Game puts Anton on map

Chef Anton, best known locally for his Canyon Lake pickleball antics and Super Bowl parties, is now making the rounds nationally as a family game inventor. His bean bag game, ChangeUp, after winning the grand prize of $50,000 for Best New Family Game on Steve’s Harvey’s ABC show, Funderdome, has been named one of five finalists for ASTRA’s Game of the Year.

The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA)’s announcement making Anton’s game a finalist is a huge deal. Anton said he was blown away by the news.

“This is an incredible honor for us,” he said. “Being a finalist truly validates the concept of my game and its intrinsic values for families across the world during these challenging times.  Now more than ever, we need families to stay together, play together and interact with each other.  I am humbled to be a small part of the solution.”

Voting is taking place this month by retailers across the world and the winner will be announced in June.

Anton’s revolutionary take on corn hole is the world’s first bean bag tossing game with interchangeable templates, a built-in storage compartment, wheels for portability and the ability to convert into a full height game table. Deemed “The Ultimate 33-in-1 Tossing Game,” ChangeUp sold out of its inventory within months of hitting the market.

Although the game for which Anton won the $50,000 on Harvey’s TV show was named BeanBagglz, the ChangeUp game is identical, but because of a marketing decision, the name was changed.

In the spring of 2018, Anton and his wife Lezlie were exhibiting the game at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. They were approached by four big players in the toy industry that all wanted to license the rights to BeanBagglz. After numerous meetings, they decided to sign with B4 Adventure in Denver.

“The president of the company, Ed O’Brien, flew me to Denver to meet his team and show me how his company could take BeanBagglz to the next level,” Anton said. “I instantly felt a connection with him and knew he was the right partner for me. I have helped him pitch the game to the biggest players in the industry all over the United States and every vendor has absolutely loved the game concept.”

After getting feedback for six months, Anton and Ed worked with his team to rebrand BeanBagglz to ChangeUp and it instantly became a leading seller in their outdoor game category. At the 2019 International Toy Fair in New York’s Javitt’s Center, ChangeUp was named Best New Specialty Game.

Generating sales internationally, Anton’s primary function besides being the ultimate pitchman for the company is to create new games.

“This new partnership is fantastic,” he said. “We have experts working every level of the game from sourcing manufacturers to marketing buyers. I no longer have to wear every hat.  Now I get to focus on my expertise which is creating new and exciting games.”

Since the licensing deal was inked, Anton has created over 20 new games for the company, including ShapeUp, which is a game for middle school children to interact with the tossing game while doing exercises such as sit-ups, chin-ups and jumping jacks. Another game he created, Plus/Minus, teaches youngsters math.

“I have even created games for cricket and rugby, both of which I knew nothing about, but learned quickly and adapted their rules to my tossing game,” he said. “So many kids are tied to their electronic devices and all you see is the top of their heads. It is my global mission to get kids off the couch and interacting as a family.”.

ChangeUp will be featured on QVC on May 22. BeanBagglz has sold out, but ChangeUp will be available during this show.

A unique aspect of the game is its expandability by adding game templates to the game.

“I invented a brand new game for ChangeUp/BeanBagglz called Plop n Stop,” Anton said.  “It is a fantastic game for the whole family and best of all, you can print the game yourself on your home printer and it will fit perfectly into the console. This gift is my small thank you to all who have helped to support my dream.”

To obtain the free downloadable PDF of Plop n Stop, just email Anton at ChefAnton@ChefAnton.com and ask for it.