Playmaker Books

I happened upon this book browsing through a used book store. I sat down and started flipping through the pictures and descriptions of familiar, famous toys, and COULD NOT put the book down! I bought it that night, of course, and was even more spell-bound the more I read. I was astounded by Tim Walsh's research; the large, bright photographs; and the intimate history of the development of so many toys that are part of any American children's heritage. Learning that Mr. Potato Head originally came without the potato (children used a real one!), seeing all the variations of Candyland (found my own version: 1970's), and reading about what made the Cabbage Patch Doll craze (4th grade - I remember so clearly!) was fascinating. It was my treat to read every day coming home from work until sadly, I finished it! But, as a 5th grade teacher, I promptly took the book to school and watched with delight my students' reactions as they discovered interesting and arcane facts about toys they all knew about as well (how long some toys have been around got the biggest reactions). It was passed around the classroom for several weeks. I cannot recommend this book too highly!

The author has created an excellent book covering the most popular toys of the 20th Century. As you go through this book, you are going to come across many toys you remember from your own lifetime. While some have faded with time, many are still popular and have entertained ever since they first appeared.
The book takes a rather wide view of what a toy is; and includes many games,puzzles,and other things that have entertained young as well as those who are young at heart,if not in years.
The first toy discussed was the Flexible Flyer sled.It brought back a memory to me ,since I had one as a kid.Mine had the straight-runner,and I ran into a gutter grate and punctured my thigh. It seems it happened enough that the runners were rounded.Then, there is the Big Wheel. The kid next door had one and he loved it so much ,he wore completely through the plastic wheels.
Here, you will not only see great pictures of the toy or game ;but also the story behind its being invented and marketed. You will also learn about the person who invented it,details about patents,how many were sold;and lots of other interesting details. It's highly likely that you will find your favorite toy or game covered.
At the back of the book you will find an extensive Bibliography. The book covers many games and puzzles.I have been a long time fan of puzzles and if you are interested in them ,I suggest a search under Jerry Slocum,[...]or The Slocum Puzzle Foundation,Beverly Hills,California.
Overall,a wonderful book that would be interesting to just about anyone who enjoys toys,games or puzzles.

As someone interested in toys and collecting, I've read lots on the subject. But Tim Walsh still told me things I didn't know. The best part is that someone with no interest in the subject will still find this lavish, inviting coffee table book an enthralling read. The reason is the author, Tim Walsh. Most toy collecting books start with no criteria as to what goes in and what stays out of the book. Tim did. One criterion was that the toy had to be created or invented by an outsider. Thus, a lot of well- known toys already didn't make the cut.

The ones that did have stories a lot better than the title, Timeless Toys, makes them sound. By that I mean that this isn't one of those nostalgic "see how much better these simple toys were than all your overdone gadgetry?" books that abound in collecting circles. You might come to that conclusion, but Tim started somewhere else. When he made his own games, he started asking questions about others. Why is the box like that? Why is this that color? Where did they get that name?

Those are the same questions one asks playing with toys. The cynical answers are that marketing research showed that more people would pick up the package if it were blue, and a computer poll of all co-eds showed they liked the letter "Z". But Tim shows, thank heaven, that those cynical answers are wrong. Lots of great toys came from accidents, and many inventors began with a sense of wonder.

Tim doesn't stop there. Those outsiders need insiders to make a toy. Tim covers all that, including the most famous toy designer, Marvin Glass. As with Andy Warhol, the Glass name covered a design team, and Tim introduces some of the faces behind the scenes. Many toys were inspired by other toys, and Tim traces the roots back. His findings usually don't jibe with the urban legends surrounding their creations, and when there are multiple tales, Tim tells them all.

The most interesting parts to me are some that might be overlooked. They are small sidebars showing the origins of a toy and some of the companies that have made it. Often the company names change because the companies are bought by other firms. A decade ago Tyco was bringing back all the classic toys that ever existed, having bought those companies or their toy molds. Where's Tyco now? I wondered, until Tim revealed it was bought by Mattell.

Tim also tells the origin of many toy companies, including one started by two guys named Matson and Elliot. I've read about Wham-O before, and even interviewed an animator who made Superball commercials, but Tim reveals the secret of how Wham-O made so many great toys. Tim also breaks it all down with by decade timelines. He often shows the box art of toys that were revived in various decades. Toy art in the '50s and '60s, much of it done by comic book artists, is a wonder to behold, while the overdone, throwaway art of today really does look like the result of committees on market research.

The bad news is that this 300 page book is only about 75 toys. But that may be a good thing. Those interested might track down Bill Bruegman's Toys of the Sixties or related volumes to read on. Don't buy The Playmakers, though, because Timeless Toys is the new title of the same book. Tim Walsh convinced me that creative souls, even today, even if by accident, may still have a chance. If toys be the fruit of wonder, play on!

As a toy inventor I was surprised when I first saw the book by how beautifully designed it was as well as the extraordinary quality of the photography. On further examination, it greatly surpassed my first impression with its fascinating stories and (truly astonishing), that it got its facts right!

In addition to the fun of seeing all those cool looking toys and taking a nostalgic look back over the last century, it's an historical tribute to American and American immigrant's genius and hard work that has given us all so much pleasure.

treat yourself and your friends to this fine book.

Just spend a few minutes with this book and you will jump back to the day. Your first quest will be to find the toys you played with. This is extremely easy to do as the book is laid out in chronological order. I enjoyed looking at the pictures and write ups of the toys of my youth. Some I looked for purposely and others became a surprise reminder of things I had forgotten. The simple pleasure of remembering these things was added to by the stories about how the toys came to be, their inventors, and manufacturers. I have enjoyed this book so far, having only had it for a week or so. I imagine it will give me hours of reminiscing. I also want to go through it with my family and friends and let them tell me about their toys. Overall review would be a top quality book that can be enjoyed by children of all ages.

Any reader will find this an intriguing and well told tale about Elizabethan England and the men who held power of life and death over the ordinary citizen. It was a time when men were burned at the stake or beheaded for the crime of daring to think original thoughts, particularly about religion. Spies were everywhere and their word, whether false or true, could bring ruin and death to their chosen victims. It was in this same time when the fledgling theater was taking its form and drawing to itself, writers and thinkers of the day. While it rewarded them with fame, it could also bring them death. Patronage by powerful men was no guarantee of safety as Christopher Marlowe, author of plays like Tambourlaine and Doctor Faustus, learned when his friend Thomas Kett was burned at the stake and another friend Thomas Kyd was tortured to force him to accuse Marlowe of athiesm, a charge that would bring him before The Star Chamber where a trial with foregone conclusions would bring him to the executioner. Marlowe had involved himself with William Shakespeare, an up and coming theater producer, at the time he was charged with being an athiest. Marlowe's patron, Walsingham, concocts a plot to save Marlowe and let him continue to write plays. That plot requires the cooperation of Shakespeare. Thus, two levels of 'playmakers' are working toward their own ends in this great tale of who really wrote what plays. A great visit to a past both admired and reviled filled with characters you will know from reading history, but they step off the page in The Playmakers. Highly recommended for something different and a very satisfying read. Enjoy. I sure did.

I bought this, thinking it would be a serious and vigorous literary discussion on a thoery that I am well-read upon and interested in. That is, the theory that Christopher Marlowe wrote Shakespeare. Instead, this is a dramatic, exciting and colorful and very funny window into this time in history.
I must admit, I was little non-plussed at first as this is a subject with which I treat with a great deal of reverence, but after conferring with my wife (with whom I must credit with passing on this marvellous work)I have to agree that it is about time someone brought the Bard into the 21st century. Mr Johnstone, I dips me lid!

A while ago when I read of Shakespeare and the doubts of his originality as the author of the famous works, I would never have thought a book like The Playmakers would make it come to life like it has. I loved this book from cover to cover and I was sad to reach the end. Mr Johnstone has written a most enjoyable story of the era and the characters of intrigue. Well done.

The author is to be congratulated. He captures a period around Shakespeare's era with more completeness than I have read about or thought of before. Getting all the personalities of the day with the politics and risk of being called a heretic is believable indeed. It finally makes sense of the Shakespeare rumours, finishing with a clever twist. A great read.

This book was a fantastic read. Not only am I a book worm I also love Shakespeare - this was perfect! Two signs that make a book fantastic are that it was read in two days and at the end goes onto my book shelf. No Garage Sale box for this book!! It's gone on the shelf with Wilbur Smith and Maeve Binchy, Edward Rutherford and Bryce Courtney. I can't wait for the next one!

Looking at this book reminded me of the many toys and games that I grew up with or found in the attic when I went snooping through the old stuff as a kid. This book is very well done, with lots of pictures and interesting facts. It is obvious that the book is very well researched. Worth the money.

Have you ever wondered who the creators are of the wonderful toys and games you and your family have enjoyed over the years? THE PLAYMAKERS has the answers. You may be especially interested in those most famous or very rare toys or games that you have tried or maybe just heard about over the years.

Even those that may deny they are toy lovers must admit they have some time or another played a game they really enjoyed or had a favorite toy of their childhood. Therefore, everyone is a toy lover! THE PLAYMAKERS will bring back memories of happy times for all ages. The collective book Tim Walsh has put together is remarkable. This is not about toys that can be picked up in any toy store or mall or even those toys made just for children. No, no, no! This is about toys for everyone: young and old, male and female. Toys and games made for all to enjoy.

This colorful, informative book by Tim Walsh is so fascinating that every family should have one in their bookcase. THE PLAYMAKERS is a terrific book that is not only fun to read but is also an historical chapter in the civilization of man.

I was looking for a price guide for these toys and this isn't it, but I didn't even care because this book is fabulous. Wonderful pictures and the origination of the most beloved toys. Big, thick heavy book. Nice coffee table book.

If you have fond recollections of tossing a Frisbee with a friend, putting a hotel on Boardwalk, using a "Q" on a triple word score, dressing a Barbie doll, watching a Slinky descend a stairway, yelling "Yahtzee," or winning a game of Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary, this fine retrospective by Tim Walsh belongs on your coffee table. All those memories and more came back for me as I turned the pages of "The Playmakers -- Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys" and learned of the inspirations, the struggles, the near-misses and the overwhelming successes of toy and game inventors of the 20th Century. The nostalgic experience and the well-researched backgrounds of these fun and educational diversions make for hours of reading and fact-finding enjoyment. I was surprised to learn that most of the big sellers over the decades have been of American origin -- though Trivial Pursuit came out of Canada and Rubik's Cube has Hungarian roots. It's a bullet-proof selection for anyone on your Christmas list who never quite grew up when it comes to playing with toys and games.

A flip through the pages of Tim Walsh's "The Playmakers" is a trip in a time machine. I had more fun reminiscing about my favorite toys than I remember having when I played with them 25 years ago! The genesis of the greatest toys of all time is a captivating story that has never before been told in such interesting detail. Tim's passion for playthings oozes from the pages and stirred nostalgia in the heart of this overgrown kid.

I had not done much research on the Elizabethan time period when I read this book, nor did I have any desire to, but it really has opened up my world! I've gotten a lot more interested in Shakespeare and his works for one thing, and, for another, it has given me a window into the world of acting and plays during the late 1500s. Can you believe that, since women weren't allowed to act on stage, young boys actually had to play the female roles? Not many boys I know would go for that at all!

This truly is a wonderful book about an orphan who finds a life on the stage. I won't say any more, so as to spoil the story, but, I must say, it's a good read for the creative mind.

This book is about a 14 year old boy, named Richard Malory, whos mom has died and his dad left the family.Richard travels to Londonand meets some interesting characters along the way.He gets robbed, beaten, and threatened at knifepoint. he joins the Lord Chamberland's men to act on stage. He meets his long lost father and helps him escape from England. He lives his life the way it was set out for him. I gave this story five stars because it is really suspenseful. I recommend this book for anyone. this book is really good because you never want to put it down.It fills you with peril and leaves you hanging until you read it more.

Richard's mother has just died out in the country. The man his sister and he worked for only has room for his sister to stay and work for him, so Richard sets off for the bustling city of London. Awhile before, his family once received money from a lawyer in London who forwarded it from the father Richard hasn't seen since he was a small child. Before her death, Richard's mother instructs him to go and see this man who she thinks might be able to find him a reputable job in the city.

Once in London, though, Richard has a hard time finding the man who is supposed to find him work. He instead meets up with a man who says the lawyer is no one he would want to talk with. This man directs him instead to the docks, where he works for a time for a company that imports wine. Soon, though, Richard comes to realize that there are men following him who may want to harm him.

Around the same time he realizes he may be in danger, Richard is recruited by the local theater to be an actor. He is fourteen, which is a good age to play the women's parts in the plays. Richard plunges into the theater life, making both friends and enemies with the others in the cast. William Shakespeare is the primary playwright for the theater company, and Richard enjoys many of the plays he writes for them. But there is a mystery out there waiting to be solved, and Richard becomes more and more convinced that he has a right to be interested in it.

I liked the history of this story; it was interesting to read what London was like when Shakespeare was writing. It was also fascinating for me to read about life in the theater in these days. It was a little hard, though, for me to follow the parts of the history concerned with the nobility in this story. I couldn't keep track of the monarchs and their allies and enemies.

This book is great for all ages, as the other reviews have said. I, being a 13 year old, loved the mystery plotline, and I enjoy reading books like Shakespeare! I recommend the author's second book, The True Prince, and The Shakespeare Stealer and Shakespeare's Scribe, both by Gary Blackman! All of these books have a young boy who acts in Shakespeare's troupe, so if you enjoy that aspect of The Playmaker, then you'll love the others!!!

The Playmaker is a work which literally transports the reader to Elizabethan England in a very convincing manner. Cheaney has a beautiful use of language which does not talk "down" to her young readers at all, but instead presents them a fast-paced, exciting story which is as enriching as it is entertaining. I really fell for all the major characters, and I am hoping for a sequel...or several of them! Richard, Starling, and Kit are so well developed they seem like real historical characters rather than fiction. The Playmaker is a great example of how fiction can present a historical period to young readers so that the reader develops a feel for the period-encouraging an interest in history, too. That's a very enriching asset for a novel to have. This book is on my Christmas list for my young friends AND friends my age and older! My 27 year old daughter is going to love it!

If you enjoy the arts, colonial history,
Greek mythology, drama...it's in there...Keneally weaved all these teams brilliantly to create a masterpiece in my opinion.

This finely crafted work is one of Keneally's most notable. Portraying a man in an agony of moral conflict over his love for a woman convict yet constantly aware of the family left behind in England, The Playmaker addresses human feelings at many levels. Like so many of his books, Keneally has taken figures from history, weaving a plausible tale of the life they might have led. His examination of the mind and heart of Lieutenant Ralph Clark, during the early years of the Port Jackson [Sydney] prison colony, a is deeply moving account. Far from home, these exiled people face disturbing choices. Keneally compares the founders of the Sydney colony with space travellers, isolated in a dangerous situation with limited resources.

Clark's task is the staging of a play in celebration of the king's birthday. Assembling a cast from the convicts, he's confronted with a range of personalities from house maids to forgers. Keneally's research has dredged up backgrounds of these transported felons; the thieves' guild oath is a particularly fine touch. His real talent, however, is in presenting this material through his characters . Each of his figures projects a reality surpassing other writers of historical fiction. While his descriptive narrative may make modern allusions, none of his persona are dragged out of their original time frame. Ralph Clark is particularly well drawn. Keneally has a special talent for presenting us with an 18th Century man's feelings and aspirations as much as it's possible for us to know them.

That this book has been returned to the active sales list is a testament to its value. It should be read by more people. The 18th Century setting is less important than what Keneally has to say about people. Add this book to your shelves with confidence. It's worth more than a single read.

The earliest days of Sydney, Australia, and the prison colony which was its first population center provide a dynamic setting for this ambitious, old-fashioned novel. With a broad scope, grand design, and sensitive treatment of universal themes, it has the weightiness of an epic, but is far more vigorous and more involving than that, with vivid, sympathetic characters who come fully to life.

Transported halfway around the world to a forbidding and alien landscape, men and women prisoners share their personal struggles, providing a vitality and emotional punch one does not often find in fiction. The reader soon discovers that the prisoners are not all that different, of course, from the civil servants and Marines who administer the colony--everyone in Port Jackson (Sydney) is a prisoner in some way or another, be it physical, spiritual, or emotional.

Lt. Ralph Clark's decision to produce George Farquhar's early 18th century comedy, The Recruiting Officer, with an all-prisoner cast leads to many emotional conflicts. Though the play provides the participants with a way to achieve a measure of dignity, they must still bow to the strictures of the colony off stage. Many prisoners wield cruel powers over other prisoners, while Marines and administrators exert power over both the prisoners and the aborigine inhabitants of the area. The restrictions imposed by the church, in the person of Rev. Dick Johnson, aggravate tensions by concentrating on rules of behavior rather than on the human soul.

Against this backdrop of the restrictions on their lives, Keneally's characters are set in high relief, their humanity contrasting sharply with the impersonal forms of government which are imposed upon them. Meticulously depicting 18th century England, its government, its penal system, and its social structure, along with early Australia, its first western inhabitants, the decimation of the aborigine population, and the social conflicts faced by its characters, this is one of Keneally's greatest novels, a timeless story based on real journals, stunning in its effect. Mary Whipple

I read this book seveal years ago, before Keneally's name became so widely known as a result of the success of Schindler's List (the movie). This book stands out in my memory for the great ability to transport us to a different time, place and way of thinking. I found it to have been very skillfully written. I subsequently read other books of his as a result of the pleasure derived from this one and was not disappointed.This book deserves to be more widely known.

The life of William shakespear

I would reccommend this book to any hockey fan. I think that Pierre Turgeon is one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Every year he is among the scoring leaders in the league. The media always make negative comments about him saying that he is a soft player, he has no heart or intensity and chokes in the playoffs. This book helps to contradict those ideas by showing that he is a determined and competitive player focused on winning, even if he is not the most phsyical player in the game. This is a story about a player who has faced criticism throughout his career, much of it undeserved, and has went on to have a successful career.

Great as a gift for polo players and other horsemen as well. Fantastic photos and game plays. A BIG book, too.

The Elements of Influence: A New Essential System for Managing Competition, Reputation, Brand, and Buzz provides a clear system and strategy for 'playmaking' - how companies thwart others and provide value and competitive strengths. 'Playmaking' is the fine art of controlling marketplace discussions, direction and strategies, and chapters here survey an array of disciplines - not just the business world - to cover everything from positioning to idea advancement.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I've been a mid-level manager all of my professional career. This book has been nothing short of "life-changing" for me. There is sage advice that is relevant to nearly every workplace. Examples are drawn from today's headlines.
I've applied the principles espoused in this book. My career is now in high gear. For the first time, I'm outsourcing and it fells great. Maybe you will be a convert too. Give it a try. I think this work is on par with other great authors of business literature such as Drucker, Warner, Ellis, Lloyd and Faulkner.

This well-written book is like the twentyfirst century sequel to last century's "Hidden Persuaders". Mr. Kelly has given us a way to rationalize and apply logic to what has been "seat of the pants" marketing up until now. With these tools, competition will move much faster in the future.

I have never read another book like "The Elements of Influence." It is the first book to deliver both a language and methodology for communicating effectively in business. Using The Playmaker's Standard methodology, market facing executives can design moves and counter-moves that help increase the market visibility and perception of their companies and products. The result is often increased revenue and market share and, almost always, a better perception in the market versus the competition.

In the past, executives relied on PR firms or on their intuition to influence markets. The Playmaker's Standard gives executives the ability to move the dial in their company's favor. As a result, the Plays that make up the Playmaker's Standard become the indispensable tools for executives seeking unfair advantage in the market. Smart executives would be wise to embrace the Playmaker's Standard.

By way of context, I know author Alan Kelly quite well and had been awaiting the publication of his book with some interest.
This is a book well overdue. It puts structure and order around what many of us in the public relations and public affairs industry do by instinct (certainly historically). In essence, and as Kelly says in the book, he attempts to impose something akin to the chemist's periodic table of the elements on to PR practices and techniques. For example, he talks about Diverts, Tests, Attacks and Mirrors (and more besides) and categorizes these and many other techniques into a framework or catalogue of moves. In all, there are 25 of these "Plays" in three Groups, the whole creating the "Playmaker's Standard".
Does it work and is it helpful? Ultimately, I think yes. Some of the examples are repeated more than they should be. To a non-America eye and ear (I'm an English-born Australian) some of the examples are overtly American (albeit that this is Kelly's experience, so understandable). And some of the examples seem retrospectively shoe-horned into a category.
But the book is open on my desk, right now, and I'm creating a "Play" (it's a toss-up between a Call-Out and a Pre-Empt, in the aggressive Engage class, if you're interested) in a way that I wouldn't have done before the book's appearance. I can predict what might happen when (if) we push the button on this Play. This is essential to the comfort of the colleagues who will be on the front line.
The book and its Plays require multiple reads to get them into the brain. And there's clearly a commercial element, with an associated web site and software to make Playmaking more effective. (I've gone to neither of these - I'm using a pen and paper, and Kelly's book, for now.)
But the question is, should you read it? If you are in public relations, public affairs, corporate communications, or marketing - yes.

Cantor and Little did an amazing job of researching their landmark 1970 book. Cantor produced a number of exciting Broadway hits in the 1950s and 1960s including Paddy Chayefsky's THE TENTH MAN and the Pulitzer Prize winning ALL THE WAY HOME; also A THOUSAND CLOWNS> Stuart Little, who wrote this book with him, must have hated E B White with a justifiable passion. The two of them write very smoothly together, and My Goodness, did they have access--even the foreword was written by Frederic March, the venerable acting patriarch. That said, the book is very dated. A lot of it has to be read through the prism of inflation, for large chunks of it are spent in sober, and eye-opening accounts of financing Broadway productions, but of course today the figures don't mean anything. We learn, for example, that it cost 17 million dollars a year to mount all he Broadway shows--"less than it cost to wage one day of the Viet Nam war." Today the figures would be much higher.

It is also amusing to read about the long ago divas who are forgotten today, and also the author's predictions for who will have a longtime showbiz career--the stars of tomorrow, that is. On the distaff side, they pick Blythe Danner, who did pretty well for herself but who, some think, never did as well as she was supposed to have. For their male star of tomorrow, the authors focus on a young Nebraskan called Terry Kiser. Who? He sounds odious from the profile they make of him. Maybe his personality caused his career to falter.

The chapter called "The Sexual Ethic" focusses largely on the question of whether there is a secret homosexual cult that rules the world of Broadway. The authors are not certain, but they suspect so. Very few names are given. It's not very edifying. "The counterphobia that underlies performance carries over into the actor's sex life and may cause perversity--group sex, mate swapping, promiscuity, bisexuality, obsessional sexuality, and homosexuality." Whew, count me in!