Jerry Thompkins of Bushkill has spent the last five years of his retirement trying to patent the special display cases he has designed.
Now, with patent in hand, he's searching for investors and manufacturers to turn the dream into reality.
Back in 1975, long before he ever had the idea of becoming an inventor, Thompkins, 79, started collecting models of Hess trucks. After accumulating a large number of trucks, Thompkins thought about ways to display them and keep them clean. In 2002, he tinkered with a few different designs, but an employee at the patent office suggested that he keep it simple. With that small but valuable advice, Thompkins developed his final design.
Each display case holds a single large Hess truck or eight miniature trucks. The display cases are made of wood and lexan. They are very light in weight and can be stacked. They also have little clips that allow them to be hooked together in either an angled or square pattern so that a large number of trucks can be attractively displayed in a small amount of space. When unattached, an individual display case can be placed on a shelf to highlight a single model.
According to Thompkins, the local Hess station sells 7,000 model trucks every year. People love the trucks and even buy them by the case. The trucks come out twice a year. Large models reach the shelves in November and small trucks arrive in mid-year.
That's a huge potential market and Hess doesn't sell display cases. The next step is to actually manufacture the display cases. When materials are bought in bulk, the cases are very inexpensive to make.
"I'm hoping to get someone interested in manufacturing them," explained Thompkins. "I would like to see something started so I could pay off my (patent) investors and make a lot of people happy. There's a real need for it. Lots of people say them want them." Thompkins went to a grant writing class, but he doesn't feel his writing skills are good enough to get a business startup grant. He lives in Saw Creek Estates and is hoping he can find someone who will go into business with him.
Unable to work since quadruple bypass surgery in 2003, Thompkins spends his time making display cases. He also makes clocks, tables, bookends, and other items from wood and epoxy plastic. His home is full of his varied interests and projects, but right now he's ecstatic about getting his patent and planning for the future.
"I was shocked when I got the patent," said Thompkins. "I'm quite overwhelmed."
Once he gets the right business partners, he's confident his invention will succeed.