My First Invention: Impossible Without Dad

A couple of years ago, I was building stuff from paper towel and toilet paper tubes with my two kids, then 3 and 4. We assembled a bunch of random sculptures using tape, scissors, and lots of glue, then I had a light-bulb moment, “If only there was a way to easily connect these things.”

So playtime turned into a product brainstorming session with my kids, then 2 and 4. Over the following weeks, I couldn’t stop thinking about tubes. Everywhere I looked, I saw cardboard tubes that needed to be connected. I regularly pulled them out of “recycling” bins and trash cans with a view to giving them a new life as a cool new sculpture. At first, I thought an eco-friendly set of connectors would work. But tubes are tricky: they come in different diameters and thicknesses and injection molds aren’t inexpensive.

Continued…

I explained to my father that my tube connector project was stalled – that I was toying with a cardboard disc as a solution to my initial pipe connector designs. He said matter of factly, “Oh, I could make that for you over the weekend.”

Cardboard runs in the family. My dad has been in the cardboard business his whole life – just like his father and his father before him, who has started the family paper box business. My career interests had taken me in other directions.  And yet, here I was, on the brink of getting into the cardboard business. Blood is thicker than water, but cardboard is thicker than blood it seems.

The last project we worked on together was a model car kit over twenty-five years ago. I was excited by the prospect of working on something together as adults.

So I sent him this:

And it became this:

Let’s just say it took more than a weekend.

My dad and I had tons of design, marketing, production, and packaging issues to work out. And with every little tweak, we got closer and close to a product that satisfied us both. But something else was going on as well: something that had nothing to do with cardboard, toys, or die-cut machines. A cool eco-friendly toy wasn’t the only thing that emerged from all this development, but also a closer relationship with my dad.

Without his expertise, patience, and hard work, Tubls would have never gotten past the concept stage.  If I wasn’t a dad myself, this notion never would have popped into my head.

Tubls made their public debut at my co-inventors’ classrooms this week.  The response was very positive from the kids, teachers, and parents. The website is public and the first orders have started coming in. I think these Tubls are in for a fun journey.

But, thanks to dad, I already feel like we’re in the black.  Happy Father’s Day Dad. Thanks for being a great dad and eco-construction toy co-inventor.

Tubls – An Eco-Friendly Construction Toy.