The Amazing Toys of Marvin Glass
by Joyce Grant
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
ISBN-13: 978-0764351259
$24.99

I raved about this book in this blog a few weeks ago because The Amazing Toys of Marvin Glass is the perfect holiday gift for the young at heart who fondly recall the toys designed by the genius, Marvin Glass. This book is a long overdue tribute to one of the most prolific toy inventors in American history. Joyce Grant has compiled an amazing archive of images of the toys designed by Marvin Glass and Associates.

Marvin Glass was a toy inventor of humble beginnings who formed his toy design and engineering firm in Chicago in 1941. MGA became the first independent design firm in the toy industry, placing their creations with different toy firms, eventually creating a stable of iconic toys that were manufactured by Hasbro, Mattel, Ideal, Milton Bradley, the Marx Toy Company, and dozens of other toymakers.

The roll call of toys invented by Marvin Glass and Associates includes such classics as Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, the game Mousetrap, the game Operation, Mr. Machine, Lite Brite, SSP Cars, the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, Mystery Date, Inch Worm, and hundreds of other memorable toys. You will find photographs of well over a hundred of his inventions in this book.

This not an in-depth biography. The Amazing Toys of Marvin Glass is essentially a lavishly-illustrated coffee table book and as such is completely successful in its mission of showing us the vast expanse of memorable toys brought to us by Marvin Glass and Associates. .

The pure nostalgic glee that a reader of a certain age will get flipping through this book is comparable only to hopping in a time machine and revisiting your favorite childhood toy store. The point driven home by collecting all these images in one book is the sheer amazing scope of how one design firm managed to create so many hugely successful toys for so many competing toy companies.

You can find The Amazing Toys of Marvin Glass at Amazon, or order through any local bookstore using the ISBN number provided.