| Yla Eason created Olmec Toys in 1985 when "she couldn't find a black super-hero for her son." At the peak of Olmec's operations, Eason claimed to make over $5 million in sales a year.
In 1998, Eason fled Virginia and disappeared. Minority creditors filed in court against Eason and seized the remaining Olmec inventory, including Eason's last toy creation -- 1,600 Malcolm X dolls. Today, Eason is in hiding after leaving $1.2 million in unpaid debts, her company is out of business and Congress is questioning her relationship with the Clinton administration.
Before declaring bankruptcy in 1998, Olmec Toys was the largest U.S. manufacturer of Black and Hispanic dolls and action figures. Olmec coined the term "ethnically correct" in the American toy industry and served as a consultant to Hasbro, the world's largest toy company.
A Harvard MBA and former journalist, Eason, as Olmec's president and CEO, received the 1997 Business Enterprise Award directly from President Clinton. Eason also traveled with then-Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to China, meeting with top Chinese officials in the People's Republic government.
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