Topper Corporation was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pe ...

and

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a ...

manufacturer based in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. The company, founded and run by

Henry Orenstein Henry Orenstein (born Henryk Orenstein; October 13, 1923 – December 14, 2021) was a Polish-born Jewish-American toymaker, professional poker player, entrepreneur and Holocaust survivor who resided in Verona, New Jersey. A survivor of five Naz ...

, a holocaust survivor, produced toys under several brand names including:

Johnny Lightning Johnny Lightning is a brand of diecast model cars launched in 1969 by Topper Corporation (owner of the "Topper Toys" brand), similar to the hugely successful Mattel's Hot Wheels cars. Their claim to fame at that time was that they were extremely ...

(

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototype ...

cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

, released in 1969), Johnny Seven OMA (

toy weapon Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns From Gilroy Gardens and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, prices ...

), Dawn doll, and

Suzy Homemaker Suzy Homemaker was a line of miniature functional toy household appliances produced by Topper Toys and launched in 1966. Topper Toys created a line of accessory toys to be bought separately, which included items such as a small working oven, a va ...

. Products manufactured and commercialised by Deluxe Reading included scale model cars, toy weapons,

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

s, toy robots,

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually marketed ...

s, among others. After a failed attempt to take the company public, Topper Toys closed in 1971 and went into bankruptcy in 1973.

Overview

The company was originally established by

as "Deluxe Toy Creations" in 1951. In late 1950s, Orenstein sold the company for $2 million (although he continued in charge of the business), and the name was changed to "Deluxe Reading Toys". Orenstein would buy back the company in 1966 for $49 million, also bringing back the "Deluxe Topper Toys" name.Topper Toys History
on JLToppers.com For boys, the

(launched in 1969) and Johnny Seven O.M.A toys were the most popular; for girls, the Dawn Doll. Deluxe Reading dolls were sold in the 1950s–1970s through supermarkets and are often referred to as Grocery Store Dolls. They were an inexpensive alternative to department store dolls, although of similar quality. Another successful toy for girls was the "Dream Kitchen" (circa 1961) which consisted of four 12-inch-tall colorful kitchen appliances, a kitchen table and four chairs. This toy was unique in that the sink worked with water, the oven contained batteries which revolved a plastic turkey on a spit inside the oven, the refrigerator had pull-out shelves, and the dishwasher also worked with water. Also included were scores of food boxes, cleaning supplies, food replica items, plates, utensils and more. The box proclaimed that it held "176 pieces." The size of the set perfectly matched the size of

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiratio ...

, a toy doll which was wildly popular at that time. As of 2014, this kitchen toy set can be seen on sale (used) for up to $400. They were also the first company to manufacture ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...

'' dolls officially licensed by

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

and

Henson Associates The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

, until the company's financial problems caused CTW and Henson to terminate the contract in January 1973. The toys were packaged in large, colorful boxes that could be easily seen atop grocery store shelves. The top shelf is typically unusable for typical grocery items and this sales gimmick was used by Deluxe Reading as a selling point to retail store owners. The large, electrically operated Crusader 101 toy car is an example of the marketing concept. The Topper Toys trademark and assets were liquidated in the late 1970s, with the marks and toy molds purchased by Jay Horowitz of American Plastic Equipment, who later transferred all rights to American Plastic Equipment's subsidiary, American Classic Toys. In 2019, American Classic Toys entered into an exclusive license agreement with The Juna Group to represent the Topper Toys brand in all categories, worldwide.

Notable toys

Board games

* Charley n' Me * Fat Sam * Fingers Harry * Silly Safari

Dolls

* Baby Magic (doll) * Candy Fashion (doll) * Dawn Doll * The Go-Go's * Lil Miss Fussy * Lillie Doll * Penny Brite Doll (1963) * ''

'' (1970–73) * Suzy Cute Doll (Topper Toys 1964)

Vehicles

* Battlewagon (ship) * Crusader 101 (car) * Johnny Express (truck) *

(cars) * Johnny Speed (construction kit) * Johnny Toymaker (various) * Tiger Joe (

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

)

Toys

* The Chief (firetruck and figures) * Clock-A-Word * Defender Dan (

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...

) * Ding-A-Ling ( toy robot) * Dream Kitchen (c. 1961) * Funny Face * Jimmy Jet

military aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...

) * Johnny Astro * Johnny Eagle (pistol) * Johnny Seven OMA (rifle, 1964) * Johnny Spacemobile X-7 * Johnny Service ( repair shop) * Jimmy Jet (aircraft, 1961) * Motorized Monster Maker (kit) * Mr Pierre * Multi-Pistol 09 (1965) * Operation X-500 (rocket launcher with base, 1960) * Playmobile Dashboard (1961) * The Tigers (military

s, 1966) * Secret Sam (

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

kit) * Sixfinger (plastic finger) * Super Helmet (1966) *

Oven ;Notes

References

{{Reflist Toy companies of the United States Defunct toy manufacturers Defunct companies based in New Jersey Companies based in Essex County, New Jersey