Sylvanian Families

Sylvanian Families began life as a line of video games and collectible toy plush figures, created by Japanese company Epoch in 1985 and distributed worldwide by a number of companies. The families of woodland creatures such as beavers, hedgehogs, mice and bears quickly became popular the world over. By 1987 they were available in Japan, North America and Western Europe.

In 1988, Sylvanian Families spawned an animated series, made in America but co-produced in France and Japan. In the United Kingdom, they were named Toy of The Year three years running from 1987 to 1989. A British stop-motion animation version was made in 1988 and was later shown in various countries around the world.

At that stage, Tomy was distributing the toys worldwide but lost the rights to the name in North America. There, Sylvanian Families was relaunched under the name Calico Critters. Tomy later stopped producing the range, but it was taken up by International Playthings who produce Calico Critters to this day.

Meanwhile in the UK, Sylvanian Families toys were eventually discontinued in the late 1990s, only to be relaunched a few years later by Flair PLC. Since then, they have refound their popularity and have gone on to once again be one of the biggest toy brands in the United Kingdom, more than 20 years after their original launch.

Need to shop for Sylvanian stuff? Amongst many fine retailers, Bus Stop Toy Shop stocks a wide range of Sylvanian Families products, offering fast delivery and great prices on all our Sylvanian products. Check us out.

To view our Sylvanian Families range, go here.

Sylvanian Families were inducted into the Bus Stop Toy and Hobby Hall of Fame for 2009. To find out more about the Hall of Fame and vote on the 2010 Nominees, visit our Toy Hall of Fame lens.