The Toynami name is derived from the words "toy" and "tsunami". The company came into being because of the furstrations of its founder, George Sohn, who encountered legal difficulties producing Macross toys while working at Toycom. The complicated Macross-Robotech copyright issues made producing and/or importing Macross related merchandise difficult without Harmony Gold's consent. Eventually, Sohn founded his own company and the first franchise licensed by the new toy producer was, ironically, Robotech.