Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Mark Kaplan was born on September 15, 1944 and passed away on August 25, 2023. Mark spent over four decades in the toy industry, and loved every second of it. His career began at Times Square Store...s, followed by Enchanted Village, where he met his wife, Monica. Then, he moved to Jamesway, where he was the merchandise manager. After that, he moved to Ames, where he was the Vice President of merchandise. Mark loved sports, especially bowling with his family. He was a lifelong Yankees fan, even naming his two cats Derek and Jeter. After retiring and moving to Florida, he became a loyal fan of the Tampa Bay Rays. Mark leaves behind his loving wife, Monica, and their two daughters, Ellen and Dawn. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all who knew and loved him.Show more

Tony Miller passed away in June 2024 after suffering a stroke just before his 84th birthday. Tony worked at Mattel from 1968 - 1974 as a Project Engineer and Product Manager, and then again from 1...999-2003 as Vice President of Design for hot Wheels. He retired in 2003, but maintained his passion for all things cars by being active in the design and creation of a wild custom 1940 Ford coupe, the reworking and additional customization of his shoebox 1951 Ford Victoria, being a docent at the Petersen Automotive Museum for a decade, actively participating on the H.A.M.B., a hot rod message board at jalopyjournal.com as @50Fraud, and of course, attending a slew of car shows.Show more

Peter Renaday was born on June 9, 1935 and passed away on September 8, 2024. Peter was an American character and voice artist for over 6 decades, appearing in 2000 film and TV roles. Peter was bor...n in Louisiana, born as Pierre Laurent Renoudet. He made his acting debut in 1965 with the television series Combat!, but his career truly took off in the 1980s, when he was cast in the first animated TV adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Splinter, the sensei and martial arts trainer that made the turtles into the warriors they are. He held this role until the show's finale in 1996. Other films he was in are The Aristocats, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, Shrek, Madagascar, The Transformers, Aladdin, and many, many more. Peter was married to Florence "Flo" June Daniel from 1979 until her death in 2011. She worked as a secretary in the music department at Walt Disney Studios.Show more

Kosin Virapornsawan was bron in 1982 and passed away on September 12, 2024. Kosin was the managing director of PlanToys, a sustainable toy company. He'd spent over a decade in the toy industry, le...ading sustainability efforts, environmental stewardship, and ethical business practices at PlanToys at the company headquarters in Thailand.Show more

Brian Trueman was born on May 16, 1932 and passed away on September 1, 2024. He is most famously known as the writer behind the cartoon series Danger Mouse. Brian attended Stretford Grammar School ...and spent one year at the University of Manchester. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant before beginning his career in TV writing, and voice acting, and broadcasting. He presented the children's quiz show Screen Test and worked at Granada TV. Most famously, though, he worked with animation company Cosgrove Hall Films. He was the writer behind danger Mouse, Count Duckula, and Chorlton and the Wheelies.Show more

Andrew Hackard was born on December 24, 1970 and passed away on June 17, 2021. Andrew was also known as the Munchkin Czar and The Red Pen of Doom. He was the line editor of the Munckin game line, ...and worked for Steve Jackson Games as a game designer. He had a passion for astronomy, word play, the Texas Longhorns, board and card games, eclectic styles of music, science fiction, computers, writing, and Cowboy Bebop. He had a larger than life personality, and left this world far too soon.Show more

John Wilson, also known as the Rochdale Balrog, passed away on May 31, 2021. John was the founder of renowned text adventure game publisher Zenobi Software. He turned Zenobi into a full-time ventu...re in 1986, helping produce and publish adventure games for systems like ZX Spectrum and the Atari ST. John also released a brand new adventure game for the ZX Spectrum called Ramsbottom Smith and the Quest for the Yellow Spheroid.Show more

Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, passed away in June 2021. Ebbe joined Linden Lab, which is the creator and developer of the online virtual world Second Life, in 2014 as the CEO. He embraced this p...osition, promoting Second Life as the world's best virtual world, community, and platform. Prior to joining Linden Lab, Altberg worked at high-profile technology companies including BranchOut, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.Show more

Art Janis passed away in March 2021. Art was the executive vice president of sales for WowWee, and an all around toy industry legend. Art spent 25 years at WowWw, working closely with the company's... co-founders, Richard and Peter Yanofsky. Art leaves behind his loving wife, Marina. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Candace Irving was the Public Relations Manager for Mattel Toys from April 1976 until March 2000. Over the course of her 24 years at Mattel, she worked in the Public Relations office managing brands l...ike Barbie, Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, My Child, Princess of Power, and other Mattel brands. After her 2+ decades at Mattek, Candace worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment as the Senior Account Executive of Sales for two years. Then, she joined Warner Bros. as an Account Executive.Show more