Play Along Toys

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Play Along Toys is Florida-based toy company, a wholy owned division of Jakks Pacific.

In 1999, the founders of Play Along chose the Britney Spears Doll line as the first licensing venture with their new company, the choice proving a success and followed by other celebrity dolls including Aaron Carter, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Mandy Moore. In 2001 Play Along partnered with toy design studio Art Asylum for production of the studio's toys. Then, in 2002, Play Along decided to bring back one of the plush doll lines of the 1980's, the Care Bears. This brand, for which Play Along was awarded "License of the Year 2002" by the Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA).

As the company's toy lines continued to grow, so did the Play Along team, having grown from a staff of five into a company with more than 100 employees, both in the U.S. and Hong Kong, producing toys for multiple brands including the Care Bears, THE DOG, The Lord of the Rings: Armies of Middle-earth, The Cat in the Hat, Teletubbies, Curly Q's, Doodle Bear, Sky Dancers and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

The success of the company and it's licenses made it an attractive target for others, with Jakks Pacific buying the privately owned company in 2004, Play Along now run as a division within Jakks.