Pedigree Dolls & Toys, also known as Pedigree Toys, is a

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

company located in Exeter,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Best known for launching the

Sindy Sindy is a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. A rival to Barbie, Sindy's wholesome look and range of fashions and accessories made her the best-selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970. After Louis Marx and ...

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

in 1963, Pedigree also produced the Tommy Gunn

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mark ...

from 1966 to 1968. The Sindy doll was very popular from the 1960s to 1980s, and accounted for 80% of Pedigree's sales. Pedigree was a subsidiary of

Lines Bros Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang Toys brand name. Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak in 1947, was claimed by the company to be the largest toy maker in the world. Under the Tri-ang Toys bran ...

, then became a subsidiary of Dunbee-Combex-Marx. After Dunbee's collapse in 1980, Pedigree and several other Dunbee subsidiaries moved to the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Tamwade. In March 1982, Pedigree closed its factory in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. After running at a loss in 1985, it was rumoured that

Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...

and

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

were preparing

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

bids for Pedigree, which did not eventuate. Instead, Hasbro bought the rights to the Sindy doll in 1986, but returned the rights to Pedigree in 1998 after sales of the doll declined. Sindy was licensed to

Vivid Imaginations Vivid Imaginations is a British toy manufacturer, distributor and wholesale company, based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 1992, one of the company's first toy lines it manufactured was Captain Scarlet, which has since been followed by Thund ...

, who relaunched the doll in 1999.

References

Companies based in Exeter Companies based in Northamptonshire Doll manufacturing companies History of Northamptonshire Lines Bros Toy companies of the United Kingdom Wellingborough 1980 establishments in England {{UK-company-stub