In 1986, it launched Lazer Tag and filed an IPO which Fortune magazine called "one of the year's most sought after stock sales".

In 1987, WoW's success had diminished due to several factors, including its miscalculation of its products' obsolescence in the toy industry's boom-bust cycle.

[4] The infamously "so damned likable" Kingsborough recruited one staff member at a crowded restaurant by singing along with a Teddy Ruxpin demonstration while amused patrons gathered around the table.

The prototype had a gaunt body figure[4] and cost an unacceptable US$150 (equivalent to about $425 in 2023) until former Atari designer Larry Lynch redesigned it to a still premium $70 price.

One executive remembered Kingsborough's charismatic perseverance while avoiding Atari's mistakes, referring to him by his industry nickname: "DK was the glue ...

Kingsborough forecast far more than $70 million in sales for the year, expecting to become "the third or fourth largest toy company in the business" by 1986.

The NES was an immediate hit in its launch period from late 1985 through early 1986, with WoW sales staff on commission for millions of units per year through 1986 and 1987.

Historian Steven Kent wrote, "Anyone who wanted to sell Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag, including Sears and Toys R Us, was going to hear about the Nintendo Entertainment System.

[4] In March 1987, Fortune called Don Kingsborough "top gun in the toy business" with a 22% stake in Worlds of Wonder worth $100 million.

This yielded windfall commissions for WoW sales staff such as Mike Needleman and Richard Tuckley, so Nintendo capped them each at $1 million per year.

Conversely, management staff of Worlds of Wonder grossly overestimated the popularity and inventory requirements of Teddy Ruxpin, which was actually in declining demand and was dwarfed by the NES, yielding a huge financial shortfall.

In 1988, WoW filed for bankruptcy protection, was liquidated, sold operating control to investor Eli Jacobs,[9] and executed a series of layoffs.

The creditors continued to operate the company in receivership, only selling off existing inventory without developing or manufacturing new toys,[10] until finally closing in late 1990.

Still in the wake of the disastrous video game crash of 1983, WoW sales staff leveraged its hit toys Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag in ultimatums to coerce retailers to buy the Nintendo Entertainment System.

This aggressive retail injection propelled the NES to smash hit status, allowing Nintendo to resurrect the American video game industry in the process.