Overview
- Meyer died on Oct. 30 at the King-Bruwaert House retirement community in Burr Ridge, Illinois, according to executive director Rebecca Mathis.
- He helped create Lite-Brite after conceiving the backlit peg concept in 1966 at Marvin Glass & Associates, overcoming safety doubts to produce a child-friendly design that launched in 1967.
- He reworked a shelved boxing concept into Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots by making the fighters robots and swapping knockouts for a spring-loaded head pop.
- Born in 1926, he served as a U.S. Navy aircraft mechanic from 1944 to 1946 and earned a product-design degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1952.
- His work remains culturally visible through honors from Time and the National Toy Hall of Fame, appearances in Toy Story 2 and Stranger Things, and Mattel’s previously announced plans for a live-action adaptation.