China Is Toying With Taking More of the Toy Market
Friday, December 22, 2006SUSIE GHARIB: From tickle me Elmo to Barbie and the Bratz, there's no question that toys are big business, especially this time of year. While millions of them will be bought here, chances are they weren't made here. China is the toy-making capital of the globe. And as Rob McBride reports from Hong Kong, there's a growing trend towards designing them there, as well.
ROB MCBRIDE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: In the central business district of Hong Kong, decked out for the holiday season, youngsters line up for their turn with Santa. But whatever toy the local children might wish for, the chances are it has been designed by somebody thousands of miles away, and will almost certainly have been made just up the road in mainland China. As undisputed king of toys, this part of the world accounts for 85 percent of all the world's toy production, and yet most of them are designed in North America or Europe. Probably the best known of Hong Kong's toy makers, Playmates -- they are the people who brought you the Ninja turtles -- began life producing toys for other people. It is called OEM or original equipment manufacturing.
SIDNEY TO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING: We started as an OEM business (INAUDIBLE) and we soon realized that if we continue doing OEM, then your destiny is in other peoples' hands. You're not creating things. You're not doing your own products.
McBRIDE: Playmates long ago made the shift to developing its own brands, but it is still something of an exception. At thousands of smaller companies like this one, filling toy orders for overseas clients is the main business. Specifically, water pistols are what have sustained this family-run firm for 40 years. But now, brother and sister team Wendy and Kevin Mak are making a radical departure into a line of collectible dolls.
WENDY MAK, MAKSCO TOY: We want to focus on something more like the collectibles and to have limited edition, higher-end, not the low-cost kind of water pistols.
McBRIDE: The dolls are based on the street life and characters of their industrial neighborhood.
KEVIN MAK, MAKSCO TOY: This is our brand called 2-dah-6 (ph), which means small potato. It also represents the unsung hero in Hong Kong.
McBRIDE: Hong Kong's streets a rich source of inspiration, Hong Kong itself though relatively poor when it comes to providing creative talent. In toy making, this is a city that traditionally hasn't had to think for itself. But while Hong Kong has gradually been making a name for itself in fashion as well as film, so toy designers are starting to follow. Original brands may still be scarce here, but at least Hong Kong companies are contributing to the design process.
TO: Take the example of a U.S. toy company. Ten years ago, most of the creative work would be done in the U.S. Now today, you may see a big portion of the creative activities are being done in Hong Kong, Hong Kong or (ph) China.
McBRIDE: These local toy design students are presenting their end-of- term projects for grading. This is one of only two colleges in Hong Kong offering toy design courses.
GREGORY CHEUNG, HK INSTITUTE OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: We are seeing more toy companies are investing in ODM, original design manufacturing. They design their own thing, put other people's label on it, so they're on a transition to original brand manufacturing.
McBRIDE: If Hong Kong is to emerge as a center for toy innovation and design, it is generally acknowledged it will need to produce more designers. And what makes a good designer for the industry? Well, someone like a da Vinci.
CHEUNG: We would like the student that can cross the boundaries between design, arts and being able to innovate and use technology for his product. It's kind of like trying to train a da Vinci.
TO: In order for the next generation to be more creative, the education system should allow that, should rather than like the system that I grew up with. I think the new thinking is giving that creativity a chance to germinate in the next generation.
McBRIDE: A slow process, but with each year, the Christmas list of toys that are designed here as well as made here is gradually growing. Rob McBride, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Hong Kong.
