Well, the Toy Fair is over, and the work is just beginning. We got home on Wednesday evening from NY Javits Center with lots of stuff in the car. Hardly able to see out the windows, the car was loaded. I couldn’t help myself, but before the end of the show, I had to walk the aisles and see what I could buy that you do not see in the stores yet.

Do you all know about “Squishables”? (http://www.squishable.com/)

Oh how fantastic! I know, I know, my bedroom is starting to look like a menagerie– I bought 3 of these marvelous stuffed animals! One is a big– a really really big lamb http://tinyurl.com/7rrpfkr! oh so soft and cozy to hug while I’m catching up on all the shows I’ve TiVo’d– and then I got a small raccoon (Rocky for short) AND! a mini cow. They are ALL so loveable!

As for my “better half”, David went and bought this fabulous building toy set for our nephew Joseph. It’s by a company called Eitech– and they have all these cool things that let you build amazing items. We got Joe this motorcycle that should take him at LEAST a few hours to put together. Joe is a whiz kid. He has concentration that no one else has– so something that might take me two days to do, he’ll manage in MAYBE an hour. He’s only 9, but he’s that smart!

Anyway, we had a great time at the show. The folks next to us created a game called “Wangle”. For every game sold, they will donate 25 cents to charity. Check it out: http://jessejamesgames.com/. They are a wonderful group — this company was founded by a Mom and her son, and now it’s a complete family business. Everyone in the family is involved in one way or another. How terrific is that?

I’m telling you. We met some really awesome people along the way. I don’t have enough time to mention them all! But, one last one: http://www.beabroadwaystar.com/. It’s like monopoly but then you go to acting school and get an agent… fun fun FUN. And created by an actual Broadway Producer!

As for how we DID at the show? Well, it was a whole new world for us. We normally go to sporting goods shows like the Snowsports of America Snow Show in Denver or the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City… the Toy Fair was very different. Firstly, there were many more Buyers walking the aisles. (I think there were 30,000 registered) The other thing was that no one was afraid of COLOR! At the sporting goods shows, you wouldn’t see women in lemon yellow tights wearing shocking pink wigs  with bright red lipstick walking on these rocking thingee shoes that made them shoot up to about 8 feet tall….. ok, ok, so you had little girls walking around in their bikini underwear and funny hats at the Snow Show. I guess, being female makes me think the tall girls were much more visible.

We met Buyers from stores that we really hope we’ll hear from again. I don’t want to jinx anything by mentioning company names– but they were some BIG box retailers with names that everyone will recognize — and we presented our 3 new spandex styles for boys tween and teens. They were definitely a big hit I am glad to report. Consumers will be seeing them in the stores this Fall.

Anyway, we’re back home for a while. The Skitzo the cat is happy. So am I!

Until later, everyone!

– crazeeBaby

Hi everyone, we’re back! Tired, still a little jet lagged, but back home to my own pillow! Denver was great- people are all so friendly and NICE! but it’s always good to be back home. All our stuff made it back too, so what could be better?

Well, SNOW for instance.

We don’t have any of the white stuff here on Long Island where we’re located and it’s plain old weird. This time last year we had to dig out our mail box– and my mother-in-law couldn’t get to our home to feed our feral cat Skitzo. Poor baby, he got skinny during the two weeks we were away. This year is quite different. He’s as chubby as ever.

My mother-in-law is going with her  son’s family from New Orleans (with my 2 young nephews) to Park City Utah on Feb.18th. First time skiing for most of them. They will all be wearing Benny the Bandit Raccoon helmet covers so be on the lookout for some squirrelly raccoons over there! You won’t be able to miss them…. They promise to send some pictures– so I’ll post them after they get back home.

So, since they’re going to Utah, I thought I’d take a look at the Park City weather to see if they would have snow over on them there hills. Yes! They WILL! But what I stumbled across was this:

In a continued effort to maximize the safety and well-being of our Ski and Snowboard School guests, we are requiring all participants 17 years old and younger to wear a helmet.

hey hey HEY! That’s news to me! and good news it is indeed. crazeeHeads’s saying is: Look smart by playing smart. Wear a helmet with a crazeeHeads helmet cover. And with more people wearing helmets, you will find more people playing safely.

Next weekend, we leave for New York City, Javits Center and the Toy Fair.  I’m sure I’ll have something to tell you before then, so for now,

THINK SNOW!

We are leaving at 7:15 am for a flight to Denver tomorrow morning. SIA trade show at the Denver Convention Center– it has a big blue bear leaning against the  windows. BIG BLUE BEAR! Can’t miss it when you come into town.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us. First Montreal with lots of snow, now we’re flying off to Denver. Can’t wait to see all the old friends we have at the show. “They” say it’s “networking”, but for me, it’s more like saying hello to friends I haven’t seen since last year.

Thanks must go to Richard from Turtle Fur (he owns the company so I won’t say his last name)– because if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have our latest sales pitch “Don’t Ride Topless”!!! He didn’t say these words exactly, but he suggested that we come up with something that might grab attention… etc etc and so, after much careful consideration (and warning friends to tone it down!!!) we came up with this slogan. It’s blazoned across our exhibit and we will be giving away 2000 (more or less) bright yellow tote bags that say it as well.

Come on over, if you’re in the neighborhood and get a tote bag from us. You might even see something else you like to sell in your store!

Booth 946!

Hope to see you soon,

crazeeBaby

We are here in snowy, cold, Montreal exhibiting our wares at the NSIA Snow Show. Canadians might be used to this frigid weather, but I assure you, I am not! Temperature outside was -2 this morning. Luckily for us, we are staying at the Queen Anne Fairmont Hotel. We can walk underground to the convention center and never go outside!

Montreal is quite an interesting city. We just came back from a stroll near McGill University that we took after the show ended for the day …. all thru tunnels underground. There is shopping galore to be found and a wonderful food court with every ethnicity represented. The racial makeup is similar to New York City — so on one hand it felt like home.

On the other hand, most everyone we met speaks both French and English. What struck me the most was how open and available items are from the stores we passed. Probably because it seems that no one steals anything. Now that must be wrong, but it surely seemed that way because stores had things out on display, without any visible means of protection… and no one abused that trust. Same goes for the convention center. I did not have to worry that someone was going to run off with one of my helmet covers that I left out on display if I walked away for a moment. Quite a difference from the Denver show. Every night I have locked up and/or hid things at the end of each day. I anticipate the need to continue doing that when we arrive there next week regardless of the security guards there are, posted at every entrance to the trade show.

So, it is with a fond “adieu” when we leave on Wednesday. I’m going to miss your fabulous cafe latte with vanilla flavoring! I’m going to miss those fabulous pastries that I pass every morning! I’m going to miss all the friendly people I say “Bonjour” to each day.

Yes. I want to come back to Montreal. Beautiful and gracious city.

Last night, around this time, a nice UPS man (not someone who throws items around!) came to our house and picked up all 9 of our boxes/trunks to go to Montreal, Canada for the NSIA show. This is the first time we’re exhibiting at this show, and I’m pretty excited about doing it. Montreal is a beautiful city– and if it’s the way I remember from my college days, the Italian restaurants are not to be believed, they are soooo good! but, I digress.

NSIA (National Snow Industries Association) is the member-owned not-for-profit trade association representing suppliers of ski, snowboard, action sports and winter outdoor equipment, apparel, accessories and footwear. Very similar to the United States version: SIA, Snowsports Industries of America. Since this particular show concentrates on accessories, we thought it was a good opportunity to go to Canada and show our stuff.

New for 2012 are 3 spandex covers that I decided to aim directly towards the male market– tweens and teens. I kept hearing that my covers are for ages 3 – 12 then jump to 25 on up….. obviously missing a big section of the helmet market. So, I sat down and started to draw (that’s what I do since I’m first and foremost an artist). But first, I took a ride over to the local skate boarding park. Guess what. You can NOT enter the park unless you have a helmet on your head. How about that!

Anyway, the park was filled with kids. All boys, and an occasional Dad. No girls. Now that’s just not right…. girls can skateboard. They snowboard too by the way!!! They were all wearing helmets as I mentioned before. No one had anything funky on their helmets. Some had stickers though… so I knew, there was definitely an audience for what I was thinking of…. and what do you think so many of them had on their t-shirts? oh, there were “dead-heads”
and skulls and gothic looking graffiti thinga-ma-jig-ees…. JUST what I thought!

Stay tuned. I’ll let you all see my “sneak peek” for 2012 in my next entry! or you can go to: http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/kit/ba2j  and look for crazeeHeads or stretcheeHeads press release.

Till then,

crazeeBaby

THINK SNOW! (we need it!)

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, even though there isn’t much snow where we live on Long Island, we are gearing up for our first trip to Canada’s Snow Show — the NSIA show for ski and snowboard accessories in Montreal, Canada January 15 – 18th. This is SOOOOO exciting! I haven’t been to Montreal since I was in college.

We’ll be exhibiting alongside big names such as Swany (gloves),Dale of Norway (with their gorgeous sweaters), Colmar (my first “fancy” stretch overalls in HOT HOT pink was from Colmar)… and other well known companies. Needless to say, we are small fry next to most of them. But it is gonna be a LOT of fun. If anyone wants to find us, we’ll be right opposite the front entrance and across from the Bistro in booth #163.

New for this year are 3 stretcheeHeads spandex helmet covers. They are really cool if I say so myself. We decided that it was time to try something other than our usual cute and cuddly covers– and branch out into something a little more……. well, I’m not sure what to call them!

We’ve got a Viking cover with honking big square studs and a very shiny metallic fabric. Plus, we’ve got 2 covers that sport skulls on them. One is printed using reflective ink so that when you are in low light situations, on a bike, motorists will be able to see you very easily. And the other one has a thick working zipper (so it’s good for ski helmets as well as bike helmets) and a couple of chains. I think it’s my favorite one right now! They won’t be available in stores until maybe August, so you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for them. I’ll put them on our website right around the time that they become available for purchase….. but if you want a sneak peek, check this picture out! It’s Gabe Z on his snowboard wearing my favorite cover! (He caught some BIG air! but I won’t tell you where he is, ’cause you’ll be jealous!)Anyway– that’s it for now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this warm weather goes away fast.

Think SNOW!

You can file this posting under, “Be careful what you wish for.” It seems that Phillip Contos, 55, didn’t want New York state telling him that he MUST wear a helmet while riding his motorcycle. And so Mr. Contos was openly defying the law by riding sans helmet  during a protest ride in upstate Onondaga. You guessed it – he crashed, flipped over his handlebars, struck his bare head on the pavement, and died.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has joined Aspen Ski Company in requiring its estimated 800 on-mountain employees to wear helmets while on the slopes. Two years ago, the resort required its “leadership team,” which includes top-tier managers and directors, to wear helmets. “We strive to make our resort as safe as possible for our staff and guests,” said Jon Bishop, the resort’s risk and safety manager. “This year, we completed our transition to the workplace culture requiring all of our staff members to wear helmets.”

Zahan Billimoria, the communications director at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, said, “Overall, the response has been positive. I think it’s an adjustment for those on the mountain who have been skiing for decades. Helmets are relatively new to the sport. But now, they’re so light and a lot of the issues of earlier helmets have been addressed. They’re warm, you can hear, and people are finding they’re not very cumbersome.”

Employees can chose to wear helmets they already own, or they can wear ones issued by the resort for free. Most employees already have their own. “If you look at the trend nationwide, helmet usage is really, really pronounced in terms of the general public,” Bishop said. “Most of our staff are coming here with the helmet habit beforehand. For them to adopt the helmet policy is pretty easy.”

Helmet safety among ski resort employees became an issue in 2009 when Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patroller Kathryn Miller died of head injuries following a fall in Spacewalk Clouloir, a steep, rock-sided chute at the resort’s Rendezvous Mountain permit area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The Wyoming Department of Employment cited the resort for failing to protect Ms. Miller, who was not wearing a helmet.

“We understand there are benefits as well as limitations to wearing a helmet,” Bishop said. “A helmet is not going to save you from every event. It does reduce the severity of head injuries, though. There’s an opportunity for us to make the work environment safer, and that’s what we’re doing.”

crazeeHeads has had an incredible month in November! We participated in a promotion by Backstage Bags to give celebrity mothers who have new additions to their families (babies that is!) a gift bag of assorted goodies. Here’s a list of the people that received them:

January Jones, Selma Blair, Jenna Fischer, Kimberly Stewart, Denise Richards, Alicia Silverstone, Victoria Beckham, Ali Landry, Paul & Erin Stanley, Tori Spelling, Evangeline Lilly, Tia Mowry, Emily Deschanel, Mary McCormack, PLUS In Touch and Pregnancy & Newborn Magazines.

WOW!

Our panda helmet cover has a chance to be seen on children of these famous women! How cool is that? Heidi Klum purchased crazeeHeads helmet covers for her children in Aspen, CO, in 2010, so you’re never too young or old or famous to wear a crazeeHeads.  And maybe we’ll see more of crazeeHeads around town in such posh places as Vail, Aspen and Beaver Creek this winter! Victoria and David Beckham have 4 children now– who knows, they might fight over who gets to wear ZeeZee on their heads! Will it be Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, or Harper Seven? Of course, Harper is a tad too young to be doing sports right now!

If anyone spots one of our covers– please let us know!

So this week, we signed up to do a flash sale for cyber Monday (and Tuesday, and Wednesday) with Zulily.

Seems like most every Mom out there with little children know about Zulily. They’re a great bunch of people who work there… and they work very Very hard doing what they do! Zulily sells interesting things for children at rock bottom prices.

My niece Jen knows about Zulily because she and her friends signed up for an account with them. They receive an email every morning that tells them about the newest and best sales. Pretty cool.

It was a very interesting experience. We normally sell lots of pandas because we are winter sports oriented. With Zulily, it was a more “general” audience, so our Princess and Pranksters flew off the shelves instead.

If anyone has suggestions for what they”d like to see for a new spandex cover to be used on bike or rollerblading helmets, we’d love to hear from you!