- Colorforms
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Colorforms 
Gumby Colorforms Creators Harry and Patricia Kislevitz Manufacturer Colorforms Corporation Era 1951(?) - Present Materials vinyl Country United States Colorforms, invented by Harry and Patricia Kislevitz, refer to a general type of vinyl adhesive toy set produced under the Colorforms brand.
Contents
Definition
Colorforms are paper-thin, die-cut vinyl sheet images and shapes that are meant to be applied to a shiny plastic laminated board, much like placing paper dolls against a paper backdrop. The images stick to the background by adhesion, which takes place when two highly polished surfaces come in contact. The Colorforms vinyl pieces can be repositioned to create new scenarios.
History
Founded in 1951, Colorforms is one of the oldest and best-known brands in the toy industry. It was the very first plastic-based creative toy, and one of the first toys ever advertised on television.
The original Colorforms sets were assembled by Harry and Pat Kislevitz, themselves, in their New York city apartment. Boxed sets began appearing in the 1950s and featured basic geometric shapes and bright primary colors. The company used the slogan "It's More Fun To Play The Colorforms Way!" in print ads and television commercials to promote their products.
The defining feature of most Colorforms play sets is their signature plastic ‘Stick-Ons™’that can be placed and repositioned on top of graphic backgrounds to create endless scenes at a child's whim. Over time, the Colorforms line has included imaginative play sets, games and puzzles, interactive books and creative activities for young children.
Since its inception, more than 1 billion Colorforms play sets have been sold - a number that keeps growing every year. With more than 75 toy products in current distribution, Colorforms continues to build on time-honored creative play patterns that generations of children have experienced and remember fondly.
Product Timeline
- 1951 - Harry and Patricia Kislevitz experiment with new flexibly vinyl material in semi-gloss painted bathroom; This is the beginning of the Colorforms concept.
- 1957 - Popeye becomes Colorforms' first licensed character applied to its products.
- 1959 - Paul Rand creates the Colorforms logo, still one of the most recognizable product symbols in the toy industry today.
- 1962 - Miss Weather, a Colorforms character featuring a wardrobe that changed with the weather, makes her debut.
- 1981 - Colorforms acquires licensing rights to Shrinky Dinks kits; during its licensing period, Colorforms created and marketed more than 50 different Shrinky Dinks toy activity and creativity kits.
- 1997 - Toy Biz acquires Colorforms.
- 1998 - University Games acquires Colorforms from Toy Biz.
- 2000 - Colorforms listed among the Top 10 Toys of the Century by the Toy Industry of America (TIA).
- 2011 - Colorforms named one of the Top 100 Toys of All Time by TIME Magazine.
Design
Adhesion and repositionability are the elegantly simple concepts behind Colorforms' success. Harry and Patricia discovered this when a friend who manufactured pocketbooks gave these two art students a roll of flexible paper-thin vinyl. The Kislevitzes discovered that the vinyl stuck to the semi-gloss paint in their bathroom, and began cutting shapes out of the material and placing them on the wall. Having fun with the process, the Kislevitzes left extra material and a pair of scissors out for guests to add to their creation. Based on the concept's success, the Kislevitzes decided to market their idea as a consumer product. Originally targeting other artists and adults, the product quickly became popular with children and the Colorforms brand took hold.
Today
Now inspiring its third generation of children, the Colorforms product range continues to build on time-honored creative play patterns. Playing with Colorforms promotes creative expression, concentration skills, comprehension of spatial relationships and manual dexterity. Marking its 60th anniversary, University Games, Colorfroms' parent company, is introducing a number of new product concepts that bring Colorforms activity toys to new dimensions while remaining true to the key values of this time-honored brand.
- Colorforms is Color and Shape. A rectangle and two circles become a car, a square, and a triangle become a house. Put them together and a story is born.
- Colorforms is Visual, Creative and Expressive. With endless opportunities for expression, everyday life doesn’t have to be ordinary – for anyone.
- Colorforms is Original and Interactive. Creating a whole new world is easy – limited only by imagination.
- Colorforms is Reusable, Repositionable and Forgiving. It is the ultimate in personalization. Change your mind and change the scene, over and over.
- Colorforms is Trusted and Nostalgic. It is a classic childhood experience that parents and grandparents remember with great affection – they want to share that experience with their children and grandchildren and capture it for themselves.
- Colorforms is Contemporary. It appeals to children just as much today as it did to previous generations, and lives comfortably wherever imagination and visual play have a home.
- Colorforms is Approachable, Clean and Easy. No learning curves, no complicated instructions, no fuss, no muss – just pick it up and start playing.
- Colorforms is Universal. It’s good wholesome fun for everyone.
Licensed Characters
The first licensed character product was released in 1957, featuring Popeye. Since then, Colorforms has continued to expand its licensed character agreements, with dozens of brands connected to Colorforms.
Later Colorforms licensed various properties, producing box sets supporting various cartoons, TV series and movie releases, including Peanuts, Tarzan, The Three Stooges, Doctor Dolittle and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Over the years, the licensed properties associated with Colorforms have been many - too many to list. In 2011, the 60th anniversary year, Colorforms added the Green Lantern, My Little Pony, The Gruffalo, Tonka and Transformers, to name a few.
Products
Colorforms products have expanded beyond the simple "paper doll" concept to more than 75 Colorforms toy products currently in distribution, with more added every year. The Colorforms series later expanded into cartoon character sets such as Popeye and Gumby and original character sets on household themes such as Miss Weather, a girl whose wardrobe changed with the weather, and Miss Cookie's Kitchen, a woman with a variety of kitchen tools and utensils.
Other products
The Colorforms Corporation also produced Shrinky Dinks, The Outer Space Men bendy action figures (1968), Dress-Up Sets, and Monster Print Putty. The latter, which was boxed in a skull-shaped plastic shield for a heightened "monster" effect, was a pliable clay-like substance that picked up newspaper-ink images when pressed upon them, similar to Silly Putty, except that Monster Print Putty could then transfer those images onto a special "Monster Print Paper" when applied to it.
Colorforms acquired the rights to license and distribute Shrinky Dinks in 1981, and continued creating and promoting their products until the brand was sold to Milton Bradley in 1989.
Acquisition
In 1997, Colorforms was acquired by Toy Biz. A year later, University Games acquired Colorforms from Toy Biz.
References
- University Games Corp. Colorforms brand page
- http://melbirnkrant.com/colorforms/
- http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/53165_colorforms.shtml
- List of Colorforms sets available
Further Reading
Categories:- 1951 introductions
- Toy brands
- Toy companies of the United States
- Toys of the 1950s
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