- Source: Playtoy Industries
Playtoy Industries was a Canada-based toy company founded by 1973 in Toronto, Ontario, with president Jerry Smith and vice-presidents Stephen Morris and Ron Burke. In 1997, it moved to Concord, Ontario. They went out of business in mid 1999.
Playtoy both developed its own games, and licensed from others. Most often, they licensed from Pressman Toy Corporation. Playtoy Industries would then translate the product into French in order to ship a bilingual product. Playtoy introduced three new Canadian games each year. They licensed some of these to Pressman Toy Corporation, as in the case of IQ2000. The company also distributed a range of games in Canada for the Sega Genesis.
Games were manufactured both locally at their combined offices/factory and overseas. The most notable exceptions were hoolahoops and some other plastic products which were assembled by ARC Industries (a sheltered workshop for adults with a developmental disability).
Playtoy also manufactured games based on TV game shows, such as La Guerre des clans from TQS, and other shows from CBC Television and some other Canadian channels. They were Johnson & Johnson's infant toys distributor in Canada (and responsible for the French translation).
Playtoy's mass manufactured Co-Operative Game line was licensed from Jim Deacove (Family Pastimes), who continued to manufacture the same games in small batches. Thus the same games, with the same titles, were sold in two forms at the same time.
Distributed games
Red Box Line (value line)
Snakes & Ladders (1998)
Pickup Sticks
Checkers
Tic Tac Toe
Replacement Chess Pieces
Developed by/for Playtoy
IQ 2000 / Jeu de savoir (1984) Game of Knowledge (UK), Spiel des Wissens (Germany), Kwestie van weten (Netherlands), Seneca, el juego del saber (Spanish)
IQ 2000 Rock Edition
Inve$tor (1985)
Domino Rally
Tongue Twister (1988)
Monster Dominoes
Forever Green (1991)
Licensed from Pressman Toy Corporation
Picture Tri-Ominos (1973)
Safely Home Game (1985)
La roue chanceuse / Wheel of Fortune (1988)
"Siege" ( Game of Battle Action similar to Crossbows and Catapults ) 1994
Rummikub (rummy tile game - Manufactured in Taiwan © Israel) 1995
'Smath
Licensed from Palmer-Cornale Games
Charades
Licensed from BroderBund
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego (board game)
Personal Preference
Co-Operative Games Line, licensed from Family Pastimes, Inc
Granny's House
Harvest Time
Funny Faces
Mountaineering
Deep Sea Diving
Sleeping Grump
Unknown
La Guerre des clans /Family Feud (1993)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sewer Hockey (this is the only known Playtoy product which was sold in Quebec, without being translated into French)
Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur
Real Squirmin' Bugs (1997)
Crazy Bones
Grand Champion Toy Horses
Distributed on behalf of Johnson and Johnson
Balls in a Bowl
