Game hangers and cutting boards at first blush may seem like an unlikely pair. A game hanger, or gambrel has historically been conceived as a chunk of steel rod bent and welded into an isosceles triangle. Picture something like a robust coat hanger with hooks on each side. Cutting boards on the other hand, have traditionally been rectangular chunks of flat wood or plastic. You would have never found a game hanger in the middle of your otherwise clean kitchen, just like you wouldn’t have ever found a pile of cutting boards piled in the dusty corner of a garage. Contemplating a game hanger/cutting board design duo was about as obvious as mother nature’s natural selection producing the duck-billed platypus. And yet, that’s precisely what we envisioned.
Solving an overlooked problem, that's the bread and butter of the inspired inventor. It's like this: You have this idea...and it gnaws away at you, invading your thoughts on weekly occasion. You have not the time, or money, or even the expertise to bring it through fruition. This was us in 2012. Then one day, after this idea has been long forgotten, you happen across a raw material, a polymer. Something new and nuanced. Your mind explodes with renewed inspiration, with reverence, it's cathartic. Years have gone by, nearly a decade and you wake up and realize the work, the trial and tribulations forgotten. What remains is an idea materialized and manufactured, patented across several countries, produced at scale and being sold directly to consumers. An idea that's taken off slow and steady like a hot air balloon. Sales rise, the American dream no longer a dream. Sealed, signed and delivered helping those who love a hobby, a tradition, a passion as much as you.
What’s more, once those creative juices start flowing again they don’t just flow, they flood. What’s been said about energy begetting energy and motivation begetting motivation, is also true about creativity begetting creativity. It’s why so many musicians can’t understand people who also aren’t all about creating music all the time. If you can be, why wouldn’t you be doing the thing you are both great at and love doing. Specifically what we mean by creative catalysts is both ideas and conversations about ancillary uses of the Trophy Board. In no time at all the Trophy Board went from a game hanger, cutting board to a fish and wild game hanger, including salmon, panfish, turkey, and waterfowl, to a device that can not only help you scale and fillet fish, but also an aider for plucking birds, and tanning hides into pelts. What’s more is, that’s not the half of it! The same creativity has additionally led to no less than a half-dozen patents and counting ;).
Back to the original invention, the Trophy Board. Here’s what we’ve discovered: It’s not as simple as Game Hanger + Cutting Board = Cool multi-use tool that lasts practically forever. What we’ve discovered, what our customers have proven out, is the Trophy Board is much more than the sum of its parts. It’s not just an unexpected Duo and multifaceted tool, it’s a customizable blank canvas and a modern day visual artform for this or any generation to put their mark and self brand from the platform of a product they love and use all the time. The Trophy Board is every bit as much a social media Sounding Board as it is a tool for hunting and fishing!
Make your 'fourth quarter' that much more enjoyable,
Mike (the humbled innovator) Hiller
