The Hindu Business Line : Funskool ties up with Japan's Tomy Toys

FUNSKOOL (India) has entered into an exclusive agreement with Japan's Tomy Toys to sell here the latter's range of toys meant for infants and pre-school children.

At a press conference on Thursday, the Chief Executive of Funskool, Mr Raphael Kuriyan, said that the toys would initially be imported, and later manufactured here. The license agreement is for an initial period of two years.

Funskool is the only toy company to have a manufacturing facility here, said Mr Kuriyan. He added that local manufacturing facility was crucial in shortening the time required to replace stock in the shop shelf.

Mr Kuriyan estimated the market for pre-school toys to be in the region of Rs 35 crore, of which Funskool has a share of about Rs 7 crore. The company's aim is to increase its share to about 35 per cent of the market for pre-school toys.

Funskool, a joint venture between MRF and US's Hasbro Inc, manufactures seven toys sold by Hasbro. The company also designs toys for UK's John Adams, and is in talks with two other companies to design and manufacture their toys.

In the backdrop of a significant extent of low-cost import of toys from China, Mr Kuriyan felt Funskool's competitive advantage lay in design. In the case of some toys, he added that Funskool could compete in manufacturing too.