Takara Co., Ltd. ("Takara" means "treasure") was a Japanese 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 (asobi wa bunka), which means "playing is culture."
Takara is perhaps best known for producing the transforming Diaclone 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment