| Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. | |
| Foundation: | 1957 |
| Defunct: | 1958 (England) 1998 (as a toy company) |
| Fate: | Closed, properties and brand name sold to Hasbro. |
| Industry: | Toys, Consumer electronics, video games |
| Products: | Toys, video games, consumer electronics |
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., was a toy company headquartered in South San Francisco, California.[1] They are best known for creating Micro Machines, which accounted for 50% of its sales in 1989, and distributing the Game Genie in the United States.
Lewis Galoob Toys was founded in 1957 by Lewis Galoob and his wife, Barbara Galoob, as a small distributor of toys and stationery. Galoob's first toy success was the reintroduction of a battery-powered Jolly Chimp, a cymbal-banging monkey toy that nodded his head when activated. The company was incorporated in 1968.[2]
In 1970, Lewis Galoob became too ill to continue as president, and his 21-year-old son, David, dropped out of the University of Southern California to take over the family business. In partnership with his brother, Vice-President Robert Galoob, David aggressively pursued new product development, and transformed the company into a $1 million business by 1976.
The company was greatly affected by the financial collapse of Black Monday in 1987, a year in which it lost $25 million, but the following year it recovered by generating a profit of $6 million.[3] By 1988 the company manufactured 85% of its toys in China.
Galoob was involved in a landmark intellectual property lawsuit, Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.,[4] over the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the Game Genie. Nintendo charged that the Game Genie violated copyright by creating an unlicensed derivative of their copyrighted games. Galoob won the lawsuit and continued to produce the Game Genie.
In September 1998, American toy giant Hasbro purchased Galoob for $220 million.[5] Today, Galoob is a Hasbro brand name. The name began appearing on retail products starting in 2005. Hasbro has used the Galoob brand logo on its Titanium Series die-cast metal collectibles, including various items from Transformers, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica.