Hong Kong tycoon Chan Tai-ho, whose Playmates empire sold the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure, dies aged 87
- Chan Tai-ho founded the company in 1960s that went on to produce toys from some of the world’s most iconic television shows
- He was certified dead on Thursday afternoon aged 87 after being found unconscious in his home on The Peak
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.
A force spokesman said initial investigation found nothing suspicious about the death and an autopsy would be carried out to ascertain its cause. It was understood Chan had an illness.
Chan, born in 1932, established Playmates in the city in 1966, running a factory in Tuen Mun.
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.
Playmates was also involved in property and investment from the 1970s, when it developed and managed an industrial premises for its own use, then covering more than 300,000 sq ft in floor space, before moving deeper into the sector and other business activities.
