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Playmates Toys Ltd., of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fame, trades on the Hong Kong market and on the Pink Sheets in the US (ca. US$.24). The company emerged from near bankruptcy in 1987 to become, on the strength of the phenomenally successful Turtle franchise, one of the world's leading toy companies. Indeed, for 1990, Playmates Toys earned the staggering sum of US$154 million net profit, which exceeded the profits of Hasbro, Mattel, Tyco Toys, and Galoob Toys combined! Indeed, Playmates was the first toy company in the world ever to report profits of over US$100 million for any given year. Playmates Toys has since built on its success, but, of course, it was entirely unreasonable to expect that the company could sustain that torrid pace of profits. The company has since diversified its product line, but profits have suffered as Playmates experimented with new toy lines and set up a subsidiary to exploit the game video market. The company is now poised, I believe, for another ride on the merry-go-round and another grab for the brass ring. This November 15, with much fanfare, the movie "Space Jam" with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and other NBA stars will debut. The movie will also feature all the well known Warner Bros. animated characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, etc.) in a clever fusion of live action and animation. Playmates has the toy license for this potential blockbuster as well as the toy license for the upcoming remake of the "Flash Gordon" series for the silver screen. Among other properties, Playmates owns the exclusive license for Star Trek action figures and accessories. A new Star Trek movie this year will no doubt stimulate an already very popular and profitable seller. Playmates also has a hit toy line with "Primal Rage" action figures and builds on the great popularity of the game video of the same name, which title will incarnate as the eagerly awaited "Primal Rage II". Playmates Toys' subsidiary, Playmates Interactive Entertainment, heretofore, introduced a very successful game video, Earthworm Jim, and now has many other titles, which the critics are currently quite excited about. (Cf. VMX Racers, Skeleton Warriors, Burning Road, Into the Void, Powerslave, etc.) To add icing to the cake, Playmates will doubtless benefit from a fourth "Turtle" movie later this year. The still popular Turtle line will celebrate its tenth year in 1997. Furthermore, Playmates took the doll world by storm in the last years with its highly successful "Waterbabies" and acclaimed "Baby So Beautiful" line. The point is that with the costs of its restructuring and diversification behind it and the prospects of very successful promotional properties before it, Playmates Toys' currently depressed stock price stands to get a likely boost. Also worthy to note, the company has recently hired upper level managers who left Mattel, Hasbro, and Galoob for what they perceived as better opportunities with Playmates Toys, Inc., the US division of Playmates Toys, Ltd. based in California. This seems to suggest that Playmates is making bold plans for its future. There are 660 million shares issued. The Chan family of Hong Kong controls 70%. The company has paid variable dividends since 1989. | ||||||||||||
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