18 Facts About Bandai

1.

Bandai is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings and is the parent company's core toy production division.

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2.

Bandai began as a distributor of metallic toys and rubber swimming rings, before moving to metal cars and aircraft models.

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3.

Bandai made little money working, and as he was having a difficult time finding ways to allow the business to pick up, a neighbor told him about the potential of the toy industry and the financial success that could be generated from it.

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4.

Bandai released its first original product the same year, the Rhythm Ball, a beach ball with a bell inside that suffered from numerous quality defects.

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5.

Bandai-ya improved the quality of its products as it continued designing new kinds of toys, such as inexpensive metal cars and aircraft models.

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6.

Bandai continued to expand in the 1970s with the creation of several subsidiaries; Tonka Japan in 1970 following a joint venture with Tonka, Bandai Models being established in 1971, and finally Popy, who specialized in the manufacturing of toy characters.

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7.

In July 1980, Bandai launched the Gundam Plastic Model based on the animated series which gave birth to the Gunpla series.

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8.

Bandai became one of the first third-party developers for the Nintendo Family Computer in 1985.

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9.

Bandai produced the Family Trainer Pad, released outside Japan as the Power Pad, which performed well commercially.

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10.

Since the 1980s, Bandai has become the leading toy company of Japan, and to this day, has the main toy licenses in Japan to popular properties including Daikaiju, Ultraman, Super Robot, Kamen Rider, the Super Sentai and Power Rangers series, Gundam, and many others.

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11.

In January 1997, Bandai announced it would merge its operations with Japanese video game developer Sega.

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12.

Bandai felt Sega was an appropriate company to merge with, as it possessed American-esque management and several international offices, in addition to owning several successful franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog.

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13.

Bandai Entertainment announced it would cease its distribution operations in January 2012.

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14.

Bandai owns offices in the United States, in Mexico, in the United Kingdom, and in France, Spain, Taiwan, and mainland China.

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15.

Bandai is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings and heads its parent's Toy and Hobby Content Strategic Business Unit .

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16.

Bandai is among the largest and most profitable toy companies worldwide, alongside Mattel and Hasbro.

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17.

Bandai focuses on creating unique and innovative products for its consumers, and to bend established conventions within the industry; its slogan, "Break out of the box" was made in reference to this.

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18.

Bandai produces confectioneries, board games, and capsule toys through its subsidiary MegaHouse Corporation, which releases toys and figurines under its MegaToy label.

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