For the past few years, Spin Master has absolutely been killing it on all fronts – becoming a powerhouse not just in toys, but also as an entertainment company with some truly stellar IP. At the front of that, PAW Patrol is no doubt their flagship brand, and it’s one we’re very familiar with here at Rock Father™ HQ. Last year, two items from that line landed on my annual Holiday Wish Guide™, with the My Size Lookout and Sea Patroller ranking among 2017’s best toys. For those interested in how a property can become a hit on all levels, there’s a must-read article from Canada’s The Globe and Mail that chronicles the development of PAW Patrol from 2010 to its debut in 2013 and where it’s headed in 2018. Had things developed differently, instead of Ryder and the PAW Patrol, we could’ve wound up with “Raffi and The Rescue Dogs.”
I still remember the first time I saw PAW Patrol. I took our oldest to a playdate at the home of a child we’d met at the local library. The series was new, the toys weren’t even out yet, and the playdate became exceptionally awkward when the mother laid into me with a hard-press pitch for some MLM scheme. Our children never played together again, but after picking up The Rock Daughters’ first PAW Patrol toys at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair, a love of the pups was born.
According to The Globe and Mail, there’s a movie in the works, so I’d like to just throw this out there – if it’s live-action, I’m available to act or direct. In fact, I’d pitch Zac Efron as Ryder, and suggest a Rusty Rivets cameo to lay the groundwork for an entire Spin Master cinematic universe. Read more about how PAW Patrol came to be, here.
