Inventor Night: A 50-Year Toy Show Tradition
Since the early 1970s, toy and game inventors have gathered on the first Sunday night of Toy Fair, a tradition that began at the Gramercy Park Hotel bar and grew to include magicians, artists, puzzlers, and creative minds from across the industry.
Mark Setteducati hosted the first magical evening. Over the years Mark Mitton, Robert Fuhrer and Alex Fuhrer have joined in hosting!
In 2026, the Chinese restaurant venue have closed and we evolved, Inventor Night NY teamed up with Mary Couzin’s legendary People of Play (POP) Pub Party for one epic evening of inventors, magicians, and creative chaos.
Below are photos by year that Mark generously shared. If you've attended this magical evening, please share your photos with us. Dating and naming the people in the photo will be helpful. We will post with credit to you!
2014
2011
2010
2008
Mark Setteducati shared names of some of the people in the photos:
John Sinise - Toy Inventor his company is https://designcircleinc.com
Billy Wong - Inventor from Hong Kong
John McCann - Former Hasbro Lawyer
Janick Simeray - Inventor of magnetic floating Technology magnetic floating cup
Mac King - Las Vega headline Magician https://www.mackingshow.com
Bill King- Cousin of Mac King and Cartoonist https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/king_bill.htm
Maritess Zurbano - magician https://www.womanhypnotist.com
Laurie Brokenshire (RIP) - Royal Naval officer, magician, and puzzle expert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Brokenshire
Barry Burlison (RIP) - Inventor an well known Toy Industry Sales rep
Michael Sklaar (RIP) - Friend of Ivan
Hal Robinson - friend of Ivan and Ivans publishing agent
Hiroshi Kondo - Director Tenyo Japan, Magic& jigsaw puzzle company https://tenyo.jp/en/products.html
Anne Benkovitz - Toy designer and teaches toy design at School of Visual Arts in NY. Former student of Mark Setteducati
2006
2002
Thank you to Mark Settuducati for the photos!
If you've attended this magical evening, please share your photos with us. Naming the people in the photo will be helpful. We will post with credit to you!