Irwin Toy

Irwin Toy

Irwin Toy was a Canadian company based in Toronto, Ontario, and established in 1926.

Most of the company’s business revolved around distributing toys from other companies (predominantly the United States) in Canada, such as Kenner, Atari, Tyco and Sega. In fact, a majority of popular toys in Canada would be imported by Irwin – namely successes such as the Star Wars action figures, Meccano, Jenga and Care Bears. They would also pioneer the introduction of the Frisbee to the Canadian market. However, this market majority would dwindle in the 1990s as many of the companies that used Irwin as a distributor were sold to larger companies.

Irwin Toy was sold to a private investment group in 2001, but eighteen months later would be declared bankrupt and dissolve. The Irwin family would repurchase the name and patents of Irwin Toy and continue the company as ITOYS Inc, which would itself file bankruptcy in 2010.