SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A stuffed Ptarmigan toy, a collapsible plastic home and a natural refrigeration system using cold exterior air are some of the ideas hopefuls presented at the Dragons' Den auditions held at the Yellowknife Inn last week.

Don Asher shows off a reduced model of the collapsible plastic home he presented at the recent auditions of Dragons' Den. He said each home would weigh 450 pounds and cost about $1,500. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

The 14 who auditioned won't know until the latter half of April if they will be invited to Toronto for a shot at pitching their product to the dragons themselves on national TV.

This year marked the first time the show, in its sixth season, held auditions in Yellowknife, looking for the next trendy product or big idea.

"We had no expectations of how many people would come to the auditions, but considering that it's our first time there, it was a great turnout," said associate producer Justine Lewkowicz.

"It will likely be two or three people who make it to Toronto," said Mike Armitage, the show producer hosting the auditions.

Entrepreneur Janet Pacey said the auditions were a breeze.

"It was great. It was not nerve-wracking at all. I did a little pitch and then he asked me some questions," she said.

Pacey came prepared to impress show producers. She brought a sample of her new product, a stuffed toy she developed - Ptarmi the Ptarmigan - popular among young and old, she said. A huge fan of the real bird, Pacey said she worked on the toy for almost two years and is now looking for money and mentorship from the dragons.

"I just thought, hey, wouldn't it be great to develop more characters and have the backing of the dragons to do that," she said, adding needed she capital "to be able to manufacture more toys. A bit of mentorship. I'm not the best business person on the planet and my retail sales experience is pretty minimal."

Using the cold exterior air to refrigerate food is what Jim McPherson was proposing to Dragons' Den.

"Your typical home fridge or freezer would draw in air from outside by using a small little fan, which consumes very, very little power as compared to your compressor," he said.

During the summer, the appliance's compressor would kick in. McPherson added he's looking for $300,000 from the dragons to develop a prototype and test it for a year.

"I'm not sure if $300,000 would be sufficient to develop a prototype, but there is nothing new that has to be invented. All the parts that I envision, you can just buy them off the shelf at Canadian Tire or someplace."

Don Asher also took part in pitching an idea. His proposal was a totally collapsible plastic house, complete with a floor, door and window, which can be assembled in less than 30 minutes. His plastic homes would have the same shape but different sizes. For instance, he said one model is 9 feet 6 inches wide, 10 feet six inches long and six feet six inches high.

"It's good to take for earthquakes, tsunamis, anywhere they need instant housing," he said. "I'd like some assistance in order to build the moulds for them, because they're very expensive - $40,000 for each mould - and we need two of them. The money would be to build the moulds and buy some of the basic materials, plastics that we need to get and to get the colours that we want, they want, I want to make them in different colours."

Following his audition, he said he thinks he has a chance of being invited to Toronto.

"I think they may be interested in that because it is something that is really needed in the world, with all these disasters and everything else we have, we need temporary quick housing. If they move into a new house or a new area, these things can be folded up and taken somewhere else," he said.

The auditions continue across Canada until April 17. The show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.