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Tomy targets US with toy trains
By Yuri Kageyama |
December 2, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPANESE toy maker Tomy Co is hoping to score a comeback in the United States this Christmas with toy trains and cars that boast a 40-year history in Japan but previously failed to catch on abroad.
Tokyo-based Tomy, which also makes Transformer robots, dominates the plastic train and die-cast car market in Japan. But it's looking abroad for growth as Japan's declining birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, makes future prospects bleak.
Tomy is hopeful about year-end sales in the US even as worries linger about purse-tightening amid unemployment near 10 percent.
"The tradition of enjoying the holidays is so much stronger in the US. Toy sales are going to hold up compared to other industries," Tomy general manager Shigemi Sugaya said.
Its US$79.99 "Mega Station Set," includes a miniature railway, a railroad crossing, two die-cast cars and a tiny human figure.
Other products, such as "Gas Station" and "Pizza Shop," are smaller and cheaper.
The parts can be built together in various combinations to create a sprawling fantasy-world of vehicles and trains for children ages 4 to 7, company officials said.
Satoshi Shimizu, a developer at Tomy, acknowledged that toy trains had long been a hard-sell for American children.
They've been popular in Japan because of the high profile bullet trains and many neigbhorhood commuter trains.
But Tomy is determined to raise overseas sales to 25 percent of total sales in about two years.
The proportion is expected to be 20 percent in the fiscal year to March 2011.
Tokyo-based Tomy, which also makes Transformer robots, dominates the plastic train and die-cast car market in Japan. But it's looking abroad for growth as Japan's declining birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, makes future prospects bleak.
Tomy is hopeful about year-end sales in the US even as worries linger about purse-tightening amid unemployment near 10 percent.
"The tradition of enjoying the holidays is so much stronger in the US. Toy sales are going to hold up compared to other industries," Tomy general manager Shigemi Sugaya said.
Its US$79.99 "Mega Station Set," includes a miniature railway, a railroad crossing, two die-cast cars and a tiny human figure.
Other products, such as "Gas Station" and "Pizza Shop," are smaller and cheaper.
The parts can be built together in various combinations to create a sprawling fantasy-world of vehicles and trains for children ages 4 to 7, company officials said.
Satoshi Shimizu, a developer at Tomy, acknowledged that toy trains had long been a hard-sell for American children.
They've been popular in Japan because of the high profile bullet trains and many neigbhorhood commuter trains.
But Tomy is determined to raise overseas sales to 25 percent of total sales in about two years.
The proportion is expected to be 20 percent in the fiscal year to March 2011.
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