Reborn since 1993

Chapter 609: Continuous and Continuous

Bandai's international trendy toy exhibition was held with great fanfare, inviting many art practitioners and arranging a large number of media to report on it.

At this time, the action figure and toy industry was still not quite clear about what Bandai was going to do, and they didn't know what Bandai was trying to do by suddenly organizing the International Trendy Toy Exhibition.

“Today, Bandai has invited the world’s top artists and the world’s best model players to come here to witness the advent of a new era for the model industry!
The international trendy toy exhibition held by Bandai aims to redefine the meaning of figures. From today on, figures will not only be cheap, surplus, and shoddy toys, but also represent art and are trendy and fashionable products!

The new model launched by Bandai will be a work of art, a collectible, a trendy item, and a superstar among models. It is not inferior to any star and is worthy of everyone becoming its fan! "

At the Tokyo International Fashion Show, the host invited by Bandai shouted with a hoarse voice. The style of this host was similar to the commentary of Japanese sports games or animations like "Slam Dunk". It was full of the second-year style, but it was able to mobilize the emotions of the people at the scene.

After the host finished shouting, a mist of dry ice emerged from the booth. Then a mechanical sound was heard, and a Gundam model more than two meters high slowly walked onto the stage with the sound of mechanical footsteps.

Although Makoto Yamashina's investment vision is not very good and his game console cooperation with Apple lost a lot of money, his ability is above average, and Bandai has the strength to make models.

Bandai has been preparing for the Pop Mart blind box for such a long time, it is definitely impossible that it has done nothing. This Gundam model was specially prepared by Bandai for this trendy toy exhibition.

This Gundam mecha is based on the same principle as the Megatron in the previous Yanjing Universal Studios. It has a model on the outside and is controlled by a real person on the inside, and can perform some simple movements.

Every time an action is performed, a pre-recorded sound can be emitted, and the actors inside can speak to the outside world through the microphone.

Compared to the Megatron in Universal Studios Yanjing, today's Gundam is definitely not as good in terms of technology and looks a lot more clumsy, but in terms of models, it is Bandai's forte, so it is very exquisite.

But no matter whether the movements of this Gundam are stiff, when it appeared, the thousands of model players present today were completely excited, and the entire exhibition hall was filled with screams.

As Bandai's oldest IP and the most influential brand, Gundam has huge popularity around the world.

Any boy who has watched the Gundam animation would have a dream of a mecha. This thing not only kills men, but also women...

Amidst huge screams, the Gundam models stood on the booth and performed their signature moves. Every move caused huge cheers.

After the cheers and screams subsided slightly, the host returned to the booth and said, “This time, Bandai has brought new trendy toys for all users participating in the International Trendy Toy Expo, Pop Mart blind box toys!
Today's Pop Mart blind box mainly features Pokémon, Gundam, Dragon Ball, and Ultraman blind boxes. Among these blind boxes, Bandai has specially made a certain number of limited edition and collectible blind box figures!"

"For this collectible Gundam blind box, Bandai uses a new modeling process. In addition, Bandai uses technologies such as linked ball joints, glue-free card calibration, multi-color molding technology, transparent special effect parts, and a variable system. This is a unique Gundam in the world!"

The host took out a Bandai's specially made collectible Gundam from a blind box. It was obviously different from the Gundams Bandai had released before. The workmanship was obviously more refined, and the model could make more movements, forming a sharp contrast with those toys that were placed there and could not move.

Then the host on the stage took out limited edition and collectible blind boxes of Pokémon, Dragon Ball, and Ultraman. Every time he took out one, many of the audience members opened their eyes wide.

For those who like figures, these limited edition and collectible figures will definitely scratch their itch. If they don’t take them home, they will probably think about them for a long time every night!
After the host left, the Pop Mart booth was immediately surrounded by crowds. Although there were other figures booths, their popularity was no match for Pop Mart.

Looking at the scene at the toy exhibition, Makoto Yamashina heaved a sigh of relief, and then said to his trusted subordinates, "After the Tokyo Toy Exhibition is over, immediately take these figurines and this..."

Pointing to the Gundam model, Makoto Yamashina said, "All of them will be exhibited in Osaka. Pop Mart blind boxes will be touring major cities in Japan, and the promotion cannot stop!"

"In addition, we should sign contracts with as many artists as possible and jointly launch blind boxes with Bandai. Bandai can give them a signing fee and share of the blind box revenue!"

Makoto Yamashina said that as early as that year, Li Dongling passed on the core of blind boxes to Makoto Yamashina through Ren Yuefeng, who came to Nippon Benz and acquired the controlling stake of Bandai, and that is large quantity and sufficient supply!
Blind boxes must be released continuously, like a torrent, to attract the attention of more players and buyers.

Different players have different preferences, so this requires cooperation with more artists to launch more types of blind boxes of figures. After all, different people have different preferences.

But as long as there are enough types of blind boxes launched, under the saturation attack and barrage offensive, there will always be a blind box that can lead players into the ditch!

"The three-day Bandai International Toy Show has ended. On the last day of the exhibition, the Bandai International Toy Show attracted more than 30,000 model players to the exhibition hall in a single day!"

"Bandai announced that the first batch of Pop Mart blind boxes will be sold first in Tokyo stores!" When Toshio Iwamoto, a consultant at Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company, saw the news about Bandai reported in the media, he felt something was wrong. He wanted to stand up and report to the president, Nakamura Sueo, but when he remembered Nakamura Sueo's attitude towards Bandai, he had to sit down again.

The next day after get off work, Iwamoto Toshi was originally planning to drive home, but he remembered the news he saw yesterday, so he turned the car around and headed towards Akihabara in Chiyoda District.

Only a few years have passed, and Akihabara, once Japan's number one electronics shopping street, has now been replaced by a street of anime and gaming paradise. Except for the locals, who still remember the once glorious electronics industry here, tourists from other places have begun to regard this place as a street of Japanese games and anime.

If we just say it, many people may not feel anything, but if we make a comparison, it is like Huaqiangbei, the largest electronics street in China in the past life. One day, both sides of the street became various comics, games, board games, script-killing and other stores. How would people feel when they saw it?

This is the feeling shared by Toshio Iwamoto, who came here. Japan's electronics industry has not yet declined, and there are still a large number of well-known brand products. However, Japan's domestic electrical appliance market has gradually become saturated, and Japan's electronics and home appliance industry production lines are also constantly moving abroad.

Any giant home appliance brand needs to have its own base so that it can attack and defend. When Sony, Sharp, and their home markets in Japan begin to decline slowly, once the overseas market declines, how long can Japan's electronics and electrical appliance industries maintain their dominance?

Toshi Iwamoto came all the way to the Bandai store in Akihabara, thinking back to the time when the electronic pet machines promoted by Dongling Hi-Tech were all the rage in Akihabara, attracting thousands of buyers to line up, and even gave birth to places such as electronic pet machine hosting centers.

When he saw the scene at the Bandai store in Akihabara, Iwamoto Toshio was stunned. He saw dozens of buyers queuing there, discussing enthusiastically with each other from time to time, their eyes full of anticipation.

But what surprised Iwamoto Toshi the most was not the fact that there were people queuing, but that among the people queuing, in addition to young boys and girls, there were actually quite a few adults.

This made Iwamoto Toshio instinctively feel that something was unusual. As a consultant for Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company, what he came into contact with most were the various reports and data sent over from below. He then analyzed these data and gave corresponding suggestions to Nakamura Suio.

Iwamoto Satoshi is particularly sensitive to user data. What was Bandai's previous positioning? Toys were at most added with a prefix, "exquisite toys", and there were more male buyers than female buyers. After all, Bandai's previous IPs were mainly aimed at teenagers.

But now, what Iwamoto Toshi saw was that the number of boys and girls in the queue was almost equal, and what concerned him more was that he saw adult men and women!

Iwamoto Toshi knew what this meant, and his eyes couldn't help but look towards the Bandai store. He knew that Bandai must have launched figures that could attract adults, so these people would rush here to buy them after get off work. They represented the real consumption power of society!
After hesitating for a while, Iwamoto Toshi finally joined the crowd. Iwamoto Toshi's joining made the people in the queue look at him. After all, he was really old.

But he just thought of it as a father buying action figures for his children and didn't pay too much attention to it.

The crowd queuing directly pushed forward for a distance, and then Iwamoto Toshi realized why there was a queue. He saw that the Bandai store was packed with people, and from time to time he could hear screams and sighs of surprise, but the latter were mostly the case.

Following the queue into the store, Toshio Iwamoto, like everyone else, also picked up a shopping bag with the Bandai logo printed on it. After looking around, he saw that the store was filled with all kinds of figures and toys released by Bandai.

The area where the largest crowd gathers is the Pop Mart blind box area, where many people carefully select items, and some even put their hands together and pray before buying.

"how much is this?"

Toshi Iwamoto came to the Gundam blind box and asked a clerk. He had watched the Gundam animation with his son and was familiar with this thing.

"This small and medium-sized Gundam blind box is priced at 780 yen, and the large Gundam blind box is priced at 1280 yen.

Today, Bandai has launched several new limited edition blind boxes. If you give them as gifts, maybe the person who receives them will find a surprise when they open them!" said the Bandai clerk to Iwamoto Toshi.

After hearing the pricing of the blind boxes, Iwamoto Toshio felt it was acceptable. Although converted into RMB, the small blind box costs 59 yuan and the large blind box costs 99 yuan.

But now the average monthly income of Japanese people is 41 yen, which is one day's income, enough to buy more than a dozen blind boxes.

“I got it!”

"It's a collectible Pokémon figure!"

When Iwamoto Toshi was about to pick up a blind box, he suddenly heard a shout. Then everyone present looked at the girl who had opened the collector's edition. Those who were choosing blind boxes all showed expressions of extreme envy.

(End of this chapter)