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What's So Great About Blunders®?
* SUMMARY CODES: SN - Special Needs
As referenced earlier, Blunders® is a board game which teaches children between ages 5 to 10 about social and dining etiquette. In other words and being realistic, Blunders® teaches kids in a fun way how not to be an obnoxious, disrespectful, pain in the rump, in what may very well be the most unique, interactive, and entertaining way ever imagined!
The four endearing characters of Becky, Bobby, Brenda, and Billy Blunder become the active elements of Blunders® that causes players to laugh while trying to help the Blunders learn better manners. What they don't realize is that while they are having so much fun with this off-the-wall idea of a game, they are learning what they are trying to assist the characters of the game to learn. Blunders® may seem like a blunder of an idea but once kids open the box and begin playing, an entirely new experience in game play is brought into the scenario of their game play.
A Blunder Or A Masterpiece?
Blunders® being a blunder or a masterpiece of a game? The answer to that question obviously would be a matter of opinion. For a game developer, they will have their own opinion of the game based upon experience in gaming development, yet at the same time a child psychologist may see it from a different point of view.
In our evaluation of Blunders®, the question of if it is a blunder or a masterpiece is all part of the evaluation.
With a background of study in behavioral science myself, I pondered over the idea of how this game impacts a child while playing it during my portion of the evaluation process. A VERY interesting angle began to emerge in my analysis that in my personal opinion, pushes it towards the impression of a potential masterpiece in the rough.
By developing a scenario of the game play where the players are helping the characters in the game to learn to develop social and dining manners, the players can identify with the characters of the game themselves. They can learn how to improve in their own personal manners without addressing the matter directly; they avoid a sense of conflict. Blunders® delivers a foundation for the players to identify where they can make an improvement in their own personal lives and gain a greater sense of self-esteem and worth.
A More Defined Look At Blunders®
Blunders™ has the unique added value of being a perfect game for playing at home, school, or with any social club or group. It is multi-cultural, is based on universal values, and is an excellent tool for development of many styles of learning, not just a focused and minimal target style.
Based upon information provided by Successful Kids, Inc., the creators of Blunders™, a child psychiatrist has told them that Blunders® is the ideal game to play with children with Special Needs, (SN). In my own personal study and evaluation of this game, I will definitely concur with that professional opinion. The structure of the game is such that many SN kids would gain substantially in regard to critical skill development from playing this game.
The potential of this game for use with special needs concerns is quite evident. It is strong enough that in the near future, we will tentatively be taking Blunders™ and a few other games and toys to a facility which specializes in therapy for SN children. We are hoping to develop a reliable professional study to see what level of influence these products might have in greater cognitive skill development for these children.
Blunders™ includes 300 charade, multiple choice, scenario, and true/false questions, a unique “Meet the Blunders” story booklet, a hand-illustrated game board with “seek and find” objects, four pawns of the Blunder children, table setting cards, reward tokens, and two dice for alternate types of play.
Blunders® teaches children how to:
- Set the table correctly and use polite table manners.
- Introduce themselves and others with confidence.
- Be a polite guest and gracious host.
- Have courteous telephone manners.
- Show respect and kindness to adults, peers, and siblings.
- Not bully, tease, or gossip.
- Have nice manners at school and in all social situations.
And, so much more!
There are some other added factors that put the icing on the cake so to speak for Blunders®. Blunders® board game retails for $24.95 and is only 10.5” x 10.5” x 3”. Blunders® is also the only interactive and fun way to learn social and dining using a game as a conduit, which is available on the market today!
 Independent Evaluator Reports
Obtaining An Independent Perspective...
In this section we will cover "Blunders®" from the independent perspectives of multiple top level qualified professionals. To accomplish that task we have called upon the assistance of three top industry professionals who know their stuff and have the credentials to prove it.
Our professional and independent evaluators have formed their own opinions from extensive analysis and produced detailed, in-depth reports connected with their study and evaluation of Blunders® The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports which have been paraphrased in order to encapsulate the primary points being conveyed in each report. This approach provides completely independent perspectives in the evaluation of Blunders®
PLEASE NOTE: The names of our independent evaluators are not disclosed to protect the privacy of these individuals upon their request. Their labors are provided at no charge to assist us in providing a well-balanced and qualified product evaluation summary. Their title is provided to clarify for our readers the specific type of specialist from which the information provided has been included in each product evaluation summary.
PRODUCT: Blunders®
Board Certified Behavioral Analyst
"Blunders® covers teaching children the entire gamut of social and dining etiquette and polite behavior with a fun and interactive approach. This is something which so few companies care to handle, developing a game which is fun and educational...about appropriate manners. This is a subject matter which it seems has lost its importance for many in this generation. Blunders® teaches children what would be considered appropriate dining amenities
and social graces, maintains their attention by way of a secure balance of educational content combined with comical recreation."
"An arousing approach to personal identity and relational comparison is the gold nugget of this game. With each of the cards which are available for play, a player is impassioned to identify a character card with which they can identify their own self. At the same time, a player can also identify and compare the assumed profile of a character on a card with a comparison traits they desire to have. Highly stimulating and educational!"
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"Blunders® stirred a strong discomfort in me with it having such a multitude of positive features and effects which could never be fully summarized in a single product review or compendiary. This may not be a professional manner in which to express it, but the game causes me to revel in seeing such a splendid education of appropriate manners."
"The qualities held within the content of this game, and the well sustained, not static response from children playing the game, is simply delightful. This is a game which serves quite well as a more appealing method of education and fun for the players. It provides a reliable source to assist a child even further in their physical and mental skill development."
Professor of Educational Studies, Ed.
"The conclusive results of study from the game 'Blunders' was most interesting. The learning curve of the game was short and there were an immense number of playing cards which provides a wealthy level of variety. This created a probability of repeat of a game with any established trend next to impossible. This added great value to the game as far a repeat play where many other board/card games generally tend to end up in a closet after a few uses, gathering dust."
"Although this is a remote perspective to consider, I found it interesting to see how the game materials alone, were quite earth-friendly. With all of the materials being bio-degradable, the game can be used by responsible parents to teach their children about ecological concerns. The company that produces this game is making a substantial contribution to ecological concerns and encouragement of others to follow. "
"I like how this game brings essential values which seem so uncommon today and have resurrected the same values and incorporated them into a game which will serve as a recreational learning resource and earth-friendly product, well done! The children in my test groups were enlivened from the game play and had a fervent desire for extended play period. The game created laughter and good manners which before the testing period there were next to none to be seen. This proved as an added validation of my personal opinions and study results with this game."
 Consumer Hands-On Evaluation
Consumers hold no punches when it comes to hands-on evaluation of a product. We have already seen all too many times in the past where products we have provided for consumer hands-on evaluation were literally blasted out of the universe with negative feedback. Let's see how Blunders® fared in our latest evaluation.
For consumer hands-on evaluation of Blunders®, we took it to a local multi-screen theater along with multiple other products to get hands-on feedback from consumers.
Here comes a bit of a twist for you. While Blunders® was an excellent game, there were other games we had on hand which were more suitable for an entire family, which seemed to grab a lot more attention, BUT rest assured, there were still plenty who were quite happy with Blunders®. To the surprise of many parents, their children thought that Blunders® was an "awesome" game. As a 9 year old boy from Boston put it, "This game is the bomb!"
What surprised virtually every parent was how their suppositions in reference to the game were all unfounded. The parents all assumed that their children would find no interest in a game where kids learn about social skills and dining etiquette. It didn't take long for the kids to prove their parents far from being correct. There were a few wise crack comments from some of the older children about how "This game has got to be lame...", yet shortly afterwards those same kids were playing the game as well.
There were not a large amount of feedback forms turned in from our consumer hands-on participants, yet the few we received were nothing but positive, quantitative comments. The overall responses made it clear that Blunders® was well liked by the kids and the parents weren't sure what to make of it. As one parent wrote, "The game was different than most, but my kids still seemed to really like it." Another parent stated, "I was really impressed with the learning curve for my children with this game; they no more opened the box and were playing shortly after!"
It was quite apparent with all of the families that Blunders® was a hit and had captured their attention. Although the concept of the game is rather unique and in its own niche of a sort, it has strong value from the overall design that will be sure to encourage sales.
 A Sampling Of Category Ratings
A sampling of the many individual ratings assigned to each category in our evaluation process for this product are featured here. The categories which have been selected to be featured in this product evaluation summary specify some of the primary points of how and why that specific rating score was reached.
* If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the complete review is published for public view.
* If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] or lower, it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
* Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation Summary are listed below.
CREATIVE SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Rating Level - [5] 
The level of critical skill development in a person when playing with Blunders® is pretty easily determined. The game is quite challenging and requires the players to stop being a couch potato if they desire to win. This gives maximum stimulation to critical/cognitive skill development and improvement.
Blunders® is an absolute bet to draw the attention of children. Who would have imagined learning about social skills and dining etiquette being fun for kids? Providing a medium with characters with whom the children can identify, delivers a magnificent variety of stimulation to the brains and emotions of the players. This is turn provides a substantial influence in regard to improvement of self-esteem and overall self-improvement. Blunders® ranked the highest score available in this category.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Rating Level - [5]
The educational value for Blunders® was rather challenging to determine. Blunders® has a variety of contributing factors to ensure that the players get a maximum stimulation to their brain cells as they carefully think ahead and evaluate the situations presented for the characters in the game. In this category, the educational level is quite substantial when you consider all of the analytical thought processes that occur when playing this game. A game of strategy and learning, it helps to strengthen a player's level of educational skills regardless of age. The final analysis of our evaluation of Blunders® in this category was a perfect score.
FUNFACTOR™: Rating Level - [5]
FunFactor™ was well up the ranking in scoring with Blunders®. The response we saw with the players always showed a strong and intensive level of FunFactor™. There appeared to never be a moment when the kids were not having fun. In this category, FunFactor™scored an easy "5".
INNOVATION: Rating Level - [5]
Blunders® has taken a completely different approach to gaming by taking an innovative new approach of taking a subject that makes it more of a specialty game which creates its own private niche with no competition. Fresh, new, innovative ideas in gaming design are always needed and that is what Blunders® delivered. The very idea of developing a game in which the players have to help the characters learn to develop positive social skills and etiquette makes it easy to see the innovative conceptual ideas in this game. With challenge, education, and FunFactor™ all wrapped up into a single product. Blunders® pulls the highest score available in this category.
MARKETING VALUE: Rating Level - [4] 
The marketing value of Blunders® was far from easy to determine. The manner in which you determine the marketing value depends upon whether you are looking at it from the retail store market as a whole, or from the position of specialty/hobby stores.
What you have here is a game which draws attention for kids, allowing the to relate to the lives of the characters in the game and develop a far greater level of self-worth and understanding of responsibility. This adds great value to the scoring in regard to marketing value. At the same time, you need to understand that many buyers shop with "impulse buying" habits. They often fail to examine a product they are about to buy thoroughly and make inaccurate assumptions, based upon lack of information. They can easily pass by a product which would be a perfect fit, yet will never know that due to their impulse buying habits. The storyline of Blunders® is such that impulse buyers may make an assumption and not see the full value of the game. Based upon that and a few other factors considered, Blunders® falls short of a perfect score in this category by a single digit.
VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level - [4]
When it comes to visual appeal, the Blunders® packaging alone is above average yet still quite appealing. In our consumer hands-on evaluation, Blunders® proved to be above average in visual appeal in regard to the box itself. Once the box is opened, the visual appeal was greater overall, yet just not enough to do a WOW!. When you combine the packaging visual appeal with the scoring from our own evaluation and the consumer feedback, Blunders® had a score one digit short of a perfect score in this category.
| EVALUATION RESULTS - From evaluation for induction into "The Toy Man® Product Guide" | | Overall Rating: 5 | Seal of Approval: Approved | eco-Recognition
Seal: Approved | Award of Excellence: Approved | eChoice Award: Selected |
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THE TOY MAN® SEAL OF APPROVAL
"The first and original Seal of Approval...
designed for product recognition and validation."
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THE TOY MAN® ECORECOGNITION SEAL
"An emblem of the highest recognition...
for support of ecological concerns applied in full measure."
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THE TOY MAN® AWARDS
"The globally recognized awards that are received by a limited few...
and give a product the well earned recognition it deserves!"
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