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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! 

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