Playmore Toys

Playmore Toys was a range of toys and games marketed and produced by Lowplas (Lowestoft Plastics) - a blow moulding manufacturer based in Lowestoft, established in the 1960s by Bert West who was subsequently joined by other directors, Phil Garnham and Bruce Parkin (1936-2001).
Playmore Toys were stocked by major retailers such as Early Learning Centres, Boots and John Menzies throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The original factory was an old net store building on Whapload Road in Lowestoft - part of the town's fishing village (which was slowly demolished after the Second World War).
In the early 1980s the company was bought out by one of its directors, Bruce Parkin, and administrator Lesley Boyd and in 1985 moved to a large modern factory at Waveney Works, South Elmham Terrace, in Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, and started producing a range of toys under the 'Playmore' banner. These included 'Potty People' (plastic pots and pans), 'Jumbo Golf Clubs', 'Beatabats', crickets sets and brightly coloured ducks. In 1986 Bruce Parkin also invented a version of 'Snolf' - a combination of golf and snooker.
In 1992 the company was taken over by the Tom Smith Group - a Norwich-based Christmas cracker manufacturer. The venture proved unsuccessful and by 1997 the Oulton Broad factory had closed and the range of toys disappeared.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu