The BEST episodes of The Toys That Built America season 1
Every episode of The Toys That Built America season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Toys That Built America season 1!
Against the backdrop of major events in American history like the Civil War and the Great Depression, "The Toys that Built America" shares a different story—one that brings new products and nostalgic toys to the forefront as driving forces behind untold cultural and economic shifts.
#1 - Toy Car Wars
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/12/2021
As car culture cranks up in the early 1950s, a young machinist in England invents one of the world's most successful toys when he creates a toy car small enough to fit inside a matchbox for his daughter to take to school. In Los Angeles, Elliot Handler creates one of the biggest toy rivalries in history when he brings on a former missile designer to make a toy car behemoth of his own.
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#2 - Clash of the Toy Titans
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/5/2021
As the post-war baby boom creates unprecedented demand for toys, Ruth Handler turns her greatest gamble into the most recognizable toy in the world. Meanwhile, rival Merrill Hassenfeld, at the reigns of a company that will one day be one the most famous brands in the world, tries to capitalize on Handler's success to launch a military doll for boys--which is brilliantly rebranded as the world's first "action figure," and eventually spawns a tv series and a movie franchise. For decades, these two companies battle each other to dominate the toy industry. But when the cultural landscape shifts, they are forced to make desperate choices that ultimately earn their toys immortal status.
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#3 - Board Game Empires
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/19/2021
After failing to make a living selling lithographs, Milton Bradley creates one of America's first board games, which will go on to become one of the biggest of all time. But the Parker brothers threaten Bradley's reign. But it's a game about Monopoly that will upend the business. And in its earliest days, it might have been pirated from its true creator, who has been largely lost to history--until now.
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#4 - Masters of Invention
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/28/2021
During World War II, a naval engineer accidentally creates an iconic spiral toy that walks downstairs, when he's trying to come up with a way to protect ship equipment from damage. At the same time, an engineer is trying to invent a synthetic rubber for the war effort and instead creates a strange putty that becomes another world-famous toy.
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