figure | play set: Barnyard Commandos: General Hamfat Lardo

Artist and designer Garth Parker worked in southern California for nearly 30 years as a toy designer, product developer, and a producer of customized merchandise. The Garth Parker Collection at the National Museum of Play includes prototypes and toys designed by Parker from the mid-1980 through 2012 for quick-serve restaurants such as Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, and White Castle and scores of other corporations including 20th Century Fox, Aladdin Industries, Colgate-Palmolive, Dairy Queen, Dannon, Nestles, and Ralston-Purina. The toys Parker designed involved the licensed properties of Disney, Marvel, and Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, and a wide variety of characters from Saturday-morning television cartoon shows. The collection of Parker-designed toys and products is supported by what Parker calls a toy library, or toys he acquired to inspire the playthings and other products he designed for his clients. In addition, Parker����_��s collection includes an archive of concept drawings and supporting materials presented to clients, which are now housed at The Strong.