Review: Toy Wars
“Increasingly, a small group of executives determined how the children of the world would play. … This is in the best interests of capital, not kids.” — author’s note.
Despite toys being a USD67 billion market worldwide, the toy industry doesn’t get much mainstream coverage ordinarily. There was a flurry of reports during the recent safety scares and there’ll usually be an article or two whenever the larger toy companies announce their financial results but by and large, there’s little coverage and less scrutiny because it’s not seen as a beat that makes journalistic careers. It’s a pity because there are great stories to be told as G. Wayne Miller shows with his 1997 book, Toy Wars.
Miller approached Alan Hassenfeld, then the chairman and CEO of the world’s number one toy company, with the intention of spending two years writing a book about Hasbro’s crown jewel, G.I. Joe, the very first action figure and iconic boy’s toy. Miller took five years to write his book after realising there were bigger stories.
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