How did I become a creator of toys?

David Vogel, inventor of innovative toys for students in grades 5 to 12.

I am a professional toy inventor, I always like to experiment and disassemble things. From a young age, whenever my house bought a new item like a TV or a lawn mower, my parents often jokingly said , 'Oh, take this away from David!' Because they know too well every time I see something that has a lever, a spare, a wire or a switch in my hand, I will weld them or sneak a look to see how it works. In the end, I studied welding but only within limits. That work gradually failed to satisfy my curiosity.

On my sixth birthday, I was given a Deluxe assembly kit and I became a real welder . Now there are a lot of jigsaws including cars, tools and even computer controls. But more than 30 years ago, the Deluxe assembly with battery-powered cars was a very special thing. I still remember how heavy it was, a big box, shiny steel small parts, screws and bolts, and also colorful joints. But there is one thing that always makes my heart nervous and that is the best thing I've ever seen: an electric motor . Attaching this amazing device to the right place, I was able to create a truly motorized vehicle! How sweet that is. So I quickly started working on my dream of making cars.

Of course I would not be happy to just build a car that is guided by hand assembly because anyone can do it. What I want to do is use every part of the assembly to create my own dreamlike car! And why is that so? Of course, the thermometer used to check my mother's meat will become a rudder. And, thinking about it, my father wouldn't notice if I cut his old silk tie to make the car seat more comfortable. And, hmm . let's see. My brother will not care what folding knife does if I borrow it to use as a spear in the front, right? Of course not.

The following days, my work became more and more complete. I stuffed it in almost everything in the house without bolting, including pencil sharpeners, paper pins, pocket money, bottle caps and fuses. Where bolts cannot be used, screws, glue and adhesive tape can be replaced. I dreamed that someday growing up, I would become a famous car designer. Other designers will look at this, my first car. They will find talent budding in a genius just 6 years old.

Finally, it is complete: my beautiful machine is made of metal, silk, wood and plastic. It was great, up to 2 feet long. And it doesn't look like a car, but to me it's an amazing four-wheel drive. I found a battery of size D for it and had to use glue to insert it into the compartment. I turned on the switch with excitement, and then was completely surprised by what happened.

My car is not running. I could still hear the rumbling of the engine. My magic car didn't run for some reason. I thought it was out of battery, so I tried replacing another battery. But the car still doesn't run. I took off the engine hard because I poured white glue on it. For some reason, the engine still ran when it wasn't attached to my car. And I found the problem: my car was too heavy, I needed more power. Remember, not a bigger engine, but more electricity. I thought about what to do, and finally I decided to connect the engine to the wall outlet. I cut the cord from an old nightlight on the ground floor, removed the plastic base and attached it to the engine. I have to remove the glue and put the engine back. I thought that in the end, I could also look at the moving baby .

And when I plugged the new power cord and the 20-foot extension cord into the socket, I wondered why the assembly did not include the power cord. I wonder if they probably don't want kids to have a car that runs as fast as this. That's right. This is children's toys, not for adults. Children 's clothes are not as good as adults. It's that simple.

I can tell you one thing: never plug a battery motor into an electrical outlet . Luckily, nothing happened to me. But you should know what happened to that engine. As soon as the electricity runs through the light of the night light to the engine, bright sparks of 3 to 4 inches appear. The engine rotates for several seconds and stops suddenly with a dull creak. Smoke and smell of electrical wire ran throughout the room. But in a panic, I looked over the smoke and noticed that my car had reached 2 feet. When I was in a chaotic mood, both happy and worried, my mother ran into the room. At first she was both frightened and upset, but then she also said a familiar phrase: You caused this.

I did not become an engineer or a scientist. I knew I liked business and the fine details of patent toys, so I decided to study this industry in college. I still need engineers and scientists to collaborate on my projects. However sometimes I was too excited with an invention so I did the healing work myself. At times like that, the faces of engineers are very familiar, I'm sure what they will say is 'Oh, so bring these things away from David.'