Thinkway Toys was a private Canadian-based toy company known for creating most of the tie-in toys for Pixar films. Being Pixar's main collaborator, Thinkway made toys for films such as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., and WALL-E. The company also made toys for Disney, Universal and Warner Brothers, with some toys being made for franchises such as Despicable Me and Star Wars. Their last line of toys was for Luck in 2022.[1]
Founded in 1984 by Albert Chan, Thinkway ventured into licensing in 1990 and operated until 2023. They served as the worldwide master toy license for Toy Story from February 1995 to December 2021.
Their headquarters was located at 8885 Woodbine Ave, Markham, Ontario.
History[]
During the January 1995 Toy Fair in Toronto, Canada, Albert Chan was approached by the head of the Disney licensing group of Canada, Jim Rayburn (1936 - 2011),[2] about creating full-scale toys for an upcoming film that would release the following Thanksgiving. Other toy companies such as Mattel and Hasbro turned down the offer as they deemed it a risky investment. Rayburn asked Chan if Thinkway Toys would be interested after showing off a few drawings of a cowboy and a spaceman, only under the conditions that Thinkway would need to go to the New York Toy Fair a month later for an official Toy Story presentation for the Disney US office. Chan agreed, and in February, Thinkway Toys successfully acquired the global rights to the Toy Story license.[3] By August 1995,[3][4] Thinkway had produced the first Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys.
Figure lines[]
- Original 1995 Thinkway Toys releases
- Interactive Buddies
- Playtime
References[]
- ↑ https://toyworldmag.co.uk/toikido-to-distribute-toy-line-for-skydance-animations-luck/
- ↑ https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/james-rayburn-obituary?id=41533144
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://issuu.com/toyworldmag/docs/toyworld-october-2017
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230530110136/http://thinkwaytoys.com/MccAboutUs.asp#