Vivid Imaginations is a company based in Guildford, Surrey, that manufactures, designs and distributes toys and holds distribution rights on a number of popular TV shows and Blockbuster movies. Captain scarlett was the first of many distribution deals that turned Vivid into the Uk's number 1 toy and game manufacturer. Over the years Vivid has had notable success such as TV favorites Thunderbirds and The Simpsons along with Movie favorites Cars and Cars2, Shrek, Toy Story 3 and Happy feet 2, to name a few. Away from the silver and big screens vivid has also has success along the way with lines such as WWE, Disney, and Bratz, as well as in house developed Animagic.
Vivid Recently stepped back into the music scene, after a successful Take That Doll range a number of years ago, with Boy Bands JLS, The Wanted, X Factors One Direction and worldwide Teen sensation and Heart Throb Justin Bieber, all being imortalised in a range of Dolls. Vivid's portfollio has grown steadily and boasts some highly successful lines including Crayola and the world wide online gaming sensation, Moshi Monsters, which is taking the toy industry by storm.

The beginning

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 and The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

products in 1996 and distributing the Toy of the Year

British Association of Toy Retailers

The British Association of Toy Retailers is an association that represents their members to the United Kingdom government and the European Commission. It promotes the role of the toy retailer and the value of toys to the consumer. It represents about 75% of the toy trade...

, the Pogmaker

Pogs

Pogs is a game that was popularized during the early 1990s. The word "pog" also refers to the discs used to play the game. The name originates from POG, a brand of juice made from passionfruit, orange and guava; the use of the POG bottle caps to play the game pre-dated the game's commercialization...

. Jordan Group, a private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 company from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, bought an 80% stake in Vivid in 1998 for £25 m. In 1999, Vivid started distributing Sindy

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 it the best selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970...

 and obtained the rights to Playmates

Playmates Toys

Playmates Toys is a Costa Mesa, California toy manufacturer and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Playmates Holdings Ltd , which was founded in 1966.-Proprietary brands:*Amazing Dolls*Amazing Pets*Kinder-Garden Babies*R.E.V.s*Waterbabies*WOW Pals...

 and Toy Biz products.

The 2000s

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

Phoenix Equity Partners is a leading United Kingdom mid-market private equity firm.Phoenix manages funds exceeding £900 million on behalf of leading institutions and other investors from around the world...

, its management and venture capital company, for £62 million.

Vivid Imaginations acquired licensing rights to Bratz

Bratz

Bratz is an American line of fashion dolls and merchandise manufactured by MGA Entertainment. Four original 10" dolls were released in 2001 - Cloe, Jade, Sasha and Yasmin...

 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

The Care Bears are characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The original artwork for the cards was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. In 1983, Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears...

, Disney Princess and Sindy

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 it the best selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970...

, to rival Barbie

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 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

Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

. 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

MGA Entertainment

MGA Entertainment is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include the Bratz fashion doll line, Lalaloopsy, Kachooz!, Moxie Girlz, Moxie Teenz, Hugwallas, BFC, Ink. and Rescue Pets. MGAE also owns The Little Tikes Company...

 set up its own UK office in 2008 and ended the distribution deal with Vivid.

The Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

-based Vivid Europe subsidiary was formed in 2008 with the acquisition of Nomad Company, the distributor of Crayola

Crayola

Crayola is a brand of artists' supplies manufactured by Crayola LLC, which was founded in 1885 as Binney & Smith. It is best known for its crayons...

 across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 (except Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

), the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

The 2010s

• Vivid produced a line of toys around the hit television show Little Charley Bear
  Little Charley Bear
  Little Charley Bear is a television show created & produced by Daniel Pickering, Annix Studios in 2007. Narrated by James Corden, Little Charley Bear takes viewers on a journey into the world of let's pretend, where anything is possible...
  
  , which made its TV debut in January 2011 on CBeebies
  CBeebies
  CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
  
   with 1.4 million unique viewers in the first week.
• On January 25, 2011, social network developer Mind Candy
  Mind Candy
  Mind Candy is a British entertainment company, formed in 2003 by UK internet entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith, and based in Shoreditch, London, England...
  
   announced its partnership with Vivid to produce Moshi Monsters
  Moshi Monsters
  Moshi Monsters is a social networking online game and virtual pet site targeted at children aged 7 to 12. The player adopts and cares for a pet monster, solving puzzles which lead to rewards called rox; these can be used as currency to buy items for the adopted monster, such as clothing, food, and...
  
  toys. The spring/summer 2011 line includes backpack buddies, collectable figures, soft toys, and talking monsters and is available to all major UK retailers. Since launching, Moshi Monsters has taken the toy world by storm and is on every Childs Christmas list. Moshi Monsters is highly collectabe and has established itself as a kids favorite right from the off. An example of this is Ebay.com, for a collectable figure available from most UK toy retailers at a price of around £2 per pack for 2 figures, the very same figure appears on Ebay from prices as high as £17!

The toys will initially focus on the six key monster characters, Poppet, Katsuma, Diavlo, Zommer, Furi and Luvli as well as the 48 collectable "Moshlings" pet monsters. More toys are planned for autumn/winter with an interactive plush, playset, game and further collectables.