Popular Hedbanz™ Game Transformed into Personal Protection Equipment for Front-line Healthcare Workers

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May 01, 2020, 08:10 ET

Game-Maker Spin Master Produces 200,000 Face Shields for Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Shelters

TORONTO, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Spin Master Corp. ("Spin Master" or the "Company") (TSX:TOY, www.spinmaster.com) a leading global children's entertainment company, has transformed its popular family guessing game, Hedbanz, to produce much-needed face shields for front-line healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19.

Women’s College Hospital Assessment Centre and Screening staff wearing Spin Master face shields. (CNW Group/Spin Master)

With a long history of giving back to the community, Spin Master employees felt compelled to help with the growing need for PPE for front-line healthcare workers. In just three days, the Company's product development team came up with an ingenious solution using existing headbands from the Hedbanz game, along with plastic (polyethylene terephthalate or PET) inserts, to create a face shield for healthcare workers.

Close to 200,000 face shields have been produced in three facilities in Mexico and are now in use in over 100 hospitals, nursing homes and shelters across North America including Toronto, New York, California and Mexico. Spin Master is committed to manufacturing the face shields, currently producing more than 20,000 a day for healthcare workers, as long as they are needed.

"One of the most powerful tools we have in this fight is our imagination, and it's amazing what the people at Spin Master have done with theirs. The face shields they've created are helping our teams care for our ill patients and look after pregnant women and newborns. Our mobile teams are using them as they track COVID-19 in long-term care homes and shelters, and our doctors as they perform urgent cancer surgeries - they're making a difference everywhere." Dr. Ruth Heisey, Chief of Family and Community Medicine and Medical Director Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital.

"Front-line healthcare workers are risking their lives and spending countless hours away from their families to help those suffering from COVID-19. Together, with our employees, we are helping to provide some level of comfort and ease anxiety for nurses, doctors, admitting staff, personal service workers and so many more people who are the real heroes in this pandemic," said Ronnen Harary, Co-CEO of Spin Master.

An internal team at Spin Master is coordinating requests from outside organizations and arranging for deliveries daily. The shields, which are non-medical grade, have been individually packed in a sanitary environment and offer protection for those on the front lines.

To request face shields for front-line healthcare workers please email [email protected] with the subject line: Face Shield Request. Spin Master teams are working around the clock in an effort to meet every request.

About Spin Master
Spin Master (TSX:TOY; www.spinmaster.com) is a leading global children's entertainment company that creates, designs, manufactures, licenses and markets a diversified portfolio of innovative toys, games, products and entertainment properties. Spin Master is best known for award-winning brands including Zoomer®, Bakugan®, Erector® by Meccano®, Hatchimals®, Air Hogs® and PAW Patrol®. Since 2000, Spin Master has received 110 TIA Toy of The Year (TOTY) nominations with 30 wins across a variety of product categories, including 13 TOTY nominations for Innovative Toy of the Year. To date, Spin Master has produced nine television series, including the relaunched Bakugan: Battle Planet and current hit PAW Patrol, which is broadcast in over 160 countries and territories globally. Spin Master employs over 1,800 people in countries around the world including Canada, United States, Mexico, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Australia.