Tyco Toys was an American toy manufacturer. Founded in 1926 as Mantua Metal Products in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, rebranded as Tyco Toys in 1957. In addition to being known for its vehicular toys and Sesame Street line, during the 1980s and early 1990s, the company released products relating to Garfield, most notably the Garfield telephone.
Tyco was acquired by Mattel on March 27, 1997, and became a brand-name-only unit for remote controlled toy vehicles.
The Garfield Telephone[]
The Garfield Telephone was released around November 1984[1], as part of Tyco's Personality Phones product line. The phone originally retailed between $45 and $50. The product and packaging was manufactured in Hong Kong.
In 1986, the product was slightly tweaked, moving manufacturing to China, and to accommodate the release of the Garfield Wall Telephone, the box art for the Garfield Telephone was slightly redesigned.
This line of telephone is infamous for the thirty-year long appearance of telephones washing up on the Iroise coast in Brittany, France, the result of a shipping container apparently blown over during a violent storm.[2] Despite three decades, the source of the telephones was only discovered in 2019, when a farmer came forward to report the location of the container, which remains inaccessible.
Other products[]
- The Garfield Wall Telephone was released in 1986. Like the first release, Garfield's eyes would open when the receiver was picked up. In addition, the release was accompanied by a toll-free number in which the user could 'speak' to Garfield, which ran from July 1st to December 31st, 1986. The product and packaging were manufactured in Taiwan. Its EAN-13 number was 0 43302 01209 8.
- The Garfield Electronic Personality Scale was released in 1986. The eyes of the Garfield fitted to the scale would open when stepped on. The product and packaging were manufactured in Taiwan.
- The Garfield Talking Telephone was released in 1992. The telephone came with 11 in-built phrases that would play when the phone would ring. The product and packaging were manufactured in the People's Republic of China. Its EAN-13 number was 0 43302 01208 1.