Toymakers look to the past to build business

New solution

Unlike most companies that aim to meet demand from all age groups, the toy brick brand Wekki mainly targets young female consumers.

Lin Wei, the founder of Wekki, which is keen to provide young people with a new form of entertainment in their spare time, said, "Toy bricks give users an immersive experience to help them relieve anxiety and gain a sense of achievement."

For beginners, a single Wekki pack contains about 500 small bricks, which can be assembled into a themed setting in two or three hours. The product themes include fairy tales and scenes favored by young women who dream of being princesses.

The company established the fictional Wekki Estate Co to create an imaginary world from toy bricks. One of the most popular sets is the "So Good Shop" series, in which players open all kinds of businesses, including a jelly shop, an ice-cream venture and a fruit shop, on their own commercial streets.

Sets in this collection can be played separately. For example, the "So Soft Toast Shop" is designed to resemble three slices of toast, which unfold to portray different processes involved in making toast. This set, which has been on the market for more than a year, remains a bestseller.

Lin said, "We want to become a unique toy brick brand for young people, so that adults who work hard in real life during the day can join Wekki's dreamland at night."

Last year, Wekki launched its Fairy Tale series in conjunction with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London — featuring a collection of toy bricks themed on classic fairy tales.

Lin said the brand not only has a price advantage over its competitors — it also deeply enhances the cultural value of toy bricks.

Meanwhile, companies producing such bricks are working to create exclusive products with their own intellectual property rights. They aim to attract different groups of consumers in the rapidly growing market, and to stand out amid fierce competition from emerging local brands.

Instead of focusing on developing themed settings and product content like Wekki, Mould King, a brand that makes toy bricks that showcase technology, entertainment and innovation, has added elements of high-technology to its products to meet demand from all age groups.

Xie Weichun, general manager of Mould King, said, "After carrying out market research, we decided to integrate intelligent control and programming into our bricks to make them move — bringing more 'edutainment' to our customers."

Founded in Shantou, Guangdong province, in 2012, Mould King has launched 350 sets of toy bricks with their own intellectual property rights, including a racing car series and programmed robots — mostly inspired by daily life.

The word "moving" applies to all Mould King's toy brick products, as its racing cars are remote controlled, large construction trucks are maneuverable, and its robots can be programmed after being assembled.

Xie said: "We're keen to provide adult consumers with a more interesting playing experience. We also want to help children improve their mental development as they assemble the bricks and observe the way in which finished products move."

Such domestic brands are mushrooming, and the majority of them are paying great attention to creating elegant and specialized products. The development of domestic toy brick brands is changing rapidly with the market.

"We are not afraid of facing tougher competition, as we are confident of remaining unique by adhering to originality, improving the use of scientific technology, and constantly making breakthroughs in innovation," Xie said.

It is a good sign that more domestic brands are entering the market with Mould King, reminding local consumers that high-quality toy bricks can be created by Chinese brands, not just giants such as Lego, Xie added.

Lin, the blogger, said: "I am very optimistic about the development of these Chinese brands, which just need more time to grow. Many of them have already made great progress on improving their products and have introduced more original designs."

Toy bricks manufactured in China will attract more customers — not just in the domestic market, but also overseas sooner or later, Lin added.