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Big Monster Toys, LLC (BMT), established in May 1988, was a United States-based toy and game inventing and licensing company.[1]
| Industry | Toys and entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1988 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
| Website | www |
History
editBig Monster Toys was founded in 1988 by Jeff Breslow, Howard Morrison, and Rouben Terzian, three former partners of Marvin Glass & Associates.[2] MGA was one of the pioneers of the post-World War II American toy industry.[2] Breslow, Morrison, and Terzian teamed with two principal designers from MGA, Don Rosenwinkel and John Zaruba. Together, they formed Breslow Morrison Terzian & Associates" (the initial basis of the "BMT" acronym).[2]
About
editBig Monster Toys was located in the West Loop of Chicago.[3] The studio occupied roughly 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of space for over 25 designers. Their facilities included an audio recording studio, a full machine shop, plastic molding, electronic design, software programming, 3D printing, a paint shop, exercise equipment, and a digital video authorship and editing facility.[3][2]
Big Monster Toys invented and engineered toys from concept to prototype. BMT also helped to develop the marketing position, product name, packaging and promotional material for the toys. BMT licensed toys to companies throughout the world. Their clients included Mattel, Hasbro (and formerly Tiger Electronics), Moose, Spin Master, Goliath, Playmates Toys.[4][2]
BMT won numerous industry awards, and was considered a positive supporter of toy invention and the toy industry.[citation needed] Breslow, Morrison, and Terzian were inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, in 1998, for their successful 31-year collaborative efforts.[5]
The most recently made BMT partners Sam Unsicker, Brian Kujawski and Robert Annis ran the studio without the original partners for 6 years. They abruptly laid off their employees and went out of business the end of November, 2023. According to the December 28th, 2023 Sun Times article written by David Roeder: Sam Unsicker, confirmed that the staff has been let go. He said in an email, "The truth of the matter is — Big Monster Toys is not/will not fully be closed. We have royalties that will remain to come in until the products are no longer being produced - so technically, we will still be open. We did have to close future operations on November 29th and unfortunately, had to let our employees go that day." Unsicker said an employment attorney advised him not to answer additional questions until separation agreements with staff are final. https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/12/27/24016652/chicago-big-monster-toys-game-design-mattel-hasbro-lays-off-staff
References
edit- ^ Felts, Susannah J. (2005-11-17). "The Wizards of iZ". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
- ^ a b c d e Borrelli, Christopher. "Going behind the giant door at Big Monster Toys, where success is a failure (or 5) away". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- ^ a b Clark, Eric (2011-11-12). "Dream makers: where the world's best-loved toys are born". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
- ^ "Monsters Inc: Behind the curtain at US invention house Big Monster Toys". Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Toy Industry Hall of Fame - Inductees". The Toy Association. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
6. Chicago Sun Times Thursday, December 28, 2023, "Fun While it Lasted" by David Roeder https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/12/27/24016652/chicago-big-monster-toys-game-design-mattel-hasbro-lays-off-staff
External links
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