Takara
Encyclopedia
Takara Co., Ltd. was a Japan
ese toy
company
founded in 1955, that merged with another prominent Japanese toy company, Tomy
Co., Ltd., on March 1, 2006 to form Takara Tomy
, also known in English as TOMY Company Ltd.
The company motto was 「遊びは文化」 (asobi wa bunka), which means "playing is culture."
and Microman
's Micro Change
toylines, which were collectively re-branded as "Transformers" for the western market by Hasbro
in 1984. Takara is also the originator of the hit toylines Battle Beasts
(BeastFormers in Japan), E-kara karaoke microphone, Battle B-Daman
and Beyblade (toy)
, all of which were sold or distributed internationally by Hasbro. Takara continues to sell Microman – the basis for the popular toyline "Micronauts
" – which was first sold internationally by the now-defunct Mego
in the 1970s, and Choro-Q
, a mini pullback car, production of which has been running since 1978 and which has often been marketed in Western countries as Penny Racers.
video games, and porting
some of SNK
's Neo-Geo
-based arcade games – especially the Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown
series in general – to less powerful home consoles such as the Sega Genesis and the SNES
, and also for the Game Boy
. Takara also was involved in the 2003 production of the game seek-and-destroy with play-it. It published its own 3D
fighting game series, Battle Arena Toshinden
, which was developed by Tamsoft
. Takara also published many other Japan-only games based on semi-popular franchises in that country. The extent of Takara's actual involvement in videogame development is largely unknown, however, since many of the company's games were developed by smaller companies not credited on the packaging or title screen, such as Tamsoft, BHE, E-game and KID corp
, and therefore are often mistakenly credited to Takara.
Takara purchased a controlling stake in publicly-traded software publisher Atlus
in 2003, and for several years the licenses of some Takara properties were licensed to and published under that name. After the merger with Tomy in 2006, the ownership stake in Atlus was sold to Index Holdings (the merged company's lead shareholder), and Takara-branded licenses such as Licca-chan
, Jinsei Game
(The Game of Life
) and Choro-Q
were brought back in-house to the merged company's consumer software division, alongside the on-going Zoids
and Naruto
series.
, "dream generator".
, which are colorful, multi-function miniature robotic turtles, was honored as a Time magazine's best invention, this time in the robot category. Though relatively simple in functionality, at 5 centimetres (2 in)) and less than 15 gram (0.529109431576679 oz) each, upon introduction, they were said to be among the smallest-ever, mass-produced programmable robots.
announced their merger on May 13, 2005, to become effective March 1, 2006. In English, the legal name of the merged company is "TOMY Co. Ltd." while in Japanese the legal company name is the combined name, K.K. Takara-Tomy (株式会社タカラトミー ).. The decision to use the "Tomy
" name in English, while the Takara-Tomy name in Japanese, was made for pragmatic reasons. Tomy
had built considerable brand recognition internationally, particularly in the area of infant and preschool products, where brand trust is very important. On the other hand, most of Takara's international hit products (Microman
, Transformers, Battle Beasts
, Beyblade
, B-Daman, et al.) have been sold and branded by other companies, most notably Hasbro
. Therefore, going through the costly process of registering and/or changing the company name in all the countries where Tomy does business would have been expensive and unproductive. Thus, with the merged company's international subsidiaries continuing to use the Tomy
name, it seemed appropriate to keep a domestic English name which matched that of the international subsidiaries.
While Japanese commercial law allows wide latitude in translating Japanese corporate names into official English names, the merged company took the unusual step of adopting the one-sided "TOMY Company, Ltd." name in official English, while taking the combined name K.K. Takara-Tomy (株式会社タカラトミー) in official Japanese. Additionally, international subsidiaries of Takara were merged into those of TOMY. Therefore, while the "Takara" brand is still in use for some products, officially, in English, Takara as a corporate entity no longer exists. Confusingly, the Japanese company's corporate logo is a simple amalgamation of the former Takara and Tomy English logos. The logo, along with the tendency for direct translations of Japanese information into English and an ardent international fan base for some famous toys originating at Takara, have caused much of the press and the general English-speaking public to call the merged company "Takara-Tomy", even in English.
and Licca-chan
are continuing, and in many cases gaining synergy
from the cross-marketing with Tomy's brands.
While it was true that several years of losses had put Takara in a financially-weakened state at the time of the merger, Takara did in fact have significantly higher sales than Tomy for three years preceding the merger. It is also known that over the years, Takara and Tomy, which were located less than a kilometer apart (0.6 mi) in Tokyo, and had admired and competed with each other as they grew side-by-side into world-class toy companies, had discussed merging several times, including times when Takara appeared stronger. Thus, ultimately, philosophically, culturally and legally under Japanese corporate law, the companies can be held to have agreed to have merged on an equal basis.
have had strong relationships with Hasbro
, which has distributed Takara's hit products such as Transformers
, Beyblade
, e-Kara and Battle B-Daman
and Tomy's Zoids
brands internationally. Although the merged company has stated that the Transformers business with Hasbro
and the OEM
business in general was not as profitable as they would be if they were directly distributed, the relationship with Hasbro
is low-risk in the case of Transformers, since Hasbro
assumes the inventory risk internationally.
This long-term relationship will certainly continue, as both Takara and Tomy
have long held the licenses to "localize" and distribute many Hasbro
products in Japan, including The Game of Life, Blythe dolls, and Magic: The Gathering
and Duel Masters
trading card games by Takara and Monopoly
, Furby
, Super Soaker
and Play-Doh
by Tomy
. Hasbro has also previously distributed Tomy's Pokémon
toys in the US, although it eventually started selling its own versions.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
founded in 1955, that merged with another prominent Japanese toy company, Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
Co., Ltd., on March 1, 2006 to form Takara Tomy
Takara Tomy
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
, also known in English as TOMY Company Ltd.
The company motto was 「遊びは文化」 (asobi wa bunka), which means "playing is culture."
Toys
Takara is perhaps best known for producing the transforming DiacloneDiaclone
Diaclone was a toyline by Takara Toys launched in 1980. It consisted of transforming vehicles and robots piloted by miniature, magnet-shoed figures spun off from the prior Microman toy line that were in turn called an Inch-Man....
and Microman
Microman
is a line of toys manufactured by Takara from 1974 to the present. Microman toys were originally imported to the United States by Mego Corporation as Micronauts until the company went bankrupt in 1982...
's Micro Change
Micro Change
Takara Toys' 1982 Micro Change series of toys were part of the 1980 New Microman toy line and were small household objects that could transform into vehicles or artificially intelligent robot characters that fought alongside their 10-centimeter tall alien cyborg Microman creators against the evil...
toylines, which were collectively re-branded as "Transformers" for the western market by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
in 1984. Takara is also the originator of the hit toylines Battle Beasts
Battle Beasts
is a line of small 2" tall action figure toys, in the form of an anthropomorphised animal with body armor and a unique weapon. Several figures have their left hand replaced by a weapon of some kind...
(BeastFormers in Japan), E-kara karaoke microphone, Battle B-Daman
B-Daman
is a marble shooting toy produced in Japan by Takara. In 2005, Hasbro licensed the "Battle B-Daman" configuration of the toy. In 2004, Hasbro joined forces with Takara and Fox Entertainment Group to bring it to the Japan and USA....
and Beyblade (toy)
Beyblade (toy)
Beyblade is a line of high-performance spinning top toys originally developed and manufactured by Takara starting in 2000. Both the toys and their name were inspired by "Beigoma", a traditional spinning top. The introduction of the toy corresponded with the broadcast of the Beyblade anime...
, all of which were sold or distributed internationally by Hasbro. Takara continues to sell Microman – the basis for the popular toyline "Micronauts
Micronauts
The Micronauts comic books feature a group of characters based on the Micronauts toyline. The title was published by Marvel Comics, Image Comics, and Devil's Due Publishing. Their first comic appearance was in Micronauts #1 with characterizations created by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden...
" – which was first sold internationally by the now-defunct Mego
Mego Corporation
The Mego Corporation was a toy company that dominated the action figure toy market during most of the 1970s. The Mego Corporation was founded in the early 1950s by David Abrams and was mostly known prior to 1971 as a producer of dime store toys.-Golden age:...
in the 1970s, and Choro-Q
Choro-Q
is a series of Japanese 3–4 cm long toy cars, with coil-spring pullback motors, first made by Takara in 1978, and sold extensively in Western markets as Penny Racers....
, a mini pullback car, production of which has been running since 1978 and which has often been marketed in Western countries as Penny Racers.
Software
Takara was also a video game developer and publisher, well-known during the early 1990s for publishing various Chibi Maruko-chanChibi Maruko-chan
is a shōjo manga series by Momoko Sakura, later adapted into an anime TV series by Nippon Animation, which originally aired on Fuji Television from January 7, 1990 to September 27, 1992. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of a little girl nicknamed Maruko and her family in suburban...
video games, and porting
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
some of SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
's Neo-Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
-based arcade games – especially the Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown series
Samurai Shodown is the name of a fighting game series by SNK.Despite the name of the series, most of the characters are not samurai in the true sense of the word...
series in general – to less powerful home consoles such as the Sega Genesis and the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, and also for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
. Takara also was involved in the 2003 production of the game seek-and-destroy with play-it. It published its own 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
fighting game series, Battle Arena Toshinden
Battle Arena Toshinden
is a weapons-based fighting game for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC in 1994. It was one of the first fighting games to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment, and it is credited for taking the genre into "true 3-D" due to its introduction of the sidestep maneuver.It was an early killer...
, which was developed by Tamsoft
Tamsoft
is a Japanese video game developer, founded on 26 June 1992.Some of their most popular games were released for Sony's PlayStation console, including the Battle Arena Toshinden series, early Choro Q games and Guardian's Crusade...
. Takara also published many other Japan-only games based on semi-popular franchises in that country. The extent of Takara's actual involvement in videogame development is largely unknown, however, since many of the company's games were developed by smaller companies not credited on the packaging or title screen, such as Tamsoft, BHE, E-game and KID corp
KID
KID, whose name is an acronym of Kindle Imagine Develop, was a Japan-based company specializing in porting and developing bishōjo games....
, and therefore are often mistakenly credited to Takara.
Takara purchased a controlling stake in publicly-traded software publisher Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
in 2003, and for several years the licenses of some Takara properties were licensed to and published under that name. After the merger with Tomy in 2006, the ownership stake in Atlus was sold to Index Holdings (the merged company's lead shareholder), and Takara-branded licenses such as Licca-chan
Licca-chan
, full name , is a very popular dress-up doll series introduced in Japan on 1967-07-04 by Takara, enjoying the same kind of popularity in Japan as the Barbie series does in the United States. The Licca-chan dolls tend toward a more Japanese body as far as height and features. Takara had sold over...
, Jinsei Game
Jinsei Game
is the Japanese version of the board game that is called The Game of Life in North America. Unlike The Game of Life, the player starts in his toddler years and has to go to elementary school, junior high school, and high school before being allowed to either go to university or start his career....
(The Game of Life
The Game of Life
The Game of Life, also known simply as LIFE, is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley, as The Checkered Game of Life . The Game of Life was America's first popular parlor game...
) and Choro-Q
Choro-Q
is a series of Japanese 3–4 cm long toy cars, with coil-spring pullback motors, first made by Takara in 1978, and sold extensively in Western markets as Penny Racers....
were brought back in-house to the merged company's consumer software division, alongside the on-going Zoids
Zoids
is a multi-media model-kit-based franchise originating from Japanese toy company Tomy ; though now produced by various companies through licenses. The majority of the franchise is built around and focused on the various model kit series...
and Naruto
Naruto
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
series.
"Life entertainment products"
Takara has manufactured several unusual gadgets it calls "life entertainment products", including BowLingual, which is claimed to "translate" the "barks, whines and yelps of more than 80 breeds of dog into human language". The BowLingual was named one of the best inventions of 2002 by Time magazine. See also Yumemi KoboYumemi Kobo
Yumemi Kōbō is a device sold by the Japanese company Takara Toys that is claimed to be able to induce lucid dreams.Measuring some 35 inches in height, the device is equipped with a picture frame, a voice recorder, a timer, a fragrance dispenser, musical recordings, and speakers...
, "dream generator".
Robots
In 2005, another Takara product, Walkie bitsWalkie bits
Walkie Bits are little plastic toy turtles that sing, dance and walk . They are made by Takara, a Japanese toy company in June 2005...
, which are colorful, multi-function miniature robotic turtles, was honored as a Time magazine's best invention, this time in the robot category. Though relatively simple in functionality, at 5 centimetres (2 in)) and less than 15 gram (0.529109431576679 oz) each, upon introduction, they were said to be among the smallest-ever, mass-produced programmable robots.
Company mascot
In the 1980s, the company received criticism for its original mascot, which was a golliwog-like character named Dakko-Chan (ダッコちゃん). Western news media had earlier noted the proliferation of the mascot without comment, but by the 1980s the continued use of a racist caricature became an embarrassment. Takara eventually replaced it with a fantastical character called "21st Century Colorful Dakko-Chan", which bears enough similarity to connote the original symbol, while divesting the traits which brought criticism. Besides the design, the new Dakko-Chan may be any color, rather than the constant black of the original.Merger
Takara and TomyTOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
announced their merger on May 13, 2005, to become effective March 1, 2006. In English, the legal name of the merged company is "TOMY Co. Ltd." while in Japanese the legal company name is the combined name, K.K. Takara-Tomy (株式会社タカラトミー ).. The decision to use the "Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
" name in English, while the Takara-Tomy name in Japanese, was made for pragmatic reasons. Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
had built considerable brand recognition internationally, particularly in the area of infant and preschool products, where brand trust is very important. On the other hand, most of Takara's international hit products (Microman
Microman
is a line of toys manufactured by Takara from 1974 to the present. Microman toys were originally imported to the United States by Mego Corporation as Micronauts until the company went bankrupt in 1982...
, Transformers, Battle Beasts
Battle Beasts
is a line of small 2" tall action figure toys, in the form of an anthropomorphised animal with body armor and a unique weapon. Several figures have their left hand replaced by a weapon of some kind...
, Beyblade
Beyblade
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 2000 to 2002, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon by Shogakukan...
, B-Daman, et al.) have been sold and branded by other companies, most notably Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. Therefore, going through the costly process of registering and/or changing the company name in all the countries where Tomy does business would have been expensive and unproductive. Thus, with the merged company's international subsidiaries continuing to use the Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
name, it seemed appropriate to keep a domestic English name which matched that of the international subsidiaries.
While Japanese commercial law allows wide latitude in translating Japanese corporate names into official English names, the merged company took the unusual step of adopting the one-sided "TOMY Company, Ltd." name in official English, while taking the combined name K.K. Takara-Tomy (株式会社タカラトミー) in official Japanese. Additionally, international subsidiaries of Takara were merged into those of TOMY. Therefore, while the "Takara" brand is still in use for some products, officially, in English, Takara as a corporate entity no longer exists. Confusingly, the Japanese company's corporate logo is a simple amalgamation of the former Takara and Tomy English logos. The logo, along with the tendency for direct translations of Japanese information into English and an ardent international fan base for some famous toys originating at Takara, have caused much of the press and the general English-speaking public to call the merged company "Takara-Tomy", even in English.
Post-merger
Domestically, Takara-Tomy continues to use the former names as brand names on toy lines which originated in each company, although most new toy lines or stand-alone products carry the new Takara-Tomy brand and logo. Production of staple toy lines such as Transformers, Choro-QChoro-Q
is a series of Japanese 3–4 cm long toy cars, with coil-spring pullback motors, first made by Takara in 1978, and sold extensively in Western markets as Penny Racers....
and Licca-chan
Licca-chan
, full name , is a very popular dress-up doll series introduced in Japan on 1967-07-04 by Takara, enjoying the same kind of popularity in Japan as the Barbie series does in the United States. The Licca-chan dolls tend toward a more Japanese body as far as height and features. Takara had sold over...
are continuing, and in many cases gaining synergy
Synergy
Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...
from the cross-marketing with Tomy's brands.
Media reaction to merger
The editors of many Western (English language) business publications ignore "merger" declarations and declare one company to be bought by another, often by splitting hairs over the number of board members, etc. Therefore, the English media largely categorized the Takara-Tomy merger as a "take-over" of Takara by Tomy. This viewpoint was strengthened by the adoption of only the Tomy name in English ("TOMY Co. Ltd.").While it was true that several years of losses had put Takara in a financially-weakened state at the time of the merger, Takara did in fact have significantly higher sales than Tomy for three years preceding the merger. It is also known that over the years, Takara and Tomy, which were located less than a kilometer apart (0.6 mi) in Tokyo, and had admired and competed with each other as they grew side-by-side into world-class toy companies, had discussed merging several times, including times when Takara appeared stronger. Thus, ultimately, philosophically, culturally and legally under Japanese corporate law, the companies can be held to have agreed to have merged on an equal basis.
Control of brands
There has been much post-merger speculation on the control of brands such as Transformers. Much of this speculation arises due to the new use of the English "TOMY" branding on all packaging, including former Takara brands shipped by Hasbro. This is simply the natural result of the practical decision to use only the Tomy name in English. In fact, internally, where 99% of the employees are Japanese and speak mainly Japanese, there is only one company, known in Japanese as "Takara-Tomy", and almost all the merged company's internal departments have a healthy mix of management staff members from both former companies. The fact that the English name is "Tomy" bears little relevance for most employees.Relationship with Hasbro
Both Takara and pre-merger TomyTOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
have had strong relationships with Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
, which has distributed Takara's hit products such as Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
, Beyblade
Beyblade
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 2000 to 2002, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon by Shogakukan...
, e-Kara and Battle B-Daman
Battle B-Daman
is an anime and manga series by Eiji Inuki that first aired in January 2004 in Japan, replacing Beyblade in its timeslot. It premiered in the United States on April 2005. Like its predecessor, it is themed around an enhanced version of a children's schoolyard game – whereas Beyblade was based...
and Tomy's Zoids
Zoids
is a multi-media model-kit-based franchise originating from Japanese toy company Tomy ; though now produced by various companies through licenses. The majority of the franchise is built around and focused on the various model kit series...
brands internationally. Although the merged company has stated that the Transformers business with Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
and the OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
business in general was not as profitable as they would be if they were directly distributed, the relationship with Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
is low-risk in the case of Transformers, since Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
assumes the inventory risk internationally.
This long-term relationship will certainly continue, as both Takara and Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
have long held the licenses to "localize" and distribute many Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
products in Japan, including The Game of Life, Blythe dolls, and Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
and Duel Masters
Duel Masters
is a franchise based on a manga, anime and a trading card game. There is also a video game.-Trading Card Game:The card game originated in Japan, marketed by Takara Tomy. It was produced in English by Wizards of the Coast, who purchased the rights to the name Duel Masters from , which ran a...
trading card games by Takara and Monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
, Furby
Furby
A Furby was a popular electronic robotic toy resembling a hamster/owl-like creature which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998, with continual sales until 2000...
, Super Soaker
Super Soaker
Super Soaker is a brand of recreational water gun, first sold in 1990 by Larami and now produced by Hasbro under the Nerf brand. Invented by Lonnie Johnson on November 13, 1989, the first Super Soaker, the Super Soaker 50, was originally called the Power Drencher...
and Play-Doh
Play-Doh
Play-Doh is a modeling compound used by young children for art and craft projects at home and in school. Composed of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil, the product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s...
by Tomy
TOMY
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
. Hasbro has also previously distributed Tomy's Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
toys in the US, although it eventually started selling its own versions.