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 Tomy's headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo. | |
Native name | 株式会社トミー |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Tomī |
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | |
| Founded | January 17, 1953 |
| Defunct | March 1, 2006 |
| Fate | Merged with Takara |
| Successor | Takara Tomy |
| Headquarters | Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Website | tomy.co.jp |
Tomy Co., Ltd.[a] was a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and video game publisher headquartered in Katsushika, Tokyo. The company was founded as Tomiyama Co., Ltd. in 1953 by businessman Mikitaro Tomiyama, from which it takes its name from. Tomy primarily competed with Bandai through its action figures based on popular anime series and acting as a sponsor for anime production studios. In addition to toys and video games, Tomy also produced children's apparel, baby supplies, television shows, and consumer electronics such as the Tomy Tutor personal computer. Tomy acquired the toy license for Pokémon in 1997, which significantly boosted the company's sales. In March 2006, Tomy merged with rival Takara to form Takara Tomy, an entertainment conglomerate. Takara Tomy continues using the Tomy brand on its products, and outside Japan does business as Tomy Company Limited.
History edit
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 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; 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 Coro 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.
In May 2005, Tomy announced it was considering a merger with rival Takara, best known for creating the successful Transformers and Choro Q toy lines.[1] Takara had been struggling financially throughout the 2000s as a result of Japan's declining toy market and its ongoing recession, and had been looking into mergers with other companies.[2] Publications have also attributed Bandai's merger with Namco as the impetus for the proposal.[2] Takara accepted Tomy's offer on May 14;[1] the two companies and Index Corporation, Takara's largest shareholder, set up a strategic joint venture on September 1 and laying off 15 percent of its staff in preparation for the merge.[3][4][3] The entertainment conglomerate Takara Tomy was established on March 1, 2006, creating Japan's second-largest toy and software company after Namco Bandai Holdings and dissolving both companies.[3] Takara Tomy's international divisions chose to adopt the name Tomy Company Ltd., due to the strong global recognition of the Tomy brand compared to Takara.
Notes edit
- ^ Japanese: 株式会社トミー, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Tomī
References edit
- ^ a b Jenkins, David (May 12, 2005). "Takara, Tomy Discuss Merger Plans". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ a b GameSpot Staff (May 13, 2005). "Takara and Tomy considering merger". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c GameSpot Staff (August 25, 2005). "Takara and Tomy to lay off 15 percent of workforce". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ "Takara, Tomy agree to merge in 2006". The Japan Times. News2u Holdings. May 14, 2005. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
External links edit
- Official website (Tomy International)
- Official website (Takara Tomy)