kind of backstory for the toys just so they stood out a little bit and we started talking back and forth and you know, especially after COVID, Jason, like a lot of problems with kids dealing with emotions and interaction
Jason Hsieh (03:25)
Yeah, yeah.
Frank Percic (03:26)
And using their imagination. I mean studies are being done on it. So we
Jason Hsieh (03:29)
Not really.
Frank Percic (03:29)
Came up with what if these wild chires also help kids deal with emotions and use their
Jason Hsieh (03:34)
Hmm.
Frank Percic (03:35)
Imagination. So then I started kind of developing stories for each character and
Jason Hsieh (03:40)
Hmm.
Frank Percic (03:40)
That’s kind of my role. And then she
Does all the, you know, stuff with production and manufacturing and, you know, the toy whole toy line and it’s been, you know, been great.
Jason Hsieh (03:52)
Yeah, it’s definitely a very wonderful tag team between two of you working on different aspects of the businesses. But from idea to concept to productions and prototype, how long does that take you and your team to do based on your experience?
Annmarie (04:07)
About three years from con from concept to production. We are going on three years. So as far as
Jason Hsieh (04:12)
Three years, okay. Whoa, okay, I see.
Annmarie (04:15)
Yes, working with manufacturers overseas. I look a local consulting firm that I worked with in Cleveland, so that they were very helpful.
Jason Hsieh (04:22)
Yeah. Okay.
I see, I see, I see. And I know this getting into the toys and game industry with no prior experience in it yet, what was one of the first things that you learned, like either in the in the hard way that is that you’re not expecting, either one of you can share.
Annmarie (04:43)
The first thing you don’t know what you don’t know. It is a lot. It’s a more than just putting
Jason Hsieh (04:46)
Yeah. Yeah.
Annmarie (04:49)
A mark putting a toy to market. You know, bringing a toy to market. I think the hardest thing has been brand like brand awareness as far as getting the toy out
Jason Hsieh (04:57)
Mm.
Annmarie (04:57)
There and you know, having people know, you know, getting people familiar with it to know what it is and that’s been
Jason Hsieh (05:04)
Yeah.
Annmarie (05:04)
You know, I think it’s a lot harder than just posting on social media and hoping it goes viral. Like it it’s you know, it
Jason Hsieh (05:11)
Yeah.
Annmarie (05:12)
Doesn’t happen
Overnight and not that I did it did think it was gonna happen overnight, but sometimes you know, I don’t know. I you have that misconception seeing everything on social media and how things blow up so quickly and wanna be that person but
Jason Hsieh (05:25)
Hmm. Yeah.
Annmarie (05:27)
It doesn’t happen like that and you find that out after the fact.
Jason Hsieh (05:30)
Yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure, for sure. It’s definitely kind of tricky
Frank Percic (05:36)
Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (05:36)
To get attracted nowadays with like how much information we’re getting each of us is getting bombarded by information, marketing is and all these social media posts. It’s really hard to grab like grab attention in in this in this effort.
And also in the pre meeting, I think in the survey you also mentioned not just Frank, but also your brother, Anthony also helped him in in this journey of creating the business. I don’t know if one of you wanna mention on how Anthony also get involved and make it truly a family business as well.
Frank Percic (06:11)
Yeah, he’s kind of our sounding board, especially for stories and look of things. So Annmarie
Jason Hsieh (06:16)
Okay, okay.
Frank Percic (06:17)
Could probably answer a lot of that.
Jason Hsieh (06:19)
I see, I see. So he’s kind of like a advisor. Getting some of the idea kind of fine tuned and kind of before it it go live.
Annmarie (06:30)
Yes. He’s a well, he’s kind of he’s my partner in our logistics business and then he’s a silent partner in the toy business. So we’ve been you know, he was very encouraging in the beginning to help get it off the ground. And without his support or
Jason Hsieh (06:45)
I see.
Annmarie (06:46)
Help, I probably would not have it wouldn’t have gone much further than concept. So he’s been a driving force as far
Jason Hsieh (06:53)
Mm.
Annmarie (06:53)
As helping the push the c you know, push the business forward and you know, just very encouraging.
Very, you
Jason Hsieh (07:00)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (07:00)
Know, just helpful and obviously financially with our business we’ve, you know, funded self funded, you know, the project as well.
Jason Hsieh (07:08)
Okay.
I see, I see, I see. Got it, got it, got it. And I would say in your journey so far, since you say it spends three years on getting from a concept sketch to manufacture and fully in the market, what are some of the major struggle you experienced? The reason why I asked is because of a lot of our listener to our podcast are also inventor, are also business owners in the industry since it is a business podcast. I would if you have any experience you’d like to share with our
Audience and our listener, that’ll be good that would be very helpful.
Annmarie (07:43)
I mean, it’s from what I’ve been doing so far, it’s all about meeting the right people. Like meeting you, Jason, at Toy Fair and bringing quite a few people along the way that is that have helped shape us into the industry, so to speak. Like I don’t I would not have gone as far as I have without having the proper contacts. And I think that it’s very
Jason Hsieh (08:05)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (08:06)
Important to network on LinkedIn and get your voice out there and
You know, we went to Toy Fair and I’ve been talking to a lot of people and women and toys. I was just a finalist for Toy Inventor of the Year and for independent
Jason Hsieh (08:20)
Okay, yeah.
Annmarie (08:21)
Categories. So that was really cool. And just networking
Jason Hsieh (08:23)
Yes.
Annmarie (08:25)
People has been that’s been the most that’s actually been probably the most fun thing about this whole journey, as well as challenging, ’cause you have to meet the right people for we know where what you’re looking to do with
Jason Hsieh (08:36)
Yeah.
Annmarie (08:37)
Your with your business.
Jason Hsieh (08:42)
Mm, for sure, for sure, for sure. And I know you also decided to work with our team with your Amazon effort. What challenge were you facing before you decided to work with our team for Amazon marketing?
Annmarie (08:57)
What challenge wasn’t I facing is the question. Amazon is totally.. Amazon
Jason Hsieh (09:02)
Which I didn’t do what they do. Yeah, okay.
Annmarie (09:06)
Is a totally different animal. I if you don’t if you’re not working with somebody that knows that seller program, you’re you it’s so easy to get lost. I mean, it it it’s not just listing products. It was it it’s a so much more involved in that and your team has been, you know, astronomical help.
Forwarding that whole you know, that whole platform and Amazon is not it I don’t know, it’s a totally different animal compared it it’s
Jason Hsieh (09:40)
Yeah, for sure, for sure. It’s very yes.
Yeah.
Annmarie (09:44)
It’s complicated.
Frank Percic (09:45)
And then I’ll add to that
Annmarie (09:45)
So yeah, definitely.
Jason Hsieh (09:50)
Yeah, go ahead, Frank. Yeah.
Frank Percic (09:51)
I just gonna add to that too, Jason, that like, you know, when we launched last October, we were direct to consumer on our website. You know, we had to build that out. So
Jason Hsieh (09:57)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Frank Percic (10:00)
You know, it’s creating that brand awareness, like Annmarie said earlier and trying to how do you steer people to your website when there’s so many options? You know, that’s why Amazon’s
Jason Hsieh (10:06)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (10:09)
So great because people can just type it in and they go right to Amazon, you know. So all of our sell through has been through, you know, our website for sales or, you know, the toy fair kind of helped with that. So
Jason Hsieh (10:20)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (10:21)
Really
Been direct to consumers. So that’s kind of been another challenge is how do we steer people to us to get aware that, you know, of our mission and our message and the
Jason Hsieh (10:27)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Frank Percic (10:29)
Product that we feel is, you know, so unique and great.
Jason Hsieh (10:33)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I see. Thank you for sharing that. And based on your experience, what would you say to other toys and brand owners that’s considering to work with an external marketing team like Toy Launch?
Annmarie (10:46)
I definitely a million percent recommend it. And I would it’s you know, it’s easy not to have that headache. If you can pass it along to somebody that knows what they’re doing, knows how to deal with Amazon, has direct contacts to Amazon, I mean that’s you know, it takes a lot off your plate. So I definitely would a million percent recommend working with an outside company like Toy Launch.
Jason Hsieh (11:15)
Okay, thank you so much for sharing that. And out of your
Annmarie (11:16)
Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (11:18)
Journey so far, and obviously we’re still very, very new in this journey, even on Amazon. We are about to launch it on Amazon this year. So that’s still a lot of things ahead. But what is what is next for the brand? Are you planning to create more characters, more retail channel, or anything that you are focusing on for 2027 and beyond?
Annmarie (11:39)
Right now we are well we’re focusing on Amazon and releasing plush and I we’re also going to Comic Con next week and we have a
Jason Hsieh (11:50)
Okay.
Annmarie (11:51)
Special inked wild collection it’s called. It’s they have some local well known artists painted our the wild shires, the figures and they’ll be, you know, for sale on at for like a collectible event that we’re having at a booth. I have a few
Jason Hsieh (12:08)
Nice.
Annmarie (12:08)
And
He’s Yeah, a few online toys companies that sell it Tenacious Toys is one of the toy companies that sell our product online as well. But yeah, so that’s we’re doing for this year and then next year where we are focus on releasing our anime animation reels, which Frank has been working on diligently. We’ve working with a company named DigiTunes.
Jason Hsieh (12:30)
Okay.
Annmarie (12:33)
So we’re pro professional animation. So that’s our
Jason Hsieh (12:37)
Whoa,
Okay.
Annmarie (12:37)
Our main
Focus to get those off the ground in 2027.
Jason Hsieh (12:42)
So
Frank, follow up question for you, Frank. Like what is your journey? Like how what kind of animation are you working on with the animation company and what is the idea and just kind of give the audience a little bit of a sneak peek about the animation.
Frank Percic (12:55)
Yeah,
So again, Jason, none this is our wheelhouse, so I’m learning kind of on the fly as Annmarie is, when that comes a thing. But you know, I
Jason Hsieh (12:59)
Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Percic (13:03)
I’ve developed some stories. So, I don’t know if Annmarie mentioned, you know, we have the two characters that launched in our vinyl figures.
Jason Hsieh (13:11)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (13:12)
We have nine patented and in my mind I have a whole world kind of developed that you know, that we could build it out. So I’m creating kind of stories and pitch Bibles and so we wanted to kind of get the first two characters
Just to let people see their personalities and how they deal with their emotions. You know, for Ricky, he’s really energetic and sometimes gets distracted easily. And Elsha’s really shy and timid. So I developed with Digitunes, we’re putting together 10 short reels. Each one will be a kind of cute little story, maybe about a minute in length. And
Jason Hsieh (13:44)
I see, okay.
Frank Percic (13:45)
Then I also did a book for Elsha already. So that’s on Amazon as well. On
Jason Hsieh (13:50)
Okay. Okay.
Frank Percic (13:51)
Yeah on Kindle.
On the Kindle store and then I have about thirteen other stories written but you know again it’s just
Jason Hsieh (13:59)
Wow, okay.
Frank Percic (14:01)
Almost you know me and Annmarie kind of handle the brunt of everything and Tony pitches
Jason Hsieh (14:04)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (14:05)
In but you know and her sister and brother in law actually so it’s kind of a whole family team but me and Annmarie this
Jason Hsieh (14:11)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Frank Percic (14:12)
Is like second jobs for both of us so we’re kind
Jason Hsieh (14:14)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (14:15)
Of putting you know all this together as and each day we learn something new so
Jason Hsieh (14:20)
I see. Tell me a
Little bit more about the book. Is it a comic book? A picture book? Like what kind of book did you create and a water color children book? Okay. Okay. I see.
Frank Percic (14:27)
So this is a a w it’s a watercolor children’s book for Elsha’s Big Day. Yeah, to kind of pair along with the vinyl figures. They’re not sold together, but
You know, it kind of tells her story about her emotion of being a shy, timid wildshyer, and then how does she overcome that shyness to perform? She gets picked to do a performance and you know, she’s shy and timid, so she kind of runs away from that. And they’ll,
Jason Hsieh (14:50)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (14:50)
You know, how does she learn to accept that? And that’s where we kind of introduce our
Kind of parent Wild Shire Arlen into the story and he kind of helps her along the way realize that the very thing she’s picked to do is how she overcomes her shyness. So that’s just the
Jason Hsieh (15:04)
I see. I see.
Frank Percic (15:07)
First story, like I said. So that’s definitely
Jason Hsieh (15:09)
Mm-hmm.
Frank Percic (15:09)
Something I want to develop going into 2027. But again, the animation for my side of things is probably the next step and then hopefully build from there. And you know, hopefully that with the merchandise and toys kind of correlate that
We were able to kind of strike a chord with families and parents and children and go viral.
Jason Hsieh (15:30)
Hmm, okay, okay. Thank you for sharing that. I think a lot of the toy company that I interview on the show, they also do like a toy and book combination. But one of the struggles I notice is getting the awareness out there. So people know the book exists, the toy exists to begin with. And that’s always has been a challenge for people that we work with as well. On the promotional side or marketing side for the book, do you have a specific marketing strategy for the book line?
Frank Percic (16:00)
So far it’s just been kinda on social media, kind of announcing I didn’t want to give away too much of the book. I
Jason Hsieh (16:03)
Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Frank Percic (16:06)
Did just enter myself in Higgsfield, which is a AI platform. I kind of I I did
Jason Hsieh (16:12)
Yeah, okay, okay, Higgsfield, yeah, I know.
Frank Percic (16:14)
A contest there. They were doing a million dollar contest and kind
Jason Hsieh (16:18)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (16:18)
Of develop the story into a little watercolor relief style. Hoping
Jason Hsieh (16:21)
Okay. Nice. Yes.
Frank Percic (16:24)
That kind of
Bring some awareness. Done some little short snippets. I did some readings locally. I did reading in a local business. I did one at the school. I’m doing another school locally to try and,
Jason Hsieh (16:37)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (16:37)
You know, build it organically, both in our community and then hopefully that catches on you know, countrywide. So
Jason Hsieh (16:45)
I see, I see, I see, I see. Okay, that’s really cool. We all we also use Higgsfield, as a team as well. That’s something like extreme continent. So thank you for sharing that. So and as far as the you mentioned about the books and other the animation, what is the timeline for animation? Is it also about to launch already?
Frank Percic (17:07)
Yeah, we just had our production meeting today. So we’re hoping
Jason Hsieh (17:10)
Okay.
Frank Percic (17:10)
They get the first reel as far as animation-wise out to us in the next week. And then, you know, just kind of lighting after that and then a whole process that we’re learning about, but you know, sound and editing. So hopefully once the first reel launches, then maybe every 10 days or so we get another reel out and are able to promote that. As you know, marketing is
You know, another big piece of this. So that’s what we’re gonna kind of focus on next.
Jason Hsieh (17:39)
I see.
I see. I see. Thank you for sharing that as well. And obviously we have been talking about all the different additional assets that you and your team is creating, but it sounds like it’s mostly geared toward consumer. How about for B2B? Do you have any plan for distributorship, like getting into retail store? What is that last side of the business looking like? And what kind of plan do you have in mind for next year?
Annmarie (18:06)
Well I’m actually working with a distributor out of California. They are going to put the plush in
Jason Hsieh (18:12)
Okay.
Annmarie (18:12)
Gas stations and casinos out that way. So I’ve been working that with somebody else I met at met at Toy Fair. So
Jason Hsieh (18:19)
Nice.
Annmarie (18:20)
We’re getting we’re getting into that
Jason Hsieh (18:22)
Okay.
Annmarie (18:22)
Route. As far as next year goes, we plan on doing Astra, which is another it’s more geared toward retail like stores,
Jason Hsieh (18:33)
Yeah.
Annmarie (18:33)
Like small your smaller
Toy stores that are in the area and things that and those and that’s
Jason Hsieh (18:40)
Yes.
Annmarie (18:41)
What we’re gonna plan on doing next year. So we’re gonna go towards that industry, more
Jason Hsieh (18:46)
Okay.
Annmarie (18:46)
Like local especially across the US. Distributors are hard to get
Jason Hsieh (18:51)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (18:52)
A hold of. So I’ve I worked with the one in California and I’ve contacted a few other ones that I I had
Jason Hsieh (18:57)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Annmarie (19:00)
From Toy Fair something. It’s just it’s a matter of knowing like who does what.
Jason Hsieh (19:05)
I see.
Annmarie (19:05)
Yeah, as far as like where you could put your the product. So
Jason Hsieh (19:08)
Yes.
Annmarie (19:09)
That’s that’s kind of a needle in the haystack to figure out
Jason Hsieh (19:11)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Annmarie (19:12)
What just do definitely want to do business to business. I you know, not opposed to having them in you know, Hobby Lobby or Cracker Barrel or whatever wherever.
Jason Hsieh (19:22)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (19:23)
So that’s you know, that’s what we’ll look into. And licensing
Jason Hsieh (19:26)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (19:27)
Is another b big thing on our plate as far as for next year. We wanna talk to
You know, go to the licensing convention and Las Vegas and speak to people that know that part of the industry.
Jason Hsieh (19:44)
Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, licensing expo definitely I recommend it if you look into licensing. And Astra, I go there every single year. I also highly recommend Astra if you want to get into smaller retail channels since they kind of specialize in in toys. For retailers actually. So those are two very
I think excellent event to attend as well. So but as we’re kind of I have a few more questions about obviously we already talked about all the things you have currently up in the pipeline. But I also want to kind of ask like what is currently working the best so far out of all the different projects you tried currently. So
Annmarie (20:27)
That’s I mean I’m not I’m what’s currently working word of mouth. I mean I think that’s you know right now
Jason Hsieh (20:35)
Well that’s okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Annmarie (20:40)
The social media does generate some business. I believe Amazon will be a a really good platform for the wildfires. I mean they’re branded on there and
Jason Hsieh (20:49)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (20:50)
All that. So I I’m you know, obviously we’re just we’re just getting into launching on there, so I I can’t
I don’t have any analytics yet, but as far as, you
Jason Hsieh (20:57)
Yes. Yeah. Sure.
Annmarie (21:00)
Know, being with that name brand, I think with free shipping is another huge thing for a lot of people, you know, obviously with the prime and all that. So I think that’ll be a good marketing ploy for us once we, you know, do our promo promotion on that. But yeah, so we’ll I mean, doing what
Jason Hsieh (21:17)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Annmarie (21:20)
I didn’t think would I it it really didn’t dawn on me.
You know, as far as even like this podcast, like br you know, building brand awareness, meeting the distributors at you know, they the distributors on that on the West Coast, they have 4,000 stations that they put, you know, toys in and that’s that’s what they do. And and Comic Con the person I’m working with there as far as like being collectible marketed, I didn’t really see it as a collectible when I first started off. So I think all these things you know
Jason Hsieh (21:51)
Mm.
Annmarie (21:53)
It’s
It’s all like just all coming together at the right time and I think that that’ll be you know, it’ll promote the brand for sure.
Jason Hsieh (22:03)
Yeah, and I can also see in the future as you develop more and more character, one of the trends in the toy industry right now is blind box. You can have five characters and just blind box they want to collect all five. That’s actually a a really excellent marketing strategy because my daughter buys blind boxes all the time. It’s like how many blind boxes are we buying? But she won the whole thing, like collection. It’s it’s actually a great way to market toys because the kids want to collect them all, kinda.
And obviously right now you only have two character, but once you have like five or six characters, turning into a blind box concept might be a potential marketing strategy you can also evaluate later on. So
Annmarie (22:44)
Yeah, it’s definitely, I mean
Frank Percic (22:45)
Yeah, we feel.
Annmarie (22:46)
I already that’s already in the pipeline for the blind box. I already have like mini I already have minis produced. We actually have ten characters that I have I mean two are you know manufactured in in the thing, you know, and rick to, you know, on the website and everything in Amazon, but I have s eight more. So that’s definitely cross my mind. I I I mean I
Jason Hsieh (23:08)
Wow, okay, okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Annmarie (23:13)
It is it is a big thing.
That and I like the vending machine idea. I don’t know if you’ve seen those. They’re very big in Japan. And they have like vending machine blind boxes and they have
Jason Hsieh (23:26)
Mm-hmm.
Annmarie (23:26)
At Disney. They’re they we don’t have too much in this area, but I really like that
Jason Hsieh (23:29)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Annmarie (23:32)
Whole concept here. I’d I’d like to bring that to this area.
Jason Hsieh (23:36)
Yeah, if you can make it even smaller, you can if you can fit it into a capsule in Japan.
That’s very popular for those capsule toys. It’s super small. You spin, you put a coin
Annmarie (23:45)
That is
Jason Hsieh (23:45)
In it, then you spin and there’s a like a capsule coming out. So it’s mostly toys and like
Annmarie (23:48)
Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (23:51)
Kind of like a blind box kind of so
Annmarie (23:55)
It is the Anime at Disney. We do I mean I
Frank Percic (23:56)
Yeah.
Annmarie (23:56)
Have characters, but they’re only like one inch. So they’re they already have the prototype. I wanna I wanna I’ll those will come out of
Jason Hsieh (24:04)
I see. And Frank, you’re gonna say something.
Frank Percic (24:11)
I was just gonna add, you know, it’s funny because we both laughed because, you the blind box or the radar. We’re just trying to be fiscally responsible. And like she said, you know, so far, you know, the investment has come from, you know, us basically. So,
Jason Hsieh (24:24)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (24:24)
You know, we haven’t reached out to any angel investors because we have a lot of ideas and to to build the world out and really share it.
Jason Hsieh (24:30)
Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Percic (24:31)
You know, and I think one thing that’s really worked well. I mean, obviously Toy Fair, this was our first year, you know, on the launch pad, you know, that opened up a lot of
Meeting a lot of people was was overwhelming. If you’ve been there, you know how overwhelming it is. And there’s so many toy
Jason Hsieh (24:46)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (24:46)
Brands you don’t realize. So you try not to get discouraged and we’re like, well we’re the new kid on the block. And but it opened up a lot of like contacts, you know, just such as yourself and Benny who’s carrying our toy, Tenacious Toys and doing the Comic Con. So we’re hoping
Jason Hsieh (24:59)
Mm-hmm.
Frank Percic (24:59)
That builds up steam.
Jason Hsieh (25:01)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (25:01)
And
Then we’re just really trying to be strategic, you know, like I said, fiscally responsible, but also strategic is lining up everything like a chessboard so that when
Jason Hsieh (25:11)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (25:11)
Something catches, you know, whether it be on the animation side, then we have the toys ready to go. If it’s on the merchandise side, then we
Jason Hsieh (25:17)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (25:17)
Are ready to kind of expand it, you know, it’s kind of linear. So we’re kind of excited about that and really, you know, feel heavily that it’s just gonna take the right thing, whether it be
You know, this podcast even could set it off. So
Jason Hsieh (25:32)
Yeah. Okay. Thank you for sharing that. And as we’re kind of winding down toward the end of our interview here and our time together, the final question I always like to ask my guests
Is,
Annmarie (25:42)
In that case.
Jason Hsieh (25:42)
Well, based on your experience so far, if you have to share one piece of advice with someone that’s just getting started within the toys and game industry, what would be that advice?
Annmarie (25:53)
Don’t give up. That would be my advice. Just keep pushing forward.
Jason Hsieh (25:57)
Don’t give up, okay. Yeah.
Annmarie (25:59)
You know,
Just stay and stay true to who you are. You know, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. But yeah, I think that’s probably perseverance has been probably the biggest lesson here. I’m as far as you can’t get discouraged. I mean i if you can’t y you know, if for out ha as many nos as you get, you still have to keep pushing forward.
Jason Hsieh (26:26)
Mm, for sure. How about you, Frank?
Frank Percic (26:27)
I I think for me,
Yeah, for me it’s you know you like Annmarie saw the vision and then I could see her vision and you know it’s adhering to that. A lot of people maybe try and steer you in another direction or hey, you should do this or you should do that, you know, believing in it to the point that you see the vision. You know, we like to watch like positive stories like you look at Walt Disney, you know, he was rejected, I think it was like 120 something times, but he saw the vision of what he had and what it could be. You
Jason Hsieh (26:54)
Yeah.
Frank Percic (26:56)
Know, and then obviously.
I mean it’s Disney, right? I’m wearing Mickey shirt. So, you know, you know, I I don’t
Jason Hsieh (27:00)
Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Percic (27:02)
Put out of the realm. I always speak like, hey, why don’t why can’t we have a wild Charles world or you know, why can’t it be this or why can’t we help these many kids and go international? So it’s just seeing the vision when others don’t and then trying to get others to see the vision and get on board. So that’s where,
Jason Hsieh (27:17)
For sure.
Frank Percic (27:18)
You know, I’d say just keep your vision. If you have it, you know,
Jason Hsieh (27:20)
Mm-hmm.
Frank Percic (27:21)
Just live it day and day and try and block out the noise.
Jason Hsieh (27:25)
For sure. Okay. Thank you so much for sharing that. And thank you for both of you to spend time today to share your story, your journey with the rest of our audience. For our audience, I would love to learn a little bit more about you and your company. Where is the best place for people to find online?
Annmarie (27:41)
You can find us online at Wyldshyres and you can find us online if you search Amazon Wildshyres is the brand and you’ll see our products there and social media @wyldshyres is our Instagram handle and at Tomgrrrl Toys is our Facebook.
Frank Percic (28:04)
Yeah, and we have a YouTube page. There’s a lot of cute little short animation AI videos that I made for different things that you can watch and then you know I don’t know Wyldshyres are spelled a little different so it’s W Y L D S H Y R E S. So, you know, if you don’t wanna hit the wrong search engine in there, but yeah, so Wild
Jason Hsieh (28:25)
Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Percic (28:28)
Shyres, you know, and I don’t know if you can put a link in
Annmarie (28:30)
Okay.
Frank Percic (28:30)
Your thing, but
Jason Hsieh (28:31)
Yes, so I’ll put
It in the show notes.
Frank Percic (28:33)
Yeah, so we’re on social media, TikTok, whatever you want to watch, follow us, subscribe. You know, that helps us all get the kind of, you know, awareness out.
Jason Hsieh (28:43)
I see. Okay. Thank you so much for sharing that. We’ll make sure we put that into the show notes as well. And thank you for our audience for tuning in to this episode of Toy Business Unboxed Podcast. I hope today’s conversation gave you some practical insight, fresh inspiration for growing your own Toys and Game brand. This podcast is sponsored by you by Toy Launch, a leading marketing and growth partner for
Annmarie (29:03)
Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (29:04)
Toys and Game Company. At Toy Launch, we help brands scale on Amazon and beyond through full service account management, advertising, SEO, creative, catalog.
Optimization, influencer marketing, and more. If you’re looking for a proven team that really understands the toys and game industry and e-commerce marketing, we are here to help. Feel free to find out more information about us by visiting toy-launch.com. If you want to connect with other toys and game founders, feel free to join our brand new free communities, Toys and Game Launchpad. You can also find more information about the free communities on our homepage for more resource updates and industry insight and monthly free educational.
Webinar. You can also find all that information on our homepage. Until next time, keep innovating, keep creating, keep bringing joys through toys. This is Jason Hsieh signing off on the Toy Business Unboxed podcast. We will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much everyone. Have a good one.
Annmarie (29:57)
Thank you.
Frank Percic (30:01)
Thanks so much.
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