Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Mark Sharp passed away on February 9th, 2024. Mark was a sales agent at Brainstorm. Mark traveled a lot for work, and even met his wife while traveling in Kibbutz in the Middle East. They had two c...hildren together, and the family loved to travel. Mark's colleagues at Brainstorm have expressed their deep sadness over the loss of their friend and colleague. "He was a delight to work with and we will all miss him immensely – as will all of his customers. It hardly seems believable that we were with him all through Toy Fair, and now he has gone so suddenly," his friend Nick Saunders told Toy World.Show more

Yoshitaka Murayama passed away on Feb. 6, 2024. Yoshitaka was the creator of Eiyuden Chronicle and Suikoden, and the founder of Rabbit & Bear Studios. Yoshitaka studied computer programming studie...s at University of Tokoyo, and was hired by Konami to develop a game for an internally developed video game console. Later, Yoshitaka and a few others got to work on a RPG game for Sony's PlayStation console, which is when Suikoden was born. His bosses loved the idea, and Yoshitaka was tasked with making 108 characters mirroring the 108 outlaws in the Chinese classic Shui Hu Zhuan, the book the game was based on. It was released in 1995, and started gaining traction with fans. It probably helped that Yoshitaka personally responded to every piece of fan mail that was sent.Show more

Barry Harding passed away on February 11, 2024, He was an excellent salesman and a very well respected man. Barry enjoyed a long career in the toy industry of over 40 years. Within those years, he ...worked for multiple major companies, including Fisher Price, Playmobil, and Step2. He also opened his own sales agency, BG Marketing, which represented a number of international toy companies in the UK market, including Kiddesigns. His close friend John Mitchell described him as "honest, dependable, decent and totally committed – a salesperson of the highest integrity. He was dedicated to his craft and one of the most courteous people you will ever meet." Barry will be deeply missed by friends, family, and all those that knew him.Show more

Steve Kennedy Lynn passed away on January 12, 2024, due to complications related to Type 1 diabetes. Steve graduated from Wilson High in Long Beach in 1983, then attended Cal State Long Beach, whe...re he received a degree in art. As a student, he was a resident illustrated for published periodicals, and he designed and painted murals at both his high school and college. He had his own art studios in Long Beach, Anaglyph Studios and Sow's Ear Studios, where he had a successful career in art of all mediums, especially sculpture. He designed and sculpted the very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, and helped in the development of the characters themselves. He sculpted all of the best McDonald's Happy Meal toys, co-created and sculpted Mattel's Street Sharks and Street Dinosaurs, created and sculpted the Toxix Creators, and worked in the Disney Art Department at Disneyland, where he did illustrations, sculptures, and ride design. Steve also attended Burning Man each year, and designed and constructed many of the large sculptures and founded the Lost Penguin Tribe. Steve will be dearly missed by friends, family, and all who knew him.Show more

Gill Sheppard, owner of Rainbow Toys in Midsomer Norton, passed away on September 7, 2023 after a 19 month battle with cancer. Gill owned Rainbow Toys with her husband, Julian.

Scott Bennie, famous game designer, passed away in March of 2022 due to complications from pneumonia. He was 61. Scott Bennie became interested in games in high school, especially role playing gam...es. He submitted articles to Dragon Magazine, made his first sale in 1981, and became a freelancer for TSR, Inc. Scott graduated from University of British Columbia in 1986, and in 1990, he was hired at Interplay Productions. He became one of the four designers on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I. He also designed Castles, and was one of the writers on Star Trek: Judgement Rites, Fallout, Starfleet Command, and many others. He will be deeply missed by friends, family, and colleagues alike.Show more

Paul Hyslop passed away on May 30, 2022. Paul spent much of his last two decades working at JustFlight, a UK-based publisher specializing in developing and publishing add-ons for Flight Simulator. ...Paul's career started at Microprose, where he helped to establish the military software brand in Europe. After, he worked at Tomb Raider publisher Eidos, before joining Just Flight in 2002. Paul was described by his friends as a man with no ego, a man with many friends, and and a man who knew how to have a good time. He will be dearly missed by friends, family, and colleagues alike.Show more

Douglas Thompson, former president of the Toy Manufacturers Association, passed away on October 22, 2021 at the age of 97. Douglas joined the TMA, now The Toy Association, as president in 1978 and ...led the organization in consumer safety and policy, public relations, and philanthropy. He was also a founder of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Toy Design Department.Show more

Lizzie Wilding, Vice President of commercial operations at UK studio Dovetail Games, passed away on May 26, 2022 after a battle against colon cancer. Lizzie spent over 5 years at Dovetail Games, or...iginally joining the company as vice president of publishing before taking over commercial operations last year. Previously, Lizzie had worked in marketing positions at PlayStation, Jagex, Codemasters, NaturalMotion, Gremlin Interactive, and Electronic Arts. Lizzie was one of the first recipients of the MCV Top 100 Women in Games Awards. She is survived by her husband and five children, along with her mother, uncle, and grandfather.Show more

Emilio Delgado was born on May 8, 1940 and passed away at the age of 81 on March 10, 2022. He was best known for his role as Luis on Sesame Street. Emilio began acting professionally in 1968, but d...idn't start on Sesame Street until 1971. He played Luis, a handyman and aspiring writer who ran the Fix-It Shop. He was one of the first human additions to the show, and his character was described as "an honest, upstanding, hard-working, affable person." Emilio expected the role to last one or two seasons, but he in fact played Luis from 1971 until 2016. He is believed to have played the same role on U.S. television longer than any other Mexican-American actor ever has. Emilio married Barbara Snavely in 1963, with whom he had a son with, and they divorced in 1975. He married Linda Moon in 1977, and they divorced in 1984. He married Carole Delago in 1990, and they were together until his death in 1990. He and Carole had a daughter, Lauren.Show more