Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Joshua Carter, known to his friends by the loving nicknames Rod, Rodimus, and Josh, was born on February 29, 1984 and passed away on June 11, 2024. Josh owned Rodimus Toys, where he sold vintage t...oys and action figures. He made his passion his work, captivated from a young age by the world of action figures. Josh loved going to yard sales to hunt for vintage treasures, enjoyed listening to music, playing pranks, drawing, and singing. He leaves behind his loving fiancée, Julie Dreyer, and their beloved cats, Finn and Midnight.Show more

Glyn Davies passed away on November 20, 2020 after catching COVID-19. Glyn spent many years in the toy industry as a representative and national account executive for several toy companies, includi...ng Blue Box, Rainbow, Fisher Price, and more. He attended trade shows and stock rooms all over the world, and was known for his extroverted and friendly personality. He leaves behind his wife, Liz, two daughters, Lisa and Rachael, and three granddaughters, Amelia, Sophia, and Emily.Show more

Francis Spear was born into a Jewish toy trade family -- his great grandfather, Jacob Wolf Spear, started J.W. Spear & Soehne in 1878. When Francis joined Spears' Games, he worked in a number of di...fferent departments, but his true passion was for the production side of the business. He eventually took on the role of production director, then became managing director and then chairman. In 1994, the company was sold to Mattel and Francis took that opportunity to purchase farmland in Hertfordshire, England. In his retirement, Francis followed his passion for flying, and actually donated his first plane to the Kenyan flying doctors. He was also a musician, and sung in the Hertford Choir for many years. He loved mountain hiking, skiing, and managed the Spear's Games Archive at his home, where he received local groups and games enthusiasts from around the world. In 2010, he was approached by Nuremberg council to set up a Spear's Games Archive in Germany, where he was born. In 2017, the Spear's Games collection was transferred to Nuremberg, where it is still visited today.Show more

Diana Green passed away on December 13, 2020 after a short illness. She has been a figurehead in the toy industry since the 1970s, spending most of this time as a buying director for Greens Toymaster.... Along with her husband, Geoff, Diana selected ranges for the Snowfold buying group's FOB important programme, which supported members ranges and margins from the late 1980s. Later, she served as a member of Toymaster's Merchandise Committee for many years, as the Greens Toymaster chain expanded to a total of 17 stores. Diana loved traveling with her husband Geoff, and leaves behind the two sons they shared, Ben and Tom. She will be deeply and dearly missed by all that knew and loved her.Show more

Mercedeh Ward was born on April 14, 1964 and passed away on July 3, 2020. She was an active member of the toy and game industry for over 35 years. Mercedeh was a mechanical engineer and worked for ...numerous companies, including Mattel, Playmates, Spin Master, Funrise, and more. She was an expert at product development and made major contributions to hugely influential brands like Barbie, Bratz, and Paw Patrol. Mercedeh fought an admirable fight against breast cancer. She leaves behind a loving family, and will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.Show more

Clive Wooster, toy industry icon, passed away at the age of 69 on May 18, 2024. Clive began his career in the toy industry at Fisher Price, where he spent many years working in different sales rol...es. In the 1990s, he ran The First Years until RC2/Learning Curve acquired it in 2004, at which point he became the managing director. Next, Clive chose to join smaller companies, working as a manager at Famosa and more recently, at Geomagworld. It wasn't until January of this year that he decided to take a step back to spend more time with family and pursuing his passion for motor racing. Clive always participated in charitable events both within and outside of the toy industry. He especially enjoyed events that combined his love for walking and cycling -- he once walked 52 miles over the course of 2 days to raise money for Braintrust. Outside of the toy industry, Clive liked to fill his days with motorsport and football. He was an active racer at BARC Speed Championship for over 20 years and served as an instructor at Thruxton. He always made sure to watch the Saints whenever they played. Clive leaves behind his wife of 39 years, Heather, and their two daughters, Louise and Katie. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

The prolific inventor passed peacefully on June 20 at his home in France, surrounded by love and family, The Post can exclusively reveal.

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Estelle Harris was born on April 22, 1928 and passed away on April 2, 2022. She was best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld and for being the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story... franchise. Estelle started her career as an actress doing commercials, at one point doing 25 national commercials in one year. Her first movie was Looking Up, before becoming Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld. She also had small roles in Star Trek: Voyager, Out to Sea, The Suite Life of Zach & Cody, Dave the Barbarian, Kim Possible The Proud Family, Brother Pear, Family Guy, American Home on the Range, and a few more. However, most famously, she was the voice behind Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 2, 3, and 4. Estelle was married to Sy Harris, and together they had two sons and a daughter. Sy passed away about a year before his wife, but the two were married for almost 70 years.Show more

Michael G. Landsman was born in Chicago and grew up in West Rogers and Oak Park. His long and fulfilling career was spent in the toy industry; he was the CEO and president of various different compani...es: Superior Toy, Tudor Games, Peoria Plastics, HG Toys, and Mingle Toys. Michael loved golf, card games, traveling, and spending time with his family. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Kevin James Reeder was born on November 30, 1956 and passed away on April 21, 2021. Kevin was a designer and an educator. He taught at various colleges, including Stanford, Ohio State, Georgia Tec...h, and University of Illinois. He taught Industrial Design, and was thought od as one of the top design educators in the United States. As a designer, he created products for Discovery and Mattel, to name a few. His work is featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History--wood sculptures, marionettes, jewelry boxes, drawings, and small animals. Kevin was a family man, he had a wonderful wife Mardia Bishop, and three children, Jack, Matthew, and Leia. He loved to spend time with them, drawing, building snow and sand sculptures, coaching t-ball and soccer, playing int he ocean, and teaching them the proper way to dip a French fry in ketchup. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all that knew and loved him.Show more