Review Fix Exclusive: Inside Popar

Review Fix chats with Robert Siddell, Managing Partner, Popar, who lets us know why his augmented reality-based products are so much more than educational tools.

Review Fix: What do you think makes it special?

Robert Siddell: One thing we have noticed about a lot of toy/product companies is that they try to shove technology into a product line that disrupts the standard play pattern and offers little added benefit. We are coming at it from a whole different angle as we are a tech firm at hard (been building VR and AR experiences for over 10 years) that has learned the toy and consumer product industry and understand user interface design and game flow, as opposed to being a toy company who is trying to learn technology. We believe that this gives us a leg up as learning manufacturing and packaging design 8 years ago was fairly easy, learning technology comes with a way harder learning curve.

Review Fix: The educational application for this is wonderful, but have you thought of contacting any popular licenses for this?

Siddell: So we have two different business models that I will explain below:

  1. We invent, manufacture, and distribute our lines of 46 different children’s smart products comprised of smart toys, smart books, smart puzzles, smart charts, and smart mats. Each of these smart products comes included with a FREE bonus app brings the smart product to life to extend the standard nostalgic play patters, and gamify education for children. Everything from the app development, product creation, etc. is all done in-house from our headquarters in Phoenix,  Arizona. The only thing we outsource is our mass manufacturing which is done at our factory in China.
  2. We also build custom app for clients with pre-existing products and new products. These are some examples below and do not represent all that we have done.
  3. National Geographic-We developed the Augmented/Virtual Reality app for the animal and dinosaur figurine line called “Wildlife Wow” that is currently in Target and other participating retailers.
  4. GigaPetsAR-We developed the Augmented Reality app for the re-release of the classic digital pet from the 1990’s call GigaPets. We partnered up with the original inventor who licensed the product to Tiger in the 1990’s and relaunched the product line this year with three SKU’s T-Rex, Unicorn, and Puppy that all come to life in Augmented Reality (AR).
  5. Dragon-i Toys-We developed the Augmented Reality app for the Mighty Megasaur toy line that is sold all over the world,
  6. Works of Ahhh-We developed the Augmented Reality app for their DIY line that allows the child to plan out their project before the actually paint the physical bird house, wind chimes, race car, and so much more.
  7. NBA & Kia-We developed an Augmented Reality app that all attendees of specific NBA games had the opportunity to play a networked basketball game that they could play in AR off of their ticket during halftime. The winner of the game was displayed on the jumbotron and had the opportunity to win a new Kia.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this line in 2019?

Siddell: Continue to expand our own children’s smart product lines as well as securing more custom app development clients such as above.

Review Fix: Anything new that you’re working on with it that you’d like to discuss?

Siddell: We are currently completing our new Augmented Reality temporary tattoos  and sticker lines that will be hitting vending machines around the USA quarter two of this year. We also have some other projects we are working on for some high-end toy clients but are unable to discuss the projects due to NDA’s.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Siddell: Continue to launch our smart products in foreign markets. Close larger USA distribution deals. Close bigger and better custom app development clients so that our company continues to be attached to large IP properties.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Siddell: I will send over an an article I wrote about our company that will give you a lot of insight into where we came from, why we do what we do, and where we want to go in the future.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone check these out?

Siddell: Parents and teachers all over the world are always seeking out physical tangible items, while the children and students seek out the digital. Popar bridges the gap between the physical and the digital to meet the both needs and to further engage children in the learning process. We pride ourselves on offering quality standalone products with a digital enhancement to keep your children entertained with the right type of content that is not focused on mind game play.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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