Acknowledgments

First off, BIG thanks to my wife Deborah who in addition to being a tireless supporter and huge help to me on this book as editor and proofreader is a world-class maker herself. She’s helped me on hundreds toy projects as researcher, seamstress, designer, hand model, voice-over talent, toy tester, artist, game player, sounding board, and all-around life-long collaborator. Thanks and love, Deb.

My daughter, Laura, pitched in to test, make, and help photograph several of the projects in the book. She’s also a fine cartoonist and drew the fun little MakeyBot mascot illustrations.

My son, Reed, helped me build and test the strip heater project, although he had an ulterior motive in getting a custom-built part for his sports car. (I encourage all parents to make stuff with their kids—you’ll learn a lot!)

Some of these projects are spin-offs of things I had created with my toy-design business partner Rick Gurolnick. Thanks, Rick, for making NeoToy with me. Your cleverness, business sense, and humor are inspiring.

Mark Frauenfelder asked me to write for Make: magazine, starting way back on volume 11. He was a writer’s dream editor-in-chief; full of encouragement for my DIY projects, along with enthusiastic and creative guidance for my editorial articles, some of which are contained here. Makers: it takes one to know one. Thanks, Mark.

This book wouldn’t have happened without the dedicated work of all the people at Maker Media. Gratitude is due to my book editor and fellow pop culture fan Roger Stewart for championing a fresh new design for this book, along with editor Brian Jepson, wordsmith Elizabeth Campbell, and layout whiz Maureen Forys. My thanks also to Make: magazine editor Keith Hammond, who keeps it all going smoothly. Goli Mohammadi and Katie Walker Wilson helped make things look great and Jeffery Braverman, along with Gregory Hayes, took some nifty photos! And of course thanks to maker-in-chief, Dale Dougherty. Together we’ve had more than few “issues” at Make: magazine—all of them good!

A special tip of my safety goggles to Make: readers who generously shared their creations and photos. Thanks to David Corina, Troy Fischer, Pat and Francis Fullam, Derek Gable, Doug Stith, Kurt Gulatieri, Jack Knetzger, Greg Lehman, Bob Marino, Richard and Julie Shiffman, Steve Wacker, John Diehl, and the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson.

Thanks to these esteemed toy industry professionals for help with research on the Marvin Glass article: George Gomez, Eddy Goldfarb, Richard Levy, and Pauline Camberlis.

—Bob Knetzger