Toy Business Unboxed

#162: Roll the Dice: Quit Playing It Safe

In this episode, Jason sits down with Chrys Sellers, indie tabletop game designer behind Raccoon Sky Pirates and the upcoming Defy the Gods RPG, to unpack the real lessons behind building in the toy and game space. They cover everything from cancelling a $47K Kickstarter mid-campaign and relaunching it successfully, to discovering why Facebook ads flopped for a niche queer RPG while Tumblr actually moved the needle, to understanding when a platform like Launchboom fits your product and when it doesn't. It all closes with one sharp reminder: center the player experience in everything you make.

#161: Hundreds of Millions Sold: Chris Cofoni's Toy Playbook

In this episode, Jason sits down with Christopher Cofoni, founder of Triaction Toys and a 15-year toy industry veteran who has sold hundreds of millions of toys worldwide. Chris shares his unlikely path from opera singer and senior music executive at EMI Records to building one of the most trusted specialty toy companies in the business. We dig into the Boglins Kickstarter that raised $247,000 on a $20,000 goal, the launch of Snooze Monsters, a collectible parent-and-child plush line with QR-coded original bedtime stories, and how repositioning HALFTOYS with better packaging unlocked new retail success. Chris also makes a bold case for why the future belongs to specialty retailers and direct-to-consumer brands that maintain full price every day, not Amazon. If you are a toy or game brand owner trying to build real retail relationships and protect your margins, this conversation was made for you.

#160: The 18-Card Game That Landed in Campgrounds Across America

In this episode, Jason Hsieh sits down with Jeff Johnston, a veteran game designer from Boston who has been creating family card and board games since 2006. Jeff shares the story behind Campfire Smokeout, his first self-published game, and how it found its way into campgrounds across America through distributor Wilcor. He talks honestly about what surprised him most in the self-publishing process, the decisions he had to make around pricing and tariffs, and what he learned about the real difference between licensing and publishing your own game. Whether you design games as a side venture or are considering your first self-published product, Jeff's experience offers clear, practical lessons from someone who has been on both sides of the table.

#159: From One Comic Store to a Multi-City Franchise

In this episode, Jason Hsieh sits down with Jeff Johnston, a veteran game designer from Boston who has been creating family card and board games since 2006. Jeff shares the story behind Campfire Smokeout, his first self-published game, and how it found its way into campgrounds across America through distributor Wilcor. He talks honestly about what surprised him most in the self-publishing process, the decisions he had to make around pricing and tariffs, and what he learned about the real difference between licensing and publishing your own game. Whether you design games as a side venture or are considering your first self-published product, Jeff's experience offers clear, practical lessons from someone who has been on both sides of the table.

#158: Art Meets Kickstarter: The Skill That Made His Campaign Work

In this episode, Jason Hsieh sits down with James Cole, a graphic artist who turned decades of creative work into a self-published board game success story. James shares how his background in zombie art, including flyers he created for death metal bands in the nineties, gave him a surprising competitive advantage when launching Zombie Survival Infection on Kickstarter. The conversation covers how he managed every part of the business alone, from designing 96 original art pieces to navigating a shipment that went missing at the Port of Los Angeles. James opens up about the hardest parts of solo publishing, what worked on Kickstarter, and how game designer communities gave him the support he needed to keep going. Whether you are thinking about launching your own game or just curious about what it takes to pull it off alone, this episode delivers honest insights from someone who has been through it all.