Hasbro, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company 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.
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol.
The Master System is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and featured enhanced graphical capabilities over its predecessors. The Master System launched in North America in 1986, followed by Europe in 1987, and then in Brazil and Korea in 1989. A Japanese version of the Master System was also launched in 1987, which features a few enhancements over the export models : a built-in FM audio chip, a rapid-fire switch, and a dedicated port for the 3D glasses. The Master System II, a cheaper model, was released in 1990 in North America, Australasia and Europe.
Tiger Electronics Ltd. was an independent American toy manufacturer best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, the Talkboy, Giga Pets, the 2-XL robot, and audio games such as Brain Warp and the Brain Shift. When it was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois. It has been a subsidiary of Hasbro since 1998.
R.O.B. is a toy robot accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was launched in July 1985 as the Family Computer Robot in Japan, and October 1985 as R.O.B. in North America. Its short lifespan yielded only two games in the Robot Series: Gyromite and Stack-Up.
Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of 1:64 scale, featuring mostly trucks.
Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Their best known toys are their dart guns that shoot ammunition made from "Nerf foam". Their primary slogan, first introduced in the 1990s, is "It's Nerf or Nothin'!". Annual revenues under the Nerf brand are approximately US$400 million.
Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated within the arena in which the game is played.
Teddy Ruxpin is an animatronic children's toy in the form of a talking 'Illiop', a creature which looks like a bear. The toy's mouth and eyes move while he reenacts stories played on an audio tape cassette deck built into its back. It was created by Ken Forsse with later assistance by Larry Larsen and John Davies. Later versions have a digital cartridge in place of a cassette.
The history of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) spans the 1982 development of the Family Computer, to the 1985 launch of the NES, to Nintendo's rise to global dominance based upon this platform throughout the late 1980s. The Family Computer or Famicom was developed in 1982 and launched in 1983 in Japan. Following the North American video game crash of 1983, the Famicom was adapted into the NES which was brazenly launched in North America in 1985. Transitioning the company from its arcade game history into this combined global 8-bit home video game console platform, the Famicom and NES continued to aggressively compete with the next-generation 16-bit consoles including the 1988 Sega Genesis. The platform was succeeded by the Super Famicom in 1990 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, but its support and production continued until 1995. Interest in the NES has been renewed by collectors and emulators, including Nintendo's own Virtual Console platform.
Playskool is an American company that produces educational toys and games for children. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The last five letters of the brand name are a sensational spelling of "school".
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. was a toy company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. They are perhaps best known for creating Micro Machines, which accounted for 50% of its sales in 1989, and distributing the Game Genie in the United States.
Entertech was a brand of battery-powered motorized water guns sold in the United States from 1985 to 1990 by the now-defunct LJN. Unlike the colorful designs of many of the simple hand powered pump water guns of that time, most of the Entertech water guns were manufactured from black plastics with a matte finish to resemble real firearms.
Tomy Company, Ltd. is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on 1 March 2006 of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival Takara. The company has its headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo.
Photon was the name of the first commercial lasertag arenas. The company also came out with a home lasertag game, and there were various media tie-ins: a TV show also called Photon and a series of novels by Peter David.
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin is a children's animated television series based on Teddy Ruxpin, an animatronic teddy bear created by Ken Forsse and distributed by toy manufacturer Worlds of Wonder. Produced in 1986–7 for television syndication by DIC Enterprises with Atkinson Film-Arts, the series employed many of the same voice actors used in the book-and-tape series that was made for the eponymous animatronic toy. While some of the stories used in the TV series were adapted from the books, many were original and greatly expanded upon the world established there. The series differed from traditional children's animation in that most of its 65 episodes were serialized rather than in traditional episodic form.
Worlds of Wonder (WoW) was an American toy company founded in 1985 by former Atari sales president Don Kingsborough, and former Atari employee Mark Robert Goldberg. Its founding was inspired by a prototype that became its launch product, Teddy Ruxpin. In 1986, it launched Lazer Tag and filed an IPO which Fortune magazine called "one of the year's most sought after stock sales". WoW partnered with the young Nintendo of America as retail sales distributor, crucial to the landmark launch and rise of the Nintendo Entertainment System from 1986 to 1987.
The Transformers is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's Transformers toy line. The first television series in the Transformers franchise, it depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.
Earl Kenneth Forsse was an American inventor, author, and producer who created the toy Teddy Ruxpin and the subsequent animated series The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin.
Monkgomery is a children's puppet. It takes the form of a talking monkey wearing a necktie, released by Hasbro in 1986. The toy is 17" in height and sits at approximately 14" tall. The toy has two Velcro strips on his hands allowing him to be hung from objects. The toy can also function as a cuddle buddy at night and a day time play toy. Additional speech modules provided 200 new words.
