The birth of jumpSHOT™
Several years ago I was searching for a game I used to play as a boy. My son entered the local basketball Little League, and I wanted to give him for Christmas that old table basketball game - the one with a hole in a plastic spring for a ping-pong ball to shoot baskets.
All I could find was a puny, cage-like toddler version of that board game. For a while, I played with the idea of making one for my son, and then I forgot about it, of course. Months later, my car ran over a bump on a freeway, my body jumped - and a light came on in my head: "how about putting a little figurine of Kobe on that old game's spring and make him shoot baskets?"
I thought that a game with jump-shooting figurines of NBA and NCAA players would have to be really popular. I searched again, but nobody was making my great idea. So, I decided to get a patent for the idea while trying to license it to the big toymakers like Mattel, Hasbro etc. Most of them would not even bother to reply. I tried to find a manufacturer in the USA and in Europe, but they all seem to be too afraid of the Chinese to start a new line in their own factories. Finally, one of them told me to see his Hong Kong suppliers and have the jumpSHOT™ line made in China...
The result of several years of work is our new jumpSHOT™ line, starting with a table basketball board game. The basic game has two paintable action figurines performing jump shot. We hope to secure licenses of players' likenesses from NBA, FIBA, NCAA and other sources for a continuously updated line of basketball action figurines. These figurines will be sold separately from our basic table basketball to lower your cost - but will be designed for use with the game, with multi-sport tables or by themselves. That way you can buy only your favorite NBA players for your table basketball game: will you choose Kobe vs. LeBron, or Pau vs. Yao?
Enjoy our new jumpSHOT™ game and don't forget to send us a photo of your custom paint job - we'll post it in our contest gallery, and you may even win a prize!
Have fun,
Vlad Mitvalsky
Founder, jumpSHOT™
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