LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ( ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Founded in 1970 by

Jack Friedman Jack Friedman (July 9, 1939 – May 3, 2010) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, veteran of the toy and video game industries, and a philanthropist. Regarded as an influential member in the toy and video game industries, Friedman founded ...

, the company was acquired by

MCA Inc. MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film ind ...

in 1985, sold to

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide ...

in 1990, and dissolved in 1994. The toy division of the company was closed by Acclaim and the company shifted towards video game publishing before being closed in 1994. The company's branding was last used for the release of '' Spirit of Speed 1937'' in 2000.

History

Early history (1970–1985)

founded LJN in 1970 using funds from his employer Norman J. Lewis Associates (from which the company name "LJN" is derived, being a reversal of Lewis' initials) after seeing the sale figures of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

and

Milton Bradley Company Milton Bradley Company or simply Milton Bradley (MB) was an American board game manufacturer established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the ...

increase. Friedman later founded

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...

and

Jakks Pacific Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American company that designs and markets toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses. The company is named after its founder, Jack Friedman, who had previously fo ...

after leaving LJN. LJN shifted money used for television advertising to instead purchase licenses to make toys based on television shows. The first toyline by LJN based on a television show was for ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situa ...

'' The highest amount the company paid for a license by 1982 was $250,000. LJN purchased the license to make toys based on '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' for $25,000 due to other companies declining the option, including

Kenner Products Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...

and

Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Bet ...

, and sold over $16–25 million worth of merchandise without the need of an advertising campaign. A doll based on Brooke Shields was released with a $2 million advertising budget and made over $12 million in 1982. LJN's revenue rose from $5 million in 1971, to $70 million in 1982 due to the E.T. and Brooke Shields toys. In 1984 LJN became the toy licensee of the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

. The

Wrestling Superstars ''Wrestling Superstars'' were the first action figures based on the wrestlers of the WWF. Wrestling action figures were the brainchild of Richard Derwald of Buffalo NY who sold the idea to LJN in the summer of 1984. (Video in references). They w ...

line, which featured action figures based on WWF's roster of wrestlers, was produced from 1984 to 1989. LJN competed with

in the toy market. The company produced the '' ThunderCats'' toyline in competition to Mattel's '' Masters of the Universe''.

MCA ownership (1985–1990)

On March 26, 1985,

announced that it would purchase 63% of LJN's stocks for $39.8 million and proposed to buy the remainder of the stock for $14.26 for each share which would increase the total value of the deal to almost $65 million. However, the company failed to make a net income from 1986 to 1989, and MCA had to take a $53 million after-tax charge due to the expenses of the company before selling it to

for $30 million in April 1990. LJN had a revenue of $110,510,000 and a net loss of $37.3 million in 1987. LJN entered the video game industry by publishing games based on movies and television shows developed by companies including Atlus,

Beam Software Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Melbourne House, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be pub ...

, and Rare for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. The company released the LJN Video Art in 1987. The majority of the company's $70 million in sales in 1990 came from video game sales on the Nintendo Entertainment System and

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

. The company released a paint gun line named Gotcha! with a license from the film '' Gotcha!'', but were criticized by consumer protection groups due to the danger it posed to eyes. However, the toyline was financially unsuccessful and MCA had to take a $35 million after-tax charge due to the failure of the toyline and the expenses of the

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game conso ...

. The company was also criticized by police officers and

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pro ...

for its

Entertech 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 w ...

line of toy water guns due to how realistic they looked. LJN changed the design of the toys after three people in the United States from ages 13 to 19 were killed as a result of police officers thinking they had actual guns and multiple cities and states banned the sale of realistic toy guns.

Acclaim Entertainment ownership (1990–2000)

Lawrence Kanga filed a lawsuit on the behalf of Clark Thiemann on January 31, 1990, against LJN, Nintendo, and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

claiming that the game ''

'' was falsely advertised to Thiemann stating that it would allow him to simulate being a baseball team manager and Kanga stating that the game was advertised as having all of the players, but instead only had their uniform numbers. LJN's toy division was closed by Acclaim and shifted the company to a video game publisher. The

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC, CPSC, or commission) is an independent agency of the United States government. The CPSC seeks to promote the safety of consumer products by addressing “unreasonable risks” of inj ...

recalled LJN's Sling 'Em- Fling 'Em wrestling ring toys based on the

in 1991, which sold 1.4 million products from 1985 to 1989, due to multiple children between six and ten being injured by the toy. Acclaim closed LJN in 1994, but reused the company's name for the release of '' Spirit of Speed 1937'' in 2000. The LJN brand was revived again in 2021 by Jazwares for its

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

Unmatched line of action figures. The LJN-style figures resemble the Wrestling Superstars of the 1980s.

References

{{WWE video games 1970 establishments in New York City 1994 disestablishments in New York (state) Companies based in New York (state) Defunct toy manufacturers Defunct video game companies of the United States Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 Manufacturing companies established in 1970 Toy companies of the United States Video game companies disestablished in 1994 Video game companies established in 1970 Video game companies of the United States