Tiger Electronics, also known as Tiger or Tiger Toys, is an American toy manufacturing company who ordered the manufacturing of and distributed Furby. They were bought by Hasbro[1] in 1998, the same year the Furby was released.
The company's primary focus and their main cash-cow were LCD handhelds, that were often based on movies or TV shows. Their goal was to sell handhelds under the general market, selling for $20 when others were selling for $30. Some licenses they were given to create LCD handhelds include Spiderman, RoboCop, Terminator. It was their main source of income during the 1990s.
They first released phonographs (record players) after the company's creation, including one that was Mickey Mouse branded. In 1984 they released K28: Tiger's Talking Learning Computer, which was sold worldwide. In 1992, they released Talkboy, and its deluxe model released the following year was one of the biggest toy sensations of 1993. They bought the 1978 2-XL robot from the Mego Corporation in 1992. It was considered the first "smart-toy" in the 70s. Tiger's 1992 release received awards and a TV show.[2]
Founders[]
Randy Rissman and Roger Shiffman lead the company as CEOs and co-founders. Co-founder status is also given to share-owners Gerald Rissman (Randy's father), and later shareholders, Gerald's sons Arnold and Samuel. Founded in 1978, Randy's father Gerald Rissman likely funded the company and owned a majority of the shares. In 1979, Gerald kept 400 shares, giving his three sons shares: Randy/Randall 400, Arnold 100, and Samuel 100. In 1986 both Gerald and Samuel withdrew from the venture. Tiger bought Gerald's stock, and Arnold bought Samuel's, leaving Randall with 2/323 of the shares and Arnold with the rest.[3]
There was a court case in May 2000 involving a fallout with Randy and Arnold. Arnold sold his shares to Randy for $17 million, however a little over a year later the entire company was sold for $335 to Hasbro and Arnold sued saying he wouldn't have sold for that amount. He claimed to be deceived by one of Randy's past verbal statements saying he would not sell the company, though Randy completely denies this as it was not on any written paperwork. He appealed and lost both cases.[4][5][6]
References[]
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbro
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Electronics
- ↑ https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1014155.html
- ↑ https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1014155.html
- ↑ https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1193482.html
- ↑ https://www.quimbee.com/cases/rissman-v-rissman