Denys Fisher (11 May 1918, Leeds, England – 17 September 2002, Barrow-in-Furness, England) was an English engineer who invented the spirograph toy and created the company Denys Fisher Toys.
He left Leeds University to join the family firm, Kingfisher (Lubrication) Ltd. In 1960 he left the firm to set up his own company, Denys Fisher Engineering, in Leeds. In 1961 the company won a contract with NATO to supply springs and precision component for its 20 mm cannon. Between 1962 and 1964 he developed various drawing machines from Meccano pieces, eventually producing a prototype Spirograph. Patented in 16 countries, it went on sale in Schofields department store in Leeds in 1965. A year later, Fisher licensed Spirograph to Kenner Products in the United States. In 1967 Spirograph was chosen as the UK Toy of the Year.
Denys Fisher Toys, which also produced other toys and board games, was sold to Palitoy in 1970 and it was subsequently bought by Hasbro. Through the 1980s & 1990's Fisher continued to work with Hasbro in developing new toys and refining Spirograph.
Toys and games
Denys Fisher Toys produced the following toys and games:
- Board Games
- Are You Being Served
- Dig (1971)
- Big Bully (1972)
- On the Buses (1973)
- The Fastest Gun
- Thomas Cook - Snap Happy
- Dad's Army (1974)
- Ghost Train (1974)
- Bounce Back (1974)
- It's a Knockout (1974)
- Guinness Game of World Records (1975)
- The Magic Magic Magic Game (1975)
- Harvey Smith's Showjumping Game (1975)
- Haunted House
- Hotel
- Conquest (1975)
- Miss UK Game (1975)
- Miss World Game
- The Bionic Woman (1975)
- Jimmy Savile's Pop Twenty (1975)
- Up Periscope (1975)
- Doctor Who - with Tom Baker (1975)
- Six Million Dollar Man (1975)
- Six Million Dollar Man - Bionic Crisis (1976)
- James Hunt's Grand Prix Racing Game (1976)
- Perfection (1976)
- The New Avengers (1977)
- Trac 4 (1977)
- Rod Hull's Emu Game
- Scream Inn
- Morecombe & Wise
- War of the Daleks
- Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1979)
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- Toys
- Cyborg, Muton and Android (reproductions of Takara's Shonen Cyborg toys)
- Sound A Round Talking Story Game (1969)
- Etch-a-Sketch[citation needed]
- Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces
- Six Million Dollar Man
- Six Million Dollar Man - Bionic Bust-out Kit
- Six Million Dollar Man - Oscar Goldman
- Six Million Dollar Man - Maskatron
- Spirograph
- Super Spirograph (1971)
- Spiroscope (1972)
- Spirofoil
- Stickle bricks
- Doctor Who - Tom Baker Doll (1976)
- Doctor Who - Tardis (1976)
- Doctor Who - Leela (1976)
- Doctor Who - Giant Robot
- Skull Machine
- Outrider
- Stretch Armstrong
- stretch octopus ( Ollie & Olivia )
- Star Wars - Large R2-D2 (1978)
- Star Wars - Darth Vader (1978)
- Star Wars - Stormtrooper (1978)
- General Games
- Blockhead!
- George and Mildred
- Smash Up Derby : T-Bone Crash
- Chip Away (1972) a complete sculpting and painting set for Boys and Girls from 5-13
(three sets:Tom and Jerry/The Flintstones/Animals)
- Screen-A-Show (1973)
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References
| Persondata |
|---|
| Name |
Fisher, Denys |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Engineer |
| Date of birth |
1918-05-11 |
| Place of birth |
Leeds, England |
| Date of death |
2002-09-17 |
| Place of death |
Barrow-in-Furness, England |