Elliot Handler and continued to be produced in different versions until the early 1970s. Another product line was Hot Wheels, introduced in 1968, which gave rise to 10,000 different models. First called Mattel Creations, the company has become the largest toy maker in the world in terms of revenue. In April 2008, Mattel honored Handler with a 90th birthday party at its headquarters in El Segundo, California. Guests included his daughter Barbara Segal, the namesake of the Barbie doll. Handler died of heart failure at home in Century City, a district of Los Angeles, California, at age 95 on July 21, 2011.
Performo Toy Company Performo Toy Company The Performo Toy Company was established in 1925 by Torrence Leroy Dietz, in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. They manufactured wooden toys in a building on North Spring Street. His business expanded rapidly, soon recruiting over 25 employees, and still having trouble filling demands for their popular toys. The corporation documents confirm the president of the toy company was Torrence Dietz and that Rene Grove was the chief designer and one of five partners. The company was capitalize with an initial stock offering of twenty-five thousand dollars. The original partners were Torrence Dietz, president (and salesperson), O.H. Watts,