Shares of Bloks Group Ltd., the popular Chinese maker of Ultraman and Transformers figurines, surged 82% in their Hong Kong trading debut after the company’s $215 million initial public offering drew overwhelming demand from individual investors.

Bloks Group Ltd., the popular maker of Ultraman and Transformers figurines, raised HK$1.67 billion ($215 million) in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, in a keenly sought-after listing to help kick off the year for initial public offerings in the city.

Bloks’ Hong Kong initial public offering Friday was 6,000 times oversubscribed and wildly popular after trading began, giving Zhu, the 42-year-old chairman and CEO, a fortune of $1.7 billion mostly based on his stake in the company, according to Forbes estimates.

HONG KONG – Shares of Bloks Group, the popular Chinese maker of Ultraman and Transformers figurines, will begin trading in Hong Kong on Jan 10 after its US$215 million initial public offering drew overwhelming demand from individual investors.

THE frenzy over a toymaker’s Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) has created a new billionaire. Read more at The Business Times.

Demand from Hong Kong retail investors was 6,000 times more than the amount of shares allocated to them, the second highest on record

Shares in Bloks Group, a maker of Transformers and other toy figurines, as much as doubled on their Hong Kong debut on Friday, making a billionaire of their founder and underlining the surge in ‘kidult’ culture despite falling birth rates in the world’s second-largest economy.