Vivid Imaginations is a British toy manufacturer, distributor and wholesale company, based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 1992, one of the company's first toy lines it manufactured was Captain Scarlet, which has since been followed by Thunderbirds,

Sindy Sindy is a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. A rival to Barbie, Sindy's wholesome look and range of fashions and accessories made her the best-selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970. After Louis Marx and ...

and

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

. After a few years of manufacturing, Vivid Imaginations began securing toy distribution and wholesale deals with

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

, MGA Entertainment,

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 ...

and

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylva ...

for the UK market. Their main areas of expertise are within

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

plush Plush (from French ) is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or s ...

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms ...

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mark ...

s and arts and crafts. Vivid also produce games and puzzles along with

tech Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician * Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT * Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S. * Tech (river), in southern France * "Tech" ...

and outdoor toys. The company increased its presence as a manufacturer in the 2010s by releasing dolls for music acts including

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

, JLS,

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band consisting of group members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes and, until his death in 2022, Tom Parker. The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldwide contract to ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

. This would be followed by house-developed lines such as Animagic, and the popular award winning

Moshi Monsters ''Moshi Monsters'' was a British web browser massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) aimed at children aged 6–12, with over 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide. Users could choose from one of six virtual p ...

. Vivid Imaginations would also go on to sign agreements with large TV networks, such as

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

in 2017, working on the series

Nella the Princess Knight ''Nella the Princess Knight'' is an American animated children's television series created by Christine Ricci Ph. D., premiering on Nickelodeon on February 6, 2017. Toys produced for the series are manufactured by Vivid Imaginations. Plot ''Nel ...

. In 2018, the Goliath Group, a family-owned

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

toys and games manufacturer, acquired Vivid Imaginations, where it continues to operate as a subsidiary in manufacturing and distribution.

History

Vivid Imaginations was founded in 1992 by former Matchbox Toys UK managing director Nick Austin and Finance Director Alan Bennie, with a loan of £380,000 from friends. The annual company turnover was £9.8 m in its first year and increased to over £20 m in 1996. The increase was partly due to acquiring the rights to distribute

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and ''

'' products in 1996 and distributing the Toy of the Year, the Pogmaker. Jordan Group, a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

company from New York City, bought an 80% stake in Vivid in 1998 for £25 m. In 1999, Vivid started distributing

and obtained the rights to Playmates Toys and

Toy Biz Toy Biz (also stylized as ToyBiz), was a toy company which later became a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment and was renamed to Marvel Toys. It was best known for producing action figures and toys and holding the Marvel Comics license from 1990 t ...

products. Vivid became the third-largest advertiser in the United Kingdom and the number three toy company in 2000. In 2003, Vivid Imaginations was bought by

Phoenix Equity Partners Phoenix Equity Partners is a United Kingdom mid-market private equity firm. It specialises in working with management teams to help grow their businesses. It invests in companies valued at up to £150m. History Phoenix was co-founded in 2001 by H ...

, its management and venture capital company, for £62 million. Vivid Imaginations acquired licensing rights to

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin, Cloe, Jade ...

in 2004. Vivid had a strong market share in the boys' toy sector and saw Bratz as the opportunity to boost its girls' range, which included

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 ...

, Disney Princess and

, to rival

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

owner

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 ...

. Bratz was the most popular doll in the UK in 2005, and was responsible for 30% of Vivid's turnover. Sales of Bratz and '' Spider-Man''-themed products made Vivid the number one toy company in the UK in 2005, the first British company to achieve this in 30 years. Bratz owner MGA Entertainment set up its own UK office in 2008 and ended the distribution deal with Vivid. The Paris-based Vivid Europe subsidiary was formed in 2008 with the acquisition of Nomad Company, the distributor of

across Europe (except Italy), the Middle East and Africa. In 2011, Vivid produced a line of toys for the television show '' Little Charley Bear'' and partnered with social network developer Mind Candy to produce

toys. In 2015, Vivid acquired the rights to produce a range of toys on the science-fiction television programme, Thunderbirds Are Go. Vivid produced and distributed Thunderbird aircraft, action figures, puzzles and more. In March 2017, Privet Capital, a private equity investor, announced the acquisition of Vivid Imaginations for an undisclosed fee. In November 2018, Goliath, took over from Privet Capital as owner of Vivid Imaginations.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Guildford Toy companies established in 1992 1992 establishments in England