RIP Chan Tai-ho

[IndigoErth]

So we've got a twofer, as the Playmates guy who gave us the TMNT figures and had just as big of a hand in making the Turtles so beloved has also passed.

So thank you too, Mr. Chan Tai-ho.


https://sg.news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-...105426930.html

Hong Kong tycoon Chan Tai-ho – the founder of Playmates toymaker which gave the world the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures – died on Thursday aged 87.

His wife called police after a domestic helper found Chan unconscious in bed at his luxury flat at Altadena House, Barker Road on The Peak shortly before 12.30pm.

He was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai, where he was declared dead at 1.20pm, police said.


The company set up a network of distributors in the United States in 1978 to sell a range of dolls and preschool toys marketed under the Playmates brand name.

In 1984, Playmates Holdings became the first toy company to list on the Hong Kong stock market.

The company’s greatest successes came in the 1980s with its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, as well as Baby Crawl-Away and Cricket dolls. It also produced figurines from The Simpsons and Star Trek television shows.

The action figures from the comic book and television show, which chartered the adventures of four anthropomorphic turtles named after Italian Renaissance artists, was launched in 1988 and went on to become one of the most successful brands in the history of the toy industry, according to the company’s website.