Rest In Play - 2010 thru 2019

Horst Brandstätter, a German businessowner, was born on June 27, 1933 and died on June 3, 2015. He was the owner of the company Brandstätter Group, which was the family business. He joined the compa...ny at age 19, and his biggest success was modernizing it. One of his major successes was the production of hula hoops in 1958. In the early 1970s, he commissioned Hans Beck to produce a toy system that came be known as Playmobil. Brandstätter retired from the company in 2000, but regularly visited the office until he passed in 2015. In 2009, Brandstätter was voted Manager of the Year. He was the bearer of the German Federal Cross of Merit and an honorary citizen of the city of Zirndorf. The 2019 film Playmobil: The Movie was dedicated to him in the film's closing credits.Show more

Seymour Wane was born on June 24, 1924 and passed away on October 21, 2015. He was the vice president of The Marx Toy Co. Wane attended New York University and entered the U.S. Navy during World W...ar II, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant j.g. After the war, he joined the Louis Marx Toy Co, which became the largest manufacturer of toys. Wane took charge of moving production to Asian countries. After Louis Marx sold the company to the Quaker Oats Company, Wane continued his career as Vice President of Brae Capital Corp. He then became president of the Millburn-Short Hills Scholastic Boosters, which raised money for scholarships for Millburn High School graduates.Show more

Omri Rothschild, inventor of Naef Mafnaef and co-inventor of Eleven, passed away in 2016. Rothschild designed Magnaef in 1989 for Naef in Switzerland. Magnaef allows children to discover the magic wo...rld of magnetic forces. The tip of the pen contains a magnet that lifts the balls from the circle, and with it kids can make endless motives such as numbers, shapes, etc. Elefun is a children's game in which children attempt to catch toy butterflies with a net. The butterflies are blown through the plastic trunk of an elephant. Rothschild and Boaz Coster invented the game in 1993.Show more

Jerry Welch, an American businessman, passed away on August 27, 2019. Welch attended the University of Tennessee where he obtained a bachelor's of business administration. He briefly worked for the Fe...deral Reserve before becoming the CFO for the Los Angeles-based private equity firm, Kayne Anderson. In the early 1990s, he became CEO of The Right Start, where he obtained Zany Brainy and FAO Schwartz. In 2012, Welch and John W. Lee launched Bambini Partners. Welch was known as a enthusiastic, positive presence on any team that approached every challenge in life with spirit and spunk. He will be deeply missed by anyone who's ever loved him, known him, and or worked with him.Show more

Roy Raizen was born on October 1, 1930 and passed away on November 12, 2017. Roy attended Salisbury School and Lafayette College, and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. And avid lover of s...ports, he supported New York teams, where he was born and raised. Roy was the president of Transogram Toy Company, the company that his father started in 1915. After leaving Transogram, Roy became the co-owner of Effanbee Doll Corp, a successful maker of fine dolls.Show more

Dominic Laurienzo was born on April 21, 1971, and passed away on February 23, 2018. From 1997 until 2000, Laurienzo was a senior designer at Mattel, and from 2000 until his death, he was the senior Vi...ce President of design at Jakks Pacific. Laurienzo is survived by his wife, Helen Laurienzo, and his son, James Laurienzo.Show more

Jack Friedman, American entrepreneur, businessman, veteran of the toy and video game industries, and philanthropist, passed away on May 3, 2010. Friedman is the founder of three toy companies: LJN,... THQ, and Jakks Pacific. LJN hosted a line of toys and video games based on movies, television shows, and celebrities. Initial success was found through making merchandise from the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Friedman himself met Michael Jackson and Brooke Shields, eventually making dolls based off of them. In 1985, MCA acquired 63% of LJN Toys, and Friedman left the company two years later. THQ came next, and Friedman worked on adapting video games from popular films, including Darksiders, De Blob, Destroy All Humans!, and Saints Row. In 1994, Friedman left the company to found his next business venture. In 1995, Friedman co-founded Jakks Pacific with Stephen G. Berman. Within the first year, Friedman signed a licensing agreement with Titan Sports, giving Jakks Pacific exclusive rights to develop action figures based on the WWF's wresting personalities, such as Stone Cold Steve Austin. In April 2010, Friedman retired as CEO and became Chairman Emeritus. Friedman was an avid supporter of the company's Jakks Cares program, which donated to organizations including Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, the Special Olympics, and Feed the Children. In 2009, Jakks Pacific was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the "Top 20 Corporate Philanthropists in Los Angeles" and as a "Power Player Philanthropist" by the Toy Industry Foundation.Show more

James R. Becker, founder of Anjar, passed away on August 11, 2011. Becker founded Anjar in 1968. Anjar is an acronym for his four sons and daughter, Arto, Neil, Jonathan, Roger, and Nancy. Prior to fo...unding Anjar, Becker was the president of Lakeside Toys. Some of the toys that Becker played a role in the development and/or licensing of many toys over the course of his lifetime, including Gumby, Pokey, Barrel of Monkeys, Disappearing Magic Baby Bottle, Nerf Ping Pong, Battle Dome, The Betsy McCall Fashion Designer Set, Elmo's Trike, Barbie 'Really Works' Activity Toys, 'Land Before Time' Hand Puppets, Shirt Pocket Games, GI Joe Earthquake Vehicle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Foldable Flying Saucers, Grabbin' Dragons, and hundreds more. Becker received the International Designers & Inventors of Toys award in 2005, and a TAGIE award in 2011. He was also inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2018. Anjar is now run by Becker's son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Patti Becker.Show more

Saul Robbins was born on February 16, 1922 and died on June 13, 2010. He was an American toy manufacturer and the co-founder of Remco. Remco's first toys were children's walkie talkies, and they we...re the first company to use television advertising. Other toys produced include the Whirlybird helicopter, the Barracuda atomic submarine, the Johnny Reb cannon, the Dick Tracy wrist radio, the Screaming Men Mee-e rifle, and Mr. Kelly's Automatic Car Wash. Robbins was also the president of the Toy Manufacturers Association of America, and of the YM-YWHA of Metrowest. Saul Robbins married Ruth Fern and together they had two children.Show more

Isaac Heller was an American toy manufacturer and engineer, and the co-founder of the toy company Remco. He was born on July 23, 1926 and passed away on March 7, 2015. Remco's first products were c...hildren's walkie-talkies. They were the first toy company to use television advertising. Some other toys Remco produced include the Whirlybird helicopter, the Barracuda atomic submarine, the Johnny Reb cannon, the Dick Tracy wrist radio, the Screaming Men See-e rifle, and Mr. Kelly's Automatic Car Wash. In 1966, Heller sold Remco, and founded Heller Industrial Parks and became one of the largest industrial park owners and developers in the United States. In 1953, Heller married Helaine Hirsh, and together they had four daughters. They also were philanthropically involved in many causes that supported hospitals, community foundations, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Heller received the President's Citation Award from Cooper Union in 1999, and was inducted into the Cooper Union Alumni Hall of Fame. He also received a Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of the State of New Jersey.Show more