Don’t Burst His Bubble

On the beach in Malibu, with his graying beard and bright Hawaiian shirt, local inventor Bob DeMars, 51, looks like Santa Claus on summer vacation--especially with the kids flocking to him from every direction. They want to pop the bubbles. Of DeMars’ nearly 250 patents, the one that’s a real hit this summer is his new Jumba Bubba (made by OddzOn and sold at local toy stores). It sends bubble fluid along the edges of two halves of a plastic ring that open up in the breeze and--voila--a constant stream of 3-foot bubbles.

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Q. How did you settle on this design?

A. I decided to take on bubbles. We tried dipping a ring in the fluid, using a rotating wheel. But you know how when you wash your hands, if you press them together and then open them up, there’s a film of soap across the top? That’s how I got it.

Q. Jumba Bubba sounds Southern. Who names your inventions?

A. Usually I do. I was going to sell it as the “Bubble-ator.”

Q. Like “Terminator”? Sounds dangerous.

A. I was at Rincon setting off a big stream of bubbles in the breeze, when I noticed they were drifting up off the beach toward the highway, and I thought, “I better stop before I cause a traffic accident!”

Q. Bubbles and cars don’t mix?

A. One time I was sitting in traffic on the freeway, so I just held the thing up in the window and let loose. There were some people shaking their fists at me. You know, in nice cars. They didn’t like having big soap bubbles popping on their windshields.*

Q. What do you say to dipping traditionalists?

A. Dipping is old hat.