Greg Hyman
Greg Eaton Hyman (June 25, 1947 – May 1, 2026) was an American toy inventor who was co-creator of Tickle Me Elmo, a vibrating, giggling stuffed doll that was one of the most popular toys of 1996.
Early life
[edit]Hyman was born in New Rochelle, New York, on June 25, 1947.[1] As a pre-teen, he offered paid lessons to teach his school mates about electricity, with the first three lessons offered free, and charged for rides on a rocket ship toy that was built using the insides of a washing machine.[2] He dropped out of Cornell University during his first year so that he could focus on crafting inventions in his basement, which included a hovering bumper car and an anti-siphoning device to protect gas tanks in cars.[1]
Toy inventing
[edit]Together with Larry Greenberg, Hyman began developing a variety of toys, including an electric musical toy that went on sale in 1979 after being acquired by Playskool. Subsequently, he created dolls that "drank" milk from a bottle and another whose heart started beating when a toy stethoscope was touched against the doll's chest. In the 1990s, Hyman developed a toy for Barney the title character from Barney & Friends and, together with Greenberg, developed such toys as a talking robot.[1] As partners, Hyman developed more than 40 inventions with Greenberg before his death in 1992.[2]
Ron Dubren, a fellow inventor, approached him and suggested developing a toy that would giggle and developed Tickles the Chimp, a laughing monkey toy. They met with a representative from Tyco Toys, who wasn't interested in the monkey toy, but thought that the giggling technology would be a good fit for a toy based on Elmo, a character from The Muppets featured on Sesame Street.[1] After Tyco Toys won the license to produce plush toys based on Sesame Street, Dubren and Hyman focused on developing an Elmo toy, which would vibrate three times and say "That Tickles!" when squeezed.[1] Released in summer 1996, the toy sold out its initial run of 400,000 toys on Black Friday, the shopping day in the United States after Thanksgiving. Hyman would later recall that his creation of the Tickle Me Elmo toy meant that "I don’t have to worry about money."[1]
Death
[edit]A resident of Boca Raton, Florida, Hyman died at his home there on May 1, 2026. He was 78.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Green, Penelope. "Greg Hyman, Co-Creator of Tickle Me Elmo, Dies at 78", The New York Times, May 19, 2026. Accessed May 19, 2026. "Greg Hyman, an electronics wizard and toy inventor who was a creator of Tickle Me Elmo, the giggling red plush Muppet that crushed sales records when it appeared in 1996 and became a touchstone of runaway toy success, died on May 1 at his home in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 78."
- ^ a b Hogan, Patricia. The Path to Toy Invention: Greg Hyman, The Strong National Museum of Play, April 17, 2012. Accessed May 19, 2026.