Toy company that makes Care Bears, Tonka trucks emerges from bankruptcy ahead of holidays

The CEO of of the company that makes Tonka Trucks and Care Bears successfully exited a four-month stint in bankruptcy court last week that made all of his creditors whole — all while he was busy fending off a takeover attempt.Basic Fun — a Boca Raton, Fla.-based firm which also specializes in classic toy brands like Lincoln Logs, Lite Brite and TinkerToy — is now on track to have one of its best holiday seasons ever – even as the rest of the toy industry is bracing for anemic sales, co-founder and CEO Jay Forman told The Post.That’s despite the fact that Basic Fun this summer was poised to default on $60 million in loans after pandemic-related disruptions to toy supply chains forced it to refinance on unfavorable terms, according to filings in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.The company, which is on track for $200 million in sales this year, ran into trouble after the Toys R Us bankruptcy in 2017, losing $6 million worth of receivables.It took another hit during the pandemic when soaring rates for shipping containers in 2021 and 2022 erased its profit margin.Meanwhile, Basic Fun’s lender, Falcon Investment Advisors, wasn’t willing to restructure the company’s debt.

“Extensive negotiations” over restructuring Basic Fun’s debt obligations led to an “impasse,” according to the filing.In response, Basic Fun on June 28 took the nuclear option and filed for Chapter 11.“The company filed to avoid losing majority control to Falcon,” Foreman, who co-founded Basic Fun 15 years ago, told The Post.“They offered to keep us as shareholders and me as CEO just without majority control [or] a meaningful ownership stake.

That would have been very problematic to me.” “We put our cards on the table in front of the court and our creditors to show the position of the company,” Foreman added.“And as we presented our full case, they understood the situation and agreed to restructure the debt.”Basic Fun has since “amicably reconciled” with F...