TakaraTomy to move Factories out of China, to Vietnam and Thailand

Can't say I saw this one coming.

So long as prices don't get any higher, can't say I care.

So can we expect there to be a change in quality? Supposedly this seems like it is a move to keep quality where it is at, but I was just curious.

I would think that the factories would be filled with the same equipment, the same products and materials used, the only thing changing would be the location of said factory, and cheaper labour. I'd say quality should be more or less the same then.

Makes me wonder if Prices may actually lower b/c of the move. Time will tell.

if they kept the prices the same and improved the quality, that'd be awesome, but unlikely.

i doubt if prices would go lower. the industry still continues to suffer because of high oil prices (per barrel), because petroleum is a key ingredient in making plastics used in the toys.

and besides, has there been a price reduction per price point in TFs in the past 10 years?

Hmm. This is definitely something new. Wasn't expecting this one at all.

Like others have said, I hope this either lowers or keeps the prices the same, but raises the quality.

If it doesn't change for the better, let's at least hope for the same. *crosses fingers*

Although...QC has dropped a bit in Takara/Tomy's game.

"main reason behind the move is because of the mistrust in Chinese made products due in part to the excess amount of lead and other harmful substances found in other Chinese made products over the last few months"

This is just a convenient excuse. The Mattel F*** up was down to internal missmanagent from what I can tell having spoken to a number of factory managers (unrelated to Mattel) in China. The primary reason is that China is getting too expensive due to labour shortages as mentioned in the second statement. Everyone is feeling the pinch on that and Chinese factories are becoming much more demanding of their customers.

On the quality front. Most reputable Chinese factories are now excellent, but this comes as a result of nearly 20 years of experience. Operations moving to the path less trodden may find that they have to put a lot more of their own resources in to developing these new facilities (much like many of the startups in China needed management to come from Hong Kong and Taiwan to oversea production)

I would expect longer lead times on new product lines as a result of delays in getting QC sorted.

I doubt the swap over will be absolute and instant though, so they should just about cope

Stickshift wrote:This is just a convenient excuse. The Mattel F*** up was down to internal missmanagent from what I can tell having spoken to a number of factory managers (unrelated to Mattel) in China.

I think you're probably right. In my opinion the Chinese factories have done a fine job producing TakaraTomy's products. I hope they will be able to maintain the same standards in Vietnam and Thailand.

I wonder if China's lax attitudes to intellectual property was also a factor.

1337W422102 wrote:Can't say I saw this one coming.

Ditto. I also heard one guy hanged himself at his factory after all orders for his merchandise were cancelled following the scandal.

zemper wrote:and besides, has there been a price reduction per price point in TFs in the past 10 years?

Has there been a price reduction per price point for toys in general?

Archanubis wrote:

zemper wrote:and besides, has there been a price reduction per price point in TFs in the past 10 years?

Has there been a price reduction per price point for toys in general?

Well by default, since prices haven't been rising in line with inflation.

Well there really is no surprise there I'm sure other company will be following there lead.

Tak/Tomy is one of the first to make this step amongst many more to come. This will turn into a stampede in the coming months as there continues to be 'issues' with products coming out of China. Not all the problems are do to the plants as some of them can be related to design 'issues' from Corporate HQ on this side of the pond but China needs to clamp down on QC in its plants and on a side note on its food processing especially after what happened with that dog and cat food fiasco.

Well done Tak/Tomy. Even though most of this is due to the Japanese population expecting higher standards than the rest of the world. Can't see Mattel making this decision anytime soon as our standards are just not as high compared to the Japanese consumer.

i_amtrunks wrote:<a target="_blank" href="http://www.agesthreeandup.com">Agesthreeandup</a> has posted on the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=156474" target="_blank">tfw2005</a> boards that Toy Company TakaraTomy will be shifting many of their factories from China to other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

A main reason behind the move is because of the mistrust in Chinese made products due in part to the excess amount of lead and other harmful substances found in other Chinese made products over the last few months.
Another reason is to save production costs, as labour costs in Guangdong, China have risen due to labour shortages.

To read the full post, please <a target="_blank" href="http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=156474" target="_blank">click here</a>.

not really surprised by this. despite China still being the world's factory; with their rise in prominence so do labor costs etc rise with that as well so not just toy manufacturers but many other industries are already looking at countries like Vietnam & Thailand as the next best option for obvious cost reasons.

A

What andynsm said. China is getting more and more expensive as the economy grows. That will happen to Vietman, Thailand etc. in 10 or 15 years from now just as well.

This sounds like very good news. I am sick of the quality control and poor workmanship from Chinese made products. This may also stop some of the KOs too.

Thailand and Vietnam have a highly skilled labor force. Let's hope they have learned something from China's poor business standards and environmental disasters though.

think itz only natural from a company perspective, they'd go look for cheaper alternatives but i guess end of the day for us collectors, we just want to be assured that quality is not compromised.

A

Bumblethumper wrote:I wonder if China's lax attitudes to intellectual property was also a factor.

I bet that did play a factor in it also. So will the KO's of new toys stop?

Well that's good news...better quality Products made in a country that desperately wants new manufacturing business...

we should see exceptional things coming from those factories...

Here's my only worry:

What if certain products are put on hiatus, or Production levels of a certain product are temporarily cut short??

We could have major Bidding wars on eBay if they cut short stock on certain figures...

due to the move...

I don´t think that will happen. No company would switch off its production before the new facilities aren´t fully operative.

Patrick Bateman wrote:I don´t think that will happen. No company would switch off its production before the new facilities aren´t fully operative.

I agree, but I'm not suggesting the entire Production gets cut just certain things, which would suck...

skywarp-2 wrote:Well that's good news...better quality Products made in a country that desperately wants new manufacturing business...

we should see exceptional things coming from those factories...

It's not good news for the factories that have been making those figures.

And why would you expect quality to be any better than what they've been producing in China? None of the lead scares or safety issues have been with toys manufactured for TakaraTomy. I'm sure the Chines facilities have a lot more experience and know-how that's harder to find in Thailand and Vietnam.

The only reason I can think of to expect better quality is if cheaper labour enables them to spend more on higher quality materials, and toys with more labour-intensive production.

Which brings me to something else I find just a little strange: there's a labour shortage in China? ...Seriously?

skywarp-2 wrote:
I agree, but I'm not suggesting the entire Production gets cut just certain things, which would suck...

Could be. To prevent that, they might try and phase out production in China while ramping up the Vietnam and Thailand facilities.

Will make the transformers animated toys in Thailand (or Vietnam)?

In response to bumblethumper, yup there is a real problem with labour shortages in the Guangdong area (where most of the world's toys are manufactured). As China's economy grows stronger and other areas are becoming cash rich, there is less need for members of, previously poor, communities to travel to Guangdong in search of work. Plus local governments are providing incentives for people to stay put and develop their own communities.

This means that factories have to work harder to bring in workers by raising salaries and working conditions (a good thing in my opinion). Large retailers also like to place orders at the last possible moment and will also try to drive prices down as far as they can. This means that when an order comes in factories may not be fully staffed (can't pay people high sallaries to sit on their hands AND keep the prices down). As a result, shipments get delayed or the price goes up. Either way the distributors are pissed off.

This is happening across the board at the moment and filters back to everyone involved in the chain. The toy companies are squeezed so hard by retailers and distributors to keep prices down that I imagine that soon many of them will find it hard to make a profit (in a shrinking market) and will have to start pushing prices up, whether retailers like it or not. As a designer of toys it even effects me as companies are less willing to take risks on new and original concepts and when they do the deals available are less lucrative than they were 10 years ago.

A good example of the market being squeezed was posted a couple of weeks back in which someone had done a price comparison with an Autobot car and a Movie deluxe figure. In this case the price had only risen by a couple of dollars in 20 years. Okay, so the autobot cars had dicast parts in the 80's, but even so there should still be a more significant price rise than $2!

Moving production to reduce costs is a drastic move, but I am certain that it will introduce as many problems as it solves in the short term. You may not see a change in quality as an end user (at least you shouldn't as that is why QC is there), but someone is going to be busting their nuts to make things run smoothly with less experienced factories and workforce, which could introduce delays in getting lines to market.

Last point (sorry) If you think that corruption, knock offs and backhanders only happen in China then you are SORELY mistaken. The world is full of cut price shit merchants that will do anything to make a little extra profit and, unfortunately Mattel fell foul of this by letting their eye off the ball.

I hope that was coherent. :-S

Thanks for the informative post, that was good read.

I'm under no illusions about human nature, there are people in every country who will try to get away with stuff like that. I hate to go along with all the China-bashing, but they even have their own Disneyland rip-off over there. Either the authorities are turning a blind eye to such violations, or there just aren't adequate judicial options in place for copyright holders to pursue.

It's really something that the world's most populous country can have labour shortages, even if it is a localized problem.

I guess you're right about coming price increases. Sooner or later, something's gotta give. As I see it, when there are supply shortages, the retailer should be the one paying the extra costs. Competition with other retailers for who gets the stock should drive up the prices.

I wonder if this is going to increase or decrease the amount of figures leaked onto ebay months before they are supposed to be released.

Will this be good or bad in the long run?

All I can say is if the figure produced out of Vietnam ---> expect no quality or whatsoever because quality assurance has no meaning in Vietnam and only profit. Why you ask ? Just look at any of other products that exported out of Vietnam and compare it to those that made in other countries you'll see day and night. I dont mean to bad mouth here but it's the reality and you can ask anyone who come from the country.

I'm starting to worry now since I mainly collect MP line only and now this is where they have $100 figure made. Crap!

p.s. (dont even talk about food, it'll make you wet yourself)

That has to be the most idiotic/racist post I have ever read on this forum...

What country isn't out for profit? China isn't churning out these toys for their own enjoyment... Do you think they wouldn't cut quality if they could make a better bottom line and Takara would let them?

If they really moved it to Vietnam because of "quality assurance issues in China", would they expect less to come out and put their name on it? Seriously.

What do you expect from a country that had been invaded/destroyed and is still recovering? You don't expect Iraq to churn out super goods anytime soon do you? I'd let them actually make the toys and try them out before making idiotic/paranoid/racist conclusions...

I love Vietnamese,Thai, and all other types of food. I don't see how it fits into this discussion on toys along with the rest of your post (other than in just reinforcing your intolerance), but I can't find anyone who I have taken to eat those foods find any fault with it...

That was a great post that really explained most of the reasons for the move from an insider Stickshift. To bad the info was lost to one of your readers through his own intolerance. I can't believe none of the mods caught that yet...

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pfcparts wrote:
What do you expect from a country that had been invaded/destroyed and is still recovering? You don't expect Iraq to churn out super goods anytime soon do you? I'd let them actually make the toys and try them out before making idiotic/paranoid/racist conclusions...

Idiotic eh ? do you know what you just reenforced my point here. Talk about idiotic. That's right! and now Hasbro is planning on moving their factories into an country that has been invaded and destroyed and we are here expecting quality...NOT.


[/quote]
I love Vietnamese,Thai, and all other types of food. I don't see how it fits into this discussion on toys along with the rest of your post (other than in just reinforcing your intolerance), but I can't find anyone who I have taken to eat those foods find any fault with it... [/quote]

I'm just trying to make a point here...that there is not even safety ...forget about quality assurance..not even in the food...forget about the toys.


[/quote]

That was a great post that really explained most of the reasons for the move from an insider Stickshift. To bad the info was lost to one of your readers through his own intolerance. I can't believe none of the mods caught that yet...[/quote]

Hey if anyone is in denial or still dreaming of high quality product from a war-torn country as you stated, go ahead and delete "my opinion". But know this one denies the reality is his own ignorance. Go read some more before open up your pile.

Your ignorance.

This should be nice and easy to settle. You say we should look at other products coming out of Vietnam. What products are those?

I think it will largely be down to a question of how much companies are prepared to invest in Vietnam. It's not that long ago that China was known exclusively for cheap, poorly-made junk, where now they are producing many high quality luxury items.

Vietnam may have some catching up to do, but I see no real reason why they can't up their game.

This will be my last post on this thread as it is obvious that the discussion has gone over some heads and I don't come here to flame on anyone especially someone who is more than adept at flaming himself.

MB - Fail...

Other than reinforcing that your an idiot or a moron of the imbecile class, I don't know what that second post was supposed to do other than showcase your cut and paste skills which by the way are also lacking.

1. What point is that? Do you think they won't bring in their own equipment and people to lead it? Seriously reread what Stickshift posted as I don't know how better to explain it. Just reiterating what I posted does not in fact prove your opinion. Put some thought into it. Wartorn, sure. Yes, it is a country on the mend and with investment, it can heal. Intel has invested 1 billion in their factory over there; you think they will just let their investment rot because the rest of the country is? Please. Do you honestly think Takara would pour money into it and not expect to have products to sell?

2. Again what point is that? More importantly, what does your distaste in a certain cuisine have to do with the quality in toys from Takara? I don't recall Takara mentioning they would revamp Vietnamese food while over there? If you want to talk about a product or product quality bring that up, not your personal views on another culture's food that has nothing to do with what you are talking about. Last I heard millions aren't dying from food over there... Lack of it maybe.

People have different tastes, thinking everyone enjoys the same stuff or has the same access to certain foods is stupid.

Quality control on food? Please. If there are any statistics concerning people massively dying off from food in their own country that they prepare let us know.

Some of the best food I have had was through my foreign travels. Tacos on a TJ streetcorner or even the pho I had in a dingy little place south of Saigon; they weren't the cleanest places, but if you get anything hot enough it should be edible. Not every country is as rich as ours, but to be honest, those B/C class establishments in LA or the rest of the country aren't that much better.

3. Dreaming? They are just toys... If Takara allows a product that is crap, it's in their own hands and I won't support it. Until I get a figure from the factory, I'll hold my judgment instead of voicing a stupid opinion on a product that doesn't even exist yet... No one said you had to buy anything...

I don't know what reality you are in, but hopefully it gets better for you and you experience more with other cultures and get to open your mind up from where it is now because it is sorely lacking.

4. Your ignorance. Edit that with proper grammar and maybe we'd understand what your trying to get at. Possibly... If you meant I'm ignorant, the author could poll this thread and see whose ignorant lol.


Sludge - D-, needs improvement... Since we are discussing quality control and not the exports of Vietnam, I don't know what you are trying to get at.

Maybe it settles quickly for you because you don't understand what is being discussed in the first place. If that is the case, the best thing for you would be to not post at all.

Petrol, natural gas, sea food, etc. All exports have quality control at the point of being received and I'm sure if you look hard enough you can find their products.

Lastly, just because they don't do a lot of exporting to the US, doesn't mean they don't export anything at all to other countries. We haven't had good relations with communist countries that used to primarily deal with the Russians nor will we have good relations to whatever current country is considered a harbor for "terrorists".

If these closed/idiotic/moronic views are a microcosm of what the country is in general we are definitely in trouble...

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I'll assume your own quality control is lacking and you were actually referring to me, as no one named "Sludge" has posted.

Ok, our racist friend suggested we look at other Vietnamese exports and compare them to those of other countries. Therefore, I would like to know what products he is referring to. Ok?

Sadly, I'll have to give you an F- for your post, as you really must learn to read other people's posts if you intend to comment on them.

Sledge wrote:I'll assume your own quality control is lacking and you were actually referring to me, as no one named "Sludge" has posted.

Ok, our racist friend suggested we look at other Vietnamese exports and compare them to those of other countries. Therefore, I would like to know what products he is referring to. Ok?

Sadly, I'll have to give you an F- for your post, as you really must learn to read other people's posts if you intend to comment on them.

Sledge, I took it too far and flamed you when you didn't deserve it. I truly apologize. I construed it the wrong way and took it as such. Again apologies.

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