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About The Big Toy BookThe Big Toy Book’s was developed by a team of moms who know just how frustrating it can be to search online, bouncing from site to site, looking for that perfect toy or gift at a great price. We look forward to making your online shopping quicker, easier, and o course more fun for moms, dads, grandparents and all gift givers featuring all your favorite toys, games and other kids’ products at great prices. Who’s Behind TheBigToyBook.com? An amazing team of moms that work from the office to home bringing you the best deals on toys, games and gifts for kids. Laurie Schacht, The Toy Insider Mom, Reyne Rice, Toy Trend Expert, Corine Ingrassia, Complicated Mama, Jackie Breyer, Toy Book Mom, and Dell Monson, Shop Girl. Between them they have over 50 years of toy experience and almost 60 years of “mom” experience! Laurie Schacht, Founder of TheBigToyBook.com As a young girl with golden ringlets, Laurie loved playing with her Barbies, a love she was able to share with her three daughters and seven nieces, though they are much more into Liv and Moxie these days. While that little girl has grown up, ringlets still in tact, her love of toys and play has only deepened. It’s not unusual to find Laurie racing her Air Hog remote-control cars on the floors, walls and ceilings of her home and office! In addition to her involvement with TheBigToyBook.com, Laurie Schacht is President of Adventure Publishing, the leading publisher serving the toy and licensing industries with titles that include The Toy Book®, The Toy Report, The Licensing Book®, and The Licensing Report. With more than 20 years experience in the toy industry, Laurie has serviced manufacturers, retailers, licensors, inventors and others reporting on industry news, announcing new products and staying ahead of the trends in the business. More recently, Laurie has been focused on helping moms as co-Publisher of The Toy Insider®, an annual comprehensive consumer guide to the hottest toys for the holiday season, which will appear this year in the November issue of Woman’s Day. Through all of her work, Laurie strives to keep toy insiders up-to-date on all toy and licensing industry breaking news, while also keeping parents in the know about the hottest toys and best deals on the market. Laurie has been quoted in major media outlets such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Finance, and has been a guest on national morning shows, including CBS News' The Early Show, FOX & Friends and ABC News NOW. Most recently, Laurie has become an active contributor to a wide number of parenting blogs such as Working Mother, Café Mom and iVillage. Reyne Rice, The Toy Trend Expert Growing up, Reyne’s toy box rarely stored her favorite baseball mitt, since she was usually found outside playing with it where she grew up in sunny Southern California. One could have predicted that she’d become a hip and cool mother of two who is up on the latest skateboarding tricks, fashion doll accessories, and awesome tech toys. These days, as a leading toy trend expert, Reyne can often be found in the toy aisles at mass, specialty and independent retailers, and surfing the toy sections of online retailers. She also attends nearly two dozen trade and consumer shows annually sleuthing new trends for the youth market. As a seasoned toy industry professional with nearly 30 years experience in marketing, researching and analyzing the toy industry and youth market, Reyne frequently advises the media on youth trends within toys, games and entertainment. She is one of the toy industry’s most sought-after toy trend specialists and media spokespeople. Reyne has been quoted on toy trends in a wide range of business and consumer publications, ranging from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNN Money, The Financial Times, and Fortune, to TV appearances on Good Morning America, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, FOX News, and NBC Nightly News. She is an internationally recognized public speaker and published journalist. Reyne helped launch The Toy Insider®, as its inaugural Editor-in-Chief, and continues to be a co-Editor of the consumer publication, which offers moms nearly 100 expert-selected toy and gift recommendations by age category each year. In addition to working with The Big Toy Book® and The Toy Insider®, Reyne also works as a consultant with the Toy Industry Association (TIA), which represents more than 550 toy manufacturers. She has also previously consulted with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), and served as the Toy Trend Industry Spokesperson for the NPD Group, an international marketing research company, after spending years marketing toys at Mattel and other toy industry manufacturers, in the USA and abroad. Corine Ingrassia, Complicated Mama |
