LJN

LJN Toys, Limited was an American toy company and video game publisher in operation from 1970 to 1995. It manufactured toy lines and released battery operated water guns and video games based on licensed properties from movies, television shows, and celebrities. It was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and later in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. LJN introduced the Entertech line of battery operated water guns in 1986.

Founding
LJN Toys Ltd. was founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, who later founded other toy companies, notably THQ and Jakks Pacific.

The name LJN came from reversing the initials of Norman J. Lewis, whose toy company (Norman J. Lewis Associates) had employed Friedman as a sales representative in the 1960s. Lewis himself initially backed LJN financially but later sold his interest to a Chinese investor.

MCA era
In 1985, MCA, which had been actively acquiring companies in the mid-1980s, acquired LJN for $66 or $67 million in an effort to retain more profits from the merchandising of its film properties.

LJN began publishing video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. Although this was LJN's first foray into the video game business, it was not for MCA who had previously started MCA Video Games, as a joint venture with Atari, Inc., to create coin-operated and home games and computer software based on various MCA properties.

In 1988, LJN acquired Italian toy company Al'es from the Fassi family.

In 1989, MCA decided to sell LJN after years of losses since 1987 when fallout surrounding toy guns made by LJN's Entertech division plunged MCA's profits 79.5% in the second quarter of that year. MCA finally agreed to sell to Acclaim Entertainment in March 1990 for cash and Acclaim common stock for 30 to 50 percent.

Acclaim era
During the time the company was owned by Acclaim Entertainment, LJN continued with the same licensing direction it had pursued under MCA or as an independent company. Acclaim rid LJN of its toy division and reorganized it exclusively as a video game publisher.

During the 8-bit gaming era, Nintendo, as a form of quality control, regulated the number of titles to appear on its console, the Nintendo Entertainment System. As a result, companies like Acclaim used divisions such as LJN to produce more products than Nintendo would have traditionally allowed. Konami also utilized such tactics with its division Ultra. Even after Nintendo dropped its rule in the early 1990s, Acclaim kept LJN operating, which published several titles for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. Although Acclaim distributed the video games, they were self-published and marketed by LJN.

LJN, along with the Flying Edge and Arena Entertainment labels (the latter two labels which published Acclaim's games to Sega's consoles), were folded into Acclaim in 1995.

In 2000, LJN made a return in name only when Acclaim used the brand to publish the Dreamcast port of Spirit of Speed 1937.

Toylines

 * 255 Computer Command Cars
 * Nightmare on Elm Street (1985)
 * Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1978)
 * Baby Blinkins (1985)
 * Back to the Future Part II (1990)
 * Baseball Talk (1989)
 * Bionic Six (1987 - 1989)
 * Boy George
 * Brooke Shields
 * Dune (1985)
 * E.T. (1982)
 * Emergency!
 * Entertech (1985 - 1990)
 * Ethosrox
 * Gremlins (1984)
 * Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
 * Magnum, P.I.
 * Michael Jackson
 * Oodles
 * Photon
 * Plantsters
 * Road Stars
 * Roll 'n Rocker
 * Rookies
 * Rough Riders
 * Suckers
 * S.W.A.T.
 * Switch Force
 * The Terminator (1985)
 * Thundercats (1985 - 1989)
 * Tigersharks (1987)
 * Tiny Dinos
 * Video Art (1987)
 * V Alien Visitor
 * Voltron (1985)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988 - 1989)
 * Wrestling Superstars (1984 - 1989)

Video games
1980s & 1990s 2000s
 * Jaws (November 1987)
 * The Karate Kid (November 1987)
 * Gotcha! The Sport! (November 1987)
 * Town & Country Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage (February 1988)
 * Major League Baseball (NES version) (April 1988)
 * Friday the 13th (February 1989)
 * NFL (September 1989)
 * Back to the Future (September 1989)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (September 1989)
 * A Nightmare on Elm Street (October 1989)
 * The Uncanny X-Men (December 1989)
 * Pictionary (NES version) (July 1990)
 * The Amazing Spider-Man (July 1990)
 * Back to the Future Part II & III (September 1990)
 * The Punisher (Game Boy and NES versions) (November 1990)
 * WWF WrestleMania Challenge (NES version) (November 1990)
 * T2: The Arcade Game (Game Boy and SNES versions) (1991)
 * Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Game Boy, NES and SNES versions) (1991)
 * Roger Clemens' MVP Baseball (Game Boy, NES and SNES versions) (1991)
 * WWF Superstars (Game Boy version) (April 1991)
 * Beetlejuice (Game Boy and NES versions) (May 1991)
 * Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (Game Boy and NES versions) (August 1991)
 * Wolverine (October 1991)
 * Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Game Boy and SNES versions) (1992)
 * WWF Super WrestleMania (Super NES version) (February 1992)
 * Town & Country II: Thrilla's Surfari (March 1992)
 * The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (August 1992)
 * WWF Superstars 2 (Game Boy version) (August 1992)
 * WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge (Game Boy version) (September 1992)
 * Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (NES version) (October 1992)
 * NBA All-Star Challenge (Game Boy and SNES versions) (December 1992)
 * Alien 3 (Game Boy, NES and SNES versions) (January 1993)
 * WWF Royal Rumble (Super NES version) (June 1993)
 * The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers (July 1993)
 * The Incredible Crash Dummies (Game Boy, NES and SNES versions) (November 1993)
 * NFL Quarterback Club (Game Boy and SNES versions) (November 1993)
 * WWF King of the Ring (Game Boy and NES versions) (November 1993)
 * True Lies (Game Boy and SNES versions) (1994)
 * Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (Super NES Version) (1994)
 * Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (Sega Genesis and SNES versions) (September 1994)
 * WWF RAW (Game Boy and SNES versions) (December 1994)
 * Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Super NES version) (1995)
 * Warlock (Super NES version) (August 1995)
 * Spider-Man and Venom: Separation Anxiety (Super NES version) (November 1995)
 * World War III (unreleased)
 * Spirit of Speed 1937 (Sega Dreamcast and PC versions) (July 2000)

Video game development
Spanning a number of video game console generations, LJN published games outsourced to external developers. Although many of LJN's titles (particularly the pre-Acclaim ones) do not disclose the developer, there is no video game that has been developed in-house by LJN. Most of LJN's games are based on a preexisting brand such as movies.