 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2010) |
| Industry | Toys and entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1988 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
| Website | www |
Big Monster Toys, LLC (BMT), established in May 1988, was a United States-based toy and game inventing and licensing company. [1]
Big Monster Toys was founded in 1988 by Jeff Breslow, Howard Morrison, and Rouben Terzian, three former partners of Marvin Glass & Associates. [2] MGA was one of the pioneers of the post-World War II American toy industry. [2] Breslow, Morrison, and Terzian teamed with two principal designers from MGA, Don Rosenwinkel and John Zaruba. Together, they formed Breslow Morrison Terzian & Associates" (the initial basis of the "BMT" acronym). [2]
Big Monster Toys was located in the West Loop of Chicago. [3] The studio occupied roughly 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of space for over 25 designers. Their facilities included an audio recording studio, a full machine shop, plastic molding, electronic design, software programming, 3D printing, a paint shop, exercise equipment, and a digital video authorship and editing facility. [3] [2]
Big Monster Toys invented and engineered toys from concept to prototype. BMT also helped to develop the marketing position, product name, packaging and promotional material for the toys. BMT licensed toys to companies throughout the world. Their clients included Mattel, Hasbro (and formerly Tiger Electronics), Moose, Spin Master, Goliath, Playmates Toys. [4] [2]
BMT won numerous industry awards, and was considered a positive supporter of toy invention and the toy industry.[ citation needed ] Breslow, Morrison, and Terzian were inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, in 1998, for their successful 31-year collaborative efforts. [5]
The most recently made BMT partners Sam Unsicker, Brian Kujawski and Robert Annis ran the studio without the original partners for 6 years. They abruptly laid off their employees and went out of business the end of November, 2023. According to the December 28th, 2023 Sun Times article written by David Roeder: Sam Unsicker, confirmed that the staff has been let go. He said in an email, "The truth of the matter is — Big Monster Toys is not/will not fully be closed. We have royalties that will remain to come in until the products are no longer being produced - so technically, we will still be open. We did have to close future operations on November 29th and unfortunately, had to let our employees go that day." Unsicker said an employment attorney advised him not to answer additional questions until separation agreements with staff are final. https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/12/27/24016652/chicago-big-monster-toys-game-design-mattel-hasbro-lays-off-staff
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories; its products are sold in more than 150 countries. Mattel consists of three business segments: North America, International and American Girl.
Hasbro, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herman Hassenfeld and is incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast, among others. As of August 2020, over 81.5% of its shares were held by large financial institutions.
Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001.
Simon is an electronic game of short-term memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, working for toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates, with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails or the time limit runs out, the game is over. The original version was manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley and later by Hasbro after it took over Milton Bradley. Much of the assembly language code was written by Charles Kapps, who taught computer science at Temple University and also wrote one of the first books on the theory of computer programming. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and was an immediate success, becoming a pop culture symbol of the 1970s and 1980s.
Tickle Me Elmo is a children's plush toy from Tyco Preschool, a division of Tyco Toys, of the Muppet character Elmo from the children's television show Sesame Street. When squeezed, Elmo recites his trademark giggle. When squeezed three times, Elmo shakes and vibrates.
A celebrity doll is a doll modeled after a celebrity.
Tomy Company, Ltd. is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as Tomiyama Toy Manufacturing Company (富山玩具製作所), became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pirate. In 2006, Tomy merged with another toy manufacturer, Takara, and although the English company name remained the same, it became Takara Tomy in Asia. It has its headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo.
Marvin Glass and Associates (MGA) was a toy design and engineering firm based in Chicago. Marvin Glass (1914–1974) and his employees created some of the most successful toys and games of the twentieth century such as Mr. Machine, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Lite Brite, Ants in the Pants, Mouse Trap, Operation, Simon, Body Language, and the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle.
MGA Entertainment Inc. is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include Bratz, Num Noms, Lalaloopsy, and Rainbow High, as well as toys targeted at boys such as Scan2Go. MGA also owns Little Tikes and animation studio MGA Studios.
Howard J. Morrison is a game designer, who designed the game Simon with Ralph H. Baer while working for Marvin Glass at Marvin Glass and Associates.
Mega Brands Inc. is a Canadian children's toy company that is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel. Mega Bloks, a line of construction set toys, is its most popular product. Its other brands include Mega Construx, Mega Puzzles, and Board Dudes. The company distributes a wide range of construction toys, puzzles, and craft-based products.
Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen Schelle and Margaret Evans Price.
Spin Master Corp., formerly known as Spin Master Toys, is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.
PlayMonster is a manufacturer and marketer of family entertainment products that specializes in games, children's puzzles, toys, activities, and teaching tools founded in 1985. In February 2016, Patch changed its company name to PlayMonster.
Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7-14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, folklore, myths and popular culture, centering around the adventures of the teenage children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending a high school of the same name.
Trump: The Game is a board game named after Donald Trump. Milton Bradley Company initially released the game in 1989, but it sold poorly, with only 800,000 copies sold out of an expected two million. Parker Brothers re-released Trump: The Game in 2004 following the success of Trump's reality television series, The Apprentice, from earlier that year. Trump: The Game received poor reviews from critics and the public.
Mattel Films is the film production division of Mattel originally formed on October 16, 2013, as Mattel Playground Productions as part of Mattel Global Brands, a unified media structural and strategy unit.
Eddy Goldfarb is an American toy inventor. The creator of over 800 toys, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, Battling Tops, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form. He is the subject of the award-winning short film Eddy's World.
Discovery Family, currently rebranding to Discovery Family Channel (DFC), is an American cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and Hasbro respectively.
6. Chicago Sun Times Thursday, December 28, 2023, "Fun While it Lasted" by David Roeder https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/12/27/24016652/chicago-big-monster-toys-game-design-mattel-hasbro-lays-off-staff
 | This game-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a corporation or company involved in entertainment, leisure, sports and/or tourism is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a toy company is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |