Denys Fisher
Denys Fisher was an English engineer who invented the spirograph and Stickle Bricks toys and created the company Denys Fisher Toys.
Personal life and education
Fisher's early years were spent living in a railway carriage in a field. During an illness he read Lamb’s Infinitesimal Calculus which sparked a lifelong fascination with logic and maths. He attended Roundhay School and then Leeds University, but dropped out of college to join the family firm, Kingfisher Ltd. Fisher married Elizabeth Stephenson in 1940. They had a daughter and two sons. He subsequently married Kate Wade in 1969. They had two sons. He lived in Dumfries before moving to Clappersgate, Cumbria, in the 1980s.Denys Fisher Engineering
In 1960 he left the firm to set up his own company, Denys Fisher Engineering, in Leeds. In 1961 the company won a contract with NATO to supply springs and precision components for its 20 mm cannon. Nato awarded the company a £50,000 contract for five million units.Spirograph
With the money from the NATO contract, Fisher was able to dedicate time to what was to become the Spirograph. Between 1962 and 1964 he developed various drawing machines from Meccano pieces, eventually producing a prototype Spirograph. Patented in 16 countries, it went on sale in Schofields department store in Leeds in 1965. A year later, Fisher licensed Spirograph to Kenner Products in the United States. In 1967 Spirograph was chosen as the UK Toy of the Year.Stickle Bricks
In 1969, Fisher invented and marketed Stickle Bricks.Other projects
Denys Fisher Toys, which also produced other toys and board games, was sold to Palitoy in 1970 and it was subsequently bought by Hasbro. Through the 1980s and 1990s Fisher continued to work with Hasbro in developing new toys and refining Spirograph.Toys and games
Denys Fisher Toys produced the following toys and games:;Board GamesAre You Being ServedDig Big Bully On the Buses The Fastest GunThomas Cook – Snap HappyDad's Army Ghost Train Bounce Back It's a Knockout Generation Game Guinness Game of World Records The Magic Magic Magic Game Harvey Smith's Showjumping Game Haunted HouseHotel
- Conquest (1975)Miss UK Game Miss World GameThe Bionic Woman Jimmy Savile's Pop Twenty Up Periscope Doctor Who – with Tom Baker Six Million Dollar Man Six Million Dollar Man – Bionic Crisis James Hunt's Grand Prix Racing Game Perfection The New Avengers Trac 4 Rod Hull's Emu GameScream InnMorecambe & WiseWar of the DaleksMulti-Coloured Swap Shop
- Cyborg, Muton and Android
- Incredible Stretch Hulk
- Sound A Round Talking Story Game
- Etch-a-SketchSix Million Dollar ManSix Million Dollar Man – Bionic Bust-out KitSix Million Dollar Man – Oscar GoldmanSix Million Dollar Man – Maskatron
- Spirograph
- Super Spirograph
- Spiroscope
- Spirofoil
- Stickle bricksDoctor Who – Tom Baker Doll Doctor Who – Tardis Doctor Who – Leela Doctor Who – Giant Robot
- Roger De Courcey's Nookie Bear – Ventriloquist Bear
- Skull Machine
- Outrider
- Stretch Armstrong
- stretch octopus
- Star Wars – Large R2-D2
- Star Wars – Darth Vader
- Star Wars – Stormtrooper
- Smash Up Derby : T-Bone CrashChip Away a complete sculpting and painting set for Boys and Girls from 5-13
- Screen-A-Show