Changes: Playing Mantis

Revision as of 15:13, 23 February 2013

Template:Realworld

Playing Mantis, founded in 1987 as Safe Care before its name change in 1994, was the parent company of several collectible toy and model companies that produced Star Trek-related products.

The company was purchased in 2004 by Racing Champions, which at the time also owned AMT/Ertl. The new owner eliminated the brand names "Playing Mantis" and "Polar Lights" in 2005 and 2006 respectively, though the latter was revived a year later when the product line was sold to Round 2 LLC.

Tomy, the current owner of Racing Champions (RC2), exchanged a number of brands with Round 2 in 2011.

Playing Mantis' subsidiaries have included:

Johnny Lightning, which make the "Legends of Star Trek" miniature ships and various lines of die-cast collectible cars;
Polar Lights, makers of various scale model kits, including various Trek models (production of new kits was halted after its acquirement by Racing Champions and only restarted under the wings of Round 2}; and
Memory Lane, makers of collectible figures based on the Peanuts comic strip and the animated Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

External links

PlayingMantis.com - official web site
Timeline of the Playing Mantis company

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+{{realworld}}
-[[Image:PlayingMantisLogo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Company Logo]]
+[[File:Playing Mantis logo.png|right|160px|Playing Mantis]]
-'''Playing Mantis''' was the parent company of several [[Collectibles|collectible]] toy and model companies that produced ''[[Star Trek]]''-related pieces. The company was recently bought out by [[Racing Champions]], which also owns [[AMT/Ertl]].
+'''Playing Mantis''', founded in 1987 as '''Safe Care''' before its name change in 1994, was the parent company of several [[Collectibles|collectible]] toy and model companies that produced ''[[Star Trek]]''-related products.
+The company was purchased in 2004 by [[Racing Champions]], which at the time also owned [[AMT/Ertl]]. The new owner eliminated the brand names "Playing Mantis" and "Polar Lights" in 2005 and 2006 respectively, though the latter was revived a year later when the product line was sold to [[Round 2 LLC]].
-Playing Mantis' subsidiaries are:
-* [[Johnny Lightning]], which make the "Legends of Star Trek" miniature ships and various lines of die-cast collectible cars;
-* [[Polar Lights]], makers of various scale model kits, including various ''Trek'' models; and
-* Memory Lane, makers of collectible figures based on the ''Peanuts'' [[comic]] strip and the animated [[Christmas]] special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''.
+{{w|Tomy}}, the current owner of Racing Champions (RC2), exchanged a number of brands with Round 2 in 2011.
-==External Links==
-*[http://playingmantis.com/index.php Playing Mantis] official website
+Playing Mantis' subsidiaries have included:
+* [[Johnny Lightning]], which make the "Legends of ''Star Trek''" miniature ships and various lines of die-cast collectible cars;
+* [[Polar Lights]], makers of various scale model kits, including various ''Trek'' models (production of new kits was halted after its acquirement by Racing Champions and only restarted under the wings of Round 2}; and
+* '''Memory Lane''', makers of collectible figures based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip and the animated Christmas special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''.
+==External links==
+*[http://playingmantis.com/index.php PlayingMantis.com] - official web site
+*[http://www.tylisaari.com/polar/TimeLine.htm Timeline of the Playing Mantis company]
 [[Category:Collectibles]]