Inventor Who Brought Us Tickle Me Elmo Has Died

Greg Hyman's tinkering helped fuel one of the wildest toy crazes of the '90s. Hyman, the electronics-minded inventor who helped create Tickle Me Elmo, died May 1 at his home in Boca Raton, Fla., at 78, said his partner, Deborah Nelson. A longtime toy designer, Hyman had already notched hits like the electronic organ Major Morgan and talking versions of Barney and the robot Alphie when fellow inventor Ron Dubren approached him with an idea for a toy whose laughter would build in intensity. Their first stab, a giggling plush monkey called Tickles the Chimp, didn't land—until a Tyco executive saw its potential in Elmo, reports the New York Times.

Once Tyco won the rights to make plush "Sesame Street" toys, Tickle Me Elmo was born. Released in 1996 at $29.99, it sold out fast, triggered store stampedes, and helped spawn an aftermarket where some people paid up to $7,000. Hyman, a Cornell dropout who sold "rocket ship" rides on a contraption built from a discarded washing machine as a kid, ultimately licensed dozens of toys but saw his four marriages end in divorce. "To be an inventor is an honor," he once said, per his obituary in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "This country was founded on invention. There are no courses you can take to do this." He is survived by Nelson, a stepsister, and a stepbrother.