SURPRISE! There is a lot more to Smirk and Dagger than might first meet the eye...

Believe it or not, we've got a soft and cuddly side too. We get lots of nifty ideas for toys and games that are just pure, family fun. And while those designs and ideas don't fit under the Smirk and Dagger banner, we felt they were too good not to try and share. So we've begun licensing great ideas for toys and games to the more mainstream market.

We've pitched more than twenty ideas to major companies like Hasbro, Mattel, Fundex and Endless Games, just to name a few -- and have come mind bogglingly close to having a good four of those designs picked up.

Here is the one that did:

CRAYOLA 3D SIDEWALK CHALK ACTIVITY KITS

Yes, it is just as cool as it looks. Kids can draw anything they want on their driveway, place on a set of special 3D glasses (unlike any you've seen before) and watch as the picture jumps into dramatic relief. Reds and Yellows float at mid-calf, blues and purples drop below the surface of the driveway, with all the other colors falling in between. You can literally step THROUGH your drawing.

Each set comes with a simple instruction guide for how to get the best effects and the larger sets come with themed stencils, Underwater Adventure and Jungle Safari, that can be used to make terrific 3D scenes.

Here is the TV ad that ran, in case you haven't seen it. (follow link above) The agency who produced it gets high marks for a truly charming and beautiful spot - that replicates the actual product experience as closely as is possible on TV. And that's the beauty of the product in the end, it isn't just hype. It works for kids of any age, just like you see here. The product reviews from Moms on Amazon and other shopping sites say it all - and rave about how excited they and their kids are about the experience they've had with it.

The product 'wow'ed the industry, hitting the Top 5 Hottest Toys of the Summer list (right next to the craze that is Bakugan), making the rounds on the Today Show and other morning news shows - and promptly selling out in June, just two weeks after the TV spot ran. I even saw them go for three times the normal price on e-bay. That's nuts! Plus, our 3D Chalk won the Oppehheim Gold Seal for Best Toy and helped bring about our nomination as the Rising Star Inventors of the year in the first annual TAGIE awards, an award show put on by Mary Couzin, a long-time supporter of inventors in the toy and game industry, and sponsored by Hasbro and Mattel. Not bad for our first license, all in all.

All of which had the net effect of encouraging Crayola to expand their efforts against the product line next year!

We'll keep you posted on other products that might secretly be ours as we continue to pitch new ideas and find proper homes for the softer side of our creative efforts.