Marvin Glass and Associates
Encyclopedia
Marvin Glass and Associates (MGA) was a toy
design and engineering firm based out of Chicago
, Illinois
. While not a household name, Marvin Glass (1914–1974) and his employees created some of the most successful toys and games of the 20th century. Marvin Glass and Associates is the source of many of the most beloved toys and games in recent history. Classic playthings such as Mr. Machine, Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots, Lite Brite, Ants in the Pants, Mouse Trap, Operation, SIMON, and the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle were all originally presented by this Chicago-based toy firm. Surprisingly, the web offers very limited info on the company and even less about the man behind it.
Photo: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y0ZlSySQA1Q/R6K_StyMoAI/AAAAAAAACPw/M1cRvhLA3eg/s1600-h/meetingo.jpg
Marvin Glass (center) won’t unveil a new toy to a buyer unless he signs a promise not to copy it. Left, engineer John Parks of Glass’s staff.
to design coin-operated video games during the 1980s. Some of the games produced by MGA during this era include Tapper
, Domino Man
and Timber
.
The first big hit for Marvin Glass was Mr. Machine, a toy invented by a former watchmaker named Leo Kripak. A child could take Mr. Machine apart and put him back together. It was licensed to Ideal Toys and became such a hit that Lionel Weintraub, it's president, made it his company mascot and featured it in many of Ideal's early TV ads. The company became so successful that Marvin Glass got his company logo printed on every package for the items it invented and licensed.
The organization's general counsel, James F. Coffee, and accountant Ernest Sonderling, were the architects of the successful business model whereby the designs and inventions were patented and licensed to various toy companies and manufacturers who would pay running royalties based on sales. Outside counsel, chairman of the Intellectual Property Department at McDermott Will & Emery, Robert J. Schneider, was responsible for procuring the patents and protecting them from infringement.
Several partners from Marvin Glass and Associates subsequently started Big Monster Toys
, which remains to this day and is still based in Chicago.
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
design and engineering firm based out of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. While not a household name, Marvin Glass (1914–1974) and his employees created some of the most successful toys and games of the 20th century. Marvin Glass and Associates is the source of many of the most beloved toys and games in recent history. Classic playthings such as Mr. Machine, Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots, Lite Brite, Ants in the Pants, Mouse Trap, Operation, SIMON, and the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle were all originally presented by this Chicago-based toy firm. Surprisingly, the web offers very limited info on the company and even less about the man behind it.
Photo: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y0ZlSySQA1Q/R6K_StyMoAI/AAAAAAAACPw/M1cRvhLA3eg/s1600-h/meetingo.jpg
Marvin Glass (center) won’t unveil a new toy to a buyer unless he signs a promise not to copy it. Left, engineer John Parks of Glass’s staff.
History
Marvin Glass and Associates was founded in 1941. It's founder, Marvin Glass, was an entrepreneur and the creative force behind Marvin Glass & Associates. His salesmanship and uncanny ability to spark creativity in the designers he employed was unparalleled. In 1949 he licensed a "novelty item" to H. Fishlove & Company called Yakitty-Yak Talking Teeth. This item was invented by Eddy Goldfarb, who worked for Marvin Glass for a very short time after World War II. MGA was contracted by Bally-MidwayMidway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
to design coin-operated video games during the 1980s. Some of the games produced by MGA during this era include Tapper
Tapper
Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips.-Overview:...
, Domino Man
Domino Man
Domino Man is a 1983 arcade video game released by Bally Midway. It is one of the few video games that features the ragtime piece, Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin as the game background music.- Gameplay :...
and Timber
Timber (arcade game)
Timber is an arcade game that was manufactured by Midway Games in 1984. The object of the game is to amass points by chopping down trees or by balancing atop a floating, rotating log....
.
The first big hit for Marvin Glass was Mr. Machine, a toy invented by a former watchmaker named Leo Kripak. A child could take Mr. Machine apart and put him back together. It was licensed to Ideal Toys and became such a hit that Lionel Weintraub, it's president, made it his company mascot and featured it in many of Ideal's early TV ads. The company became so successful that Marvin Glass got his company logo printed on every package for the items it invented and licensed.
The organization's general counsel, James F. Coffee, and accountant Ernest Sonderling, were the architects of the successful business model whereby the designs and inventions were patented and licensed to various toy companies and manufacturers who would pay running royalties based on sales. Outside counsel, chairman of the Intellectual Property Department at McDermott Will & Emery, Robert J. Schneider, was responsible for procuring the patents and protecting them from infringement.
Several partners from Marvin Glass and Associates subsequently started Big Monster Toys
Big Monster Toys
Big Monster Toys , established May 1988, is a United States-based toy and game inventing company.Big Monster Toys' founders came from the defunct toy and game-producing company Marvin Glass and Associates...
, which remains to this day and is still based in Chicago.
UNKNOWN
- 1966 Mosquito Game
- 1967 The Kid
- 1969 Sketch a Toon
- 1970 The Wall Walkers
- 1973 Super Sunday Football
Hasbro
- 1963 Ambush!
- 1963 Mouse TrapMouse Trap (board game)Mouse Trap is a board game first published by Ideal in 1963 for two or more players. Over the course of the game, players at first cooperate to build a working Rube Goldberg-like mouse trap...
- 1967 Lite Brite
- 1969 AstroLite, Astro Sound
- 1971 InchwormInchworm (toy)The Inchworm was a ride-on toy for children produced by the Hasbro Corporation, first introduced in the early 1970s. A scooter with yellow wheels in the shape of a green caterpillar wearing a yellow hat, the Inchworm was jointed under the saddle so its wheelbase could expand and contract. The...
, Alley Up - 1974 Ricochet Racers
Ideal
- 1960 Mr Machine
- 1961 Robot Commando
- 1962 Gaylord, Bop the Beetle, King Zor
- 1964 Clancy the Great
- 1965 Tigeroo Bike Siren
- 1966 Babysitter Game
- 1967 Careful
- 1968 Little Lost Baby
- 1969 Ants in the PantsAnts in the PantsAnts in the Pants is a children's tabletop game. The object of the game is to spring as many of your 'ants' as possible into the 'pants'. The game shares similarities with Tiddlywinks....
- 1970 Mr. Mad
- 1973 Evel KnievelEvel KnievelEvel Knievel , born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket...
Stunt Cycle
Milton Bradley
- 1963 Jungle Hunt
- 1964 Time Bomb
- 1965 Mystery DateMystery Date (game)Mystery Date is a 1965 board game from the Milton Bradley Company, designed by Marvin Glass. It was marketed to girls 6 to 14 years of age, and was reissued in 1970, 1999, and in 2005.-Gameplay:...
- 1967 Fang Bang
- 1968 Sand Lot Slugger, Bucket of Fun
- 1969 Dynamite Shack
- 1970 Snoopy and the Red Baron; Which Witch? (board game)
- 1971 Stay Alive
- 1974 Trip Hammer
- 1979 SIMONSimon (game)Simon is an electronic game of memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, with the software programming being done by Lenny Cope and manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and became an immediate success. It...
Parker Brothers
- 1968 Situation 4
- 1970 Mind Maze, Rattle Battle, The Tiny Tim of Beautiful Things Parker Brothers, Twiddler
- 1971 Gnip Gnop, Masterpiece (game)Masterpiece (game)Masterpiece is a board game by Parker Brothers, now a brand of Hasbro. Players participate in auctions for famous works of art. It was originally published in 1970 by Parker Brothers, and then published again in 1996. The game is now out-of-print...
- 1974 Tug Boat
Schaper Toys
- 1963 King of the HillKing of the Hill (board game)King of the Hill is a race game, where players try to be the first to get their marbles from the start to the top of the mountain. It was originally published by Schaper Toys in 1960 and was recently republished with slightly different rules by Winning Moves Games USA in 2006.- Gameplay :In the...
- 1967 Clean Sweep
- 1968 Big Mouth
- 1972 Don't Blow Your Top
- 1974 Jack Be Nimble
External links
- Working at the Marvin Glass Studio - Recollections of a Former Employee by Erick Erickson
- Haunted House - The IDEAL Board Game - The complete parts list, rules, and information about the 1962 game from IDEAL.
- Which Witch - The Milton Bradley Board Game - The complete parts list, rules, and information about the 1971 game from Milton Bradley.
- Marvin Glass page at Boardgame Geek