‘Invention Brothers’ use sibling bond to their advantage as business partners

For 25 years, brothers Scott and Kurt Comstock have combined their minds to churn out toys for children and home products for grown-ups. They come from a family of nine kids and say that having a sibling in between them has made the collaborative process and getting along much easier.

“You can always fight the brother right up or right below,” said Kurt Comstock, the younger of the pair. “We have a brother in between us so we grew up not butting heads. I respect [Scott] to a degree where I listen to what he says and, as an older brother, he gives me a break.”

With that formula holding steady for 2 1/2 decades, the Comstock brothers enjoy full-time careers in product development, branding and packaging design, but also work together to release a product from scratch every few years or so.

Calling themselves the “Invention Brothers,” the siblings grew up in the San Fernando Valley and describe themselves as big kids at heart.

Scott Comstock recalled his first invention being a dart that could be retrieved with a long string — a prototype that eventually led to stabbing himself in his thigh.

“That’s research and development,” said Kurt Comstock as he burst into laughter.

One of the Comstocks’ first forays into getting a product on the shelves was the Wachoo Box, an optical illusion Halloween decoration that appears as though a spooky face is watching you wherever you move about in a room.

The Cyco-Cycle — a unicycle with tricycle wheels — followed years later. Stepping away from toys, the duo came up with the Margarator, a 1-gallon margarita maker designed for parties. Items like those hit the shelves of major toy stores and Walmart.

Their inspiration is to create something that they themselves would like to have around the house, said Scott Comstock.

However, one of the most valuable lessons came after their products hit the shelves and it’s one that continues to hold true, he said.

“We still hope for that big invention, the one that’s going to make you millions so that you can retire,” the elder Comstock said. “What we found is that inventing is a matter of taking steps and learning from those steps along the way.”

The brothers each have their own desk across from one another in their La Crescenta office. They’ve bounced around the Glendale area several times and their original studio was located right behind the Moonlight Rollerway on San Fernando Road.

Scattered throughout their office are all of their past inventions.

Having been through the process of taking an idea to a finished product and convincing retailers to sell it, aspiring inventors, some who pour their life savings into their prototypes, often turn to them for advice.

They gladly oblige, free of charge, but they can be brutally honest.

“Nobody ever said to them, ‘This is a stupid idea,’” Kurt Comstock said.

He added that a benefit of working with his brother comes from criticizing each other’s ideas until they’re whittled down to being worthy of prototypes.

“Loved ones, family and friends tell [young inventors] how great their invention is, it doesn’t help,” Scott Comstock said. “What helps is when people tell you what’s wrong with your invention, what other products are better than your invention.”

For their next invention, the Comstocks say they’ve blended everything they’ve learned — from the cost of manufacturing a product to the demographics — and come up with the Skoother, a hand-held skin exfoliator.

And for the first time, the brothers are turning to Kickstarter to help get their product off the ground with not just fundraising, but research.

“It’s a test market,” he said. “It tests if there is a demand for your item. This is ammunition for a product and taking it to the retailer.”