Tamara Grindrod is the Senior Vice President, Creativity & PLAY-DOH Brand at Hasbro. In this edition of The Friday Five, Tamara underscores the importance of nurturing children’s creativity and how the brand’s PLAY-DOH Kids Can and PLAY-DOH Imagination Curriculum initiatives support skill development. 

Ed Catto is co-founder of Captain Action Enterprises. In this edition of The Friday Five, Ed shares the conversation that led to acquiring the Captain Action IP and talks about what fans can look forward to seeing from the brand in the near future and beyond.

Joshua Tsui is the filmmaker behind the Insert Coin documentary. In this edition of The Friday Five, Joshua talks about what compelled him to chronicle life at the Chicago-based Midway Games arcade games developer and how the film is being interpreted as an exhibit at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art. 

Peggy Brown is an independent toy and game designer. In this edition of The Friday Five, Peggy shares observations from her 35 years in the industry and reveals two elements new designers often neglect when trying to get their toys and games to market.

Richard Pierson, Jr. is manager of the Sarasota Toy Museum. In this edition of The Friday Five, Richard explains how a day of antique shopping led to purchasing a collection that would become the museum and shares the ways in which the business fulfils his dad’s lifelong dream.

Azhelle Wade is The Toy Coach. In this edition of The Friday Five, Azhelle shares her observations about current trends in the toy industry and outlines the common missteps toy and game inventors make when developing their ideas.

Mitchel Wu is a Los Angeles-based toy photographer. In this edition of The Friday Five, Mitchel talks about his new exhibition at Science Museum Oklahoma and reveals the elements that drive his passion for storytelling through photography.

Michael Scheffki is senior vice president of marketing at MAGNA-TILES. In this edition of The Friday Five, Michael talks about the new MAGNA-TILES Studio at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Florida and elaborates on the company’s approach to creating opportunities for Meaningful Play.

Jeremy Padawer is chief brand officer at Jazwares. In this edition of The Friday Five, Jeremy talks about the company’s new Vault adult collectibles line and explains fandoms’ role in forging bonds between people who share a common passion.

Sean Quimby is the Director of the Jay I. Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. In this edition of The Friday Five, Sean shares details of the recently gifted Prebula comic book collection and discloses the most daunting aspect of his role as a preservationist.

Jennifer George is the chief creative officer of the Rube Goldberg Institute. In this edition of The Friday Five, Jennifer discusses her role as steward of her grandfather’s legacy and the institute’s new contest to design a Rube Goldberg-inspired playground. 

Jordan Plosky is the co-founder and CEO of Zoop. In this edition of The Friday Five, Jordan talks about building a full-service crowdfunding platform for comic book creators and shares guidance on what’s vital to have in place before launching a crowdfunding campaign.