Idea to Innovation: An Inventor’s Idea Meets VTech’s Product Development Expertise

by TRINA MCFARLAND, Owner and General Manager, TinkerTini

VTech has been a pioneer and world leader in electronic toys for more than 45 years. With its core values centered on innovation and play value, the company is now turning the corner to explore how its unique strengths and expertise can be applied to other categories with the help of inventors.

One of VTech’s last licensed inventor concepts was back in 1991 when it secured Big Monster Toys’ Electronic Talking Murduck, so it’s been some time since its team actively engaged with outside inventors. In 2021, VTech’s doors reopened to inventors, and, as luck would have it, an inventor concept was submitted shortly thereafter called Ridge Runners. The submission sizzle reel featured exactly what the toy business needs from inventors: A proof-of-concept prototype shown in action. And it was very much that — a simple vehicle prototype, batteries exposed, riding and whizzing down a cardboard track in someone’s living room.

Ridge Runners inventor Jim Siegrist recalls just how crude the original models were. “The white plastic racers you see in the prototype photos are made from sprinkler pipe,” he says. “I bought long tubes of it and used a Dremel drill to slice open the pipe and a heat gun to flatten the pipe into usable PVC sheets. Then I used wood molds to hand mold the hot plastic sprinkler pipe sheets into the car bodies.”

But toymakers are used to seeing early-stage prototypes and this was enough to begin the preliminary review process. Some of the early questions asked within the company were:

After much internal discussion, VTech decided to invest its product development magic and expertise to reimagine Ridge Runners into a production-ready, mass-market toy. During the product development phase, more questions were posed among the team.

Finally, VTech answered all of those questions and more, successfully turning the Ridge Runners concept into a new eco-friendly track system: Turbo Edge Riders! It’s been a long journey from PVC pipes to shelves, but when great ideas are met with expertise, resources, and commitment from a company like VTech anything is possible!

A version of this feature was originally published in the 2023 Innovation & STEAM issue of The Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!