Color Bug
In 2006, Gwen Austin set out to prove something to both herself and her children. “I wanted to teach my girls the importance of dreaming and always going after your dreams. How could I show them that if my dreams were sitting in a box in the basement?” So she pulled out her files, sent out a few emails and within weeks had a team of designers, engineers and lawyers surrounding her to make that dream happen. “Initially I thought that what I was going to teach my children was a lesson in failing. Not in a bad way, but that you can learn from something even if you don’t succeed and you will move on. The most important thing is that you tried and didn’t give up on your dreams.” Her legacy to her children so far has been far from failure. While friends, family and industry experts discouraged her along the way, Gwen was focused on bringing her product to market.
This path lead her to accomplish her goal of putting her toy, the RC Color Bug, on stores shelves in October of 2007. Within 10 months, she has landed accounts with FAO Schwarz, Target.com, eToys.com, Young Explorers, Learning Express, and Discovery Channel not to mention the countless specialty retailers nationwide carrying her product. In addition, RC ART TOYS has distribution agreements with Canada and the UK.
Last May, the Color Bug was featured on Oprah’s Next Big Idea Show. The following fall, just as it was hitting the shelf, the Color Bug received 2007 Toy of the Year from Creative Child Magazine. In June of 2008, RC ART TOYS announced that the RC ART Color Bug has been awarded for the second time Toy of the Year Award 2008 from Creative Child Magazine.
Color Bug is a ladybug-shaped remote-controlled toy that draws on art surfaces using washable markers that snap into the toy. Using the toy's controller, kids create colorful art by steering turns and spins of the motorized Color Bug. Includes Color Bug with controller and 4 washable markers.
The pictures end up being free-form line drawings that have no right or wrong. For the artistic child, spaces created between lines could be colored in like a mosaic. For the engineer child, the remote control can be managed accurately enough to write letters or form shapes. This toy is also ideal for kids who think they don’t like to draw! Color Bug has been a hit with people who work with Special Needs kids. For the child who cannot hold or control a marker well enough to create a satisfying picture, this toys is fantastic!
RC ART also offers accessories for the Color Bug that enhance the play experience for children and parents, including an inexpensive playpad with integrated walls that holds refillable sheets of large paper designed for the size of the RC ART Color Bug making it an ideal canvas for Color Bug creations.
The RC ART Color Bug includes the Color Bug, a controller and 4 washable markers. The Color Bug is designed for children ages 4 and up. The suggested retail price is $29.99.
About RC ART TOYS, LLC.:
RC ART TOYS, LLC. creates innovative toys that combine the thrill of a radio-controlled toy with the artist fun of a creative toy – a new category of toys for girls and boys called Radio-Controlled Art. RC ART’s patented products include the RC ART Color Bug and other action-packed toys that allow kids to make colorful art indoors and outdoors in a brand new way using motorized RC action. RC ART’s toys are fun for kids and provide parents with a new way to encourage creative play.
RC ART TOYS was founded in 2006 by Gwen Austin. After the birth of her two children, Gwen decided that in order to teach them to reach for their dreams it was time she reached for her own. The Color Bug has been on the market since October of 2007 and additional products are expected to be released in 2009. For more information about RC ART and our Radio-Controlled Art toys, please visit www.rcarttoys.com.
Contact:
Gwen Austin
Phone: 303-367-8383
Email: media@rcarttoys.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
