Success no game for toy inventor.

Greater Sudbury -- The orders just kept coming in for a Sudbury-born game that appeared under Christmas trees across the country last month.

Dean Aelick, owner of Top Notch Toys, says the new game Balanko ($34.99) "sold out in two days" during the Christmas season. Another order was filled and the frenzy continued as Sudburians sought out unique presents for the 2005 holiday season. The game received its first period of shelf life at Sudbury's Great Canadian Games and Hobbies, Science North and Top Notch Toys Dec. 2.

In January 2005, inventor Jamie MacKinnon took a prototype of the game to the Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair in Toronto. It was well received by Canadian and American gaming leaders there. A United States distributor is currently seeking licensing rights and The Canadian Toy Association listed Balanko as one of the top toys for 2005-06. Through his four-year endeavour, MacKinnon has met the Irwins and other prominent Unites States gaming leaders.

As a new innovator and entrepreneur, MacKinnon spent approximately $80,000 in bringing the game to market, some in places where he admittedly should not have. There were times when he wanted to throw the project out the window, but he had made such progress, he couldn't quit.

As of Dec. 8, more than 600 games had been sold in 200 stores across Canada. This January, distributors for MacKinnon were showcasing Balanko at the Toronto Toy and Hobby Fair as a new product.

The game is played with two players ages three and up. A tethered ball is fastened to a string, which is attached to the top of a beam. Another ball sits in its holder on a rail arch until its released by the opponent. Player one attempts to knock the moving ball off the rail and into the cavities below, which are worth various amounts of points. The first player to reach 1,500 points wins.

In the fall of 2002, MacKinnon and son Dylan went out to the shed to build a prototype of the game idea that kept recurring in his head. His friends knew he was on to something and encouraged him to begin marketing it before someone else did. With Deviat Product Development Services owner Michael Gauthier, MacKinnon began the patent process for rights in the United States and Canada. The process consisted of a search that allows inventors to identify other products on the market that resemble his. The search came up empty, and so progress continued with a Canadian Innovation Centre (CIC) market survey. Officials completed a 60-page review bringing in five gaming leaders to determine whether the product is marketable.

"CIC's response came back quite positive."

Steve Markell of Mars Consulting met MacKinnon at the toy fair and became his liaison to a Chinese manufacturer that has made 2,500 units for the first order. Markell travels to China for other projects and stops by to ensure manufacturing is running smoothly.

"This guy was a God-send," MacKinnon says.

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By KELLY LOUISEIZE

Northern Ontario Business