Burt Meyer, Inventor Behind Lite-Brite and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Dies at โ99
Newโข York, NY – โคBurt Meyer, โthe prolific toy inventor responsibleโข for iconicโ childhood staples like Lite-Brite and โRock ‘Emโฃ Sock ‘Emโค Robots, has diedโค at the age of 99. Meyer passed away on April 28, 2024, according to a report by the New York Times.
Meyer’s career spanned decades,bringing joy to generations with his innovative designs. Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots,first manufactured in 1964,featured a memorable mechanic where a “sock to the jaw caused the spring-loaded head of the recipient to comically popโฃ up.” The toy remained in production for years and wasโ even โคfeatured in the animated Pixarโฃ film Toy Story 2. In 2011, Time magazine ranked it the 49th greatest toy ofโข all time.
However, Meyer considered Lite-Brite hisโข favorite creation.Launched in 1967 after being licensed by Hasbro, the toy allowed users โto create illuminatedโ collages using translucent colored pegs inserted into a grid. Meyer โขwas inspired to create Lite-Brite after observing a Manhattan building โฃadornedโ with aโ luminous display of small lights. It quicklyโ became โa โhit,selling over โ20 โขmillion units and earning a 55th-placeโข ranking in time magazine’s all-time greatest toy list. Aโค recent resurgence inโค popularity, fueled by its appearance inโ two โค2022 episodes of the Netflix โseries Stranger โขThings, led to โคa 600% spike in sales.
Beyond โคthese two iconic toys,โข Meyer also contributed to theโค creation of the board gameโข Mouse Trap, โขknown for its elaborate Rube Goldberg-style contraption. Throughout the 1960s, his designs were licensed to major toy companies includingโ Ideal, Mattel, Hasbro, Parker Brothers, and Louis marxโค and Company.
In the 1980s, Meyer โคfounded his own games maker, Meyer/Glass Design, andโค continued to develop popular titles such asโค Prettyโฃ Pretty Princess, โCatch Phrase,โค and the playfully โgross Gooeyโข louie, where playersโ attempted to โขremove “boogers” from a character’s nose.
Born April 18,1926,in Hinsdale,Illinois,to a pharmacist father and homemaker mother,Meyer served โคtwo years as an aircraft mechanic in the โคUS Navy before earning a product โขdesign degreeโ from the Institute ofโค Design at the Illinois Institute โฃof โTechnology in 1952.
An avid adventurer, Meyer remained active โwell โฃintoโค his later years,โ flying single-engine โplanes until his late โ80s, undertaking a 45-day solo bicycle trip across โtheโ contry, scuba diving โin Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and โcompletingโฃ a 135-mile trek โto the Northโ Pole at age 69.
Meyer is survived by โขhis โdaughter, Sheryl, and sons Lee andโค Steve, who previously served โas president of Meyer/Glass until its closure in 2006.โฃ He also leaves behind six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.His wife,โ Marcia, predeceased him in 2001.
