View source for WowWee

{{Short description|Hong Kong-based toy company}}
{{Distinguish|Wowowee}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox company
| name = WowWee Group Limited
| logo = 
| location = [[Hong Kong]], China
| revenue = 
| website = {{URL|http://www.wowwee.com}}
| company_slogan = 
| founder = Richard Yanofsky<br>Peter Yanofsky
| type = [[Private Company|Private]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1988}}<br>[[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]
| key_people = 
}}
'''WowWee''' '''Group Limited''' is a [[Privately held company|privately held]], [[Hong Kong]]–based [[Canada|Canadian]] consumer technology company.

==History==
Initially from Canada, the two founding brothers (Richard and Peter Yanofsky) moved to Hong Kong to form the company in 1982, as an independent [[Research and development|research & development]] and [[manufacturing]] outfit.<ref name="Krueger">{{cite news | last = Krueger | first = Justus  | date = February 28, 2006 | title = Robot climbs evolutionary ladder |work=South China Morning Post |location=Hong Kong }}</ref> As an [[Original equipment manufacturer|OEM]] seller, they produced products such as the [[Power rangers|Power Rangers]] Power Gloves and the Talking Tots dolls.<ref name="WowWeeHistory">{{cite web | title = History | work=WowWee (Official Site) | url = http://www.wowwee.com/history.php | accessdate = 2008-05-01 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080408034422/http://www.wowwee.com/history.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-04-08}}</ref> In 1987, the company changed focus, building and marketing toys under their own brand in response to a fall in OEM orders. In 1999, they produced new products including a robotic dog (MegaByte), T-Rex, and the Animaltronics and Dinotronics lines of remote control animals. In 1998 the company was purchased by [[Hasbro]].<ref name="Goldman">{{cite news | last = Goldman | first = Francisco | date = November 28, 2004 | title = A Robot for the Masses |work=The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/magazine/28ROBO.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin }}</ref>

===Under Hasbro===
Shortly before the Hasbro sale,<ref name="Feder">{{cite news | last = Feder | first = Barnaby J. | date = February 21, 2002 | title = Toyland Is Tough, Even for Robots |work=The New York Times }}</ref> [[Peter Yanofsky]] reportedly caught [[physicist]]/[[roboticist]] [[Mark Tilden]] on the [[Discovery Channel]], and soon hired him as a consultant.<ref name="Goldman" />  Initially Tilden worked part-time with WowWee while he continued his work with the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], but in 2001, Tilden joined the company full-time. One of his first products with WowWee was the B.I.O. Bug, released in 2001. Unfortunately, while sales were doing well, they weren't as strong as either WowWee or Hasbro would have liked. In part this has been attributed to the after-effects of [[9/11]] and the [[anthrax]] attacks, while Tilden has also expressed disappointment with some of the limitations placed on the product design by Hasbro.<ref name="Feder" /> After moving to WowWee full-time in 2001, Tilden focused his attention on developing [[Robosapien]].

While Tilden was developing Robosapien, Hasbro canceled the project several times, leading Yanofsky to negotiate out of the contract in 2003.<ref name="Goldman" /> Robosapien was released in 2004, and over 1.5 million were reportedly sold in the first five months of sale.<ref name="Taylor">{{cite news | last = Taylor | first = Michael | date = November 16, 2004 | title = Innovative toy packs a punch |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/478240/innovative-toy-packs-punch|work=South China Morning Post |location=Hong Kong }}</ref> Robosapien was the first commercially available biomorphic robot, and the first to integrate personality-like features. Tilden continued to develop the line with the [[Robosapien v2|Robosapien V2]] (released in 2005), which added functionality like speech capability; [[RS Media]] robot (released in 2006), which included user-created functions, and [[Roboreptile]] (also in 2006).<ref name="Bullard">{{cite news | last = Bullard | first = Dave | date = August 9, 2006 | title = Techno comes to toy town | work=[[The Courier Mail]] }}</ref> The [[Roboquad]] a four-legged robot (released in 2007); the RS Tri-Bot, a three-wheeled robot (released in summer 2008),<ref>[http://www.tri-botonline.com/ WowWee RS Tri-bot]</ref> and [[RS Media]] (2006).

In 2007, working with inventor Sean Frawley, WowWee released the [[FlyTech Dragonfly]]{{snd}}a remote control flying [[ornithopter]].<ref name="Marriott">{{cite news | last = Marriott | first = Michel | date = February 8, 2007 | title = If Leonardo Had Made Toys |work=The New York Times }}</ref>  The Dragonfly was named as one of the inventions of the year by Time in 2007.<ref name="TimeGadget">{{cite magazine | title = Gadget of the Year: FlyTech Dragonfly | magazine=Time | url = http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1677329_1677346_1677370,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071104065429/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1677329_1677346_1677370,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 4, 2007 | date=November 1, 2007}}</ref> The success of the Dragonfly led to other flying toys, such as the Bladestar (a remote controlled helicopter) and the Butterfly (a wind-up ornithopter aimed at younger children).

===Under Optimal Group===
On September 27, 2007, the publicly traded [[Optimal Group]] announced they had entered into a purchase agreement to acquire WowWee Ltd, which they completed in November of that year.<ref name="OptimalPR">{{cite news | date = November 7, 2007 | title = Optimal Group Completes WowWee Acquisition (Press Release) | work=Yahoo! Finance | url = http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/071107/0325849.html | accessdate = 2008-05-01 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071222003356/http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/071107/0325849.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-12-22}}</ref>

At the 2008 [[Consumer Electronics Show|CES]], several new products (including the [[Rovio (robot)|Rovio]] and [[Femisapien]]) were announced with their estimated release dates and prices.<ref>{{cite news |title=CES 2008: Meet the new WowWee Robot Lineup! |publisher=RoboCommunity |url=http://www.robocommunity.com/article/12414/CES-2008--Meet-the-new-WowWee-Robot-Lineup-/ |date=2008-01-08 |accessdate=2008-06-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=WowWee Robots 2008 – Release Dates and Pricing Guide |publisher=RoboCommunity |url=http://www.robocommunity.com/article/12508/WowWee-Robots-2008---Release-Dates-and-Pricing-Guide/ |author=RoboCommunity Team |date=2008-01-14 |accessdate=2008-06-24}}</ref>

===Private again; Fingerlings & Avastars===
In 2010, the management of WowWee entered into a support agreement with Optimal Group, and took the company private again.<ref>[http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/Optimal-Group-Enters-Into-Support-Agreement-With-Management-WowWee-Group-Offer-US240-1133091.htm Optimal Group Enters Into Support Agreement With Management of WowWee Group for Offer of US$2.40 per Share], March 17, 2010</ref> In 2014, a new product, MiP, was released. It won more than 10 Tech and Toy awards, including the Toy Industry Associations’ 2015 TOTY award for Innovative Toy of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2015 TOTY Winners |url=https://www.toyassociation.org/Events2/TOTY_Awards/2015_TOTY_Winners.aspx |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=The Toy Association}}</ref>  MiP was also named "Innovative Toy of the Year" at the National Robotics Week.<ref>[http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/read/mip-named-innovative-toy-of-the-year-at-national-robotics-week/044291MiP named Innovative Toy of the Year at National Robotics Week], [[ToyNews]], April 16, 2015</ref> At the 2015 [[Consumer Electronics Show|CES]], WowWee announced products including MiPosaur and REV.<ref>[http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wowwee-shifts-into-hyperdrive-at-ces-with-rev-and-miposaur-300015385.html WowWee® Shifts Into Hyperdrive at CES with REV™ and MiPosaur™], [[PR Newswire]]</ref>

In 2017, the company employed about 100 people.<ref name=Time2017>Corkery, Michael. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/business/fingerling-toy.html "How the Fingerling Caught On (Robot Grip and All) as 2017’s Hot Toy"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 9, 2017</ref> For the 2017 Christmas season, it introduced, through a series of viral promotions on social media, a product called [[Fingerlings (toy)|Fingerlings]]. The tiny robots, in the shape of monkeys, sloths and unicorns, became one of the most popular toys of the season.<ref name=Time2017/><ref>White, Martha C. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200809143742/https://money.com/fingerlings-where-to-buy-unicorn-sloth-monkey/ "A Brand New Set of Fingerlings Toys Have Arrived. Here's Where to Buy Them"], ''[[Money (magazine)|Money]]'', December 20, 2017</ref> Some shoppers complained that they were sold fake Fingerlings on Amazon and Walmart's websites.<ref>Pisani, Joseph [https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/retail/2017/11/21/shoppers-fake-fingerlings-sold-through-outside-sellers-amazon-walmart-com/885455001/ "Shoppers: Fake Fingerlings sold through outside sellers on Amazon, walmart.com"], ''[[USA Today]]'', November 21, 2017</ref> In 2018, WowWee followed up<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.i4u.com/2018/08/129233/fingerlings-hugs-bella-stock-amazon-pre-order|title=Fingerlings Hugs Bella Is in Stock At Amazon for Pre-order|work=I4U News|access-date=2018-08-01|language=en}}</ref> the success with large interactive plush Fingerlings in the Fingerlings Hugs series.

In 2022, WowWee formed a partnership with the Roblox development group [[Gamefam]] to launch the Avastars line of [[doll]]s.

==2010 lawsuit==
On November 23, 2010, [[Engadget]] revealed that WowWee and a number of retailers were being sued for trademark infringement by [[Gibson Guitar Corporation]] for unlawfully using the shapes of the bodies and headstocks of Gibson's signature guitars in their [[Paper Jamz]] line of battery operated toy guitars.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gibson sues WowWee, retailers over Paper Jamz toy guitars |publisher=Engadget |url=https://www.engadget.com/2010/11/23/gibson-sues-wowwee-retailers-over-paper-jamz-toy-guitars-would/ |date=2010-11-23 |accessdate=2010-11-24}}</ref>  WowWee denied any wrongdoing and asserted that the shapes Gibson claimed as trademarks were generic and therefore could not function as trademarks.  On November 24, 2010, the court denied Gibson's request for a temporary restraining order,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adams v. Gibson, 2:07-cv-00777-RAM {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/adams-v-gibson-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330231659/https://casetext.com/case/adams-v-gibson-2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 30, 2023 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=casetext.com}}</ref> but on December 22, 2010, granted Gibson's motion for a preliminary injunction. The case was later settled, with WowWee paying Gibson an undisclosed amount for licensing the likeness of Gibson guitars, according to Gibson CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gibson Responds to WowWee Settlement Article |publisher=MMR |url=http://www.mmrmagazine.com/2067/news/gibson-responds-to-wowwee-settlement-article/ |date=2011-01-12 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714104513/http://www.mmrmagazine.com/2067/news/gibson-responds-to-wowwee-settlement-article/|archivedate = 2011-07-14|accessdate=2011-02-09}}</ref>

== 2022 lawsuit ==
On August 3, 2022, the video game company [[Roblox Corporation]] sued WowWee due to the Avastars line of toys. Roblox claimed that the Avastars' designs were too similar to that of a classic Roblox avatar.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Blake |date=2022-08-03 |title=Roblox sues tech toymaker WowWee over avatar figurines |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/roblox-sues-tech-toymaker-wowwee-over-avatar-figurines-2022-08-03/ |access-date=2023-06-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|WowWee}}
*{{Official website|http://www.wowwee.com}}
*[http://www.robocommunity.com RoboCommunity] – The official WowWee Robotics user community

{{WowWee Robots}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wowwee}}
[[Category:WowWee| ]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1988]]
[[Category:Toy companies of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:toy companies of Canada]]
==Shows and Movies==

In the film ''[[CJ7]]'', the robotic toy CJ1, is probably based on the design of Robopet.