The Energon Pub

<a href="http://www.agesthreeandup.com">Agesthreeandup</a> has posted on the <a 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 href="http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=156474" target="_blank">click here</a>.

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 href="http://www.agesthreeandup.com">Agesthreeandup</a> has posted on the <a 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 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...