(part 1 by Paul Vreede)
Back
in 2005, the Great Matt Mason Patent Hunt (1) was staged after somebody
in the MMM online group found an online shop selling US patent artwork,
and somebody else discovered it could be downloaded for free fom the US
Patent Office. Provided it could be found, because all pre-1976 patents
can only be retrieved by number and nothing else.
So
a whole range of search tactics were tried and it was while searching
for references to "plastic figures" that I was completely amazed to find
a patent for one of my childhood toys - which I'd completely forgotten
about as well.
After
the chase for MMM patents had run its course, I came back to these
figures. The patent was filed in 1967, and stated the name of the
inventor, a Parisian by the name of René Ach. What it didn't state of
course was a brand name (so useful for finding things on the internet),
nor even a manufacturer. Monsieur Ach clearly was an independent
inventor.
But
he had an uncommon name, and that helped. A google revealed a sculptor
in Paris with the same name, whom I figured might be related. And then a
phone number. Where somebody answered at the first ring. To have what
afterwards may have seemed a somewhat bizarre conversation!
I
asked if he was Monsieur Ach. He was. The sculptor? Yes indeed. So I
said I was looking for a René Ach living in the Rue de Gobelins in Paris
13ème (arrondissement or 13th district) in 1967 and would he know this
person. Sounding somewhat puzzled he said that was him. Which had me
rather amazed, for the picture on his website showed the sculptor to be
sixty-ish or less - pretty young for somebody inventing toys in the
mid-late sixties.
So
I explained I found his name on a patent for a toy I had when I was
young, and then somewhat at a loss for words, had the wits to thank him
for inventing such a wonderful toy. I then learned he had indeed
invented these figures very early in life, amongst other ideas he had
(some of which I had also found patents for) that weren't (as)
successful.
And
then came the most important question: what were they called, and who
had made them. So I learned they were called Acrobates, made in France
by a company called Delacoste (2). And in Germany by somebody sounding
like Siemex. A Japanese company also made them, initially without a
licence, but was eventually persuaded to better their ways. Monsieur Ach
also confirmed the Acrobates came in three sizes.
Next
it was my turn to answer a few questions, for Monsieur Ach was curious
about how I had found his patent. Turned out he had been looking for a
patent a cousin (iirc) had been granted a long time ago, and hadn't had
much luck in finding it. With a browser in front of me, and having
discovered the EU patent site later on in the MMM Hunt, I asked the name
of his cousin (thankfully not a very common name either) and found him
the patent while still on the phone. I told him how to retrieve it, we
thanked each other and said goodbye.
And
then, in what must really be the biggest coincidence ever, I turned to
eBay France, typed in Acrobates Delacoste and would you believe it there
was a boxed set!
notes:
1) if interested, the MMM patents can be found on John Eaton's site.
-
Delacoste is best known for its "pouet-pouet" toys - rubber figures that
make such a noise when you squeeze them. The giraffe that sometimes
pops up from the company logo is called Sophie, their very first such
figure from 1961, and quite an icon in France. It even has its own
Wikipedia pages in french and english.
