Gary Swisher

Gary Swisher is currently EVP of D&D for Spin Master. Prior to his current role, he was the Senior Vice President and GM of Inventor Relations and Games at Mattel, Inc. He started his toy career working on a favorite from his childhood, “Hot Wheels” he “played” with that brand for 16 years, (just long enough to get his drivers license). He left Mattel and went to the wild and crazy world of Jakks Pacific where he and his Marketing partner Jamie Wood built the Road Champs line into an Xtreme sports mecca…(oh the fun of the XGames). He and Jamie then started Best Pals, where he got to use every last ounce of his Design skills to create a broad line of toys, led by a Six Flags Roller Coaster and a Big Foot Monster truck or two! In 2005 Mattel bought their assets, and brought them both back in. Gary then had the good fortune of working under Richie Weintraub, an icon in the industry that taught him more about being a good Design leader, than he thought was possible. When Richie retired, Tim Kilpin gave Gary the chance to lead Creative for all of Boys, Girls and Games at Mattel (making sure to keep him away from the world of Barbie :). He then had the joy of being the Creative liaison to the newly acquired MEGA BLOKS, he spent a year and a half traveling every other week to Montreal, (working with the most creative group of constructors the world has ever known). When Susie Lecker returned from MEGA she brought Gary back with a broad set of responsibilities including; GM of Inventor Relations, Games, New Ventures and Packaging, he also got to have fun with ABC’s Toy Box TV Show (what a different world that is). His focus was then on Inventor Relations and Games, where he had the joy of working with Ray Adler and the Mattel Games team, as well as the amazing Mattel Inventor Relations Team.

Gary Left Mattel at the start of 2018, took some time to decompress and do some inventing (mostly Games), Then 6 months into his Sebbatical, he sought out Spin Master, the most innovation led company in our industry, he met with each of the founders, but started with Ben Varadi, and quickly realized this was the company he wanted to work for! He started off reporting to Ben Varadi, and realized quickly what an amazing Creative Ben is, with the widest view of the entire toy industry. He started with Product and Package Design, and now recently has added Product Development to this united creative team. He now reports to Chris Beardall, the newly appointed President of Toy for Spin Master, and is loving this new united front. As he can continue to build the strongest Creative team in the industry!!!

<p>Gary Swisher is currently EVP of D&D for Spin Master. Prior to his current role, he was the Senior Vice President and GM of Inventor Relations and Games at Mattel, Inc. He started his toy career working on a favorite from his childhood, “Hot Wheels” he “played” with that brand for 16 years, (just long enough to get his drivers license). He left Mattel and went to the wild and crazy world of Jakks Pacific where he and his Marketing partner Jamie Wood built the Road Champs line into an Xtreme sports mecca…(oh the fun of the XGames). He and Jamie then started Best Pals, where he got to use every last ounce of his Design skills to create a broad line of toys, led by a Six Flags Roller Coaster and a Big Foot Monster truck or two! In 2005 Mattel bought their assets, and brought them both back in. Gary then had the good fortune of working under Richie Weintraub, an icon in the industry that taught him more about being a good Design leader, than he thought was possible. When Richie retired, Tim Kilpin gave Gary the chance to lead Creative for all of Boys, Girls and Games at Mattel (making sure to keep him away from the world of Barbie :). He then had the joy of being the Creative liaison to the newly acquired MEGA BLOKS, he spent a year and a half traveling every other week to Montreal, (working with the most creative group of constructors the world has ever known). When Susie Lecker returned from MEGA she brought Gary back with a broad set of responsibilities including; GM of Inventor Relations, Games, New Ventures and Packaging, he also got to have fun with ABC’s Toy Box TV Show (what a different world that is). His focus was then on Inventor Relations and Games, where he had the joy of working with Ray Adler and the Mattel Games team, as well as the amazing Mattel Inventor Relations Team.   </p> <p>Gary Left Mattel at the start of 2018, took some time to decompress and do some inventing (mostly Games), Then 6 months into his Sebbatical, he sought out Spin Master, the most innovation led company in our industry, he met with each of the founders, but started with Ben Varadi, and quickly realized this was the company he wanted to work for!  He started off reporting to Ben Varadi, and realized quickly what an amazing Creative Ben is, with the widest view of the entire toy industry.  He started with Product and Package Design, and now recently has added Product Development to this united creative team.  He now reports to Chris Beardall, the newly appointed President of Toy for Spin Master, and is loving this new united front. As he can continue to build the strongest Creative team in the industry!!!</p>

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Fun Facts

During the Gulf war both of Gary's brothers were stationed in Kuwait, Larry Wood had an idea, and together they sent a HUGE pack of Hot Wheels track and cars to the soldiers, his brothers said that track kept their sanity, and for months soldiers wer

Gary and his wife Jeanne both grew up with Horses, and they currently have 2 horses at their home in California

Gary worked for a total of 28 fun years on the Hot Wheels Brand