Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American

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 p ...

brand owned by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including

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

for the original series of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'' and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' as well as die cast models. The company underwent numerous acquisitions and mergers throughout its lifetime, starting with by

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

in 1967, which eventually spun it off alongside

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

in 1985 as Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. In 1987, Kenner Parker was acquired by

Tonka Tonka is an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks. The company was founded in 1946 and operated as an independent manufacturer of popular steel toy construction type trucks and machinery, until its sale to Hasbro in 1991. Histor ...

, which in turn was purchased by Hasbro in 1991. Hasbro closed and merged Kenner's offices and products in 2000. The brand was reintroduced by Hasbro in 2010 with the release of ''Star Wars'': The Vintage Collection.

History

Kenner was founded in 1946 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, by brothers Albert, Philip and Joseph L. Steiner. The company was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, just north of

Cincinnati Union Terminal Cincinnati Union Terminal is an intercity train station and museum center in the Queensgate, Cincinnati, Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Commonly abbreviated as CUT, or by its Amtrak station code, CIN, the Railroad terminal, termin ...

. It was a pioneer in the use of

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for the marketing of merchandise across the United States, beginning in 1958. In 1962, Kenner introduced its corporate mascot, the Kenner Gooney Bird, and its company slogan ''"It's Kenner! It's fun!"'' for advertising. In 1968, the company commissioned Muppets creator

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

to create an

Easy-Bake Oven The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven introduced in 1963 and manufactured by Kenner and later by Hasbro. The original toy used a pair of ordinary incandescent light bulbs as a heat source; current versions use a true heating element. Kenner ...

ad, which featured the Kenner Gooney Bird in puppet form. Later in 1969, the puppet would be repurposed as the ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, 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 Worksh ...

'' character Little Bird. The Bird was phased out by 1974. The company was purchased by the food company

in 1967. In 1971, General Mills merged its Rainbow Crafts division into Kenner, bringing Play-Doh into the Kenner product line. In 1985, General Mills would spin-off both its Kenner and

toy divisions to form Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. The following year Kenner Parker sold off its Lionel Trains division. Kenner Parker was acquired by

in 1987. Under Tonka management, Kenner Products was reconstituted as a division. Tonka (including Kenner) was purchased by the toy company Hasbro in mid-1991. Hasbro closed the Cincinnati offices of Kenner in 2000, and Kenner's product lines were merged into Hasbro's.

Products and product lines

One of Kenner's original products was the "Bubble-Matic," a toy gun that blew bubbles. An "updated" version was available at least as late as the mid-1960s. Kenner introduced its popular Girder and Panel building sets construction toy in 1957, the Give-a-Show projector in 1959, the

in 1963, the Electric Mold Master also in 1963, the Spirograph drawing toy in 1966, and the

Starting Lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are substitutes or b ...

sports action figure collectible line in 1988. Kenner Products obtained the rights to produce

Star Wars action figures The Kenner Star Wars action figures were produced by the toy company Kenner, which released 96 action figures, multiple vehicles and playsets based on the ''Star Wars'' franchise between 1978 and 1985. From a line of over 100 unique toys, a to ...

and playsets for the ''

'' trilogy from 1976 through 1985. After Kenner acquired the license to produce ''Star Wars'' toys when the

Mego Corporation Mego Corporation () is an American toy company that in its original iteration was first founded in 1954. Originally known as a purveyor of dime store toys, in 1971 the company shifted direction and became famous for producing licensed action figu ...

rejected it in 1976, Kenner popularized the 3.75 inch

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, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These figures are usually ...

that became an industry standard. Kenner also produced toys related to the popular 1970s TV series ''

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...

'' and the 1979 sci-fi movie '' Alien''. In 1981, Kenner belatedly entered the diecast toy car market, with a short-lived range called Fast 111's. The 1980s also saw the release of the "Fashion Star Fillies" line of model horses, a product discontinued by the end of the decade. One of Kenner's most highly acclaimed lines was the

Super Powers Collection The Super Powers Collection was a line of action figures based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains that was created by Kenner Products in the 1980s. History In 1984, DC Comics awarded the master toy license of their characters to Kenner ...

, produced from 1984 to 1986. These action figures were based on the famed superheroes of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. What made the line so successful was that the characters were modeled almost exactly from the style guide of the company; and also, each character performed some "action." For example, if

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

's legs are squeezed, he would throw a punch. Furthermore, Kenner was able to commission some of the characters' creators like

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

for his

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

characters and

George Perez George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

for

Cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Fifty Who Made DC Great'' for its work on the Super Powers Collection. One of the more popular action figure lines in the late 1980s was Kenner's ''

The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off and sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran on ABC between September 13, 1986 and October 5, 1991, and was a joint production of DIC Enter ...

'', based on the 1986-1991 animated series adaptation of the 1984 feature film ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

''. The toy line debuted the same year as the cartoon and continued production through most of its run. Although the initial releases accurately resembled ''The Real Ghostbusters'' cartoon designs, unlike Super Powers, the toy line very soon stopped attempting to be faithful to the existing source material. Instead, new, original costumes, weapons and ghost characters were designed by Kenner, many of them centered on unique action features, similar to those popularized by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

's competing ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

'' toy line as well as Kenner's earlier Super Powers toy line. This idea of basing a toy line on well-known characters but then coming up with original designs that were not based on any published storylines represented a major shift in the design approach to action figure toy lines at the time. In previous years, one major approach to producing toy lines was to base them closely on popular, well-known characters from properties like ''Star Wars'',

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, or DC Comics. The other major approach was for the toy companies to invent their own original characters and then help produce comic books and cartoons that promoted those exact designs (e.g.,

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

and

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

and Mattel's ''Masters of the Universe''). In a departure from this, Kenner did not have any arrangement to incorporate their new concepts and designs into ''The Real Ghostbusters'' cartoons or comic books. This looser approach to the source material of licensed toy lines continued with Kenner's Dark Knight Collection, launched in 1990 and the first of their numerous lines based on the

character. This initial set was created to capitalize on the phenomenal success of the cinematic version of the character, releasing vehicles (such as the

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional land vehicle driven by the superhero Batman, used both to patrol Gotham City looking for crime and to engage in car chases or vehicular combat with the city's criminal underworld. The Batmobile is one of a suite o ...

or Batplane) inspired on the highly successful 1989 film. Kenner also made vehicles from the ''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' is a 1995 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is the third installment of the ''Batman'' film series, acting as a standalone sequel to ''Batman Returns''. Directe ...

'' movie (1995). Later toy lines expanded beyond the movie series and took inspiration from Batman's animated series and comic book incarnations. Kenner went on to develop lines centered on Superman and other DC Comics characters as well. As with ''The Real Ghostbusters'', most of these DC Comics lines incorporated multi-colored costumes, weapons and action features which were not based directly on any existing storylines, although the character names and likenesses were typically drawn from the source material. This design approach to the DC Comics toy lines was continued to a large extent by Mattel when they took over the DC Comics license and produced lines based on the movies ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

'', ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005), and the second inst ...

'' and ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer, and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It serves as a homage ...

'' as well as the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

cartoons. Hasbro, Kenner's eventual buyer, has taken a similar approach with some of their action figure lines, most notably on their 2010 3.75"

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

action figure line as well as some of their 2009 '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' product. In 1998, the ''Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect'' line was released but sales were less than expected. The ''Night Hunter'' series, the second line of toys based on ''Chaos Effect'', was planned for 1999, but was cancelled due to poor sales. The ''Jurassic Park'' series became more of an annoyance to Hasbro rather than a trademark brand name. Due to this, the overproduction of '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' toys, coupled with low sales, forced Hasbro to downsize by getting rid of the Kenner department in Cincinnati. 100 people were transferred and 420 were laid off. Among these 420 was the ''Jurassic Park'' design team (which also designed ''Batman'' among other toy lines), who had just started the very early concepts for ''

Jurassic Park III ''Jurassic Park III'' is a 2001 American Science fiction film, science fiction adventure film, adventure action film directed by Joe Johnston and written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor (writer), Jim Taylor. It is the third ...

''. Because of this, Hasbro assigned the toys from ''Jurassic Park III'' to their ''Star Wars'' design team, who scaled the humans to be in size with ''Star Wars'' figures and made the style of the toys similar to the ones from '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones''. In 2010, Hasbro began releasing modern ''Star Wars'' action figures with packaging reminiscent of the original Kenner 1978–1984 Star Wars product line. Star Wars: The Vintage Collection is composed of new highly pose-able figures, with screen-accurate likenesses. Hasbro had done this twice before, with the 2004 "vintage" Original Trilogy Collection and the 2006–2007 "vintage" Saga Collection but this is the first time that their Star Wars line was entirely dedicated to replica Kenner carded figures.

List of product lines

* '' Alien'' * Always Sisters * Baby Alive * Banjo-Matic * '' Batman & Robin'' * ''

'' * ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...

'' * '' Batman: The Animated Series'' * Batman Total Justice * Battle Brawlers * '' Beast Machines: Transformers'' * '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' * Beat the Buzz * ''

Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American Gothic film, gothic dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell (author), Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson (sc ...

'' * Big Burger Grill * '' Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures'' * ''

The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction film, science fiction Action-adventure fiction, action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson (producer), Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel Cyborg (novel), ''Cyborg'' by ...

'' * Blythe * Bone Age * Bride Surprise * Bubbl-Matic * Building Blasters * Building Boulders, Flintstones * '' Butch and Sundance: The Early Days'' * ''

Capitol Critters ''Capitol Critters'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Steven Bochco Productions and Hanna-Barbera in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The show is about the lives of mice, rats, and roaches who reside in the basem ...

'' * '' Captain Planet and the Planeteers '' * ''

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in ''The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings'' (1983) and ...

'' * Care Bear Cousins * Cassette Movie Projector * '' Centurions'' * '' Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos'' * Close 'n Play * '' Congo'' * Daddy Saddle * Darci Covergirl * ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue, based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' * Duke * Dusty * Easy Bake Oven * Fairy Winkles
Fashion Star Fillies
* Fast 111's * Finger Pops * Fluppy Dogs * '' G.I. Joe Extreme'' * '' Gargoyles'' * Girder and Panel building sets * Give-A-Show Projector * Glamour Gals * Gun That Shoots Around the Corner * Hardy Boys, The * Home Workshop, Motorized * Hugga Bunch * Hugo * Ice Bird, with five flavor packets * ''

'' * '' Knight Rider'' * Li'l Loggers * '' Littlest Pet Shop'' * Mega Force * Megabug Gladiators * '' M.A.S.K.'' * Milky, the Marvelous Milking Cow * Movie Viewer * '' Mummies Alive!'' * My Magic Genie * Pistol That Shoots Around the Corner * Play-Doh * Play 'n Play Back Organ * ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to o ...

'' * Power Sub * ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

'' * ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...

'' * ''

'' * Red Line * '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' * '' RoboCop: The Animated Series'' * Robotman & Stellar * Rose Petal Place * Rotodraw * Run Joe Run * Savage Mondo Blitzers * Say It! Play It! * Scuba Squad * Sea Wees * ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'' * Shadow Strikers * '' SilverHawks'' * ''

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

'' * Technozoids (

Zoids is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Tomy that feature giant robots (or "mecha") called Zoids, with designs being based on animals; including dinosaurs, mammals, insects, arachnids and mythological creatures. The franchise ...

) * Sip-Along Sam * ''

'' * '' Sky Commanders'' * '' Small Soldiers'' * Spirograph * SSP (Super Sonic Power) Vehicles and Smash Up Derby * ''

'' *

* ''

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry shortcake may refer to: * Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries * Strawberry Shortcake, a cartoon character and franchise created by American Greetings ** Strawberry Shortcake (TV series), ''Strawberry Sho ...

'' * Stretch Armstrong *

* '' Superman: The Animated Series'' * ''

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

'' * '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' * TTP (Turbo Tower of Power) Vehicles * Turn-A-Tune * VR Troopers * Vor-Tech * ''

Waterworld ''WaterWorld'', also known as ''WaterWorld: A Live Sea War Spectacular'', is a stunt show attraction based on the 1995 film '' Waterworld'' found at Universal Studios Hollywood (1995), Universal Studios Japan (2001), Universal Studios Singap ...

'' * Wish World Kids * XRC * Zippity Speedway * Zoom-Loom Automatic Weaving Machine

Notes

References

External links

The History of Kenner
on KennerToys.com (archived)

on The Old Toy Guide (archived) {{Authority control Defunct companies based in Cincinnati Toy companies of the United States Toy companies established in 1947 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000 Former Hasbro subsidiaries 1947 establishments in Ohio 2000 disestablishments in Ohio 1967 mergers and acquisitions 1987 mergers and acquisitions 1991 mergers and acquisitions

History

Products and product lines

List of product lines

See also

Notes

References

External links