History Creator / LJNToys

In 1986, LJN started publishing video games, nearly all of them based on licenses and/or released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios (mostly of British origin) who would go on to make games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone|BitEntertainment}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

* Boy George of Music/CultureClub

In 1985, Creator/{{MCA}}[=/=]Creator/{{Universal}}, which had been actively acquiring companies in the mid-1980s, acquired LJN for $66 million or $67 million in an effort to retain more profits from the merchandising of its film properties. That same year, LJN had one of its greatest successes in action figures with ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985''. (The company was already known for its [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] wrestling figures.)

In 1986, LJN started publishing video games, nearly all of them based on licenses and/or released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios (mostly of British origin) who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone|BitEntertainment}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

[=LJN=] Toys was founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, who later founded Creator/{{THQ}} and Jakks Pacific. The name [=LJN=] came from the initials of Lewis J. Norman, the reverse of Norman J. Lewis, whose toy company had employed Friedman as a sales representative in the 1960s. Lewis initially backed the company financially, but later sold his interest to a Chinese investor.

In 1985, Creator/{{MCA}}[=/=]Creator/{{Universal}}, which had been actively acquiring companies in the mid-1980s, acquired [=LJN=] for $66 million or $67 million in an effort to retain more profits from the merchandising of its film properties. That same year, LJN had one of its greatest successes in action figures with ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985''. (The company was already known for its [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] wrestling figures.)

In 1986, [=LJN=] started publishing video games, nearly all of them for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, but [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames its games have become notorious]] for having abysmal flaws such as unresponsive controls, odd physics, horrendous graphics, and just being horribly designed in general. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios (mostly of British origin) who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone|BitEntertainment}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

In 1990, MCA sold LJN to [[Creator/{{Acclaim}} Acclaim Entertainment]]. Acclaim phased out the toy lines and liquidated the Entertech brand, so they could use the LJN brand to increase the number of games they could publish for the NES. Even after Nintendo dropped the publishing limitations, LJN continued to publish games for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem and UsefulNotes/GameBoy as late as 1995, when the division was folded into Acclaim proper. For reasons unknown, Acclaim revived the brand in 2000 to publish one UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast title, ''Spirit of Speed '37''. It's often rumored that they did this because they knew they had a bad game on their hands, pretty much summing up the perception of the brand: not an old rival of Creator/{{Mattel}}, but the video game equivalent of Creator/FourKidsEntertainment.

!!Games published by [=LJN=]:

* ''Film/Alien3;'' (Game Boy version)

!!! Software Creations

!!! Grey Matter

* Creator/BrookeShields

* LJN Video Art System

[[caption-width-right:288:Sorry. [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames There ain't a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow]].]]

* ''The Amazing Franchise/SpiderMan''

** ''Franchise/SpiderMan: Return of the Sinister Six''

In 1986, [=LJN=] started publishing video games, nearly all of them for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, but [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames its games have become notorious]] for having abysmal design flaws such as lack of recovery time, limited attack range, etc. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios (mostly of British origin) who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone|BitEntertainment}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

* ''The Amazing {{Franchise/SpiderMan}}''
* ''Videogame/ANightmareOnElmStreetNES''

* ''Alien³'' (Game Boy version)

* ''[[VideoGame/BackToTheFuture1989 Back to the Future]]''

* ''[[VideoGame/ThePunisherNES The Punisher]]''

* ''{{Wolverine}}''

* ''Film/Dune1984''

* ''[[Series/SWAT1975 SWAT]]''
* ''[[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985 ThunderCats]]''

* ''[[Series/{{V 1983}} V]]''

* ''The Uncanny Franchise/XMen''

!!Toys and action figures made by LJN:

* ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' (not released)

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd The Angry Vid]][[ArchEnemy eo Game Nerd]]'s ire, who has joked that the name is an acronym for "'''L'''aughing '''J'''oking '''N'''umbnuts".

WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd also referred to the logo as the "''Shit Rainbow''", the colors are as follows:
->'''The Nerd''': Why did LJN have to make every NES movie adaptation? Couldn't they have given somebody else a try?! No, they wanted to incorporate the entire spectrum of awfulness:
-->'''Purple''' for putrid gameplay\\
'''Blue''' for bad musical abominations\\
'''Green''' for graphical farts and garlic\\
'''Yellow''' for piss-poor lack of loyalty to (the) source material\\
'''Orange''' for Orange (Aren't) you a fuckin' idiot?![[note]](possibly due to the cartridge art deceiving you into believing you're playing an '''''actual OK game''''')[[/note]]\\
'''Red''' for high stress anger inducing masochism.
->'''The Nerd''': Put that all together, you got all the colors of the shit rainbow. ''([[SarcasmMode sarcastically]])'' Hooray, LJN.

In 1986, [=LJN=] started publishing video games, nearly all of them for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, but [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames its games have become notorious]] for having abysmal design flaws such as lack of recovery time, limited attack range, etc. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios (mostly of British origin) who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd The Angry Vid]][[ArchEnemy eo Game Nerd]]'s ire, who has joked that the name is an acronym for "'''L'''aughing '''J'''oking '''N'''umbnuts" and according to him, the colors are as follows:
->'''The Nerd''': Why did LJN have to make every NES movie adaptation? Couldn't they have given somebody else a try?! No, they wanted to incorporate the entire spectrum of awfulness:\\
'''Purple''' for putrid gameplay\\

'''Red''' for high stress anger inducing masochism.\\
'''The Nerd''': Put that all together, you got all the colors of the shit rainbow. ''([[SarcasmMode sarcastically]])'' Hooray, LJN.

->'''The Nerd''': Put that all together, you got all the colors of the shit rainbow. ''([[SarcasmMode sarcastically]])'' Hooray, LJN.

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd The Angry Vid]][[ArchEnemy eo Game Nerd]]'s ire, who has joked that the name is an acronym for "'''L'''aughing '''J'''oking '''N'''umbnuts".

[[caption-width-right:288:Sorry. There ain't a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.]]

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's ire, who has joked that the name is an acronym for "'''L'''aughing '''J'''oking '''N'''umbnuts".

* ''Film/{{Dune}}''

* ''Series/SWAT1975''
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985''

* ''Series/{{V 1983}}''

* ''Film/TheKarateKid''

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's fury. Who has joked that the name must stand for "'''L'''aughing '''J'''oking '''N'''umbnuts".

In 1986, [=LJN=] started publishing video games, nearly all of them for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, but [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames its games have become notorious]] for having abysmal design flaws such as lack of recovery time, limited attack range, etc. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).

The company is probably best known today as a frequent target of WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's outrage (he's joked that the name must stand for "laughing joking numbnuts").

* ''WWF King of the Ring''

[[caption-width-right:288:Sorry. No pot of gold in this logo.]]

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''

In 1986, [=LJN=] started publishing video games, nearly all of them for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, but [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames its games have been notorious]] for having abysmal design flaws such as lack of recovery time, limited attack range, etc. Most of the studio's games were outsourced, sometimes to studios who would go on to make top notch games like Creator/{{Atlus}} (''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'', etc.), Creator/{{Westone}} (the ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' studio) and Creator/{{Rare}} (''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' etc.).