spin master final book

1

T H E F I R S T 2 0 Y E A R S

J A M I E S O N C O C H R A N E & S U Z A N N E M I C H E L E

SPIN MASTERT h e F i r s t 2 0 Ye a r s

Written by: JAMIESON COCHRANE

Illustrated & designed by: SUZANNE MICHELE

In March 2014 I received a call from Anton asking if

I would deliver the keynote address at Spin Master’s

20th anniversary celebration. He suggested that

I interview a whole cast of Spin Master partners:

inventors, retailers, industry legends, and members of

staff – to define what he described as “Spin Master’s

secret sauce”. So I embarked on this task of discovery,

spending over 50 hours talking to people about Spin

Master. The results absolutely confirmed my own

experience of partnering with Ronnen, Ben and Anton

over the last 5 years.

Simply put, I have never worked

with such a creative, determined,

passionate, relentlessly dissatisfied,

and courageous bunch of guys.

OREWORDF2

However that was not what I was expecting when

I very first met them… How could 3 guys run one

company? How could such a chaotic culture and

working environment deliver sustainable brands?

And how could a company where professionalism is

trumped by passion win in today’s global toy market?

The answers to these questions is the very secret

sauce of Spin Master, the unique DNA, that all

my interviews uncovered. It is the extraordinary

collaboration that exists between Ronnen, Ben and

Anton: a creative tension, a mutual respect, and a

shared passion that has been tried, and very much

tested, since they emerged as school friends in 1994.

During 2012-13, I shared very closely with the guys in

what was probably the toughest time in the history

of the company. Despite the challenges they faced,

never once did the guys hide or shy away from doing

the right things for the company and its people. It is

of course easier to be great collaborators in the good

times, but their secret sauce worked in the intensity of

adversity too.

Spin Master is now fit for the future. Whilst this book is a celebration of the last 20 years, I am always amazed by Ronnen, Ben, and Anton’s desire to learn, adapt, and look forward. I wish my friends the very best for the next 20 years, I trust that this book will inspire others to join the collaborative endeavour that is at the heart of the guys.

Simon Gardner

Owner, Step Up Consultancy and former President

of Europe & CMO, Hasbro

December 2014

To put it simply, Spin Master is the Apple of our industry, but we have THREE Steve Jobs!

~SIMON GARDNER, Owner of Step Up Consultancy and former President of Europe & CMO, Hasbro

3

Before three...

4

Anton Rabie and Ronnen Harary met at

summer camp at age 8, continuing their

close friendship through high school

and at Western University. Recognizing

similar backgrounds and shared values

of competitiveness, a desire to build

and create, and entrepreneurialism, the

pair started a small venture together.

Featuring candid student photos from

Frosh Week, their Campus Faces posters

were distributed to students, printed

with advertising sold to local businesses.

Their hugely successful venture spread

to six other campuses over the next four

years and the pair decided to continue

this partnership beyond school. It was

also at Western that Anton befriended a

colourful character in his business classes,

Ben Varadi.

became

We got to know that we loved working together. We had common values, we wanted to build something together.

~ANTON RABIE, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO5

We doubled down and did whatever was necessary to make it happen. ~RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

After 4 years operating a profitable student

venture, Ronnen and Anton decided to start

a business partnership. An early opportunity

came about when Ronnen’s mom Odette

Levy shared a newspaper story of a hot new

Israeli item: pantyhose-covered sawdust

heads, with grass seeds which grew like

hair. Grandmother Sophie Levy gave them

a few and based upon its overseas success,

Ronnen and Anton opted to manufacture

and sell them in Canada. Every flat surface

of Odette’s home became the nascent

entrepreneurs’ first informal “factory”.

New to consumer goods, they asked advice

of many. Ronnen developed a talent for

sourcing and logistics, while Anton honed

his sales skills. Hustling the items on the

street and to specialty retailers such as

Roots, the team moved their expanding

operation to a dedicated facility, eventually

growing to over 200 staff. Anton’s college

pal Ben Varadi offered to assist and, with

his shared passion and values, soon became

the trusted third partner.

Seeing an opportunity to help others while

getting the assistance they themselves

needed, homeless and immigrant workers

were hired. What the team lacked in

experience they made up for in unwavering

perseverance. When Ronnen’s tenacity

scored a $2 million conditional sale to

Kmart, they rolled the dice and produced

half a million items on spec. Toiling day and

night to be ready for the Christmas season,

their risky gamble paid off. Earth Buddy

became a novelty hit, and three newly

minted partners began looking for the next

opportunity to reinvest their earnings.

SuccessThe FIRST SEEDS of

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Working with these young people has inspired me... After being unemployed for three years, it has been very uplifting here.

~BOB WAKELAM, Earth Buddy

Floor Manager

7

Maybe

a TOY companywe could be...

The unexpected success of Earth Buddy spurred the newly

formed trio to find another grass-roots moneymaking

opportunity and maintain their momentum.

?

Having seen many teens playing with pairs of

homemade juggling batons called Devil Sticks, Ronnen

suggested a mass-produced version of the toy.

After first proving successful in Canada, American

buyers at New York Toy Fair were open to testing

the item. The partners sent college students on a

cross-country van tour to demo and sell the product

at retail, an unheard of marketing commitment that

paid off in sales. The firm formerly known as Seiger

Marketing was renamed Spin Master in homage to

their new successful product and the partners decided

to concentrate future efforts within the toy sector.

Bucking the trend of Canadian companies serving

solely as distributors of American toys, they vowed

to develop original products and work directly with

American retailers, with no real understanding of what

this undertaking would entail.

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They knew a great idea and as

entrepreneurs they could identify

that, but they fell into toys. It could

have been gluten-free soups if it

had been 15 years later. ~MATT WEXLER, former Executive Producer Spin Master Entertainment

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Investing everything into R&D, we trusted that in the future we could create a better consumer experience with more cool, fun, and magical products than anyone else. ~ANTON RABIE, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

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The boys looked like they were just

out of school…which obviously

they were. Their enthusiasm was

amazing and that’s probably what

carried us forward.

~PETER MANNING, Sky Shark Inventor

“That’s a toy of the future!” ~kid in

par

k

12

Shouldn’t it have dawned on me that we were their last

stop and not their first stop? If these guys are coming

to see us, is that a good sign? This is probably where

having no experience helped. ~BEN VARADI, EVP & CCO

Two British inventors, John Dixon and Peter Manning,

brought to the partners a revolutionary concept: a

mini plane with a real moving piston motor, powered

by compressed air from a bicycle pump. It was a

miraculous toy for the time. In 1998, model planes

of this horsepower were only available from hobby

stores, required glued assembly, gasoline, and adult

supervision, and had a price tag over $100. Turned

down by every other toy company, only Spin Master

had the winning combination to buy the idea: an

enthusiastic vision of its mass-market potential, and

the extreme naïvety not to realize how complex and

expensive development and manufacturing would be.

AHEAD IN THE CLOUDS

13

When

PIGSFLY

14

PIG

The two years of development required to perfect the Sky Shark was the most challenging era of the

company’s history. The item represented a great deal of risk with a probable high rate of return by

consumers if they didn’t get it just right. With no technical experience of their own they approached many

industry veterans, hungry for knowledge and advice. They struggled to pay the bills by distributing novelty

items and risked all of their accumulated profits by investing in their dream item. Their unflagging efforts,

creative PR, and half-million dollar gamble paid off: Sky Shark was the third best selling toy of the year, a

new toy category had been invented, and the Air Hogs brand was born.15

In the toy world, most new products

come from independent inventors, just

like in Hollywood how movies come from

screenwriters. Rather than just have a few

internal people doing blue sky developments,

we have hundreds of independent people

out there dreaming up toys.

~BEN DERMER, VP Inventor Relations

A linchpin of Spin Master’s success is

fostering respectful collaboration with

hundreds of independent inventors.

Passion for innovation and a track record

for creating category-busting brands

makes Spin Master their first stop.

Friendsin

Spin Master has a personal relationship with inventors and that is what truly sets them apart from all other toy companies.

~DAVID SMALL, Inventor, Shoot the Moon

DAVID

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Inventor Retreats held semi-annually

To get brilliant ideas, you have to be very comfortable with ridiculous ideas. And Spin Master is just so comfortable with the ridiculous.

~BRENDAN BOYLE, Inventor, IDEO

Working with Spin Master is fun. Period. Although it has been a lot of work, these last few years have been the best time in my 20 years of inventing toys. Nick and I feel very lucky to have Spin as a partner.

~PETER GREENLEY, Inventor, G2 Inventions

BRENDANPETER

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with Spin Master, the business is built around friendship~DAVID FUHRER, BlueSquare Innovations

18

FLYING OURSELVES

By 1998 Spin Master toys were available in more than 25 countries. In a progressive

move, an office was launched in Hong Kong to advance production to a higher level of

function, and to establish Spin Master’s first factory owner relationship. The China office

changed the company. Quality Assurance and the overseeing of factories in China were

now streamlined and monitored locally, and staff still continue to build and nurture a

strong network of manufacturing and sourcing partners throughout East Asia.

20

ALL THE WAY TO CHINA

The recently established China Innovation Centre and Softgoods R&D workshop

help bring to fruition such blue sky concepts as Flutterbye Fairy. The heart of the

company’s Operations, Spin Master Asia has grown from a single person to several

hundred, with a second China office opened in Dongguan in 2006, and a third in

Nanjing in 2009.

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Our Chinese manufacturing partners’ desire to win is 100% aligned with our own. ~RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

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we have built a unique culture at Spin Master!~CW YUEN, SVP & GM SPIN MASTER ASIA

By the late 1990s Spin Master was a going

concern in terms of tremendous growth and

opportunity, yet the young entrepreneurs

lacked the business acumen to lead a large

company. Casting ego aside in favour of

positive development, the partners often

asked for advice and assistance along the way

from mentors in various fields. In addition,

the partners brought together five leaders of

Canadian industry to share their invaluable

business experience and networks: Colleen

Fleming of Nestlé Canada, John Clinton of

Grey Canada, Kingsley Ward of VRG Capital,

Derrick Milne of Trimark Athletic Supplies,

and Rick Blickstead of People’s Jewellers and

Walmart Canada.

Adv soryin Effect

They had a genuine interest to learn from people they did business with. Everybody they came across was their mentor in one way or another.

~JON LEVY, Co-founder & CEO, Mastermind Toys

These guys knew at that time they didn’t know everything. They knew they had to learn a lot. They knew they needed help from people.

~MARK DINGES, Owner, California Creations, early distribution partner

They always seem to find the answers. If they don’t have the answer, they go out and they find the answer. They don’t think that they know it all.

~JIM SILVER, Editor-in-Chief, TTPM

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It’s like a game of chess...there are so many players. I love the art of business.

~ANTON RABIE, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

I do love my job. If I were to measure my success in laughs, I’ve done very well for myself.

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BenVARADI

we were all just having fun, while delivering fun.~JAMES MARTIN, GBU LEAD ROBOTICS

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And for Our Next Trick...

And for Our Next Trick...

These guys were presenting

products like they were going to change the world. And

you knew then, straight away, that

this company was really going

somewhere.

Flick Trix solidified Spin

Master’s relationships with

mass retailers, proving that

the company could recognize

and capitalize on trends and

engineer other hit toys beyond Air Hogs. Aside from

their working brakes and steering, licensing partnerships

with popular BMX brands - such as Mongoose, Redline,

and Huffy - gave the 2.5” replica bikes instant cred with

kids and collectors alike. The brand’s success drove the

5-year-old company over the $100 million mark.

~RICHARD BARRY, EVP Chief Merchandising Officer, Toys “R” Us, Inc

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Conor Forkan, GBU Lead Air Hogs

Capitalizing on parents’ nostalgia by rereleasing old products is a common toy

and entertainment industry trope. Not content to simply reissue a 1970s sensation

however, Spin Master partnered with Shrinky Dinks’ Betty Morris and paired it

with a child-friendly model oven by inventor Harry Moorhouse. The resulting

product combination retained the item’s familiarity and marketability but with a

twist that allowed children to “bake” the product without parents’ assistance.

Of all of the Shrinky Dinks items produced over the years,

nothing is as exciting as the incredible

Shrinky Dinks Maker!

~BETTY MORRIS, Shrinky Dinks Co-Creator

Not One to

SHRINK from aCHALLENGE

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The company had grown to a point that it was regularly

advertising its products on TV. In the Spin Master

tradition of naively taking a leap into the unknown,

the decision was made to launch an internal marketing

and advertising team, led by Tamara Horowitz, VP

& Executive Producer, to save on agency fees

and retain creative control. While some

productions were created entirely in-

house, others were executed by production

vendors such as Buck Productions, Russo-

Grantham Music, Symbolic Pictures, and

gearshift who are still collaborators today.

The in-house agency went on to create

thousands of ads, sales sizzles, and demo

videos, eventually expanding to include

experiential marketing and online content.

How to Get Ahead in ADVERTISING

33

Stacy Lewis, Creative Director & Tamara Horowitz, VP & Exec Producer

Throughout the company’s history, Spin Master has been a virtuoso at creating PR to

promote its brands. This ability to make something out of virtually nothing, to create

a story where one may not have been obvious, quickly catapulted the company from

plucky upstart into the realm of its largest toy competitors. From providing media

with a story angle beyond toys [“Earth Buddy Hires Homeless From Seaton House”]

to Ben’s antic stunts [a live pig on the New York Toy Fair red carpet to promote Air

Hogs]… in the earliest days, the company could not afford significant advertising to

reach consumers and PR is free. Popular Science’s front cover was a game-changer

for Sky Shark, snowballing into mainstream interest that assured its success. With

doting Toy Fair coverage, appearances on every talk show, and covers of catalogues

and magazines, Spin Master continues to dominate in attention-getting.

35

HOTSTUFF

MAKE

MA

KE

!HO

T

!ST

UF

F

Never as a company had we been so proud as when

Ben showed Catch-a-Bubble on the iconic show of the

day, The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Rosie loved him and

it was such an innovative item.

The early 2000s marked a glorious period

of successive one-off hit products for Spin

Master, including Bounce ‘Round, The Wiggles

merchandise, and Catch-a-Bubble, bubbles that

could be caught and even stacked. The eager

partners signed a deal on an envelope to buy the

novelty’s rights at Hong Kong Toy Fair in January. With all hands on deck, Spin

Master staff had the product ready for buyers at February’s New York Toy Fair a

scant 43 days later, racking up an amazing four million orders.

Catching lightning

~JEFF HURST, VP Sales

in a bottle

36

SMALL STEPS

MightyImpact

Mighty Beanz — the age-old Mexican Jumping Bean fad modernized

as 1” plastic capsules with impish decals — were already a massive

hit in Australia for Moose Toys. Forging what would become a

lasting alliance with this similar-sized company on the other side

of the world, Spin Master negotiated North American rights.

Multiple Spin Master teams collaborated artfully to orchestrate

a localized collectible craze by releasing only limited stock, in

just one city, and airing TV ads there. With each news report of

Mighty Beanz being prohibited in local classrooms because of

kids’ fixation with the toys, national retailers’ confidence in the

brand, and consequently their product order, were significantly

boosted. Spin Master applied this Inventory Management

System (IMS) many times with future unproven items,

demonstrating their great likelihood of success before

making a larger manufacturing investment.

“The

se t

hing

s w

ere

selli

ng li

ke h

ot

cake

s” ~

New

ton,

retail sales

38

1.0”

0.5”

39

Spin Master partnered with Australian toy impresario Nir Pizmony to bring

to North America the Flip Open Sofa: a snug child-sized loveseat that

converted into a sleepover-ready foam mattress. Sleeping-bag-like Ready-

Bed was soon acquired from Worlds Apart and a full room d écor division

named Marshmallow was established. Kids loved furniture scaled to

their size and thus it belonged to them: adults couldn’t fit. Working

with licensors Marvel, Disney, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, and

virtually every other entertainment company, Marshmallow rules

the kids furniture market with hundreds of characters

from Sesame Street, TMNT, Spider-man, Toy Story,

and dozens more. Selling over $300 million and

establishing critical licensor relationships, Marshmallow

items are now ubiquitous in North American living

rooms, one of Spin Master’s greatest evergreen success es .

W O R L DIt’s a

MARSHMALLOW4

0

It was the first time furniture was sold in the toy aisle. It created a whole new category. Spin Master thought very non-traditionally compared to other toy companies.~AMY PRUZANSKY, SVP Product Development

W O R L D

41

Spin Master’s first foray into the preschool

category began through a collaboration

with inventor Takehiro Abe from

Japanese firm The Pilot Ink Company. The

technology concept of drawing fleeting

images with water instead of ink became

the Aquadoodle drawing mat, a mess-

free favourite of parents and creative kids

everywhere, racking up lifetime sales of

over $200 million.

Mr. Abe, the senior executive

of Pilot, often said ‘The

good people find each other

and the bad people find

each other’. Mr. Abe loved

Ronnen like a son.

~DAVID FUHRER, BlueSquare Innovations

Passageof

Experiencing unprecedented expansion in the

early 2000s, the three partners recognized

that the company had flourished beyond

their own limited bandwidth and self-taught

expertise. To keep pace with competitors and

continue the company’s growth, Spin Master

hired its first executive team to help guide the

company to greater and greater success.

Bringing their experience from other

corporations were CFO Mark Segal, General

Counsel Christopher Harrs, COO Iain Kennedy

and EVP Marketing & Design Mark Sullivan.

Promoted from within, Adam Beder became

VP Licensing and Chris Beardall EVP Sales.

My role was really to try and put my arms around some of the energy ... and build the infrastructure so that it actually grew profitably.

~MARK SEGAL, former CFO

These guys were feeling their way in the industry, they weren’t very corporate. My wife said, ‘Do you think you can work at a place like this?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but sure looks like a lot of fun.

~CHRIS HARRS, EVP General Counsel

Sharing LEADthe

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It is a fun, fast-paced environment. Lots going on, lots of people moving, and having a good time doing it. Energy is so high, it is contagious. You want to be part of that energy.

~CHRIS BEARDALL, EVP Global Sales

The goal was to build a foundation of highly effective processes to deliver increased speed to market and significant growth while protecting the entrepreneurial spirit and culture of innovation.

~IAIN KENNEDY, former COO

A friend said ‘you should really talk to these crazy guys up in Toronto.’ They needed a little help to jump to the next level and I seemed to make sense to help them do that.

~MARK SULLIVAN, former EVP Marketing & Design

It didn’t take long before I realized this could be a really fun place and a cool opportunity for me to diversify my experience beyond finance.

~ADAM BEDER, EVP Global Licensing

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~TAMARA HOROWITZ, VP & Executive Producer Integrated Marketing & Creative Content

it’s not your typical nine-to-five corporate gig.

46

Toronto, Canada 19

94

Fo

un

din

g o

ffi ce & global headquarters

Paris, France

Ben

tonv

ille, USA

Ho

ng

Kon

g, China

1998Manufacturing & Supply Chain

2004Showroom & Support for Walmart buyers

2004Sales & Marketing in France

WingsSpreading

our

Los Angeles, USA

Tokyo, Japan L

ond

on, U

K

2005Innovation & Inventor Relationships

2006Second Marketing & Design office

2006Sales & Marketing in UK & EU markets

Any which way you look at the company, it’s very global — our mindset, our people, our sales.


Since the company’s first international operation

in Hong Kong, Spin Master has strategically

opened offices around the world to advance the

business’s key objectives. Offices in Japan and

China aid greatly in the development of stronger

ties to the manufacturing sectors and community

of innovators throughout East Asia. European

and Mexican locations reduce dependence on

third-party distributors by building crucial retailer

relationships in those key markets. In the United

States, the Bentonville office caters to the world’s

largest retailer Walmart on their home turf while

the LA office shares design, marketing, and other

responsibilities with Toronto headquarters.

Amsterd

am, N

etherlands

Mex

ico

City

, Mexico

Bratislava, Slovakia

2006Quality Control & Innovation

2008Sales & Marketing in Latin America

2011EU Supply Chain & Multilingual Customer Care

Dongguan, China

2011EU Sales & Marketing

I feel so happy to work here. We have a great team!~LETICIA LOPEZ, Accountant Supervisor, Mexico City


Munich, Germ

any

2009Manufacturing & Supply Chain


2013Meccano Factory & Operations

Cal

ais,

France

Nan

jing, C

hina

Milan, Italy

Spin Master: Inspiration, Innovation, Empowerment, Family, Fun, Pride.~RENA TIBERIA, Manager Client Supply Chain, Toronto

the fun we have makes me want to be here every day.~RICK KEUTER, DIRECTOR BOYS DESIGN

53

In 2006, Spin Master opened an office in Los Angeles, the Entertainment nexus

of North America — arguably, the world — and home to every major animation

and film studio. The office was launched after Anton and Mark Sullivan

hired Mattel employees John Coyne, John Reale, James Knight, and Ronnie

Frankowski in a single week, and a talented group of creative, licensing, and

marketing professionals from the local toy industry soon followed suit.

Gone Hollywood

54

We’re attracting GREAT PEOPLE and there’s a proliferation of ideas.


55

Following the marketing and sales

achievements of Flick Trix, Spin Master

acquired Tech Deck, faithful replicas of

skateboards. Founders of the originating

company were motivated to sell, and Spin Master seized the

opportunity to build their aspirational line of extreme sports miniatures.

The Licensing team, led by Adam Beder, boosted the brand’s

authenticity by joining forces with the boarding world’s biggest stars

including Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez, and Tony Hawk, and virtually

every skateboard brand including Santa Cruz, Plan B, and Element.

NEWDECKDealing from a

56

Adam Beder, EVP Global Licensing

“My

gra

ndso

n lo

ves

them

and takes the

m everywhere!”

~ROSA

LYN

, cus

tom

er

with

Rooted in the company’s first foundations, Earth

Buddy, Spin Master’s Activities division has always

been the stable workhorse, developing many creative

hits such as Aquadoodle, Bendaroos, and PixOs.

Going up against the mighty Play Doh, Spin Master

partnered with Swedish inventor Jonas Modell to

launch the TOTY Award-winning Moon Sand in 2005,

Moon Dough in 2009, and Kinetic Sand in 2014.

Acquisition Dr Dreadful and his unique brand of

ewww-y gooey fun was relaunched with clever new

advancements to gross out a new generation of kids.

In-house innovations also led to the Cool Baker line

of “cooking” mini-appliances including the Cake Pop

Maker, and the threadless technology of the Sew Cool

sewing machine, both of which adapted current adult

trends to kids’ aspirational abilities.

As an inventor, I have always been surprised about how easy it is to build mutual respect

with a big company like Spin Master. I am forever grateful for what the partnership with all of

them has meant to me and my family.~JONAS MODELL, Moon Sand inventor, Delta of Sweden AB

Activity

58

59

“Sew much fun! This has been my girls’ favorite Christm

as present.” ~W

. SIDW

ELL, C

ustom

er

Strategically focusing on acquisitions, we launched a Games Division to build a

more solid base of recurring revenue.


We’re

AnythingforGame

60

Confident that retailers would support Spin Master as a second player to boardgames

top dog Hasbro, Anton worked with key staffers to acquire Imagination Games and

to consolidate dozens of small independent titles. The almost-instant Games Division

attracted to Spin Master a team of board game marketing and development veterans

who worked quickly to make Games the most profitable division of the company.

Following the sales successes of Hedbanz, Logo, Fibber, and others, Boom Boom Balloon

went on to win the company’s first ever Game of the Year TOTY Award. Staff Games

Night has become a much enjoyed Sales Summit tradition twice every year.6

1

Recalling Aqua Dots

The true test of the bonds forged during the good times emerges when

things go terribly wrong. Spin Master’s biggest such challenge came with

the Aqua Dots product safety recall. This dark period pushed staff to their

limits and challenged the years of accrued goodwill and respect earned

with the company’s partners throughout the toy industry.

Heading into the 2007 Christmas season, Spin Master had been

distributing the activity toy Aqua Dots, already a standout with kids and

on track to be one of the company’s biggest successes. In early November

however it was discovered that a chemical compound in the binding agent

had been substituted by the factory in China, causing a handful of children

to fall ill after ingesting a large number of the non-edible beads. It was a

terrifying scenario.

Spin Master staff from across the organization mobilized: halting

production, withdrawing product from retail shelves, publicizing the recall,

and gathering and destroying all rejected merchandise while refunding

consumers’ money and compensating retailers.

In addition to the heavy financial impact – over $20 million was lost in a

single day – the situation was intense and traumatic for all Spin Master staff.

However, the speed and integrity with which Spin Master handled the global

recall was commended by the toy industry. The company’s staff had rallied

together, and the resilience they demonstrated led to renewed positive

goodwill with partners throughout the industry.

62

We all, every single department, learned how to step up the game and be better at what we did going forward.~DEBBIE NICHOLSON, Sr Director

New Business Development

Every day one needs to remind oneself of your failures, for the learnings and for the humility.


I can see the thread of what goes into success and the thread that goes into failure. And, to me, the biggest thing is the attention to detail. You have to put in a lot of love and care — it has got to be PERFECT.~RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

Without a doubt, the lowest point in the

whole Spin Master history was Aqua Dots.

The worst thing that can happen

is that a child gets hurt.

~BEN VARADI, EVP & CCO

It was the TURNING POINT

when I embraced that my responsibility to children is BEYOND

toy development and marketing.

~ARLENE BIRAN, Sr Director Marketing Activities

63

64

integrity: the quality of being honest and having stro

ng m

oral p

rinciples; m

oral uprightness. the state of being whole and undivided. synonyms: hones

ty, h

onor

, goo

d ch

arac

ter,

pri

ncip

les,

eth

ics,

dec

ency

, fai

rnes

s, sin

cerit

y, trustw

orthiness

Integrity is an intrinsic part of Spin Master’s success over the past twenty

years. We have had incredible opportunities to create, innovate and grow.

We have been able to develop fun and entertaining brands, products,

and TV shows that make people smile and wonder. These opportunities,

however, have only been possible due to the many people who believe we

will honour our word; everything from borrowing money, to paying payroll,

to meeting deadlines, to delivering quality product.

Our partnership was built on integrity. No shades of grey enter into the

social contract that our reputation is based on. There are no shortcuts.

These ethics and mindsets are what attracted us to one another, with high

morals and a regard for doing what’s right. It’s all of the people of Spin

Master who make this happen.

Integrity is the foundation of Spin Master

by Ronnen Harary, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

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RonnenHARARY

If you always do the right thing, you can sleep uninterrupted.

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Bakugan

Ben Varadi, EVP & CCO: Ben Dermer and I keep a list of new

ideas we are looking for. One was ‘the marble of the 21st

century’. He came back after meeting with an inventor rep

named Shelley Goldberg with a picture of just that.

Sheldon Goldberg, Inventor and Inventor Rep: I was fortunate

to work with this new inventor Aldric Saucier, who’d really never

sold a product. I was given a single drawing and I assisted in

romancing it, selling it, etc.

Ben Dermer, VP Inventor Relations: It wasn’t Bakugan as you

know it today, but the core idea of transforming marbles was

on that page. In a given year, we sift through between 3-4,000

new toy ideas. That Bakugan sketch was that needle in the

hay stack.

Ben V: A marble with a figure inside: Bingo, this is exactly what

we wanted!

James Martin, GBU Lead Robotics: We created prototypes

based exactly on the sketch. Basically, they split in half, inside

was a figure, and you could flip down the feet to make them

stand up. Although we looked at Bakugan as a potential

collectible, we challenged ourselves to think bigger. Ben Varadi

and I sat down and we wrote a story of what’s going on with

[these characters], and I teamed up with an artist to make a 16-

page comic book.

In 2003, a unique new idea was sketched onto a paper napkin and submitted to Spin Master…

An ORAL HISTORY of

Bakugan is the greatest example in our history of searching

the world for the best partners. Every part of the story links into the values of this company and

demonstrates it better than anything else. ~ANTON RABIE, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

Ben V: We hadn’t quite got it to the point where we felt ‘Wow

this item is just amazing, we are good to go.’ We were literally

ready to drop the item and I took it upstairs to Ronnen…

James: Ronnen said, ‘We need something extra. I think it would

be great to partner with a Japanese company and give it that

anime manga flair’.

Ronnen Harary, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO: There is

such a rich history of toys and animation coming out of Japan

that it was just a natural thing to go there and check it out.

James: Ronnen and Matt Wexler had spent a lot of time in

Japan and had been building up a lot of relationships there. So

we packed up our comic books and prototypes and we took

them to Japan looking for a partner.

Ronnen: Sega is run by a gentleman by the name of Mr.

Kokubun, who is a real toy legend. He got the vision.

Isao Kokubun, President & CEO, Sega Toys: It was an

interesting toy gimmick; however, to sell a lot, it needed

‘something’. I wanted us to have a one month review period.

Ronnen: I came back to Japan and they had incorporated the

whole pop open transformation. We had thought it was cool, but

they took it to a totally different sphere. The whole rolling onto

the card and popping open, the whole point system and the

battling… It took the toy from here, to HERE.

Refined prototypes had taken shape by 2005. However, the team sensed that the indefinable spark needed to capture and hold kids’

attention was still eluding them. The future of Bakugan was in jeopardy.

INSIDEpartnerships, and finding the right people with different

qualities but with the same vision in mind, all coming together

to work on a project.

Mark: It was a virtual partnership, whereby we all contributed toys,

marketing, merchandizing, animation expertise, whatever was needed.

Showing unprecedented restraint in a “speed to

market” industry, the partners put the toy on hold for

a full year to allow the animated TV show to catch up

for a simultaneous release in July 2007. Everyone in the

5-company coalition waited anxiously to see whether

their combined years of effort would pay off.

Mark: It was launched first in Canada. It was a test market to see how it

went, and it went extremely well.

Doug: This was lightning in a bottle. It was a toy that got into

collectability, transformation, and game play.

Sheldon: Spin Master had demonstrators in the stores. They didn’t just

rely on the packaging, they didn’t just rely on TV, they put some real

marketing thought behind it and it was a runaway hit in Canada.

Given the overwhelmingly positive reception in

Canada, expectations were high for the product

and show’s release in the United States and

subsequent roll-out to markets around the

world. But would the ‘magic’ translate to

other cultures?

James: Bakugan transcended borders. I pitched these to

people in 55+ countries around the world and every time it

was the same: every single person’s eyes widened, they got shocked

and smiled. It was number one in market after market.

Chris Beardall, EVP Global Sales: There was about three years where it

was a rocket ship, the growth. We just kept drawing up the number: 50

million, 80 million, 100 million, 150 million.

CW Yuen, SVP & GM Spin Master Asia: The manufacturing

requirement was so huge. I was asked to produce

200,000 balls per day in four factories. The time I

spent working from day-to-night, seven days a

week, I will never forget.

Matt Wexler, former Executive Producer

Spin Master Entertainment: Because of the

success in Canada, Cartoon Network [USA]

came on board in a really meaningful way,

and that one season of 52 episodes grew

into 189 half hours of Bakugan.

Rick Keuter, Director Boys Design: We

brainstormed with the animators. They’d

have crazy show ideas and we would have

crazy toy concepts so we’d work together to

see what could be incorporated in the show.

There was a lot of collaboration, including R&D Mak

in Tokyo working on the magic of ball transformations,

figuring out how each little piece would fold in based on

our concept drawings.

Mark: Over the life of Bakugan it generated well over a billion dollars of

toy sales and a couple of hundred million dollars of merchandizing and

related sales. So, it became one of those phenomenal products that

happens in the toy industry maybe once every 15 or 20 years.

ADAM BEDER, EVP Global Licensing

With the distinctive features of the

toy now resolved, a communication

strategy was required to determine how

to give life to these characters, and how

to communicate the story to kids in order for

them to embrace Bakugan.

Mark Segal, former CFO: Ronnen’s vision for Bakugan didn’t just

extend to developing a toy. He saw it as potential for a TV show.

Ronnen: I said to Kokubun, “What do you think about doing a 52

episode animation?” And he said, “Yes, sounds great. It will cost

about $12 million and we’ll come in for half.” I said, “Well…OK...Let me

get back to you on that.” [laughing]

Isao: The Bakugan toy was very unique, like nothing else before. To

promote this toy, the Spin Master team and Sega should also develop

a TV animation and kids would learn what Bakugan was from

watching that animation.

Doug Murphy, President & CEO, Corus Entertainment: I was at

Toy Fair in New York and Ronnen said to me “You’ve got to see

something”. They had a prototype of the Bakugan magnetized

ball and, in a split second, we agreed that we had something here

that was going to be pretty amazing. This was lightning

in a bottle. It was a toy that got into collectability,

transformation and game play.

Ronnen: We’d never sold a TV show before. To

have Corus come on board and help us with

the development and broadcasting of the TV

show was definitely helpful. It really speaks

to the essence of Spin Master, which is all about

BakuganANTON RABIE, Co-Founder,

Co-Chairman & Co-CEOBEN DERMER,

VP Inventor RelationsBEN VARADI, EVP & CCO

CHRIS BEARDALL, EVP Global Sales

CHRIS HARRS, EVP General Counsel

CW YUEN, SVP & GM Spin Master Asia

72

DOUG MURPHY, President & CEO, Corus Entertainment

Chris Harrs, EVP General Counsel: Bakugan

is a great story about partnership. It just shows

you the value of developing and fostering

relations. But for those relationships, Bakugan

wouldn’t exist.

Ronnen: It took us 15 years to get to Bakugan, our

worldwide global franchise billion dollar property. There

were so many steps along the way that people had to do

their best to make this happen.

JAMES MARTIN, GBU Lead Robotics

MARK SEGAL, former CFO

RICK KEUTER, Director Boys Design

SHELDON GOLDBERG, Inventor & Inventor Rep

Rob Wolf, Sr Brand Manager: As we tried to forecast future orders,

we had challenges identifying which Bakugan toys were most popular

because, frankly, every item in the line was sold out.

Anton, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO: It was a defining moment

for me when the buyers said “You are outselling Star Wars and

Transformers” and, I tell you, I remember that moment because

that’s when it really sinks in.

James: We connected with so many boys. This is

something that I would have played with growing

up and to be part of that was huge. I mean this is

something that will live in history forever.

Spin Master grew exponentially during those 4-5 Bakugan years and the resulting benefits — beyond immense sales figures —

were manifold.

Rob: Bakugan further reinforced Spin

Master’s belief that, as a company, we were

fundamentally rooted in bringing magical

innovation to toys and we could position

ourselves this way as a company.

Rick: In a Concept Review we presented a challenging

new Bakugan concept and a newer VP said “you guys

can’t do that, it’s impossible.” James Knight [Former VP Product

Development] told him he obviously hadn’t been here long enough to

believe what we can do. Four weeks later we had a working prototype.

We were always trying to outdo ourselves and keep innovating each

season. It was a ton of fun.

Anton: Bakugan touched every single part of the company, because

the company doubled within 21 months. The type of talent we could

attract went to another level. We became a force to be reckoned with,

as someone to partner with to take great ideas from Japan to the rest

of the world.

Adam Beder, EVP Global Licensing: The credibility, the opportunities

that flowed as a result, it was a tremendous thing for us.

Ronnen: It actually launched us into opening our own production

company and creating our own TV shows.

Adam: Bakugan became License Property of the Year 2009. That

was a really proud moment, we worked with our friends at Corus and

at Cartoon Network and we licensed our own intellectual property,

meaningfully, for really the first time. So we had partners in shoes, in

stickers, in publishing, you name it.

The massive, worldwide success of Bakugan would

prove beneficial to Spin Master far beyond the

financial windfall, validating the company’s long

time underlying tenets of partnership, integrity,

entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation.

Ben D: It speaks to one of our core values here: openness to ideas, in

that it came from a sketch by a kid that was sent casually in an e-mail

one day and it went on to be a billion dollar brand, the biggest toy

property in the world at the time.

Adam: We were always known as the scrappy kids in

Toronto who had built a business to be reckoned with.

But when Bakugan became BAKUGAN, it was WOW,

their moment has arrived, and they have built a global

phenomenon through strong partnership.

Bakugan truly defines Spin Master at its best because

everybody played a role.

~RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

ISAO KOKUBUN, President & CEO, Sega Toys

MATT WEXLER, former Exec Producer Spin Master Entertainment

RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

ROB WOLF, Sr Brand Manager

73

Bakugan’s popularity exploded beyond all

expectations all over the world, selling out

for Christmas 2008, being named overall

Toy of the Year 2009, and outselling

action figure behemoths Star Wars and

Transformers in 2010. Bakugan reached

the pinnacle of cultural awareness when it

was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons.

The fiercest Bakugan Brawlers in America descended upon Chicago, LA,

Dallas, and Orlando to battle for a competitive spot in the National Baku-

Con Championships in New York City on February 20-21, 2010. Hundreds

of kids from across the country revelled in immersive game play with other

fans who loved Bakugan as much as they did. Ultimately there could be

only one winner however, and Ventus Brawler Christopher Ruff took home

the grand prize trophy.

n a Roll74

Bakugan had Magic!~BEN VARADI, EVP & CCO

Stokingthe Flames

A product may have a 12-month life cycle. But if you’re building a brand, you can

launch products around it for years.

~RONNEN HARARY, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO 77

The life cycle of a children’s toy often follows the old

adage “what goes up must come down.” However,

the intense heat of Bakugan was kept burning for a

longer period than many comparable sensations by

a constant refuelling of new innovation. Animators

of the three additional seasons of Bakugan worked closely with toy

designers and engineers to create fresh characters. New mechanisms and

other advancements were introduced, including Battle Gear, Mechtogan,

action figures, and mega products such as Colossus and the innovative

7-in-1 Maxus Dragonoid: a super-sized version of the popular dragon

composed of seven specific Bakugan balls. New product was unveiled

every 3-6 months, maintaining Bakugan’s top tier status for five seasons.

Rick Keuter, Director Boys Design

Zoobles adapted Bakugan’s

ingenious magnet and

spring mechanism to a

new nurturing play pattern.

Each having unique

names and personalities,

Zoobles characters inhabited several charming

and peaceful themed lands. When placed on their

magnetized ‘Happitats’, each colourful ball’s spring-

to-life transformation revealed an adorable creature

inside with peek-a-boo features such as bouncy legs,

flapping wings, and blinking inset eyes. Hundreds of

the collectible characters were rolled out, thrilling kids

in a very different market segment from the Zoobles’

Bakugan predecessors: the small doll aisle.

Andy Nunez, Nicole Perez, & Cristy Collins

to

Springing78

cheeky

wink

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Noting the success of previous 360 entertainment

properties such as Transformers, Ronnen wanted to

create a Bakugan TV show. No less than 5 companies

banded together to bring Bakugan to television and

make it a hit with global audiences: toy companies

Spin Master and Sega, Canadian broadcaster Corus

Entertainment, and Canadian animator Nelvana

along with Japanese animator TMS Entertainment

who specialized in anime. The resulting worldwide

success of Bakugan’s four seasons served as a proof

of concept: with the goal to create original television

and web content that complemented internal toy

development, the Spin Master Entertainment division

was created. Future shows included Redakai, Tenkai

Knights, Paw Patrol — another huge ratings success —

and the much anticipated Little Charmers.

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LET US

81

Spin Master has really become this global Entertainment company. It has an incredible way of bringing that wow moment. ~JENNIFER DODGE, VP Spin Master Entertainment

Spin Master’s Entertainment, Preschool Design, and

Engineering departments worked closely together

and in collaboration with Nelvana Animation to

create the 360 entertainment brand Little Charmers.

The multi-year development process began with

a concept devised to captivate young kids: three

young witches learning their craft in Charmville must

82

work together to undo their own mixed-up spells.

The real world toys were designed to have attributes

that would be exciting to watch within the television

episodes, digital apps and games, as well as additional

mobile and online content. In turn, the animation team

brought the Little Charmers world to life, infusing the

real world toys with a sense of magic and providing

kids the opportunity to interact physically with

beloved television characters. Working together, these

partners have crafted a complete world, engaging

children in all the ways in which they now

experience “play”.

CHARMERSSparkle Up

83

LICENSINGMONSTROUS

SUCCESS

The built-in recognition and emotional connection

of a beloved children’s entertainment brand is of

tremendous value when launching a new toy, and

both parties benefit as a result. Early one-off licensing

partnerships, such as 7-11 Slurpee Maker and Hershey

Kiss Maker led to more involved product lines such as

musical instruments from the wildly popular Wiggles,

and Yo Gabba Gabba plush characters. After many

years of partnering with Disney Pixar to create fun

and popular toys for Cars 2, Tron: Legacy and much

more, in 2013 a master toy license was granted to

Spin Master for the studio’s megahit movie

Monsters University.

84

Spin Master’s first licensing agreement was a line of

Small Soldiers-themed Grow Things novelty products for

DreamWorks Pictures in 1998. In the intervening years, Spin

Master has gone on to establish strong ties throughout the

entertainment industry thanks to an expertise with license-

friendly product lines including Mighty Beanz (Marvel, Star

Wars, Pokemon), NASCAR, Air Hogs (Boeing, Lockheed

Martin), and Marshmallow furniture (almost every kids

franchise imaginable). Fast Forward to 2014: DreamWorks

tapped Spin Master as global master toy licensee for their

hugely popular How To Train Your Dragon movies and

television series.

Spin Master continues to be an incredibly important

ally for our consumer products business and Dragons franchise.

As a lead toy partner, their imagination and

expertise has helped fuel some of our most

successful campaigns.

~JEFFREY KATZENBERG, CEO DreamWorks Animation

87

A Drive to License

There is an elusive, seemingly magical alignment of dozens of factors

that push a toy beyond the sum of its parts, striking a personal chord in

the heart of each of the millions of consumers who long to possess it.

Despite ingenuity, expertise, and much effort from many teams, some

toys just did not make that connection. A few such endeavours included

Swypeout, Redakai, Stinkblaster, Pop on Pals, Key Charm Cuties, Kawaii

Crush, La Dee Da, Don’t Free Freddie, Captain Bones Gold, B-boyz,

Nano Speed, Liv, and many more.

SALON des Refusés

“Picking a winning toy is the hardest thing in the world. You have to

look at the product line’s history, trends, competition... In the end, it’s

a gut feel.” ~BEN VARADI, EVP & CCO

89

During the peak years of Bakugan’s success, the company experienced

a period of unprecedented quantum growth. To keep pace, the partners

and the executive team hired extensively to keep pace with the volume of

work generated in every department, and the staff doubled to over 1000.

This growth – and attendant spending – was not managed as strategically

as it could have been. Unfortunately, when the Bakugan business ebbed,

the brands that were forecasted to replicate that level of success… did not.

Overhead costs became excessive, forecasting was overly optimistic, and

unrealistic expectations were placed on internal development rather than

acquisitions and diversification of the business.

The partners had never managed a company of this size before and it had

gotten ahead of itself. Some tough internal decisions were required to correct

course: streamlining processes, reducing overhead costs, and unfortunately

reducing many staff. For those that remained, the company was now leaner,

and possessed better financial agility to react to business opportunities for

future controlled growth.

DARK DAYS

90

We will look back at this time as the

time we diversified, we reset our

strategy, and the company became

this engine, this entity, this thing

that has gone way past the three of

us — a bird that’s taking flight.


91

For the first time, the reins of Spin Master’s presidency were released by the partners, into the

steady hands of Ben Gadbois. This new “fourth wheel” of their leadership team fit in immediately,

providing incredible strategic agility, a talent for value creation, and over 20 years of global

consumer goods management experience. By joining Spin Master, Ben allowed the partners to focus

on what they love most and do best: innovation and partnerships.

Joining the four were Gaston Tano as CFO, Krista DiBerardino as CMO, and Bill Hess as EVP

Operations and CIO, in addition to promoted internal execs Chris Harrs as EVP General Counsel,

Chris Beardall as EVP Global Sales, and Adam Beder as EVP Global Licensing. This new robust team

strengthened the organization’s core while maintaining its traditional focus: investment in research,

development, and innovation. Spin Master became more disciplined and accountable, and developed

a process-driven structure with ownership cascading through the organization rather than being

held solely in the partners’ hands. Within a single year they began to see transformational results

and a financial turnaround.

KRISTA DIBERARDINO, CMO GASTON TANO, CFO BILL HESS, EVP Operations & CIO CHRIS HARRS, EVP General Counsel

Evolving Leadership, Evolving APPROACH

Our mission is to push the boundaries of fun for our consumers and create incredible value for everyone in the process.

~BEN GADBOIS, Global President

ADAM BEDER, EVP Global Licensing BEN GADBOIS, Global PresidentCHRIS BEARDALL, EVP Global Sales

AntonRABIE

All those people around me… working on deals, growing the company, making the place better. That really gives me incredible energy.

95

it’s a fun place to work. there’s never a dull moment.~CHRIS HARRS, EVP GENERAL COUNCIL

97

BUILDINGon the Past

The tuck-in acquisitions of Spy Gear and Meccano

provided the company with a mission to re-

envision and revitalize established product lines,

with heightened emphasis on making impressive

technology accessible to kids. Spin Master’s teams of

engineers, designers, and marketers were a natural fit

to “spinnovate” these existing brands. Spy Gear was relaunched with

a heightened emphasis on impressive but accessible technology.

Meccano — an iconic global brand with over a century of history

— was refreshed and reimagined, its real engineering focus

further heightened by new features such as electronics to

keep pace with today’s technologies.

98

Fraser Paterson, Dir. Design Meccano

These things give you

SUPERPOWERS. That’s just cool.

~JAMES MARTIN, GBU Lead Robotics

Futureinto

th

eZOOMING

of

ROBOTICS

Due to their deep

commitment to the

inventor community, Spin

Master was the partner of

choice for Zoomer’s Nick Grisolia

and Peter Greenley of G2 Inventions.

Working in tandem with Spin Master’s

internal Engineering and Design teams,

G2’s highly functional but not so marketable

robot truck eventually came to develop a more

toy-friendly character: a pet dog. Zoomer not

only could scoot and bark, but more amazingly he

responded to voice commands and visual sensors:

to date the most advanced robot for under $100.

The successful line of toy robots expanded to include

different breeds, smaller Zuppies, two-wheeled Dino,

and also led to a new Robotics Division of the company.

The guys at G2 are

mechanical and electronic geniuses.

I offered them development money

to take their truck and turn it

into a dog. They put their all

into it.

BEN DERMER, VP INVENTOR

RELATIONS

~

The fi r

st t

ime

you

see

a gi

rl play with that fairy, it’s am

azing. It is true magic. ~C

AT

DE

MA

S, V

P Preschool and Girls D

esign

The company that innovated RC airplane

flight and created a new toy category at

retail decided to innovate the first flying

fashion doll: Flutterbye Fairy. Spin Master’s

Advanced Concepts Team and China

Innovation Centre adapted the company’s

own patented hovering technology from the hugely popular Air Hogs

Vectron Wave. Rather than having unseemly propellers emanating from

her head, they engineered her so that she could balance while propellers

whirled around her waist, like a swirling skirt.

A doll that could fly (and be pretty doing it) had eluded the toy industry

for years. With Flutterbye Fairy, Spin Master had once again pushed down

a wall and created something new and captivating for kids to wonder at.

MAKING FLUTTER

102

Amy Pruzansky, SVP Product Development

The fi r

st t

ime

you

see

a gi

rl play with that fairy, it’s am

azing. It is true magic. ~C

AT

DE

MA

S, V

P Preschool and Girls D

esign

103

15 years and hundreds of vehicles

later, Air Hogs innovations continued

to entertain and amaze by making

hobby-grade RC performance available

to kids. Since creating the original compressed

air Sky Shark, the list of innovations is long: the first

mass-market RC plane, Intruder; Storm Launcher, the

RC plane that also flew on water and across land; the

hugely popular Havoc Heli; Zero Gravity Micro, the car

that drove up walls and across ceilings; Hawk Eye, with

an on-board video camera; missile-launching Sharpshooter; stunt quadcopter Helix;

speedy ready-to-fly eChargers; and Vectron Wave and Atmosphere, hovering objects

that used your hand as the remote… The R&D teams in China and Canada continued

to push the boundaries of engineering, challenging kids to imagine possibilities

beyond accepted limits. To celebrate Air Hogs 15th anniversary, an Air Hogs Vectron

Wave was launched by helium balloon into the Earth’s stratosphere.

AIR HOGS @ 10

4

Geoff Oliver, Brand Manager & Edwin Steele, Sr Engineer

The fact that Air Hogs is THE most recognizable and one of the most trusted names is something that everybody working on it feels every day.~CONOR FORKAN, GBU Lead Air Hogs

Collaborating with Bob the Builder creator Keith Chapman and Guru

animation studios, Spin Master’s Entertainment and Design teams

converged to roll out their first entertainment brand built internally from

the ground up. Paw Patrol launched as North America’s #1 preschool TV

show and the concurrently developed line of transforming toys also met

with great success.

PUPS UNLEASHED

IT HAS BEEN A TRUE COLLABORATION: taking a brief, pitching an idea, and developing it together with the writers, Guru, and Nickelodeon to produce the world class, hugely successful show it is today.

~KEITH CHAPMAN, Creator of Bob The Builder and Paw Patrol

Spin Master came into the toy industry during a time of great

change, particularly for the Canadian toy industry. Prior

to our entry into the market, Canadian toy companies

typically distributed toys made by US companies, or

other toy companies from around the world. The

Canadian toy companies did the marketing, but

they often didn’t make the product. All this was

about to change. The US toy industry was going

through a period of mass consolidation. Toy and

game companies, such as Fisher Price, Kenner, Milton

Bradley and Parker Brothers, were acquired either by

Hasbro or Mattel. Many of these companies had used

Canadian toy companies to distribute their products,

but Hasbro and Mattel had Canadian divisions, so they no

longer needed Canadian companies to sell their products

in Canada. Canadian toy companies quickly found themselves

having to create the majority of their lines themselves. Having

relied on other companies for their products for so many years,

they had no brands and no base of products. In many ways,

they were starting from scratch.

The year is 1994, and along comes Spin Master. While we

faced the same problem, there was one subtle, yet not so

BlueM I N I N G

by Ben Varadi, EVP & CCO

108

insignificant difference. Spin Master didn’t know

any better. We had never relied on anyone for our

products, and we had never built up a large overhead

on the backs of other companies’ products. Coming

up with our own was the only thing we knew, and

even more importantly, it was our only chance of

survival. We also made a major decision. We dreamed

of being leaders in the toy industry, and in order to

get there, we knew our products had to be Innovative.

Knowing this, the easiest — and perhaps the only —

path for us, was to engage the inventor community.

Indeed, it took many years for us to gain their trust,

but over time we did. Looking back, I am confident

in saying we would not be where we are today

without the inventor community, the primary driver

of innovation in the toy industry for the last 70 years.

They became our lifeline, constantly bringing ideas

and products to the table – far in excess of what we

could have done solely on our own. They embraced

us because we were a breath of fresh air from the

corporate toy companies they were used to dealing

with, many of whom were now even bigger. We happily

embraced them as their ideas were our future and

we knew it. Today, I’m proud to say that, I believe, the

importance of the Inventor Community to Spin Master

is engrained in the core philosophy of the company.

While many of our successful toys start life through

partnerships with inventors, our internal talent

has also grown immensely over the years, and I’m

proud to say, have also contributed many wonderful

concepts and products. Spin Master’s Product Design

and Engineering teams have contributed in incredible

ways to the ideation and development of award

winning toys. Our Design and Development teams

in Toronto, LA, and Asia come up with concepts and

evolve them right through the development process

and onto toy shelves around the world. Often they

work with Toronto’s Advanced Concepts Team and

Hong Kong’s SMART team at an early stage to identify

toy industry gaps and fill them, while other times they

take the most classic play patterns of yesteryear and

imbed them with revolutionary new technologies.

Regardless of how we get there, the goal is the same:

to make a child, or adult, say WoW!

109

~ETIENNE JACQUEMAIN, Sick Bricks Videogame Developer, Owner of Magic Pockets

Spin Master has an enlightened

and exciting vision of the convergence

between toys and interactive medias

— stay tuned, they’ll surprise you!

110

Marrying an inventor’s brick characters idea with another inventor’s videogame

concept and combining them with licensed scanning technology, Sick Bricks bridges

the physical world of toys with digital technology. After a year in development,

kids can now join Jack Justice in the battle against mutants, monsters, and aliens in

Sick City by mixing-and-matching elements from over 60 real world characters and

scanning them into the Sick Bricks app using a smartphone camera.11

1

They take risks but with risk

comes higher reward. In general

Spin Master has a pretty high

batting average.

Among Spin Master’s many recognitions in business: Platinum Club of

Deloitte Canada 50 Best Managed Companies, Report on Business Top

40 Under 40, Profit Magazine 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies,

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In retail: Walmart Toy Vendor

of the Year, Target Vendor of the Year, and Toys R Us Vendor of the Year

10 times. In the toy industry: dozens of toy fair awards globally, plus

over 60 Toy of the Year (TOTY) nominations, the toy industry’s “Oscars”

voted on by consumers, toy companies, and retailers, with 16 wins

including the most prestigious overall Toy of the Year three times.

~SCOTT MCCALL, Sr VP & General Merchandise Manager, Walmart

Staking Acclaim

112

115

Our Unique Culture

The spirit of Spin Master has developed with the company as we have grown. Though

even now - as the global thought leader in the toy industry – we’ve never lost our focus

on disruptive innovation, our demand for integrity, our entrepreneurial edge, and our

desire to do our best, always. We didn’t get here by accident and we didn’t get here

alone. I am so grateful for the lifelong friendships we have established worldwide

throughout the industry, the many, many valued friends whose great care and dedication

to Spin Master over the years have been instrumental in our success.

Of course Spin Master would be nowhere without our people. Having an open-minded

culture that champions ideas from anywhere has attracted the smartest people to our

company. People who are passionate and work within their unique ability. People who

have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and the courage to stand up for their own ideas.

People who put ego aside in order to collaborate and win together. Our culture has a

tremendous respect for the individual and for a diversity of opinions. By empowering

each other to be our best, we are stronger together. For twenty years and beyond we

have built this community together, and together we live our values every day.

by Anton Rabie, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

I worked at a bike store and Spin

was looking for a BMX expert

for Flick Trix demos, literally to

play with the toys. The next thing

I knew I was a brand manager,

totally unqualified. I got to write,

produce and direct commercials.

I moved to Hong Kong to form

a team there because I wanted

to develop our own inventions.

A lot of people at Spin Master

aren’t necessarily qualified in the

traditional sense, but if you’re

passionate, work hard, and are

successful in your role there is so

much flexibility to really create

your own destiny.

~CONOR FORKAN, GBU Lead Air Hogs

I joined in 2007 doing IT data

entry with no IT experience

but they took a chance on me.

I was eventually promoted to

Business Analyst, acquainting

me with other departments,

and a year later I was offered

Activities Assistant Brand

Manager. I progressed to lead

my own brands but after 4 years

another big change: the business

side of Advertising. In each

role, my ability to navigate Spin

Master was paramount, rather

than formal training, which they

trusted I’d pick up on the job.

~ANNE THOUAS, Sr Media Manager

In Spin Master’s early days, staff was hired for their passion, open mind, street smarts, and future potential.

As the company has grown

this philosophy has endured,

organically developing into the

non-conformist culture thriving

today. Individuals are recognized

through their demonstrated skills,

accomplishments, and interests

rather than solely by previous

experience or formal education.

116

POWER

I owned a toy store and collectible

shop before I came here. I saw a

2” ad looking for brand managers

and I had no experience but knew

I could assist in anything. I saw

the chance to go from selling

these products that I loved to

actually making them. It was very

exciting to be part of Bakugan. I

went from selling collectibles to

working on some of the greatest

collectibles of all time. I really

have been able to make my ideas

come to life and that’s the whole

reason I came to Spin Master in

the first place.

~JAMES MARTIN, GBU Lead Robotics

After a brief attempt at life

as a ski bum, I returned home

from BC in 2000. My first job

was at Spin Master in Shipping,

arranging sales materials for

our rep network. I became Sales

Support Manager, then a Junior

Account Manager. After a year of

mentorship in Nashville, I became

a National Account Manager and

eventually a Sales Director. I’m

now a Vice-President of Sales

for some of our biggest clients

including Target. With no initial

sales background, I learned it

all on the ground here at

Spin Master.

~TYLER BUNKER, VP US Sales

I had a background in Production

Planning, Customer Service,

and Logistics when I joined Spin

Master in 2000 as Senior Manager

of Asia Supply Chain. A few

years later I became responsible

for sourcing and costing in

Procurement, experience that was

totally learned at Spin Master. The

company has developed me by

digging out my potential, giving

me total trust and a free hand to

learn from mistakes. This actually

helped me a lot to strengthen my

knowledge and benefits my future

in various functions.

~WINIFER CHUNG, Sr Director Sourcing & Procurement

Everyone here gets to work within their unique ability, to do what they are great at.


117

There’s so much opportunity to learn at Spin Master. Just spot a challenge,

teach yourself how to fix it, and you’ll find yourself in yet

another new role. ~REID SMITH, Sr Business System

Analyst, started 2004

As I walked up to Spin Master’s office for my very first interview, I saw

two young guys playing with a skateboard type contraption on the

sidewalk out front. I took a seat in reception and those two young guys

came in full of laughter and shenanigans. The

receptionist informed me that was one of the partners. I remember

thinking: Damn! I want to work here! And why am I wearing a suit!?

~SONIA MAY, Sr Manager Integrated Marketing, started 2004

Spin Master is my family.~ENRIQUE VALZQUEZ ISLAS, Marketing Intelligence Asst, started 2010

~KEITH BLANCHARD, Sr Director Logistics, started 2004

TAKE THIS

Job

Spin Master gives back to the community. You can’t help but get caught up in the enthusiasm...even after 13 years.~JOANNE COWAN, Supply Chain

Specialist, started 2001

I love that every day is different. I love that overall I work for and with a crazy bunch of people!~EMMA EDEN, Marketing Manager, started 2010

In my first interview with Anton he asked “what are you the BEST at in the world?” I have spent the last 10

years in my career building on that list! Spin Master cultivates this best-in-class mentality.~TONY PORCIELLO, Sr Manager Retail Operations, started 2004

The passion and entrepreneurial spirit

that inherently lives in every single person who works here is

contagious, starting with Ben, Ronnen and Anton.

~RICK KEUTER, Director Boys Design, started 2008

It is an ethical culture that keeps people here and brings people back.~LEANNE DUHAIME, Director Forecasting/Allocations, started 2000

Love it&

Caring &Sharing

120

An integral piece of Spin Master’s culture

is the sharing of rewards gained. To that

end, the company gives freely of its toys to

many initiatives from sponsoring the Malawi

village of Mwandama, to many local causes

at each office. Partnering with Children’s

Breakfast Club and the Liberty Grand

Entertainment Complex, Spin Master’s

Toronto office is closed for a day every

holiday season as the entire staff provides a

thousand children with a memorable day of

play and free toy shopping for themselves

and a friend.

121

Our visionis to create

beloved toys and characters...

~CAT DEMAS, VP Preschool & Girls Design

really capturing the imaginationof kids.

122

All children have a right to enjoy

the feeling of fun, to be inspired,

and to experience the benefits of

play. This is the central purpose

of The Toy Movement, a global

initiative led by Spin Master. All

over the world children who are

victims of their circumstances

find themselves caught in situations that rob them of their childhood:

natural disaster, poverty, war and conflict, or any other difficult

situations they might be caught up in. To ensure that these children

are provided the opportunity to play, learn, and grow regardless of

their conditions, Spin Master has brought together partners from our

industry and beyond to provide toys and school supplies in an effort to

let kids be kids.

THE TOY MOVEMENTby Ronnen Harary, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO

124

Appreciating the invaluable advice and assistance they received

while coming up in the business world, Ben, Anton, and Ronnen felt

compelled to give back in turn to those now in those early throes.

They launched the Spin Master Innovation Fund, partnering with

Futurpreneur Canada to help dozens of young entrepreneurs turn

their innovative ideas into successful endeavours. In its first five years,

the Fund supported over 30 small companies in a wide variety of

fields including Health & Wellness, Software, Education, Real Estate,

and even Toys. Even more beneficial than funding however is the mentorship provided by key

Spin Master staff from many departments ranging from Marketing, PR, Finance, HR, Legal,

Sales and more. Overseen by Ronnen and Jeff Hurst, this mentorship program is instrumental

in building confidence, expanding networks, gaining insight, and learning from those who can

share their experience.

Paying it Forward

Jeff Hurst, VP Sales

126

Some of the most valuable advice was from Spin Master’s Marketing and Public Relations team. The attention we’ve since

received has helped us grow our business significantly.~RYAN MACGREGOR, CEO of SweetSeat and Futurpreneur recipient

127

Spin Master celebrated the company’s first two

decades of success with a momentous event at

Toronto’s elegant John Bassett Theatre. Twenty

years of memories were curated into two floors

of exhibits, and a retrospective documentary

film debuted to an audience of over a thousand

staff, alumni, friends, and family. The evening of

speeches and presentations was capped off by

a characteristically joyful night of Spin Master-

style revelry at Maison Mercer nightclub.

Twenty & Count ng

129

All the learnings that we’ve had over the last 20 years are going to create an unbelievable future.

130

BenGADBOIS

In two short decades, Spin Master has flourished from a grassroots

$10,000 startup with a single novelty product to become a multinational

entertainment corporation with global sales of over $7 billion to date.

Throughout those 20 years, Spin Master has put ingenious products from

almost every toy category into the captivated hands of almost a hundred

million children around the world, while evolving the very concept of “toy”.

By fusing elements of nostalgic play with the latest technologies and

media, the one-time upstart has persistently kept competitors on their

toes by cannily anticipating trends, challenging legacy brands head-on,

and creating entirely new toy categories. The Spin Master collaborative

community has revolutionized the business of fun, unceasingly expanding

the boundaries of imagination through revelatory innovation.

BothSides,

Now

132

Now, The Futureby Ben Gadbois, Global President

Our people are the force behind Spin Master’s incredible successes so far,

and it’s our people that will get us to the next level. Looking at Spin Master

now at twenty years it’s as though we just graduated from college. For

those that graduated from college, remember when you got your degree?

You thought: ‘The world is wide open. Where do we go from here?’ And

as we look ahead, we feel now that all the learnings we’ve had over the

last twenty years will create an unbelievable future for us. Our strategies

are bold and audacious and it will be a fantastic journey. The last twenty

years prepared us for it! You just wait and see what comes next. You will be

blown away.

135

136

we were on an expedition.we would not let each other down.~ANTON RABIE, C0-FOUNDER, C0-CHAIRMAN & CO-CEO

Pg 4 Ronnen Harary; Anton Rabie; Ben Varadi

Pg 7 Bob Wakelam

Pg 8 Ronnen Harary demonstrating Devil Sticks, 1995

Pg 10-11 Anton Rabie; Ben Varadi; Ronnen Harary

Pg 13 Peter Manning

Pg 16-17 Left, back row: Hoffman Brown; Andy Kislevitz; David Fuhrer; Todd Lustgarten; Ronnen Harary; Matt Nuccio; Mike Hoeting; Dan Klitsner; Anton Rabie; Left, Front row: Adam Beder; Matt Wexler; Ben Varadi; Ben Dermer; Right: David Small; Brendan Boyle; Peter Greenley

Pg 18-19

13

4

6

7

5

8 92

(1) Clockwise from left: Casey Norman; Ronnen Harary; Phil Neal; Darin Barri; Ben Varadi; Robert Fuhrer; (2) David Winter; Peter Greenley; (3) Ben Varadi; Darin Barri; (4) Back row: Pete Greenley; Jim McCafferty; John Neal; Chris Beardall; Phil Neal; Casey Norman; Matt Nuccio; Ben Dermer; Andy Kislevitz; Dan Klitsner; Mike Hoeting; Ben Varadi; Front row: Ronnen Harary; David Fuhrer; (5) Left to right: Keith Millman; Ben Varadi; Brendan Boyle; Steve Fink; Dan Klitsner; Paul von Mohr; (6) Ben Varadi; Robert Fuhrer; (7) Jonas Modell; (8) Back row: Mike Hoeting; Brian Clemens; Pete Greenley; Pete Cartlidge; Chris Beardall; David Fuhrer; Dan Klitsner; Casey Norman; Phil Neal; Andy Kislevitz; Front row: Venue staff; Venue staff; Ben Varadi; Matt Nuccio; Kev Gillon; Ronnen Harary; Westley Ciaramella; Ben Dermer; Darin Barri; Jim McCafferty; (9) Left to right: tour guide; Jim McCafferty; Pete

Cartlidge; Robert Fuhrer; Westley Ciaramella; Mike Hoeting; Ben Varadi; David Fuhrer; Matt Nuccio; Andy Kislevitz; Casey Norman; Ronnen Harary; Brendan Boyle; Phil Neal; Paul von Mohr; Ben Dermer

Pg 20-21 Left: CW Yuen; Right, top: 3 local Chinese engineers; William Babbs; Ronnen Harary; Right Bottom: Sky Shark production line workers at Kin Seng factory in Chaozhou

Pg 22-23

1 2

34

5

6

8710

11

9

(1) Romeo Chan; (2) Rachi Yeung; Paul Chiu; Gigi Ngan; (3) Back row: Ailsa O; Angelqueen Li; Jessica Huang; Wing Lai; Daisy Ren; Shirley Hu; Keith Sham; Alex Lau; Alana Tang; Rita Lan; Carrie Qiu; Ada Deng; Raymond Leung; Raymond Liang; Front Row: Ronald Hui; Richard Wong; Percy Tam; Richard Pang; CW Yuen; Nelson Yau; Victor Yip; Pryce Cheung; (4) Back Row: Cavour Kan; Nate Mitchell; Robert R.; Rebecca Fong; Jeff LeBlanc; Tammy Wong; Adam Cheang; Edith Kam; Steven Tai; Vincent Wong; Victor Lai; Rich Skippon; Richard Pang; Ronald Hui; Philip Loong; Adrian Kwan; Front Row; Joanne Chak; Ethonia Wong; Paul Chiu; Gary Kwok; Junus Ng; Carmen Sze; Tim Man; Yuen Hui; (5) Jean Xiao; Lillian Lo; Samantha Fung; (6) CW Yuen; (7) 2013 Employee Awards, China offices; (8) Lucia Choi; Jen Choi; (9) Bruce Baur; Wike Baur; (10) CW Yuen; Ronnen Harary; (11) Back row: Jason Xu; CS Tse; Sam Chun; Ben Deng; Gary Ng; Jesse Tan; Middle row: John Nie; Sarah Chui; Front row: CW Yuen

Pg 27 Ben Varadi

Photo Index13

8

Pg 28-29

1 2

3

4

5 6

7

8 9 10

11 12 13

(1) Connie Buffone; (2) Clockwise from left: Janet Clark-Smith; Janet Lowe; Joanne Cowan; Ronnen Harary; (3) Sarah Brennan-Peeters; Ronnen Harary; (4) Left to right: Matt Wexler; Harold Chizick; Tina Brennan-Peters; Ann Dalton; Edin Mesic; Rachel Belanger; (5) Anton Rabie; Ben Varadi; Ronnen Harary; (6) Kazim Somji; Salim Daya; (7) Matt Wexler; Adam Beder; (8) Loralee Butler; (9) Musie Temlso; Miranda Smith; (10) Anton Rabie; (11) Adam Beder; Ben Varadi; (12) Ben Varadi; (13) Anton Rabie; Ben Varadi; Ronnen Harary

Pg 31 Conor Forkan

Pg 32-33 Left: Ronnen Harary; Betty Morris; Ben Varadi; Right Top: Stacy Lewis; Tamara Horowitz; Right Bottom: Shrinky Dinks commercial

Pg 34 Toronto Star, 1999; National Post, 2009; New York Times, 2008; National Post, 2006; Business Week, 2009; Globe and Mail, 2006; Business Week, 1999; USA Today, 2003; Popular Science, 1998; TIME, 2002; Maclean’s, 2000; Canadian Business, 1998

Pg 36 Professor Catch-a-Bubble


Pg 42 Takehiro Abe; Ronnen Harary

Pg 44-45 Mark Segal; Chris Harrs; Iain Kennedy; Mark Sullivan; Adam Beder; Chris Beardall

Pg 46-47

1

2

3 11

45 6

78

12 13 14

10

9

(1) Lena Mancini; Chris Wickman; (2) Debbie Nicholson; Elizabeth Scott; (3) Ronnie Frankowski; (4) Christa Irvine; Amy Nicol; (5) Gaston Tano; Chris Harrs; (6) Nicole Perez; Gail Livermore-Banack; (7) Eddie Sanchez; James Knight; Brady Lang; (8) Karen Sampogna; Jamieson Cochrane; Stacey Stone; (9) Andree Briere; (10) Arlene Biran; (11) Wendy Chisam; Melisa Garcia; (12) Back row: Rob Wolf; Adam Cheang; Jeff LeBlanc; Adrian Kwan; Todd Anderson; Front row: Lauren Turchet; Liza Shepherd; Marianna Zidaric; Jennifer Masson; David Colebrook; (13) Back row: Audrey Tam; Grace Lee; Natasha Sasic; Stephanie Lemoine; Jessica Livingston; Front row: Sara Zokaei; Kyra Crilly; (14) David Colebrook; Mark Sullivan; Terry Cyr

Pg 52-53

1 2

3

6

4 5

117 8

9 10 15

14

13

12

(1) Ana Pereira; Gail Tamae; (2) Marion Delattre; Nicolas Chinardet; (3) Back row: Mario Cervantes; Ivonne Perez; Leticia Lopez; Jose Luis Cruz; Francisco Villalón; Eleazar Gutiérrez; Enrique Vazquez; Dulce Herrera; Luz Cisneros; Carlos Salame; Front row: Maria Eugenia Lopez; Octavio Zuñiga; Miriam Santos; Emma Vertiz; Veronica Cruz; (4) Charlie Hemmes; Bianca Wouters; Mustapha Zitouni; Michiel Das; Marnix Hettich; (5) Joanna Brown; Georgina Robinson; (6) Left to right: Rick Rowden; Meagan Renihan; Paul Gleeson; Debra Simone; Camille Bassede; Clemence Landre; (7) Back row: Kevin Jones; Richard Dickson; Matthew Emmett; Middle row: Lindsay Chetty; Lucie Kucharova; Emma Eden; Claire Coekin; Jo Thompson;

139

Sara Taylor; Front row: Sarah Hunt; Jacqueline Taylor-Foo; Davina Powell; (8) Left to right: Ronald Hui; TW Wong; Richard Wong; CW Yuen; George Chang; Stanley Wong; Grant Chapman; Anton Rabie; Iain Kennedy; Jeff Corsiglia; Ronnen Harary; James Elson; (9) Luz Cisneros; Paulina Tejedo; Dulce Herrera; Diana Valdez; (10) Back row: Valeria Dell’Acqua; Adriano Scanu; Andrea Castellini; Renato Baghetti; Bruno Sala; Front row: Edgardo Di Meo; Rossella Giuffrida; Giulia Marconi; (11) Carmen Choy; (12) Rachel Griffin; (13) Dulce Herrera; Carlos Salame; Paulina Tejedo; (14) Sam Cheng; Bernie Nowotny; (15) Clockwise from left: Luca Villani; Charlie Hemmes; Dino Canuti; Giulia Marconi; Edgardo Di Meo

Pg 54-55 Left, back row: David Wood; Rich Mazel; Mike Petrosky; Tony Millunzi; Scott Stonecipher; Paul Sesto; Mark Donham; Sheree Williams; Robert Heath; Dan Cote; Rick Keuter; Carl Ebinger; Johnny O’Neal; Brian Walsh; Jerome Lu; Diane Dahilig; Patrick Sheridan; Kat Tessier; James Knight; Josh Henson; Lena Mancini; Jim Keifer; Danny Koblin; Jeremy Chapman; Left, middle row: Jen Kaluhiokalani; Kim Matilla; Pat Gardenhire; Kim Bell; Andres Garza; Casey Hirai; Sarah Lee; Kris Anderson; Georgia Lopez; Tyrone Keyes; Francesca Salac; Jen Tan; Rachel Griffin (aka Captain Fun); Ana Zhou; Rebecca Arrobio; Craig Drobis; Left, front row: Eddie Sanchez; Noah McKiernan; Eric Phan; Right: Anton Rabie

Pg 56 Adam Beder

Pg 60-61 Top, back row: Tom Shine; Naznine Ali; Christa Irvine; Davika Ramdass; Cristy Collins; Tristan Gilman; Top, front row: Ana Pereira; Tim Sullivan; Bottom: Davina Powell; Stephen Baksh

Pg 66 Ronnen Harary

Pg 72-73 Adam Beder; Anton Rabie; Ben Dermer; Ben Varadi; Chris Beardall; Chris Harrs; CW Yuen; Doug Murphy; Isao Kokubun; James Martin; Mark Segal; Matt Wexler; Rick Keuter; Rob Wolf; Ronnen Harary; Sheldon Goldberg

Pg 74-75 Left: Ronnen Harary; Toshi Sugimoto; Right, Top: Ben Varadi; Right, bottom: National Baku-con Championships in New York City

Pg 77 Rick Keuter

Pg 78 Andy Nunez; Nicole Perez; Cristy Collins

Pg 80 Adam Beder; Jennifer Dodge; Ronnen Harary; Keith Chapman; Emily Whinnett

Pg 92-93 Krista DiBerardino; Gaston Tano; Bill Hess; Chris Harrs; Adam Beder; Chris Beardall; Ben Gadbois; Illustration: Ben Gadbois

Pg 94 Anton Rabie

Pg 96-97

1 6

10

11

2 3 12

13

147 8 9

54

(1) Karena Lee; Anthony Ignacio; Heidi Ghafoor; (2) Victor Lai; Adam Cheang; Philip Loong; (3) Linda Hong; (4) Carl Ebinger; (5) Anton Rabie; Ben Varadi; Ronnen Harary; (6) Ferede Hagos; Christa Irvine; (7) Robin Hutchison; Janet Christie; (8) Ronnie Frankowski; James Knight; John Coyne; (9) Emma Eden; Davina Powell; Simon Clarke; Lance Thompson; (10) Stephanie Kerr; Harold Chizick; Lee Tudor; (11) Maarten Michels; Davina Powell; Kevin Jones; Simon Clarke; Lucie Kucharova; Charlotte Jones; Jacqueline Taylor-Foo; Richard Dickson; Lindsay Chetty; Claire Coekin; (12) Jerome Lu; Arnell David; Margaret Kazimierski; Patrick Sheridan; Michael Pickard; Jasper Santos; (13) Mina Mirkazemi; (14) Kami Bryant; Cat Demas; Georgia Lopez

Pg 98 Left: Fraser Paterson; Illustration: child at Caring & Sharing event

Pg 102 Amy Pruzansky

Pg 104 Geoff Oliver; Edwin Steele

Pg 105 Illustration: Ben Varadi; Anton Rabie; Ronnen Harary

140

Pg 113Left: Accepting 2015 Toy of the Year for Zoomer Dino: Ronnen Harary; Ben Gadbois; Anton Rabie; Middle: Accepting Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999: Ronnen Harary; Ben Varadi; Dan Cornacchia [E&Y]; Anton Rabie; Right: Ben Varadi; Toshi Sugimoto


Pg 116-117 Conor Forkan; Anne Thouas; James Martin; Tyler Bunker; Winifer Chung

Pg 120-121 Toronto staff and assorted volunteers; Illustration: Jan Pervera and child

Pg 122-123 Child at Caring & Sharing event; Tom Kelly and children at Caring & Sharing event

Pg 125 Bottom, right: Ronnen Harary visiting children on behalf of The Toy Movement; All others: children at various Toy Movement events

Pg 126-127 Top, back row: Rick Spence (National Post); Chris Kang (Hygienna); Louis Cleroux (Lead Web); Gabriel Chan (Notewagon); Michael El-Gemayel (Jellyfish Marketing); Steve Paul (Jellyfish Marketing); Andrew Cross (Goosechase); Eric St-Pierre (Merchlar); Awane Jones (Merchlar); Tessa Mintz (Futurpreneur Canada); Top, front row: Anne Forkutza (Domo Enterprises); Guillame Chauvette (GCS Medical); Charles Sévigny (GCS Medical); Anton Rabie; Ronnen Harary; Quinn Battersby (Goosechase); Stephanie Kerr; Beth Dea (Futurpreneur Canada); Bottom: Jeff Hurst

Pg 128-129

1 2 94

53

67 8 12

1011

13

(1) David Ksiazkiewicz; (2) Stephen Baksh;(3) Ann Dalton; Karen Chan; Anu Sandhu; WaiSee Wong; Carmen Choy; (4) Ben Gadbois; Ronnen Harary; (5) Kris Jackson; Mike Arnott; (6) 1000+ guests at the 20th Anniversary Gala celebration in Toronto, September 10, 2014; (7) Cam Nguyen; Chona Mangrobang; (8) Daniel Neguse; (9) Karen Rowden; Rick Rowden; Sonia May; (10) Gustavo Jimenez, David Sarrafo; (11) Naomii Boesch; Susan Abraham; (12) Ivory Jones; (13) Debi Laezman; Todd Kass

Pg 131 Ben Gabdois

Pg 136-137

15

6 7

8 9

9 11 129 13104

32

(1) Ronnen and Anton with Ronnen’s grandmother Sophie Levy; (2) Ronnen’s mother Odette Levy at Caring & Sharing, the annual fundraiser organized by Spin Master and partners; (3) The partners enjoying the early days of Sky Shark success in 1998; (4) Anton’s parents Allan & Hilary Rabie; (5) Ben jumps into a restaurant’s aquarium to get a prospective client’s attention, early 2000s; (6) Anton’s first Spin Master business card; (7) The three partners at a trade show, 1996; (8) The three partners blowing Catch-a-Bubbles, 2002; (9) Meccano Meccanoid robot meets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, 2015; Back row: Jodi McDonald; Joshua Tucker; Jeff Hurst; Stephen Harper; Ben Gadbois; Naznine Ali; Front row: Meccano Meccanoid; (10) The partners beside their first Devil Sticks van in 1995; (11) The partners holding one of their first boxes of merchandise to be manufactured in China, 1996; (12) The partners on the Front Street building’s roof, 2008; (13) The partners beside the Bakugan van in 2008

141

Thank you to all of the advisors, collaborators, and present and former staff around the world for the impact you’ve made on Spin Master and

for your generosity in helping create this book.

Author: Jamieson Cochrane

Illustration & Design: Suzanne Michele, Art & Soul Design

Printed in Canada: Friesens Printing Ltd.

300 - 1370 Don Mills Road

Don Mills, Ontario, Canada

Copyright © 2015 Spin Master Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this

publication may be reproduced or used

in any form or by any means - graphic,

electronic or mechanical, without the prior

written permission of the publisher.

The products, trademarks and proprietary

shapes used in this book are owned by

their respective owners and cannot be

reproduced without permission of the

holder of the rights.

ISBN: 978-0-9809908-5-0

Contributing Editor: Tamara Horowitz

Documentarians: Summer Love & Jane Michener

20th Anniversary Curators: Nick Pagee & Jamie Chirico

Photo Research: Loralee Butler

Photo Research Assistant: Dylan Irvine

The following are trademarks of Spin Master Ltd.: Air Hogs, Aqua Dots, Atmosphere,

Bakugan, Boom Boom Balloon, Bounce Round, Cake Pop Maker, Captain Bones Gold,

Catch-a-Bubble, Cool Baker, Dominator, Earth Buddy, eChargers, Fibber, Flick Trix,

Flutterbye Fairy, Happitats, Havoc Heli, Hawk Eye, Helix, Kawaii Crush, Kinetic Sand,

La Dee Da, Little Charmers, Liv, Marshmallow, Meccanoid, Moon Dough, Moon

Sand, Nano Speed, Paw Patrol, PixOs, Pop on Pals, Ready Bed, Redakai, Sew Cool,

Sharpshooter, Sick Bricks, Sky Shark, Spin Master, Spin Master Innovation Fund, Spy

Gear, Storm Launcher, Swypeout, Tech Deck, Tenkai Knights, Zero Gravity Micro,

Zoobles, Zoomer, Zuppies.

The following trademarks are owned by: 7-11 Slurpee Maker - 7-ELEVEN, INC.;

Aquadoodle - THE PILOT INK CO., LTD.; Bella Dancerella - AWABA GROUP PTY LTD.;

Bendaroos - MERCHANT MEDIA, LLC; Bob The Builder - HIT ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED;

Boeing - THE BOEING COMPANY; Cars 2, Tron: Legacy - DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.;

Cartoon Network - THE CARTOON NETWORK, INC.; Disney, Monsters University, Toy

Story - DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.; Dr Dreadful - NEOTOY LLC; Dragons, DreamWorks,

How To Train Your Dragon - DREAMWORKS ANIMATION LLC; Element - ROCKET

TRADEMARKS PTY LTD; Hedbanz - THE FUTURE TRENDS EXPERIENCE LTD.,; Hershey

Kiss Maker - HERSHEY CHOCOLATE & CONFECTIONERY CORPORATION; Lockheed

Martin - LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION; Logo - DRUMOND DEVELOPMENTS

LIMITED; Marvel, Spider-man - MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC.; Meccano - MECCANO;

Mighty Beanz - MOOSE CREATIVE PTY LTD; NASCAR - NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR

STOCK CAR AUTORACING, INC; Nickelodeon, TMNT - VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.;

Plan B - CMDW INC.; Play Doh, Transformers - HASBRO, INC.; Pokemon - NINTENDO

OF AMERICA INC.; Ryan Sheckler - SHECKLER MERCH LLC; Santa Cruz - NHS, INC.;

Sesame Street - SESAME WORKSHOP; Shrinky Dinks - SHRINKY DINKS HOLDINGS,

LLC; Small Soldiers - UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC.; Star Wars - LUCASFILM LTD.

LLC; Stinkblasters - ME, LLC; The Simpsons - TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM

CORPORATION; The Wiggles – THE WIGGLES PTY LIMITED; Tony Hawk - TONY HAWK,

INC.; Vectron Wave - STEVEN DAVIS; Yo Gabba Gabba - GABBACADABRA LLC.

142

2

Spin·no·va·tion | spin-nə-’vā-shən |

n The art of combining partnerships, creativity, confidence,

technology, and integrity to create best-in-class toys,

entertainment properties and mobile gaming experiences.