Toy Story and Beyond

Toy Story and Beyond! logo

Toy Story and Beyond! was an official re-branding created by Disney and Hasbro in 2001 for licenses to continue producing Toy Story based merchandise without tying it into any specific movie. The branding ran until it's defunct in 2008, though it ran strongest from 2001 - 2004, featuring a metric ton of different merchandise and toys, including lunch boxes and backpacks. Strangely enough, promotional art shied away from using renders of the characters from the films, instead using stock photography of toys of the characters, generally the original Thinkway releases.

The branding seemingly saw its first use at the Disney Store in 2001, being used for the large-scale Buzz Lightyear and Woody figures available at the time, based on the original Thinkway versions. In addition, it was featured on additional miscellaneous merchandise, such as candles and blankets.

In November 2001, the line became most strongly associated with Hasbro's movie-scale figures. This was the first period where Hasbro had the license to produce Toy Story merchandise, and they went absolutely crazy with it, releasing many, many variations of these molds over the next few years. The Buzz Lightyear figure from this line is notable for two things: Being the first Buzz to feature an accurate wing mechanism, and the first to depict the Utility Belt featured in Toy Story 2. Woody was generally far more inaccurate, though different variations were released with both Lenny and Wheezy figures, being some of the only depictions of these characters in a close scale.

The branding was eventually discontinued in 2008 because of preparation for Toy Story 3. After it's defunct, merchandise began to move towards a cloud pattern reminiscent of Andy's room in Toy Story. Additionally, Hasbro's license for merchandise rights was not renewed, but rather being given back to Thinkway, and thus the inundation of their Woody and Buzz figures came to a halt.

Trivia

• Apparently, Hasbro planned on releasing a Buzz Lightyear variant under the name ''Fire Fighter Buzz Lightyear'', but for unknown reasons, the figure was however never released to the public. It's rumored that it was meant to be released in line with the Fire Fighter Woody in 2004. In October 2023, a prototype of this variant was discovered by Joyoustye/Matt Henderson who had found pictures and information about it. He posted it on BuzzFan’s Discord Group, the toy was apparently in someone’s private collection of Toy Story toys and prototypes before they passed away, the collection was then donated to Goodwill. Seemingly, the figure probably has its own unique feature just like the other variations, but is unknown to this day. The cheaper 6 inch Fire Fightin Buzz Lightyear released by Hasbro in 2006, seems to have gotten some influence from this variant. Being ultra rare, information about this variant is very obscure, its unknown how many prototypes of this unreleased variant were produced, If any more than just the found unit exist or existed, they are likely either stored away, in private collections, lost, or destroyed.

Gallery

Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear (2001)

Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear (2001, 2007 Repackage)

Deluxe Electronic Adventure Woody (2006)

Japanese advertisement

Star Gazing Adventure Woody (2007)

Fire Fightin' Woody - With accurate size Wheezy and gear. (2004)

Squad Leader Woody - With Potato head and soldiers (1 paratrooper ) (2002)

Battle Buzz Lightyear (2002)

Wild West Adventurer Woody - With Accurate Size Lenny, soldiers, baby monitor, and gear. (2004)

Pull String Woody (2001)

Pull String Jessie (2001)

Woody And Jessie Deluxe Two Pack (2002)

Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear (2007 Backyard Patrol edition)

Nighttime Rescue Buzz Lightyear (2004)

Nighttime Rescue Buzz Lightyear (2004, 2008 repackage)

Battle Command Buzz Lightyear (1999, 2001 repackage, Mattel)

Flying Buzz Lightyear (2003)

Plush Jessie, with plastic, head, hands, hat, and boots (2001)

Plush Woody, with plastic head, hands, boots and hat (2001)

Plush Buzz, Plastic helmet with a plush body (2001)

Lazer Blasting Buzz Lightyear (2003)

Galactic Defender Buzz Lightyear (2001)

Galactic Defender Buzz Lightyear (2001, 2003 Repackage)

Search And Rescue Buzz Lightyear (2002)

Buzz Lightyear Room Guard (1997, 2003 Repackage, Thinkway)

Pull String Talking Woody (2002, 2003 Repackage, Thinkway)

Room Guard Woody Doll (2003)

The only known prototype of the unreleased Fire Fighter Buzz Lightyear by Hasbro

Toys

Buzz, could you get up here and give me a hand?

Hasbro Releases

2001

• Pull-String Talking Woody
• Pull-String Talking Jessie
• Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear
• Galactic Defender Buzz Lightyear
• Plush Woody (Non-Electronic)
• Plush Buzz Lightyear (Non-Electronic)
• Plush Jessie (Non-Electronic)

2002

• Electronic Battle Buzz Lightyear
• Squad Leader Woody

2003

• Laser Blastin' Electronic Buzz Lightyear
• Flying Buzz Lightyear

2004

This year introduced the Lost Episodes branding, presumably to further signify that these toys were based on no specific movie and were intended as a continuation of the movie stories.

• Search and Rescue Buzz Lightyear
• Wild West Adventurer Woody
• Fire Fightin' Woody (With Wheezy)
• Nighttime Rescue Buzz Lightyear

2005

• Mr. Potato Head (it’s much like the original Toy Story brand potato heads from 1995 and 1999 but the hair, orange ears, lips, bowtie, and bare feet etc were removed)

2006

• Deluxe Electronic Adventure Woody

2007

• Star Gazing Adventure Woody
• Deluxe Electronic Buzz Lightyear (Backyard Patrol edition)

Thinkway Releases

2002

• Pull String Talking Woody

2003

• Room Guard Woody Doll