About 20 years ago I went to see Joe at his home in Palm Springs. At the time, he was charging $200/hour for consulting. A friend of mine had a product idea, and at my suggestion, we went to seen Joe to get his advice on it. In the end, the project didn't go anywhere (there was a legal angle that shot it down), but Joe was nothing less than charming --- a high-affinity guy, who is gracious and very easy to like. I even liked the friendly way he pointed at my friend at the end of the hour and said, firmly, "You owe me $200!"

Prior to this, Joe had advised someone else I know on another idea --- this was during the days when "Star Wars" was just out and extremely popular. The idea was to attach a golf tube (the plastic sleve that goes inside a golf bag) on the end of a flashlight and sell it as a "laser sword" (if you saw the movie, you'll never forget those humming laser swords!) Joe's advice got the product financed quickly, and he helped the inventor get connected up with a heavy-duty national toy rep. The product, which was made mainly from off-the-shelf items, sold hundreds and hundreds of thousands of units. The factory where they were putting together the swords couldn't hire enough people to keep up with the orders! The inventor made TONS of money, and I doubt that he would have been able to do it without Joe's advice. The man knows how to package and market products!

--- Hugh