Toymakers look to the past to build business

Constant improvements

Sun Yuanwen, founder and CEO of TOP TOY, which targets 15-to-40-year-old consumers with a variety of products, said, "We are constantly improving our brand value and consolidating our core competitiveness as well as leveling up the quality and cost performance of our products to catch up with foreign giants such as Lego."

It took TOP TOY about two years to find a local supplier to cooperate on a supply chain and prepare for the formal launch of its special section, China Bricks, in September last year to tell the stories of China and pass on Chinese culture in a modern way.

"After learning about the demand for Chinese retro through online lifestyle platforms, we are keen to incorporate nostalgia in our products to trigger an emotional resonance with our customers," Sun said.

In March, TOP TOY launched a series of retro toy home appliances, which have been exceptionally popular with consumers born in the 1980s and 1990s. The brand introduced television sets, washing machines and other items that reminded customers of their childhood.

Lin said, "Adults, as well as children, love to play with toys, as assembling building bricks is not just fun or a way to relieve stress, but also brings back childhood memories."

However, the key problem is that the toy market is dominated by foreign brands' high-quality products influenced by Western culture, while Chinese brands are more likely to be recognized as being cheap, of low-quality, and unoriginal.

Sun said, "Our focus now is on breaking the price barrier for high-quality toy bricks, allowing consumers to see the growth and potential of Chinese companies making such products, and introducing high-quality, cost-effective innovative items to represent China."

On June 17, TOP TOY launched "Fujian", a toy brick collection, in collaboration with the China Cultural Heritage Exchange Centre and YEZAO Bricks to mark the launch of China's third aircraft carrier, the CNS Fujian. The bricks copy the vessel's streamlined hull, electromagnetic catapults and aircraft arresting devices.

Gao Canbo, who is responsible for China Bricks at TOP TOY, said, "We use building bricks for the carrier to vividly display the vessel's catapults, and give consumers a sense of national pride as they have fun assembling the bricks."

As of the end of June, the brand had 97 stores nationwide, and its quarterly revenue reached 110 million yuan, a year-on-year rise of 33 percent. Its online business contributed more than 10 percent of this total.

The brand established China Bricks this year as its top strategic target. It has more than 40 stock keeping units, which track inventory for China Bricks, and is planning to launch another 60 such units later this year.

TOP TOY next aims to create a variety of toy brick products themed on Chinese aerospace, urban street scenes, plants and flowers, to fully explore the commercial value of these items.

Sun said, "Quality building bricks offer unique emotional value and experience, and enable people to build a perfect world with their own hands."

According to analysis from Research And Markets, the global market for toy bricks was estimated at $7.3 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $10.4 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.1 percent.

China's retail toy market was valued at 77.97 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year rise of 2.6 percent, according to the 2021 White Paper on the Development of China's Toy and Baby Products Industry released by the China Toys and Baby Products Association.