A life-like, moving head of a chimp would hardly seem like a hot-selling toy, but in graying Japan, the Apeman is proving a hit for the new key market of "kidults."
The Apeman, which utters simian bellows and has precisely constructed hair and facial features, proved a magnetic draw at the 2006 International Tokyo Toy Show which closed this weekend.
"This should make a nice decoration for a house, at the entrance, perhaps," a promoter from major toymaker Bandai said of the Apeman, which costs ¥28,000 (US$250) and uses motion and sound sensors.
PHOTO: AFP
With a growing elderly population and a falling birthrate, Japan's toymakers are eagerly going after 30-and-40-somethings who have money and want toys to satisfy their youthful fantasies.
More than 35,000 toys were showcased at the biggest toy trade show in Japan, birthplace of global sensations such as Pokemon and Power Rangers.
Certainly, many of the 166 firms at the show offered toys for kids -- stuffed animals, Disney characters, building blocks, miniature cars, action hero figures, board games and tools for magic tricks.
But the size of the Japanese toy market has fallen from ¥731.8 billion in 2000 to ¥697.5 billion last year as the industry faces both a shrinking population and changing consumer tastes, according to the Japan Toy Association, which organized the trade fair.
While continuing to market to children, the industry must cater to the "kidult," the association said.
Among notable examples, toy firm Tomy is luring men with radio-controlled model air planes as well as mini cars that can be operated remotely via mobile phones.
The planes go for ¥2,625 a piece, while the cars are priced at ¥980.
"These are types of things that many men might have wanted as children, but not necessarily owned them as children because they used to be expensive. We were able to keep the prices low so that men with children can still buy these and play with their children," Tomy spokeswoman Akane Asanuma said.
For other older customers, the company offers a small potter's wheel, a digital marriage counseling toy and baby-like "partner" dolls that sing and talk to comfort adults with no children.
Toy firms must take a "two generation approach" to attract both children and their parents, said Kasumi Nakanishi, spokeswoman for toymaking giant Bandai.
Bandai, known for action hero figures such as the Power Rangers, has successfully captured adult men with upgraded action hero gadgets, including ¥30,000 adult-size reproductions of a belt worn on the star of the 1970s megahit Kamen Rider television series.
"Men in their 30s or 40s, they grew up in the 1970s, when the average household had several children. This meant they had to wait for Christmas or birthdays to receive toys that they wanted," Nakanishi said. "Now, they have money to buy the toys, especially single men."
While children are the still the main market, there is big money in adult toys, he said.
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