Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Norman was born on October 2, 1927 and passed away on October 29, 2025. He was the co-founder of LJN Toys, which he founded with Jack Friedman. LJN became one of the first toy companies to use TV. mov...ie, and personality licensing with big names like Rookies, SWAT, Emergency, Betsy Clark, Disney, Gumby and many others. Norman was married to Loretta Varon Lewis—they shared over 50 years together. They also raised three sons together, and went on to become grandparents to nine and great-grandparents to three. Outside of the toy industry, Norman loved golf, traveling, and spending time with his family.Show more

Richard Weintraub was born on September 25, 1947 and passed away on August 22, 2025. From a young age, Richard knew he would find a career in the toy industry, as his father, Lionel Weintraub was the ...President of Ideal Toys. Richie’s journey began at Ideal, and from there he made his mark at Galoob, Tyco, and finally Mattel, where he spent the bulk of his career as Senior Vice President of Research & Development. During his time at Galoob, Richie spent ten formative years in Hong Kong, expanding his horizons and deepening his global perspective. Outside of the toy industry, Richard was also a musician. He played in bands and performed in karaoke bars in all the cities he lived in. He was also a technology whiz: after retiring from toys, he was an Apple Genius at the Genius Bar in Manhattan.Show more

Mario Pasin was born on February 6, 1930 and passed away on August 18, 2025. Mario attended Notre Dame for college, and in the 1960s, he inherited his father's company, Radio Flyer, which he proudly l...ed from the 1960s through the 1990s. In 1959, he married Mary Kay, and the pair shared 66 years of marriage, 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Mario will be remembered for his kindness, patience, humility, generosity, and love for all things Radio Flyer.Show more

Sir Torquil Patrick Alexander Norman was born on April 11, 1933 and passed away on March 19, 2025. He was a British businessman, aircraft enthusiast, and arts philanthropist. He studied at Eton Co...llege, Harvard University, and Trinity College, Cambridge, served his Natinoal Service in the Fleet Air Arm, and worked as an investment banker in the United States for 11 years before returning to the United Kingdom and making his entré into the toy industry. He started out as the chief executive of Berwick Timpo toy company, but in 1980 founded Bluebird Toys, the company that created the Big Yellow Teapot House, the Big Red Fun Bus, and the Polly Pocket line of dolls.Show more

Jim Shooter was born on September 27, 1951 and passed away on June 30, 2025. He is best down as the Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics. Jim's interest in comics began in the hospital at age 12 when h...e had a lot of time on his hands following a minor surgery. He immediately took a liking to Marvel Comics, which had begun publication only two years earlier. He thought that if he learned to write the types of stories that Marvel published, he would be an asset to DC Comics, who he felt were slightly behind. He spent about a year reading and studying comics from both companies. At age 13, he wrote and drew comics featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes and sent them to DC Comics. The next year, Mort Weisinger, an editor at DC Comics, called Jim and said he wanted to purchase the stories he'd sent and commissioned him to write Supergirl and Superman comics. Eventually, this led to a full time position, and at age 14, Jim worked for Legion. He was involved on Karate Kid, Ferro Lad, Princess Projectra, and the Fatal Five. He also created the Superman villain Parasite. In 1969, Jim got into New York University and attended briefly, but simultaneously got a job at Marvel. He found he was unable to juggle all three commitments: school, Marvel, and DC, and decided to quit school and DC Comics. He worked at Marvel for just three weeks after being unable to afford living in New York. He returned to Pittsburgh, where he grew up, and did a bunch of odd jobs before applying again to marvel and DC. He received offers from both and ultimately landed back at DC, as he was offered the chance to write Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes. In 1975, Marvel editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman offered Jim an editorial position. By 1978, he was Editor-in-Chief. During his nine-year tenure in this position, he oversaw Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run on the Uncanny X-Men, Byrne's work on Fantastic Four, Frank Miller's series of Daredevil stories, Walt Simonson's crafting of Norse mythology with the Marvel Universe in Thor, and Roger Stern's runs on both Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man. After his time at Marvel, he founded a new company: Voyager Communications, which was unde rthe Valiant Comics umbrella. In 1993, he founded Defiant Comics, but this brand failed to secure an audience and went out of business about a year later. In 1995, he founded Broadway Comics, but its parent company, Broadway Videos, sold the properties to Golden Books. In the early 200s, Jim worked for a number of different companies writing comics, including Illustrated Media, DC Comics, Valiant Entertainment, and Dark Horse Comics. In his later years, he worked as consulting editor and freelance writer for custom comics company Illustrated Media.Show more

George Soulakis, Jr. was born on January 11, 1936 and passed away on June 6, 2025. After high school, he joined the US Navy before graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in mechanical ...engineering. George started his career at Mattel and was promoted to Vice President of Orient Development. He's best known for designing Sizzlers, a Hot Wheels brand, in 1970. Part of his success with his brand came from his visit to General Electric, where he had a special battery made, which resulted in the first rechargeable nickel cadmium battery. In 1972, he suggested that Mattel use the Tampoprint process to apply graphics on the Hot Wheels, which was adopted and resulted in more style and flash. George has over 30 patents revolving around the mechanisms for launching toy cars, giving their wheels sound, toy car remote control driving, and a helical racetrack system.Show more

Peter Brown was born in 1944 and started his career in the toy industry in 1966 with Mettoy. He went on to lead the U.S. subsidiary of Britains Petite's until 1983. He then returned to the UK, where h...e worked to form Tomy UK, and was involved in the establishment of brands like Silvanian Families, Zoids, and games like Pop-Up Pirate. In 1990, he joined the Fence Club and served as the Chairman in 2003/2004. He was also the Chairman of the British Toy & Hobby Association. In 2011, he was honored with the Toy Retailers Association's 'Personality of the Year award' and the Lifetime Achievement award. In 1999, he founded Flair Products, which brought many brands including Plasticine, Sticklebricks, and Sylvanian Families. Flair was acquired by Giochi Preziosi in 2008.Show more

Shunsaku Tamiya was born on December 19, 1934 and passed away on July 18, 2025. After graduating from Waseda University, Shunsaku took over his father's sawmill business, Tamiya Co., eventually sc...aling it into one of the largest radio-controlled car and scale model kit manufacturers in the world. The kits were known not only for being extremely high quality, but also for being extremely accurate. Shunsaku wsa still serving as the chairman of the Japanese company when he passed. He was 90 years old.Show more

Julian LeFay was born on October 30, 1965 as Benni Jensen. He passed away on July 22, 2025, He is best known for his work on the Elder Scrolls games. Julia started his career working on PC, Amiga..., and NES projects as a programmer and composer. He worked on Where's Waldo? and Sword of Sodan. He joined Bethesda Softworks shortly after the company's inception in 1987. He was the Chief Engineer and led the creation of games like the Terminator 2029, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, and An elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire. He's also referred to as The Father of The Elder Scrolls, and the deity Julianos is based on him. He quit Bethesda in 1998 and briefly worked at Sega. In 2019, he co-founded the independent game studio Oncelost games with his former Bethesda coworkers Ted Peterson and Vijay Lakeshman. They were working on a new role-playing game called The Wayward Realms, which was unveiled in 2021. In 2021, he became the Chief Technology Officer or Licorice, where he was responsible for building the company's servers and technical infrastructure. In July 2025, OnceLost Games announced that LeFay had terminal cancer, and he passed away at the age of 59 that month.Show more

Rene Kirby was born on February 27, 1955 and passed away on July 11, 2025. He is best known for his role of Walt in the film Shallow Hal. Rene was born with spina bifida and had esophagus, kidney, ...and bladder issues. His character, Walt, in Shallow Hal, also had spina bifida, and he became known for this role. He also appeared as Phil Rupp in the movie Stuck on You, and his final screen role was in a 2005 episode of Carnivàle. His brother, Jon Kirby, confirmed the news of his death to a local Vermont publication, Seven Days. He revealed that Rene had been hospitalized two months earlier due to some infections.Show more