| up
to 1899 |
| 1836 |
Galt founded, as educational suppliers, by James Galt |
| 1860 |
James Galt dies, and the business is passed to eldest son, Robert Galt |
| 1884 |
Brio founded in Sweden by Ivar Bengtsson. |
| 1885 |
Binney
and Smith founded by Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith |
| 1890 |
Moritz
Kohner's sons Emil and Max joined the business and it then became known as M.
Kohner & Sons. |
| 1894 |
John
Hubley incorporated The Hubley Manufacturing Company in Lancaster, PA |
| |
| 1900-1959 |
| 1901 |
Frank
Hornby sells Mechanics Made Easy sets (later to become Meccano) |
| 1902 |
Binney
& Smith incorporates September 30, in Easton, Pennsylvania |
| 1903 |
Binney
& Smith produces the first box of eight Crayola crayons containing red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black sticks. |
| 1908 |
Meccano
was started when Frank Hornby bought out his partner |
| Ivar Bengtsson's 3 sons took over Brio |
| Robert Galt dies and Galt is passed to the Haylings family |
| 1909 |
A.C.
Gilbert and partner, mechanic John Petrie, started a brand of games and toys based
on magic, called "Mysto Magic." |
| 1911 |
The
Erector set was conceived by Alfred Carlton Gilbert |
| 1913 |
The
Erector Set first sold in 1913 andwas introduced as the "Mysto Erector Structural
Steel Builder". |
| Tinkertoy
construction sets were invented by Charles Pajeau, a stonemason from Evanston,
Illinois. Partnering with Robert Petit, he established the Toy Tinkers Company |
| 1916 |
Mysto
was renamed as the A.C. Gilbert Company, but the Mysto Magic name remained attached
to magic sets sold by the company. |
| Toy Manufacturers Association (TMA) founded |
| John
Lloyd Wright, the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright invents Lincoln Logs |
| 1921 |
Nicknamed
the "Toy King of America" and the "Henry Ford of the Toy Industry,"
Louis Marx established the Louis Marx Toy Company. |
| Buddy L was founded by Fred Lundahl |
| 1922 |
Pressman
Toys founded by Jack Pressman |
| 1923 |
Hasbro
was founded by brothers Henry and Helal Hassenfeld. They started out in a small
office in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally named Hassenfeld Brothers, they
sold textile remnants but soon moved into manufacturing pencil boxes and school
supplies. |
| Isidor Rosen founded Rosebud Art Company in the Bronx, New York |
| 1926 |
Bruder Toys founded |
| 1928 |
Playskool
was founded in Milwaukee |
| 1929 |
A.C.
Gilbert bought out Meccano's factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Gilbert now manufactured
both The New American Meccano (Gilbert-Meccano sets) and the Erector line. |
| 1930 |
Fisher-Price
founded by Herman Fisher, Irving Price and Helen Schelle |
| 1932 |
Ole
Kirk Christiansen started what was to become the Lego toy company in Billund,
a small town in Denmark |
| Coleco founded in by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company" |
| 1934 |
The
Lego name was adopted |
| 1936 |
Frank
Hornby died |
| 1937 |
The
A.C. Gilbert company acquired the American Flyer Train Company |
| 1939 |
View
Master is introduced |
| 1941 |
Marvin
Glass founded the first, and what was to become the largest studio for toy design
in the world - Marvin Glass & Associates |
| A.C.
Gilbert Company, located in New Haven, CT, was the largest toy manufacturer in
the world. |
| 1943 |
Slinky
was invented by Richard James |
| 1945 |
Revell
founded |
| Monogram
founded |
| James
Industries was founded with the Slinky spring toy |
| Ruth
and Elliot Handler and Harold "Matt" Matson launch Mattel out of a garage
workshop in southern CA. |
| 1946 |
Kohner
Bros. (Frank and Paul) begin making wooden toys |
| 1947 |
Kenner
Products is formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Steiner brothers, Albert, Philip
and Joseph. The company is named after its original office location on Kenner
Street. |
| The
Mound Metalcraft company launched the world's first Tonka trucks outside of Minnetonka,
Minnesota. |
| 1948 |
Mattel
is incorporated with headquarters in Hawethorne, CA. |
| Herb
Schaper, a letter carrier for the U.S. Post Office, whittled the first COOTIE
out of wood. |
| 25-year old Charles Lazarus, founder of Toys R
US, started a baby furniture store in Washington DC. After
months of listening to customers, he started selling toys. |
| Wham-O
founded by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin |
| Ivar Bengtsson, founder of Brio, dies |
| Late
40s |
Remco Industries,
Harrison, N.J. The company was founded in the late 1940s but is best known for
toys that date from the 1960s. |
| 1950 |
Bandai founded |
|
Marx was the world's largest toy manufacturer. |
| 1951 |
Harry
and Patricia Kislevitz create Colorforms |
| 1952 |
Matchbox
is released |
| Blue Box founded by Peter Chan Pui |
| 1954 |
Lewis
Galoob founded by Barbara Frankel and Lewis Galoob as an import business |
| Mego
founded by D. David Abrams and his wife, Madeline. |
| 1956 |
A.C.
Gilbert retires |
| 1958 |
Ole
Kirk Christiansen dies |
| Estes Industries was founded in Denver, Colorado by Vern Estes |
| 1959 |
Mattel
releases the Barbie doll |
| Fisher-Price
creates Little People |
| |
| 1960s |
| 1960 |
Mattel
becomes a publicly owned company |
| Estes® begins selling model rockets by mail |
| 1961 |
Mattel
releases the Ken doll |
| Binney
& Smith becomes a publicly held company. |
| Estes moves to a 77-acre tract of land on the outskirts of
Penrose, Colorado |
| Galt, educational suppliers, enters the toy retail trade as Galt Toys |
| 1962 |
A.C.
Gilbert dies |
| 1963 |
Russ
Berrie begins designing his own toys using market knowledge he gained as a toy
sale rep. |
| 1964 |
Lines
Brothers take over Meccano |
| 1965 |
General
Mills purchases Cincinnati-based Rainbow Crafts, the Play- Doh manufacturer. |
| 1966 |
A.
C. Gilbert's Erector Company went out of business. |
| Hubley
was purchased by Gabriel Industries in but kept the Hubley name until the following
year |
| Sam
Chan founds Playmates as O.E.M. doll company |
| CBS
enters toy field - Creative Playthings, Inc. acquired. |
| COX® joined the Estes family of products |
| 1967 |
Gabriel
Industries of Lancaster acquires A.C. Gilbert's Erector Company. Gabriel established
the Gilbert Division, later known as Gilbert Industries, to manufacture Erector
sets. |
| General
Mills purchases Kenner Products. |
| 1968 |
Mattel
releases Hot Wheels diecast vehicles |
| Mattel
purchases Monogram Models |
| General
Mills purchases Parker Brothers. |
| Hassenfeld
Brothers changed its name to Hasbro Industries and became a publicly traded company
with a listing on the American Stock Exchange. |
| 1969 |
Binney
& Smith opens an additional plant in Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Herman
Fisher retires as President of Fisher-Price |
| Fisher-Price
acquired by The Quaker Oats Company |
| General
Foods acquires Kohner Bros. Inc. |
| Imperial Toys founded |
| |
| 1970s |
| 1970s |
Remco's
fortunes dipped in the '70s, and the company and brand name were sold to Azrak-Hamway
International of New York City |
| 1970 |
Mattel
buys Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus |
| Rainbow
Crafts is merged into Kenner Products and Play- Doh becomes part of the Kenner
line. |
| 1972 |
Mattel
restructures to form Mattel, Inc. with one division and seven subsidaries |
| 1973 |
Bullyland established by Volkmar Klaus |
| 1974 |
Marvin
Glass dies |
| James Galt and Co formed in Connecticut to promote the sale of Galt
materials |
| 1975 |
Shelcore
founded by Sheldon Greenberg |
| Coleco enters the video game console business with the Telstar |
| Elliot
and Ruth Handler (founders) leave Mattel |
| 1976 |
Kenner
Products moves to 1014 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. |
| Binney
& Smith corporate headquarters relocate from New York City to Forks Township
in Easton, Pennsylvania. |
| CBS
acquires Wonder Products Company (spring-suspended riding toys) |
| 1977 |
Binney
& Smith acquires the rights to Silly Putty |
| Kenner
Products negotiates license for Star Wars property, which goes on to become the
company’s most powerful toy success. |
| Action Products formed in New York City
|
| 1978 |
CBS
acquires Gabriel Industries, Inc. (including Gabriel, Child Guidance, Gym-Dandy,
Wonder and Hubley) |
| Kidco co-founded by Marvin Smollar |
| |
| 1980s |
| 1980 |
Action Products relocated to Florida from New York and reincorporated |
| 1981 |
Meccano
and Dinky Toy was purchased by the General Mills Toy Group (USA), owners of Miro-Meccano
Company, Paris, France. |
| Boley incorporated in California |
| 1982 |
CBS
acquires Ideal Toys |
| Kransco
Group purchases Wham-O |
| Playmates
Toys, Inc., U.S. subsidiary, Incorporated in California |
| Mego
files for bankruptcy |
| 1983 |
Mego
ceases to exist |
| Marchon founded by Marvin Smollar |
| 1984 |
Hasbro
became the biggest toy company with the purchase of The Milton Bradley Company
and Playskool |
| Russ
Berrie goes public |
| Playmates
became first publicly listed toy company in Hong Kong (Ticker:0075) |
| Binney
& Smith becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards Inc., of Kansas
City, Missouri |
| 1985 |
Archrivals
Revell and Monogram join to form Revell-Monogram |
| Kenner
Parker Toys Inc., the country’s fourth largest toy company, is spun off from
General Mills. |
| MCA
acquired LJN for $66 million through their Universal subsidiary |
| CBS
sells Ideal to Viewmaster International |
| CBS
sells Creative Playthings to Swing Design |
| CBS
sells Wonder/Gym Dandy to Wonderline Inc. |
| CBS
sells Child Guidance to Hasbro Inc. |
| Hasbro
Industries officially changed its name to Hasbro, Inc. |
| Binary Arts founded by Bill Ritchie and Andrea Barthello |
| 1986 |
Mattel
acquires Hong Kong based ARCO Industries |
| Mattel
enters into a joint venture with Bandai |
| OddzOn Products, Inc. was started by Scott
Stillinger and his brother-in-law, Mark Button in order to sell the
Koosh ball Scott created |
| Alex
started with a line of high quality basic arts and crafts products |
| Buffalo Games started |
| 1987 |
Milton
Bradley acquires Schaper |
| Tonka
Corporation acquires Kenner Parker Toys Inc. on October 16. |
| Henry
Gordy International, Inc. ("Gordy") was formed to conduct the business
associated with certain assets purchased from Henry Gordy, Inc. and Gordy International,
Inc. |
| Henry Gordy Inc. acquired by SFM |
| 1988 |
Mattel
acquires Corolle S.A. French manufacturer of collector quality dolls. |
| BMT
founded |
| Coleco files for bankrupcy |
| Tonka
Corporation establishes four operating divisions: Kenner Products, Parker Brothers
and Tonka Products serving the U.S. and Tonka International. |
| Acclaim
Entertainment acquired LJN from MCA/Universal |
| 1989 |
Mattel
acquires Corgi, Ltd. British diecast car maker |
| Tyco
acquires Viewmaster |
| Hasbro purchases Coleco assets |
| SDI
formed KIDdesigns |
| FIT
forms Toy Design Department with Judy Ellis as chairperson. |
| |
| 1990s |
| 1990 |
Mattel
moves into new headquarters in El Segundo, CA |
| Wizards of the Coast founded by Peter Adkison |
| Miro-Meccano
purchased the rights to the Erector name |
| 1991 |
Mattel
acquires Aviva Sports, Inc. |
| Quaker
Oats spun off its Fisher-Price division and the company became an independent,
publicly traded company |
| First
FIT Toy Design class graduates |
| Hasbro
Purchases Tonka Corporation (including Kenner Products and Parker Brothers). Play-
Doh is shifted to the Playskool Division of Hasbro; Parker Brothers’ Nerf
and Tonka’s Cupcake doll lines move to Kenner Products. |
| 1992 |
Mattel
acquires International Games, Inc. |
| Kenner
moves its headquarters to 615 Elsinore Place, Cincinnati, OH. |
| Hasbro
consolidates manufacturing of all Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers board games
in East Longmeadow, MA. The new organization was renamed Hasbro Games. |
| Alpha
International was founded. |
| K'NEX invented by Joel Glickman |
| 1993 |
Stockholders
of Fisher-Price, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. approved a merger under which Fisher-Price
became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel. |
| Philip
Steiner, one of Kenner ’s founders, passed away in November at the age of
82. |
| Floods in the midwest flood the first floor of the Steven Toy plant in Hermann, MO forcing it to retire it's molds. |
| Russ Berrie acquires CAP Toys |
| Galt Toys was acquired by Findel Plc |
| 1994 |
Revell-Monogram,
the world's leading manufacturer of plastic model kits joins the Binney &
Smith family. |
| Hasbro
restructures the corporation into two groups – the Hasbro Toy Group ( Kenner,
Tonka and Playskool) and the Hasbro Games Group (Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley) |
| Portions of K'NEX domestic and international business are sold to Hasbro |
| Mattel
acquires Kransco (Wham-O) and J.W. Spear and sons, a British game company |
| Russ Berrie acquires Oddzon Products, Inc. |
| SFM acquires Hi-Flier |
| SFM and EXX merge taking the EXX name and moving offices from Plainfield, NJ to Las Vegas, NV. |
| 4Kidz Inc. was founded |
| 1995 |
Mattel
distributes the Cabbage Patch Kid |
| Alpha
International launches Gearbox Toys |
| Hasbro
entered the video gaming market with the creation of Hasbro Interactive. |
| Hasbro
acquired the Larami company, which made Super Soakers |
| Jakks
Pacific founded by Jack Friedman and Stephen G. Berman |
| Buddy L, a subsidiary of SLM, files for bankrupcy |
| Empire of Carolina acquires certain Buddy L assets |
| Big Time Toys founded |
| 1996 |
Fisher-Price
introduces Tickle Me Elmo |
| Mattel
obtains master toy licensing agreement with Nickelodeon |
| 1997 |
Mattel
acquires Tyco Toys |
| Fisher-Price
assigned View-master line as result of merger with Tyco |
| Mattel
sells it's sports brands to Wham-O |
| Wham-O
became independent once again as a group of investors purchased the company from
Mattel |
| Jakks
Pacific acquires Road Champs |
| Jakks
Pacific acquires Child Guidance and Remco from Azrak-Hamway |
| Hasbro
purchased the Russ Berrie and Company subsidiaries, Cap Toys and OddzOn, picking
up the Koosh brands and the highly successful interactive Cap Candy line, which
featured Spin Pops. |
| EXX forms Steven Toy, Inc. |
| EXX acquires Handi-Pac through Steven Toy, Inc. |
| 1998 |
Fisher-Price
takes command of Mattel's entire preschool and infant character brands line |
| Mattel
purchases Bluebird Toys PLC of the UK. (Polly Pocket license holder) |
| Mattel
acquires Pleasant Company (American Girl) |
| Poof
Products, Inc., a toy manufacturer in Plymouth, Mich., purchased James Industries,
Inc., manufacturer of Slinky toys, with headquarters in Hollidaysburg, Pa. The
transaction was completed on July 17 |
| University
Games acquires Colorforms |
| Hasbro
acquires Tiger Electronics, Avalon Hill, maker of strategic board games, and Galoob,
which owned Micro Machines |
| 1999 |
Wizards of the Coast acquired by Hasbro |
| Brand New Products founded |
| |
|
2000-present |
| 2000 |
Mattel
sells The Learning Company |
| Hasbro
announces it will shut its Cincinnati operations, ending 53 years of Kenner history. |
| Empire of Carolina files for chapter 11 |
| Meccano
S/A was purchased by Nikko |
| 2001 |
Alpha
International acquires Revell-Monogram and Revell AG from Binney & Smith |
| Alpha
International Acquires Empire Toys |
| Learning Curve acquires Eden |
| 2002 |
Mattel
co-founder Ruth Handler dies at age 85 |
| Jakks
Pacific acquires Toymax |
| Jakks
Pacific acquires Trendmasters |
| Toy Manufacturers Association (TMA) becomes the Toy Industry Association (TIA) |
| Russ Berrie Dies on Christmas day |
| June 14, Imperial Toy Corporation has acquired all the assets of the Buddy L. line of toys and games |
| 2003 |
Binary Arts changes name to ThinkFun |
| Morrison
and Terzian retire from Breslow, Morrison and Terzian (BMT) |
| Poof
Products, Inc. acquired substantially all of the assets of Ideal Toy, located
in Ronkonkoma, NY. |
| Poof
Products, Inc. announced its merger with James Industries, Inc. of Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporation. The merger, effective
January 1st, 2004, resulted in a collective name change to “Poof-Slinky®,
Inc." |
| Jakks
Pacific acquires Trendmasters |
| 2004 |
Jakks Pacific buys Play Along Toys |
| September 1, Equity Toys is now Pop Rocket |
| Russ Berrie purchases the Applause trademark |
| 2005 |
Mattel
closes Tyco office in Mt. Laurel, NJ and relocates it to their El Segundo, CA
headquarters. |
| Shelcore
is purchased by Matrix Holdings |
| MEGA Brands aquires Rose Art Industries |
| River West Brands re-introduces the Coleco brand name into the marketplace |
| Motorsports
Authentics Completes Merger With Action Performance |
| 2006 |
Jeff Hsieh, through an affiliate of his holding company, Cornerstone Overseas
Investments buys Wham-O |
| Jakks Pacific acquires Creative Designs International (CDI) |
| Newell Rubbermaid Inc. sells Little Tikes to MGA Entertainment Inc. |
| 2007 |
January 1, 2007, Binney & Smith™, maker of Crayola® crayons and markers,
became Crayola LLC, reflecting the company's No. 1 brand |
| May 2, Hobbico acquires Revell-Monogram |
| Funrise is purchased by Matrix Holdings |
| Matrix Holdings closes Shelcore's NJ office and merges it with Funrise in Los Angeles |
| Step 2 acquires Infantino |
| 2008 |
Hasbro buys Cranium for $77 million |
| Gund sold to gift co. Enesco |
| Larry Rosen starts Cra-Z-Art |
| 2009 |
Toys R Us acquires etoys.com and subsidiaries |
| Toys R Us acquired FAO Schwarz |
| Toys R Us acquires KB Toys brand. |
| The Walt Disney Company acquires Marvel Entertainment, Inc. in a stock and cash transaction worth 4 billion dollars |
| 2014 |
Mattel acquires MEGA Brands on May 1st. |
