History
Shocker Toys was founded in 1998 in Buffalo, New York by Geoff Beckett Jr. Beckett had previously worked in construction and claims he was inspired to venture into the toy industry while "playing games with his brother". The company operated primarily on the Internet, and by 2002 the company had two full time employees: CEO Beckett and Marketing Director Dana Newsom.
Shocker Toys relocated twice prior to 2002, moving to Glen Rock, New Jersey in 2000 before relocating to Ridgewood, New Jersey. During this early period, the company's primary focus was on card games featuring characters developed by Beckett. However, these card games were never brought to market. Instead, the company began to focus on developing action figures, and in 2004 they released their first product: the Shockini block figure. According to Shocker Toys, this was a significant year for the company, as it was also the year in which Shocker Toys was incorporated and Beckett was joined by Lance Buttiglieri as a new partner. Subsequent to Buttiglieri joining the company, Shocker Toys continued to develop the Shockinis line, and in 2006 displayed the figures at the American International Toy Fair.
While Shocker Toys became "best known for being plagued by delays and other problems", the company released the first series of Indie Spotlight figures and the "Mallow" line of marshmallow-themed figures in 2009. In January 2010, Dave Ryan was named Shocker Toys' first sales agent.
In May 2011, Shocker Toys was accused of nonpayment for work done for them by artist Tony Robles and then attempted to have the artist's website shut down by Robles' domain host using legal threats. During the Shocker Toys panel at the 2011 Comic-Con International: San Diego, court papers were served to Geoff Beckett by Jim MacQuarrie on behalf of Robles.
In late 2011, Shocker Toys announced that the company had new partners and that they had undergone a change in ownership. One of the new owners of Shocker Toys is Eric Nyenhuis, the current owner of GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling). Packaging mock-ups of GLOW action figures bearing the Shocker Toys logo have been shown online.
During the first half of 2012, Geoff Beckett started a new company, GBJRToys, which now holds the licenses to make Indie Spotlight and Mallow figures.
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