Construction toy takes a combined leap

A plastic tank, rock-crawler trucks and a lowrider in various stages of assembly line the shelves and tables of a small office inside a Liberty Lake industrial building.

Tools and hundreds of plastic components that make up the vehicles – which resemble a combination of Lego Technic, Erector sets and remote-control cars – litter tables and the floor. It’s the space where three young men have helped Altek Inc. President Mike Marzetta develop MINDS-i, a new customizable construction toy they foresee offering fun for kids of all ages.

MINDS-i LLC, which has recruited a former Hasbro Inc. toy executive as its CEO, will unveil the product at an international hobby fair in Chicago next week and is talking to investors about securing more funding, Marzetta said. The company has applied for several patents, and it is considering releasing the product this spring, including at Whiz Kids Toys stores in Spokane, he said.

“I would be happy to carry his whole line,” said Peter Christensen, Whiz Kids owner.

While Marzetta, 37, and his wife are funding MINDS-i separately from Altek, the contract manufacturing business would make the parts, which are meant to be more durable than similar systems, he said.

Marzetta boasts the product will appeal to people ages 7 to 70, combining the speed and power of remote control, the customizability of Legos and Erector sets and the technical aspects of robotics.

MINDS-i would sell kits with instructions, similar to Lego sets, along with bulk pieces and accessories, which would cost a premium, Marzetta said. He foresees offering the toy in hobby shops, “specialty learning stores” such as Whiz Kids and the Internet.

MINDS-i is a “real breakthrough in the hobby business” because it allows hobbyists total freedom to create, said Larry Bernstein, former president of Hasbro’s toy division and MINDS-i LLC chief executive. He sees MINDS-i not as a toy, but as a “hobby item.”

“It is a true invention. That’s why it’s exciting,” he said.

Marzetta, an avid hobbyist, said he hatched the idea about two years ago after deciding he wanted a toy flexible enough to modify and durable enough for heavy-duty play.

“I’ve always been a builder,” Marzetta said. “The fun to me was always in the builds.”

The company plans to show MINDS-i off at the iHobbyExpo on Oct. 18, which is expected to draw about 400 exhibitors.

Convention-goers will act as the company’s focus group, Marzetta said. If the product receives good reviews, MINDS-i will tool up and start production, which could cost about $2 million, he said.

“This is just a point where it could make or break us,” said employee Kriston Broxson, 21.

The “ultimate challenge” will be making MINDS-i a retail success in one year, Bernstein said.

Christensen, of Whiz Kids, said companies like Lego and Erector have a lot of momentum “just because they’ve been around.”

Dennis Poole, a former vice president at model-rocket maker Estes, will handle marketing, Marzetta said.

Marzetta said he designed the basic elements, which include long plastic pieces with evenly spaced holes. To join pieces, his system uses two-part gray bolts that can be locked using a screwdriver. They prevent pieces from rotating or coming apart on impact.

The toy centers on the idea of requiring only one “click” to assemble pieces, making it easy enough for children to use, Marzetta said. The name stems from the concept of creating whatever the “mind’s eye” can see.

“Rather than a piece that could easily fall out, he has a locking system that we think is novel and unique, and that’s what gives it its competitive advantage,” Christensen said.

Marzetta said the company has adopted universal standards when possible, allowing people to incorporate off-the-shelf components such as tires, shocks, batteries and motors for hobby vehicles.

While MINDS-i most closely resembles a Lego product, Marzetta’s product is “much better,” said Christensen, who is also an attorney and helped Marzetta with patent applications. Construction toys are a “huge market” for Whiz Kids, Christensen said.

“Even though we can’t sell it yet, we’re hoping to get some customer feedback” from an in-store display, he said.

Broxson demonstrated one creation, a green truck with a four-wheel independent suspension and an electric motor, zipping it along the floor near where a fellow employee worked on a machine. Broxson said he’s known colleague Levi Wilson, 22, since they were young children playing with Legos. They use computer-aided design programs and shop tools to design and machine the plastic parts.

For them, it’s a dream job.

“It’s nice coming to work and being able to do what you want and not be punished for it, like most other jobs,” Broxson said.

The company could quickly prepare for production, Marzetta said.

“We want to control our own destiny a little bit here,” said Marzetta, who’s peeved by companies taking manufacturing abroad. “If these guys can do it, we can do it.”

The 27-year-old Altek Inc. does value-added manufacturing and plastic-injection molding for the medical, automotive and electronics industries. It makes components for Precor Inc. treadmill consoles, Indian Motorcycles and defibrillators, among other products.

Marzetta, who helped with Easy Valley High School’s robotics team last year, said the toy can teach children about engineering. He picked Broxson out of a community college mechanical engineering program. Broxson recruited his friend, Wilson, and Marzetta found Tim Lines, 18, on the EVHS robotics team.

“I’m just going to have guys who are my target market,” Marzetta said. “They’re teaching us what’s cool.”