Horst Brandstaetter, who launched the popular Playmobil range of plastic toys in the 1970s, has died. He was 81.

Playmobil manufacturer geobra Brandstaetter Stiftung, which Brandstaetter owned, said in a statement Monday that he died on June 3. It gave no further details.

Brandstaetter joined the family firm, then run by two of his uncles, in 1952. He initiated the Playmobil range during the oil crisis of the early 1970s and later said that the success of the figures, the first of which were presented in 1974, saved the company from bankruptcy.

The company says that 2.8 billion of the figures, including knights, cowboys, farm animals and dinosaurs, have been produced since then. It has more than 4,000 employees worldwide.

In a statement, the government paid tribute to Mr Brandstaetter. Economy Minister Chris Cardona expressed the condolences of the Maltese Government to the family of Horst Brandstӓtter and to all his employees in Malta and abroad.  “Brandstatter”, he remarked, “has earned himself an important place in Maltese economic history and will be remembered for the trust and confidence he showed in Malta’s industrial competitiveness and growth potential”.