BLOGS FOR LANDON WORTHINGTON AND MARVIN DINOVITZ

CASTING (Premiered September 14, 2005) - Well, today was pretty interesting. We drove to the studio together; we only live a large coffee away. We didn't know what to expect, but we did practice a sales pitch together. We felt pretty good going in. We knew our pitch, but the judges freaked us out. We think it went well and we advanced to the semi-finals. The mystery pitch was nerve-racking, but Marvin did a great job. We would have bought it! We had to stand in front of the judges for what seemed like an eternity to find out if we will be one of the final six teams. Being chosen felt like victory already.


DOES IT WORK? (Premiered September 21, 2005) - Seeing The Lab for the first time gave us a sense of how serious this was going to be. Going into the QA we were excited... not really nervous. We have both been using the Gorilla Gripper long enough to know it works, but even we were impressed by how well it performed on the weight stress test. The egg drop challenge was a failure. Our strategy was to try to not only keep the egg from breaking, but have it drop straight down in the event of a tiebreaker. If we had tested our capsule with an egg, we would have packed it with marshmallows. We were bummed! We really wanted to talk with Lonnie. At the end of the day we were lucky they didn't ask for any major improvements, and our new handle design greatly improved the look of the tool. Being in front of the judges wasn't so scary this time around, but it was still a relief to make it to the next level.


DOES IT LOOK GOOD? (Premiered September 29, 2005) - We thought the Gorilla Gripper had an advantage going into this marketing challenge because we already had a finished package. We spent a lot of time trying to improve on what we had when we probably should have focused on a nice informative marketing brochure and instead left the package alone. We had a great time building our mascot today, but we almost injured ourselves laughing so hard. The competition was a disaster. Our foam head was so thick Marvin was running around deaf, dumb, and blind. Marvin's package didn't have the mass appeal in the 18 and under crowd, so we lost! The Gorilla Gripper package didn't have nearly the dramatic improvements that everyone else's did, so we had to sweat through that very painful elimination round. We thought it was all over... but we were still in the game!


DO PEOPLE LIKE IT? (Premiered October 7, 2005) - We were excited to hear that we were going to have a focus group. They weren't kidding - it was a real focus group. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the Gorilla Gripper just showing it to people, but this was strange, watching people analyze it on their own. Usually when we show the tool to someone we're covered with sawdust. We were dressed a little nicer than we normally are and some in the focus group didn't believe we were in construction. That was weird! The focus group made "the look" makeover a no-brainer. All we had to do was pick what we would normally wear. Winning this challenge was important. We took Rachel's advice and got right to the point with our pitch to the judges. Thank God they liked it.


READY TO PITCH? (Premiered October 14, 2005) - When we got on the plane, all we could do was smile and shake our heads. HSN is unreal! It's huge and a little overwhelming! First we had "Boot Camp" with Kathy Levine. It was fun and we learned a lot about HSN selling. The sales competition with Patti LaBelle was a difficult challenge. It seemed like people avoided us at all costs. We lost, and Chris chose us to go first. Oh well, that's where we wanted to be anyway. Our strategy going into the final pitch was to show the Gorilla Gripper as many times as possible and have fun... and we did. Everybody said we did well. What else are they going to say? I guess we'll know in a week. God help us.


AND THE WINNER IS... - The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat! We had the greatest ride of our lives so far! "Thank you" doesn't quite cover the gratitude that we both feel. Your support and interest in the Gorilla Gripper has empowered us now and in ways yet to come. We were given an opportunity that very few people get to experience. Being on the show has been a life-altering event, and we are both thrilled and humbled to share it. We'll continue to bring the Gorilla Gripper to the market in bigger and better ways than ever before. One of the many advantages of being on the show is the public's awareness of the product and their overwhelming response to it. Congratulations to Chris and Sammy and kudos to our fellow inventors. We fought the good fight and played the good game. We made new friends and were part of the first show EVER of its kind. We can all be proud of doing our best, each and every one of us. And, of course, a very special thanks to 10X10 Productions, HSN, and USA Network, without whom none of us would have been able to play. So, God Bless and be well. And to all the inventors out there, never give up your dreams! - Landon and Marvin