Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., was a toy company headquartered in
South San Francisco,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. 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.
History
Lewis Galoob Toys was founded in 1957 by
Lewis Galoob and his wife, Barbara Galoob, as a small distributor of toys and stationery. Galoob's first toy success was the reintroduction of a battery-powered Jolly Chimp, a
cymbal-banging monkey toy
A cymbal-banging monkey toy (better known as Jolly Chimp) is a mechanical depiction of a monkey holding a cymbal in each hand. When activated it repeatedly bangs its cymbals together and, in some cases, bobs its head, chatters, screeches, grins, a ...
that nodded his head when activated.
The company was incorporated in 1968.
In 1970, Lewis Galoob became too ill to continue as president, and his 21-year-old son, David, dropped out of the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
to take over the family business. In partnership with his brother, Vice-President Robert Galoob, David aggressively pursued new product development, and transformed the company into a $1 million business by 1976.
The company was greatly affected by the financial collapse of
Black Monday in 1987, year in which it lost $25 million, but the following year it recovered by generating a profit of $6 million.
By 1988 the company manufactured 85% of its toys in
China.
Galoob was involved in a landmark
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
lawsuit, ''
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.'', over the
Nintendo Entertainment System version of the Game Genie.
Nintendo charged that the Game Genie violated copyright by creating an unlicensed derivative of their copyrighted games. Galoob won the lawsuit and continued to produce the Game Genie.
In September 1998, American toy giant
Hasbro purchased Galoob for $220 million.
[Fost, Da]
Hasbro Adds Galoob to Its Toy Chest
" ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
''. Tuesday September 29, 1998. Retrieved on April 25, 2010. Today, Galoob is a Hasbro brand name. The name began appearing on retail products starting in 2005. Hasbro has used the Galoob brand logo on its Titanium Series die-cast metal collectibles, including various items from Transformers, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica.
Franchises licensed to Galoob for merchandising
*
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrat ...
*
The A-Team
*
Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (not released in America)
*The Animal 4x4
*
Anastasia (1997 film)
*Army G.E.A.R. (toys)
*Baby Buddies
*
Baby Face (toy)
*Battle Squads Military Action Fleet
*
BlackStar
*
Biker Mice from Mars
''Biker Mice from Mars'' is an American science fiction action animated series created by Rick Ungar. The series premiered in syndication the week of September 19, 1993. It consists of three seasons of 65 episodes, with the final episode a ...
(1993 series)
*
Bouncing Babies
*
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...
*Cutie Club
*
Defenders of the Earth
*
Dinosaucers (not released in America)
*Dozzy Doll
*
DragonFlyz
*Fancy Sounds
*
Game Genie
*
Garbage Pail Kids (TV series) (not released)
*General Patch (figures packaged as Gen Patch)
*
Ghostbusters (1984 film)
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three ...
*
Go Monkey Go
The discography of Devo, an American new wave band formed in 1973, consists of 25 singles and 9 studio albums. Devo was founded by Gerald Casale, Bob Lewis and Mark Mothersbaugh. Devo currently consists of brothers Mark Mothersbaugh (synthesi ...
*
Golden Girls (toys)
*Hollywood's
*The Infaceables
*
Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures
*
The Last Starfighter
''The Last Starfighter'' is a 1984 American space opera film directed by Nick Castle. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan ( Lance Guest), a teenager recruited by an alien defense force to fight in an interstellar war. It also features Rob ...
(not released)
*Lost n' founds
*Magic Diaper
*Macro Machines
*
Micro Machines
*Titanium series Micro Machines Transformers (in conjunction with
Hasbro)
*
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
*Mr. Game Show
*
Married... with Children
*
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...
*
Men in Black (film)
*
Mutant League
''Mutant League'' is an animated series based on the video games ''Mutant League Football'' and '' Mutant League Hockey'' which aired from July 2, 1994 to February 24, 1996. The show ran for two seasons, with the second typically incorporating mo ...
*
Peugeot
*Peeper Pals
*
Pound Puppies
*
Power Machines
*
Punky Brewster dolls
*Razz Blasters
*San Francisco Mint Model Gun Club
*
Sky Dancers
*
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vi ...
dolls
*
Starship Troopers (film)
*
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
*
Star Trek: The Next Generation
*
Star Wars
*
Super Force
''Super Force'' is an American action-adventure TV series which aired from October 1990 to May 1992.
The series is about a former astronaut turned cop who uses a highly advanced powered exoskeleton and motorcycle to fight crime in the city of ...
(not released)
*
Sweet Secrets
Sweet Secrets was a toy introduced by Galoob in 1984 which transformed from jewelry, makeup and other girl-oriented objects to animals, girls with hair, and playsets. This was done by opening the object and unfolding the head, arms, and legs. The p ...
*
T. and T. (not released)
*
Trash Bag Bunch
Trash Bag Bunch was an environmental-themed toy series produced by Galoob. The toy line consisted of individual, though sometimes paired, figurines, wrapped in water-soluble bags. The specific figure was not initially visible to the buyer; only af ...
*
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
*
Ultraforce (comics)
*Unifighters
*
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Natio ...
*Xpanders
*
Zbots
References
External links
Galoob.com(Archive)
{{Hasbro
Toy companies of the United States
Former Hasbro subsidiaries
Manufacturing companies established in 1957
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1998
South San Francisco, California
Companies based in San Mateo County, California
Doll manufacturing companies
1957 establishments in California
1998 disestablishments in California
1998 mergers and acquisitions