MEM’S LEG

CAT-TASTROPHE

Mem’s Leg is the tribute to  a wonderful calico cat, Mem, who got into a tussle with an off leash Pitbull. Mem lost the fight and her rear leg after chewing through the stitches that had  put her leg back on.  While sounding tragic, Mem  moved forward as a very loved and  very happy 3 legged cat. She probably received more attention this way than she ever did prior.

The product, Mem’s Leg, is  a fun plush super sized leg that  doubles as a satchel, ready to carry your phone, keys and wallet. The interior is lined with   flannel, reminiscent of that old sleeping bag your parents had as kids ( or if you’re old, maybe it was your sleeping bag). Of course, Mem’s Leg is part of the Furillaverse.

SofStick

KIDS LOVE STICKS

After a friend’s kid got  hurt while playing with a stick, we had an idea. Why not make a safe stick? All kids love sticks, right?! SofStick is that safe stick. Made from elastomeric bead foam (think  that molded packing foam that protects your new iMac), Sofstick provides all the fun of a real stick without the stabbing risk. Also, SofSticks float so can easily be a replacement for a foam pool noodle and be an all season toy. We designed a 46″long sword size SofStick and a thicker SofLog version.

Conga

Mind Reader, I Mean,  Writer.

Cranium came to FUSE to get help wit this new game that eventually would be called Conga. Initially the project was very loosely defined and Cranuium let us explore several themes . Ultimately it came back to the tried and true Cranium visual DNA. Ultimately, we did the exterior  control for this main timer device,

Bumparena

PHYSICS IS  PHUN!

After Conga, Cranium came back to FUSE  with a playable foam core model of their physics inspired game that would eventually be named Bumparena.  FUSE was tasked with the complete industrial design which included the ball release mechanism, scoring strategy and platform assembly given the box requirements.

The client sent us this great image (below) from a couple of enthusiastic Bumparena users!

Bipets

Hybrids are the future.

Furilla had some moderate success in that it was optioned by toy maker and purveyor Kid Robot. FUSE principal, Tory Orzeck,  has this ongoing chicken love and had this idea for a line of toys based on the offspring of 4 legged mammals getting together with chickens.  Of course, single eyed  creatures are also close to heart. This would result in these bipedal animals  he dubbed BIPETS. He pitched  the idea to KidRobot but got a big “Meh”.

 

FURILLA

A Friend Furever.

Furilla  started life as a gift for a friend but then that friend’s  friends also wanted Furillas.  Next, FUSE had several projects to enter into the IDSA IDEA competition and  we thought Furilla would be a welcome reprise from the more serious ID products the judges would evaluate. Unexpectedly, Furilla won a Bronze.  With this small bit of  notoriety it seemed like an OK idea to launch Furilla.com, a website that would sell Furillas. Soon enough Furillas ended up all over the world.  Furilla was fortunate to slide into then unknown to us blossoming designer toy trend. Furilla  got picked up by several media outlets and was sold at KIDROBOT and  even had a premier at Chicago’s ROTOFUGI. Above is totally a cover story. The real story involves  invitro fertilization and a freak accident.

Late in 2005  KIDROBOT  decided they wanted to license Furilla and build production in Asia. We were on board but then the project hit a snag when the pricing  swelled beyond feasibility.

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