The Toys That Built America Season 2 Episodes

Episode 1

Masters of the Toy Universe

Sun, Oct 23, 2022

After passing on the biggest deal in toy industry history, Mattel President Ray Wagner finds himself a step behind former colleague-turned-rival, Bernie Loomis. Loomis leads a small-town toy company to record heights and revolutionizes the entire action figure market. But Wagner refuses to back down and steals a page from Loomis' playbook to create the next blockbuster toy that will put Mattel back on top.

Episode 2

The Birth of Video Games

Sun, Oct 30, 2022

Defense contractor Ralph Baer invents the world's first home video game console. But it is soon eclipsed by a new table tennis game that becomes one of the most famous video games of all time. And when a third pioneer, Jerry Lawson, creates a console featuring swappable games, the fledgling video game industry explodes into an epic contest for control of what will become a multi-billion dollar market.

Episode 3

The Idea Man

Sun, Nov 6, 2022

A visionary named Marvin Glass oversees the creation of many of the most iconic toys of the 20th Century. From chattering teeth to a legendary game based on a mouse trap, Glass pushes the boundaries of what a toy can be, and inspires generations. From his windowless fortress in Chicago, Glass reinvents the way toys are imagined and invented...building himself a toy empire. But his tyrannical style will set him on a collision course with his own designers--in a clash for control of the most important element of the toy universe: ideas.

Episode 4

Brick by Brick

Sun, Nov 13, 2022

At the height of the industrial age, as America's cities go vertical for the first time, a Yale educated medical doctor and Olympic gold medalist turns his attention to toys. Leaving his profitable magic business behind, he goes all in on his revolutionary steel building toy that will inspire generations of Americans to build bigger. Creating the first-ever national ad campaign for a toy, he'll go head-to-head with a British rival who sells a remarkably similar building kit. But after decades at the top, a struggling Danish Carpenter emerges, whose passion for innovation leads him to a new building material--plastic. With it he'll create the biggest toy empire the world has ever seen.

Episode 5

Order Out of Chaos

Sun, Nov 20, 2022

Hungarian professor, Erno Rubik's 3D puzzle takes the world by storm, Alexey Pajitnov risks everything to launch a video game obsession based on a puzzle

Episode 6

Cabbage Clash

Sun, Nov 27, 2022

Martha Nelson creates a one-of-a-kind doll to sell at kentucky craft markets

Episode 7

80's Tech Toys

A former amusement park employee combines his animatronic knowledge with the cassette tape to create the world's first realistic talking toy

Episode 8

Christmas Crazes

Sun, Dec 11, 2022

The Christmas crazes that helped transform holiday shopping into the frantic $1.1 trillion dollar frenzy that it is today

Episode 9

Gross Out Icons

Sun, Dec 11, 2022

Gross equals big bucks for toy makers. Examining innovative toys designed to shock

Episode 10

Plumber Bros vs. Hedgehog

Sun, Dec 11, 2022

After the U.S. video game crash of 1983, a Japanese electronics company single-handedly resurrects the industry with a game featuring a jumping plumber.