Denys Fisher

Denys Fisher
Born	11 May 1918 Leeds, England
Died	17 September 2002 (Aged 84) Barrow-in-Furness, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Engineer
Known for	Inventor of Spirograph
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Stephenson (m1940); Kate Waide (m1969)

Denys Fisher (11 May 1918 – 17 September 2002) 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) Generation Game (1975) 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)

Toys Cyborg, Muton and Android (reproductions of Takara's Shonen Cyborg toys) Sound A Round Talking Story Game (1969) Etch-a-Sketch 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 Roger De Courcey's Nookie Bear - Ventriloquist Bear (1976) 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)

References

• "Denys Fisher - Times Online Obituary". London: The Times. 2002-10-26. Retrieved 2008-07-26.