Irwin Toy Limited was a Canadian distributor and manufacturer of

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

s. It was Canada's oldest toy company and remained independent and family owned until 2001.

History

The company began in 1926 as an importer and distributor of dry goods and clothing, located in Sam and Beatrice Irwin's house. Later on, the company moved to a warehouse in the west end of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and focused mainly on toys. Sam and Beatrice's sons, Arnold and Mac Irwin, took over management of the company in the years to follow. Most of Irwin's profits came from distributing other (usually

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

) companies' toys. Almost all of the more popular toys available in Canada until the early 1990s were distributed by Irwin. Major American companies wished to sell their toys in Canada, but did not open Canadian branches because of the lower population and

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s which would generate less income for them. Irwin's success came mainly due to their licensing and contract manufacturing of American companies

Kenner 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 Parker, where Irwin was the Canadian importer and distributor of their products. The business found success with the help of the Hula Hoop, Slinky,

Frisbee A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection molded, injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreational ...

, and later on in the century with the popular ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' action figures,

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...

and the Easy-Bake Oven. In the early 1980s, the

Atari Video Computer System The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

was a success, and Irwin was the Canadian distributor. Irwin would also acquire the rights to the

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

video game brand in Canada later on. The video game sales helped fuel revenues of $100 million and growth for the company. The company also had a junior shareholders program to have children become interested in the toy company and introduce them to the stock market. The company had 350 employees at their downtown Toronto factory. 1972-1987 Ed Hurst, Jerry Inch and Bob Blakely, in charge of Irwins

promotions, were instrumental in the introduction of disc sports (Frisbee) across Canada. With the use of performing

athletes

Ken Westerfield Kenneth Ray Westerfield is a pioneering Frisbee disc player. He is a Hall of Fame inductee in freestyle, ultimate and disc golf, and was also voted top men's player in the 1970-75 Decade Awards. Westerfield produced numerous tournaments, wor ...

and Jim Kenner, Irwin partnered with several major companies such as Lee Jeans,

Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemi ...

, and

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

. Together they sponsored Frisbee show tours and the beginning of organized disc sports programs in Canada. Two successful nationally sponsored tournaments were the Canadian Jr Frisbee Championships and the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships (1972-1985). During the 1980s and 1990s, major American companies such as

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

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 mor ...

, and

, acquired many of the companies which Irwin did business with. In the 1980s, with the introduction of the

Free Trade Agreement A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occ ...

and later, the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

, it became less expensive for American companies to form their own Canadian branches where Irwin lost many business deals as major toy companies began to distribute toys themselves. In 1989, Irwin Toy challenged the constitutionality of a Quebec law prohibiting advertising directed toward children. The Irwin Toy Ltd. v. Quebec (Attorney General) case reached the Supreme Court resulting in a landmark ruling regarding the interpretation of freedom of expression provision in the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

. As Irwin Toy faced financial and business difficulties, the company was sold to a private investment group, LivGroup Ltd. of Toronto in 2001 for approximately $55 million. Eighteen months after the buyout, Irwin Toy, now owned by Richard Ivey and Jean Marie Halde of Toronto, declared bankruptcy and entered into creditor supported

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. The original factory was sold to developers for $10 million and converted into a condominium called Toy Factory Lofts. Following liquidation, the company officially closed down, then in 2003 was re-purchased by the former employees, George and Peter Irwin.

Brands and Toys distributed

* 1 vs. 100 * A-Team * American Gladiators * Atari *

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

Barcode Battler The is a handheld game console released by Epoch Co. in March 1991. The console at retail was supplied with a number of cards, each of which had a barcode. Upon starting the game, the player must swipe a barcode representing a player. The game ...

* Dowell-Brown Power Fighters * Dino-Riders *

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...

* Easy-Bake Oven *

Etch-a-Sketch Etch A Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy invented by André Cassagnes of France and subsequently manufactured by the Ohio Art Company. It is now owned by Spin Master of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An Etch A Sketch has a thick, flat gray screen in ...

Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbor ...

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

* Ipix *

Jenga Jenga is a game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on ...

(prior to Hasbro's purchase) *

Kids Can Press Kids Can Press is a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with a catalog near 1000 picture books and 500 e-books, non-fiction and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults. The Kids Can Press list includes characters such as Franklin ...

* Lil' Sport * Magic Dip *

Meccano Meccano is a brand of model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nut ...

* My One and Only * Mighty Max *

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along ...

* Oopsie Daisy * Pound Puppies *

Power Wheels Power Wheels is a brand of battery-powered ride-on toy cars for kids ages one to seven years old. Power Wheels ride-ons are built with kid-sized, realistic features – in some cases, real working features like FM radios, opening/closing doors and ...

* Pressman * ''

ReBoot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

'' *

Robotech ''Robotech'' is a science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production and first released in the United States in 1985. The show was adapted from ...

* ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The se ...

'' *

* Simpsons *

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

* Slinky * ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: A ...

'' * Square 1 * Tyco (prior to Mattel's purchase) *

Wham-O Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly S ...

* Wheel of Fortune * ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and l ...

'' * Wrebbit *

Zaks Zaks is a construction toy originally produced in Canada by the company Irwin Toy in 1987 and released in the United States by Ohio Art Company in 1988. The toy is a system of multicolored flat plastic triangle and square pieces that interlock vi ...

Toys and games manufactured

* 3D Snakes & Ladders *

Action Figures & Items * Fib Finder *

manufactured in Canada under a

license. * Girder & Panel Building Sets * Globetrotters * I See It! * iPix * i-Top * Interior Decorator Set (with Marvin Glass and Associates) 1964 * Irwin Toy Pedal Motorcycle 1960s * Lazer Doodle * Lil Makin Faces * IToys LCD Handheld & Deluxe Games. * ME2 * My One and Only Guy dolls, like "Cliff the Aviator" * Oozers * Paint-Sation * Powerplay Hockey *

Action Figures * ''

'' Adventure Dolls & other Sailor Moon items * Skwooshi * SpectraColor * Street Stackers * Suzie Stretch dolls * The G.U.R.L.Z. * Thunderbirds * Top Corner Hockey *

Trouble Trouble may refer to: Film and television * ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * ''Trouble'' (1977 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Trouble'' ...

(usually under the name "Frustration") * ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a.k ...

'' (U.S. version only)

References

Sources

* {{cite web, url=http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20010701/30952.html , title=Irwin Toy at 75 , date=1 July 2001 , first=Simon , last=Ashdown , publisher= Kidscreen , accessdate=9 December 2013 * https://web.archive.org/web/20090609232917/http://www.koskieminsky.com/client_links/IrwinToy/home.aspx
Toronto Star Article

ProfitGuide.com
Game manufacturers Toy companies of Canada Toy companies established in 1926 Retail companies established in 1926 1926 establishments in Ontario