Coleco

Coleco Industries, Inc.
Company type	Public
Industry	Toy manufacturing, video games
Predecessor	The Connecticut Leather Company
Founded	1932; 94 years ago
Founder	Maurice Greenberg
Defunct	1988
Fate	Bankruptcy; assets sold to Hasbro and others
Headquarters	Hartford, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Leonard Greenberg, Arnold Greenberg, Bob Greenberg
Products	Toys, video game consoles (Coleco Telstar, ColecoVision), Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, home computers (Coleco Adam)

Coleco Industries, Inc. ( ) originated in 1932 when Maurice Greenberg established the firm initially named The Connecticut Leather Company. The abbreviation "COLECO" is derived from the company's initial title, combining the first two letters of "Connecticut," "Leather," and "Company."

During the 1980s, Coleco emerged as a leading toy manufacturer, widely recognized for its mass production of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its line of video game consoles, including the Coleco Telstar series of dedicated consoles and the ColecoVision. Despite its success, the company declared bankruptcy and halted operations in 1988. The Coleco brand was later revitalized in 2005 and continues to exist today.

1932: Founding as The Connecticut Leather Company

The origins of Coleco Industries, Inc. trace back to 1932 with The Connecticut Leather Company, which initially specialized in supplying leather and shoe repair products. By 1938, the company had broadened its offerings to include rubber footwear. The Second World War brought increased demand, prompting diversification into new and used shoe machinery, hat cleaning devices, and marble shoeshine stands.

1950s: Expansion into Leathercraft

Under Leonard Greenberg's leadership in the early 1950s, the company expanded its product range to include leather lacing and leathercraft kits. A significant milestone came in 1954 when their leather moccasin kit received acclaim at the New York Toy Fair, encouraging a strategic focus on the toy sector. By 1956, Coleco embraced vacuum-formed plastic technology, facilitating successful manufacturing of plastic toys and wading pools.

1961: Transition to Coleco Industries, Inc.

In 1961, the company divested its leather and shoe findings division and rebranded as Coleco Industries, Inc., reflecting its original name's abbreviation: "Connecticut Leather Company." On January 9, 1962, Coleco went public by issuing 120,000 shares priced at $5.00 each.

1960s: Strategic Acquisitions

Coleco expanded significantly during the 1960s through acquisitions. In 1963, it purchased Kestral Corporation, a producer of inflatable vinyl pools and toys, establishing itself as the largest global manufacturer of above-ground swimming pools. Leonard Greenberg invited his brother Arnold to join the company in 1966. Further acquisitions included Playtime Products in 1966 and Eagle Toys of Canada in 1968. By the decade’s conclusion, Coleco operated ten manufacturing sites and relocated its corporate headquarters to Hartford, Connecticut.

1970s: Economic Challenges and Diversification Efforts

Although sales reached $48.6 million in 1971, Coleco encountered financial struggles throughout the 1970s. In an attempt to diversify, it entered the snowmobile industry via acquisition in 1972; however, unfavorable weather conditions and market factors resulted in disappointing sales and profits.

Inspired by Atari's success with Pong, Coleco ventured into the video game console arena with its Telstar system, which utilized General Instrument's "Pong-on-a-chip" technology. While General Instrument underestimated demand causing supply shortages industry-wide, Coleco's advance order secured adequate inventory that enabled it to break even despite the brief lifespan of dedicated consoles.

Late 1970s: emergence of handheld electronic games

Coleco leveraged the expanding market for handheld electronic games, a trend initially propelled by Mattel. Early successes included Electronic Quarterback alongside two prominent product lines: the "head to head" two-player sports titles (such as Football, Baseball, and Basketball) and the Mini-Arcade series, which featured licensed arcade hits like Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man. The company also diversified with educational handheld devices including the Electronic Learning Machine and Quiz Wiz. Introduced in 1982, four Mini-Arcades—Pac-Man, Galaxian, Donkey Kong, and Frogger—achieved sales nearing three million units within a year, with Pac-Man alone accounting for approximately 1.5 million. In 1983, Coleco expanded this lineup with three additional Mini-Arcades: Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Junior, and Zaxxon.

In 1982, Coleco reentered the home video game console arena by launching the ColecoVision, a system boasting more advanced capabilities than the Atari 2600 and bundled with the title Donkey Kong. That year, it sold around 560,000 units. Beyond hardware, Coleco manufactured ROM cartridges compatible with Atari 2600 and Intellivision, achieving combined sales of six million cartridges for those platforms plus an additional two million for ColecoVision—totaling eight million cartridges in 1982. The company also introduced the Coleco Gemini, an Atari 2600 clone that came bundled with Donkey Kong.

Following the video game industry collapse in 1983, home computers started to gain prominence. Coleco enlisted Bob Greenberg to lead its venture into this market with the Coleco Adam home computer, available both as a standalone unit and as an expansion module for ColecoVision. However, the Adam suffered from reliability problems due to critical software bugs and was released amid a broader downturn in the home computer sector. As a result, Coleco withdrew from electronics by early 1985.

1983: introduction of Cabbage Patch Kids

The year 1983 saw Coleco launch the highly successful Cabbage Patch Kids doll line. During this period, Coleco also secured licensing agreements with Dr. Seuss to create toys and home video games inspired by his characters. Building on this momentum, Coleco acquired Leisure Dynamics—known for board games such as Aggravation and Perfection—and in 1986 purchased Selchow & Righter for $75 million, despite that company’s declining sales figures and excess inventory; Selchow & Righter was recognized for titles like Scrabble, Parcheesi, and Trivial Pursuit. Additionally, Coleco launched a line of ALF plush toys tied to the popular television show, including versions capable of speech and cassette playback.

1988: bankruptcy and subsequent sale

Financial difficulties escalated for Coleco due to the expensive acquisition of Selchow & Righter, poor performance of the Adam computer, and waning popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids, culminating in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1988. The company restructured by selling off North American assets, relocating manufacturing overseas, and shutting down plants in locations such as Amsterdam, New York.

That same year, Canada-based SLM Action Sports Inc. purchased Coleco’s swimming pool and snow goods divisions. In 1989, Hasbro acquired most of Coleco’s remaining product lines, effectively ending Coleco's existence as an independent company.

Brand

The Coleco name, originally established in 1961 by Coleco Industries, Inc., has experienced several changes in ownership throughout its history. In 2005, River West Brands, a Chicago-based company specializing in brand revitalization (now known as Dormitus Brands), reintroduced the Coleco brand to consumers. By the end of 2006, they unveiled the Coleco Sonic handheld device, which included twenty titles from the Master System and Game Gear libraries, notably featuring two games from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. In 2014, River West Brands created Coleco Holdings to oversee projects associated with the Coleco brand.

In December 2015, Coleco Holdings revealed plans for the Coleco Chameleon, a cartridge-based gaming console promoted as capable of running both new titles and classic games styled after 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit eras. This product was essentially a rebranded version of the Retro VGS console, whose crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo failed to meet its $1.95 million target, raising only $63,546 by November 2015. The Chameleon was initially scheduled for release in early 2016 and was to be showcased at Toy Fair New York.

Nevertheless, skepticism emerged regarding the authenticity of the prototype, with critics alleging it was simply a Super NES SNS-101 motherboard encased within an Atari Jaguar shell. Additional investigations uncovered that some mock prototypes used CCTV capture cards rather than actual motherboard hardware. After Retro VGS failed to produce a working prototype, Coleco Holdings distanced itself from the project, effectively ending the development of the Chameleon console.

External links

Article at The Dot Eaters – A detailed account of Coleco and its ColecoVision products.
www.colecomuseum.com – A site devoted to collectibles related to Coleco.
ColecoVision Zone – A repository featuring photographs and documentation.