the rights to the Pluto Platter from Fred Morrison and renames it Frisbee. 1958: Hula Hoop introduced 1958: Frisbee sales improve 1961: Slip 'N' Slide introduced 1965: Super Ball introduced 1982: Wham-O purchased by Kransco Group Companies 1994: Mattel buys Wham-O from Kransco 1995: Wham-O buys Aspectus. 1997: Wham-O becomes independent again when an investment group purchases it from Mattel 2002: Founder Arthur "Spud" Melin dies January 2006: Wham-O is sold for ~ US$80 million to Cornerstone Overseas Investment Limited, a Chinese company that owns or controls five factories in China. The same month, Wham-O donated the office files, photographs and films of Dan "Stork" Roddick, Wham-O's director of sports promotion from 1975 to 1994, to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection. 2008: Founder Richard Knerr dies 2008: Wham-O introduces the EZ Spin Foam Frisbee Disc, a soft foam version of the Frisbee 2009: Wham-O sold to investment firm The Aguilar Group 2010: Wham-O acquires Sprig Toys Inc. 2015: StallionSport Ltd. and InterSport Corp. acquire global rights to Wham-O Inc. 2018: Wham-O partners with Smacircle LMT ltd. to introduce Smacircle S1, an e-bike. References External links Wham-O Company website Flying Disc Time-Line Ken Westerfield – history of Frisbee and disc sports. Toy companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Carson, California American companies established in 1948 Toy companies established in 1948 1948 establishments in California Privately held companies based in California