LOS ANGELES—Three leaders in the adult pleasure products business have been chosen for induction into the AVN Hall of Fame-Pleasure Products Division. The induction officially takes place at the AVN Awards, slated for Jan. 21 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Selected as the sophomore class of inductees are Larry Garland of Eldorado Trading Co., Nick Orlandino of Pipedream Products and Joel Tucker of Stockroom.
As an entrepreneur and 37-year veteran of most aspects of the adult novelty business, Larry Garland is an invaluable asset to Eldorado—one of the top international distributors in the adult novelty business—and a key ingredient to its longstanding success.
"L.G." is a hands-on leader who loves what he does and always puts customers and employees first. Whether it's taking an active role during product meetings, riffing with the marketing team at a brainstorm session, or having the entire company stop on a dime to go above and beyond for a customer in need; setting the example for the Eldorado team is standard operating procedure for Garland.
"This is a real honor and a pleasant surprise," said a humbled and semi-shockedGarland. "This of course means a lot to me and Eldorado—it’s an unbelievable feeling to have this kind of recognition from my peers and I would sincerely like to thank everyone involved.
"Who knew I’d be inducted into AVN's Hall of Fame for a non-performing role?" he said with a chuckle.
In addition to heading up Eldorado since 1974,Garlandis a board member of the Free Speech Coalition, and a vocal advocate for his local community. For the past several years, Eldorado has held fundraisers and food drives for the Community Food Share program, helping put Thanksgiving dinner on the table for thousands of Colorado families in need.
At just 15 years old, Nick Orlandino got his start in the adult industry unloading trucks for Forum Novelties in New Yorkand worked his way up to general manager. These days, Orlandino is the CEO of Pipedream Products, one of the largest manufacturers of adult novelties, gag gifts and pleasure products in the world.
Along the way, Orlandino created the Adult Novelty Manufacturers Expo in 1996, where he ran the industry's largest business-to-business tradeshow for the next 10 years. In 1999, he was named to the board of directors for the Free Speech Coalition, where he served as treasurer for four years. Orlandino is also the founder of the Frank N. Orlandino Scholarship Foundation, which provides tuition assistance for students with financial difficulties.
"I feel very honored to be inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame," Orlandino said. "It makes it all the more special to be inducted with my old friend Larry Garland, CEO of Eldorado. I would like to thank AVN for the recognition and of course thank those who vote for Pipedream in any categories our products and brands are nominated in."
College students used to ask Joel Tucker whether he worshipped Satan or had sex with animals-and that was after he'd already spent time explaining that intelligent, educated people can engage in consensual bondage, domination, submission, and sadomasochism. Now, when he speaks at the same college two decades later, the students all want to know how to get in on the BDSM action.
BDSM has certainly become more mainstream over the past two decades, and in some ways that makes things a lot easier for him. "For me to start a company like this was a pretty big step in the late 1980s. I felt like I was taking my spot on the front lines of another wave of the sexual revolution," said Tucker, founder of Stockroom, which he says was the first adult toy company to launch on the Internet.
Not only was Tucker doing business online in 1990, before there was a World Wide Web, but he and his company also helped move kink into the mainstream. Today, he operates one of the pre-eminent fetish and BDSM shops in the world. He’s built his empire of handcuffs, bondage gear, and paddles almost entirely online, but it wasn’t easy. Tucker was forced to leaveCaliforniaand move back to ruralIllinoisjust to keep Stockroom alive. He even considered selling at one point, but persevered. After two years, he returned toL.A.with a thriving business that is an important member of the kink community, which Tucker never will let become marginalized.
For more information on the awards ceremony, visit AVNAwards.com.
