A portion of the capital raised was used to establish a new marketing and distribution center in California, with the goal of preparing the Company to enter the promotional toy segments of the industry. In December 1984, Playmates became the first toy company to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, under the ticker 0075. In 1978, Playmates took an important step toward becoming a global toymaker by establishing a sales force in Boston to market and distribute its own lines of dolls and preschool toys, Li’l Playmates. By the mid-1970s, Playmates had earned a reputation as a leading supplier of top quality dolls. The Company was founded as Playmates Industrial in 1966, as primarily a doll manufacturing subcontractor for US and European toy marketers.
