LJN
 |
|
| Industry | Toys and video games |
|---|---|
| Fate | Closed by Acclaim Entertainment |
| Successor | Acclaim Entertainment |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Headquarters |
New York, New York Lyndhurst, New Jersey |
|
Key people
|
Jack Friedman (Founder) |
| Products | Toys: Battery Operated Water Guns, Wrestling Superstars, Thundercats, Bionic Six, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, E.T., Gremlins Video games: Back to the Future series, Spider-Man series, WWF wrestling games |
| Parent | LJN Toys, Ltd.: Independent (1970-1985) MCA (1985-1990) LJN, Ltd.: Acclaim Entertainment (1990-1995) LJN Entertainment, Inc.: Acclaim Entertainment (2000) |
LJN Toys, Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher in operation from 1970 to 1995. It manufactured toy lines and released battery operated water guns and video games based on licensed properties from movies, television shows, and celebrities. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and later in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. LJN introduced the Entertech line of battery operated water guns in 1986.
LJN Toys Ltd. was founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, who later founded other toy companies, notably THQ and Jakks Pacific.
The name LJN came from reversing the initials of Norman J. Lewis, whose toy company (Norman J. Lewis Associates) had employed Friedman as a sales representative in the 1960s. Lewis himself initially backed LJN financially but later sold his interest to a Chinese investor.
In 1985, MCA Inc., which had been actively acquiring companies in the mid-1980s, acquired LJN for $66 or $67 million in an effort to retain more profits from the merchandising of its film properties.
LJN began publishing video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. Although this was LJN's first foray into the video game business, it was not for MCA who had previously started MCA Video Games, as a joint venture with Atari, Inc., to create coin-operated and home games and computer software based on various MCA properties.
In 1988, LJN acquired Italian toy company Al'es from the Fassi family.
In 1989, MCA decided to sell LJN after years of losses since 1987 when fallout surrounding toy guns made by LJN's Entertech division plunged MCA's profits 79.5% in the second quarter of that year. MCA finally agreed to sell to Acclaim Entertainment in March 1990 for cash and Acclaim common stock for 30 to 50 percent.
During the time the company was owned by Acclaim Entertainment, LJN continued with the same licensing direction. Acclaim eliminated LJN's toy division and reorganized it exclusively as a video game publisher.
...
Wikipedia