Tomy

Last updated

Tomy Company, Ltd. [1]
  • Takara Tomy (mostly in Japan and Asia)
  • Tomy (mostly in Western countries)
Native name
株式会社タカラトミー
Romanized name
Kabushikigaisha takara tomī
Company type Public
TYO: 7867
Industry
Predecessor
FoundedMarch 1, 2006;18 years ago (2006-03-01)(original Tomy, 1924; former Takara, 1955)
Headquarters7-9-10, Tateishi, Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products Details
RevenueDecrease2.svg ¥154,804 million (FY 2013–2014) [2]
Increase2.svg ¥3,335 million (FY 2013–2014) [2]
Decrease2.svg ¥8,929 million (FY 2013–2014) [2]
Total assets Increase2.svg ¥156,467 million (FY 2013–2014) [2]
Total equity Increase2.svg ¥50,907 million (FY 2013–2014) [2]
OwnerTomiyama family through Tsukasa Fudōsan KK (7.94%)
Number of employees
509 (as of March 31, 2019) [3]
Divisions
  • Tomy International, Inc.
  • Tomy (Hong Kong) Ltd.
  • T-ARTS KOREA Company, Ltd.
  • Tomy (Thailand) Ltd.
  • Tomy (Shenzhen) Ltd.
  • Tomy Southeast Asia (Philippines) Ltd.
  • Tomy Asia (Taiwan) Ltd.
Subsidiaries
  • T-ARTS Company, Ltd.
  • Penny Company, Ltd.
  • Tomy Tec Co., Ltd.
  • Tinkerbell Inc.
  • Wako Company, Ltd.
  • Tomy Marketing Company, Ltd.
  • Kiddy Land Co., Ltd.
  • T-ENTAMEDIA Company, Ltd.
  • Tomy Ibis., Ltd.
Website takaratomy.co.jp

Tomy Company, Ltd. [1] (株式会社タカラトミー, Kabushikigaisha Takara Tomī) (trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as Tomiyama Toy Manufacturing Company (富山玩具製作所), became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pirate. In 2006, Tomy merged with another toy manufacturer, Takara, and although the English company name remained the same, it became Takara Tomy in Asia. It has its headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo.

Contents

History and corporate name

Before the merger

The company was named Tomy as an abridgement of Tomiyama, which was the founder's surname. Starting as a manufacturer, Tomy had the largest product development team in the toy industry and plaudits for its technology. Nonetheless, by its third generation, president Mikitaro Tomiyama decided to streamline the company to be more competitive with wholesaler Bandai. Bandai developed its products more quickly, which was more appealing to television properties that required a fast turnaround. Despite internal and external opposition, Tomiyama was determined to aggressively pursue TV licenses such as Akakage, Giant Robo and Osomatsu-kun.

Tomiyama was shocked when his son told him that Tomy's toys were bad and that he wanted to work for Bandai when he grew up. In response, he created the moderately successful Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh (then Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger ) (but the product development team followed these with Nekketsu Saikyō Go-Saurer ) (which was a catastrophic failure). It became common wisdom within the industry that Tomy couldn't support a multimedia franchise.[ citation needed ] However, Tomy established a relationship with Shogakukan and created the successful Wedding Peach and Let's & Go .

Tomy learned about the growing popularity of Pokémon through monthly CoroCoro Comic and obtained the commercial rights. Bandai at the time was busy with its big hit, Tamagotchi, and was not interested in Pokémon. Tomy acquired the rights to commercialize a wide range of merchandise, mainly toys, and released the "Monster Collection" of figures next year. The anime became a huge hit, and sales of related products doubled. Tomy (who had been the third largest company in the toy industry since the 1980s) rose to second place in 1997.[ citation needed ]

In 2001, competitor Takara's hit franchise, Beyblade, and Pokémon's slump saw Takara regaining second place and Tomy falling again to third. However, Beyblade subsequently faltered (which adversely affected Takara's fortunes; Tomy merged with the suffering company and became Takara–Tomy).[ citation needed ]

After the merger

The former "Tomy" brandname, used outside of Asia Tomy logo.svg
The former "Tomy" brandname, used outside of Asia

The company decided to use the name "Tomy" in international subsidiaries, and "Takara-Tomy" in Japan, because Tomy had built considerable international brand recognition while Takara's products (Microman, Transformers, Battle Beasts, Beyblade, B-Daman etc.) had been sold and branded by other toy companies such as Hasbro. Additionally, the financial cost of rebranding was prohibitive. [4]

In Western media, the Takara–Tomy merger was typically characterised as a 'takeover' of Takara by Tomy (likely because several years of losses had put Takara in a financially weakened state at the time of the merger (although Takara did have significantly higher sales than Tomy)). However, the companies' management teams had previously discussed merging (including at times when Takara appeared stronger). Under Japanese corporate law, the move was a merger of both companies on an equal basis.

Post-merger media speculation about the control of brands from the Takara–Tomy merger arose from the new use of a "TOMY" copyright on all packaging (including former Takara brands shipped by Hasbro) (but this was merely a consequence of the decision to use only the Tomy name in international subsidiaries). In Japan, Takara-Tomy continues to use both Tomy and Takara as distinct brand names on toy ranges which originated in each separate company, and most new toy ranges or stand-alone products now carry the new Takara–Tomy brand.

Takara purchased a majority stake in Tatsunoko Production in June 2005. The studio then became a full subsidiary of Takara–Tomy following the March 2006 merger[ citation needed ] until Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings bought majority of Tatsunoko's stake and is now majorly owned by it affiliate company Nippon TV. Tomy UK was founded in 1982 for the sale and distribution of Tomy products in Europe, and it has successfully brought toys such as Zoids, and games like Pop-up Pirate, to the West. Tomy UK's slogan has traditionally been "Trust Tomy". In 2006, Tomy UK launched a website on which consumers can buy online from Tomy's catalogue. [5] In early 2011, Takara-Tomy acquired RC2 Corporation and the RC2 sub-brand Learning Curve, which included The First Years, Lamaze, and Compass.[ citation needed ]

Products

The Tomy Pocket Game Shooting Gallery was manufactured in 1978. Tomy shooting gallery.jpg
The Tomy Pocket Game Shooting Gallery was manufactured in 1978.
The Tomy Tutor, a 16-bit home computer released by Tomy beginning in 1982 Tomy-Tutor-wControllers.jpg
The Tomy Tutor, a 16-bit home computer released by Tomy beginning in 1982

Takara-Tomy has manufactured a broad range of products based on its own properties which include, from the Tomy side: Tomica, Plarail, Zoids, Idaten Jump, Nohohon Zoku and Tomy branded baby care products, and, from the Takara side: Space Pets, Choro-Q (also known as Penny Racers), Transformers, B-Daman, Koeda-chan (also known as Treena) and Microman. The merged Takara-Tomy also produces and/or sells a wide variety of toy and game brands under license, such as Thomas & Friends , Disney, Astro Boy , Pokémon , Beyblade , Duel Masters , Naruto , The Game of Life (also known as Life Game ), Rock Man (also known as Mega Man ), Wedding Peach , Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch , My Hero Academia , Sakura Kinomoto , Sakura Kinomoto: Clear Card , Slayers , Revolutionary Girl Utena , Kirarin Revolution , Sugarbunnies and Animal Crossing . Tomy's rights to these licenses vary by region. One of the first examples of product synergy for the merged company was the combining of Takara's Jinsei Game (Game of Life) license and Tomy's Pokémon license to produce a Pokémon Jinsei Game.

Tomy sells many products worldwide, including baby and pre-school toys, baby monitors, mechanical and electronic games, consumer electronics, children's arts and crafts products, and a vast range of toys suited to girls or boys. They make a large selection of Disney, Pokémon and Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise. They also publish video games in Japan (mostly based on Zoids and Naruto anime series), and are responsible for the distribution of some Hasbro products in Japan, such as Play-Doh, Jenga and Monopoly. The company was formerly responsible for distribution of the My Little Pony products in Japan before Bushiroad acquired the distribution rights to them starting with the franchise's Friendship Is Magic line (though the animated television series was owned by Hasbro). Later in 2015, after Bushiroad disowned the distribution rights, Sega Toys reacquired the rights to all generations of the franchise before selling the rights back to Hasbro.[ citation needed ]

A list of notable products include:

The Tomy Blip was a mechanical Pong handheld released in the 1970s. Tomy-Blip.jpg
The Tomy Blip was a mechanical Pong handheld released in the 1970s.
A handheld variant of Pac-Man from 1981. It was sold as Puck Man in Japan, the Japanese name of the game, on other markets as Pac-Man, Pac Man or Munchman (UK). TOMY LSI PACMAN handheld electronic game.jpg
A handheld variant of Pac-Man from 1981. It was sold as Puck Man in Japan, the Japanese name of the game, on other markets as Pac-Man, Pac Man or Munchman (UK).
Tomica toys tomikatoShao Nian  (496010556).jpg
Tomica toys

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasbro</span> American multinational toy and entertainment company

Hasbro, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast, among others. As of August 2020, over 81.5% of its shares were held by large financial institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandai</span> Japanese toy company

Bandai Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California, and Richmond, London. Since 2006, Bandai is the toy production division of Bandai Namco Holdings. Between 1981 and 2001, Bandai was a manufacturer of video game consoles.

Technozoids, also referred to as simply Zoids, is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Tomy that feature giant robots called Technozoidaryans, otherwise known as Technozoids, Zoidaryans or Zoids for short. A Zoid is essentially a large mechanical animal, with designs being based on animals; including dinosaurs, insects, arachnids and mythological creatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blythe (doll)</span> Fashion doll line

Blythe is a fashion doll, about 28 cm (11 inch) tall, with an oversized head and large eyes that change color with the pull of a string. It was created in 1972 and was initially only sold for one year in the United States by toy company Kenner. In 2001, the Japanese toy company Takara began producing new editions of Blythe dolls. There is a network of hobbyists who customize the doll for resale and create clothing and shoes for Blythe. Enthusiasts share photographs of their work and other types of dolls on the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takara</span> Japanese toy company

Takara Co., Ltd. was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was「遊びは文化」("playing is culture").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B-Daman</span> Marble shooting toy franchise

B-Daman is a marble shooting toy franchise produced in Japan by Takara. It was originally based on the Bomberman series, but later expanded into other franchises and its own original designs.

The Brave series is a Japanese toy and anime franchise originally produced by Sunrise, Nagoya TV, Victor Entertainment and Tokyu Agency, originally created by Takara. The franchise ran from 1990s to 2000s, producing eight official series and several side media including Original Video Animations (OVAs), toys, and several memorabilia in Japan. It was one of Sunrise's notable productions in the 90s, and its run play a key role in the reintroduction of the Super Robot genre to the Japanese mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomica (toy line)</span> Line of toy vehicles made by Takara Tomy

Tomica is a line of die-cast toy vehicles produced since 1970 by Takara Tomy Co. of Japan. Ostensibly, Tomica diecast were an outgrowth of Tomica World, an autonomous toy line of motorized train accessories that Tomy had created based on Plarail and produced since 1959. Similar in concept, Tomica can be thought of as the "Japanese Matchbox", but focuses mainly on Japanese brands.

Sonokong Co, Ltd. (Korean: 손오공주식회사) is a Korean toy/game entertainment company. It was established in 1974. The corporate headquarters are located in Sugung-dong Guro-gu Seoul, Korea. The technical license of the company is owned by Takara and Hasbro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choro-Q</span> Japanese toy line released in the US as Penny Racers

Choro-Q is a line of Japanese 3–4 cm pullback car toys produced by Takara. Known in North America as Penny Racers, they were introduced in late 1978 and have seen multiple revisions and successors since. Choro-Qs are stylized after real-world automobiles, with real rubber wheels and a pullback motor that makes them move. Each car has a coin slot at the back, where inserting a penny will make it perform a wheelie when the car is released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pokémon Company</span> Japanese company responsible for marketing and licensing the Pokémon franchise

The Pokémon Company is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the Pokémon franchise, which consists of video games, a trading card game, anime television series, films, manga, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. It was established through a joint investment by the three companies holding the copyright and trademark of Pokémon—Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures—to focus in the multimedia franchise which became too big to be managed only by them. It was founded in April 1998 originally to operate the Pokémon Center stores in Japan before expanding to the entire franchise in October 2000 as it rebranded to its current name. The company is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keshi</span> Collectible miniature figure made of coloured hard rubber

Keshi aka keshigomu is the Japanese word for eraser. In modern "keshi" refers to a collectible miniature figure, often of a manga or anime character, made of coloured hard rubber. However, the word's reference has broadened beyond its etymological meaning, as keshi are made of several types of rubber, ranging in appearance from opaque matte to transparent. Also, some lines, such as the "Cosmos Souls Keshi Gum", use plastic parts. Keshi figures are not necessarily based on Japanese comic book or TV series franchises, since there are keshi dedicated to video games and some western lines are based on local mythologies and popular culture. A similar product is often mistakenly thought be keshi, the pencil cap toy which appeared around the same period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beyblade</span> Spinning and battling tops

Beyblade is a line of spinning-top toys originally developed by Takara, first released in Japan in July 1999, along with its debut series. Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies around the world have licensed Beyblade toys for their own regions, including Hasbro in most Western countries, Sonokong in South Korea, and Takara Tomy for most Eastern countries.

A transforming robot is a robot that can change to take on the appearance or form of another object. This type of robot was a very popular toy concept in the 1980s; such toy robots could typically morph from a humanoid form to that of a vehicle, animal, or commonplace object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plarail</span> Japanese plastic toy train

Plarail is a toy train and plastic track system made by Tomy and introduced in Japan in 1959. It was expanded into a battery-operated electric toy train system in October 1961. Plarail is not compatible with most other brands of model railway, although as it has a similar rail gauge to the wooden toy train systems, rolling stock may run on both systems to some degree.

B-Daman Crossfire, known in Japan as Cross Fight B-Daman, is the first B-Daman anime of the Cross Fight series and the seventh B-Daman anime series, overall. Premiering on October 2, 2011 in Japan, it became the first B-Daman anime to air in almost five years, and first to be produced in 16:9 widescreen, following the finale of Crash B-Daman on December 25, 2006. Its last episode, Conclusion! Cross Fight's New Era aired on September 30, 2012 in Japan. A sequel series, B-Daman Fireblast, premiered the following week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funskool</span> Indian toy manufacturing company

Funskool (India) Ltd. is an Indian toy manufacturing company, founded in 1987 with headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Apart from its own brands and its American counterpart Playskool, the company also manufactures and distributes products in the Indian market under license from foreign toy brands including Hasbro, Disney, Warner Bros., Takara Tomy, and Ravensburger.

Toys-to-life is a video game feature using physical figurines or action figures to interact within the game. These toys use a near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), or image recognition data protocol to determine the individual figurine's proximity, and save a player's progress data to a storage medium located within that piece. It was one of the most lucrative branches of the video game industry especially during the late 1990s and 2010s, with the Skylanders franchise alone selling more than $3 billion worth over the course of four years.

<i>Beyblade Burst</i> Japanese manga series

Beyblade Burst is a Japanese manga and toyline created by Hiro Morita, based on Takara Tomy's Beyblade franchise. The third series of the franchise, the Beyblade Burst toyline launched on July 15, 2015, while the original manga was serialized in Shogakukan's children's manga magazine CoroCoro Comic from August 2015 to December 2021 and is compiled into twenty tankōbon volumes. Shogakukan's South East Asian branch began publishing it in English in April 2017.

<i>Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion</i> Anime television series

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion is a Japanese toy franchise created by Takara Tomy, in association with the Japan Railways Group. It is a spin-off of the long-running Plarail model train franchise, with the toys first launched back at March 16, 2015. An anime adaptation by OLM aired in all JNN stations in Japan from January 2018 to June 2019. A second anime titled Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion Z aired from April 2021 to March 2022 on TV Tokyo. A third anime by Signal.MD and Production I.G titled Shinkalion: Change the World premiered in April 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 "Company profile".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Consolidated financial statement for end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014" (PDF). Tomy Co., Ltd. 12 December 2014.
  3. "Corporate Profile|Corporate Information|TOMY Company, Ltd". Takaratomy.co.jp. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  4. "Corporate History|Corporate Information|TOMY Company, Ltd". www.takaratomy.co.jp. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. "Tomy Uk". Tomy.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  6. Masters, James. "TOMY Pocket Games - The USA List". Masters.me.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. "I-Sobot". Isobotrobot.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  8. Coopee, Todd (16 May 2016). "Water Games from TOMY (1976)". ToyTales.ca.