Playart was a toy company owned by Hong Kong industrialist Duncan Tong (唐鼎康) that specialized in die-cast cars, similar in size and style to Hot Wheels, Matchbox or Tomica. Cars were well done, but were often diecast seconds from other companies like Yatming or Tomica. Cars were made from 1965 to 1983 at the factory in San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Plastic cars and trucks of 1:43, and 1:24 scale were also made, while trains and other theme toys also appeared. Diverse marketing approaches Playart (the name in all lower case with a larger "a" in "art" and dots in the bowls of the letters) die-cast cars were made in Hong Kong and mostly were distributed with the name Peelers, the in-house brand of toy cars for Woolworth. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sears sold blister packaged Playarts as Road Mates. McCrory stores had a line of Playart vehicles called Freewheelers. They were blister-packaged on a blue, white and yellow card. Another Playart blister package stated "Die cast metal - En metal moule", perhaps for the French market. In another twist the American distribution company for Playart was Model Power which focused on train accessories. The small sized cars were packaged under this name as Road Kings. On another Playart series, the name was printed with each letter a separate color, on bright packages marketed as FASTWHEEL (see photo). The phrase "really fast - die cast" was also printed on these blister-paks and boxes with the checkered black and white background. Playart diecast cars were also packaged as Charmerz for New York distributor Charles Merzbach. These were marketed as Charmerz Super Singles and packaged in a blue blister card with many different vehicles listed on the back. The Playart name, however, did not accompany all toy packaging. Vehicle offerings were more clever than those of other Hong Kong and Chinese makers of the 1970s and 1980s. Marques such as a 1967 Eldorado, a Fiat X 1/9, a Rolls-Royce Corniche coupe, and a Lotus Elite were not necessarily unique in the diecast world, but taken as a whole the series was creative and model selections unique. Despite tooling origins, however, one gets the feeling that the makers of Playart cars were auto enthusiasts perhaps more than other toy manufacturers. For example, the Playart Plymouth Barracuda (a former Hot Wheels casting) is realistically labeled a Barracuda Formula S on