Ask John: Why Does Japan Seem to Get More Character Figures Than America?

Question:
Why is it that in Japan just about every anime character ever has their own figurine, while over here in the States it’s only like Barbie and Spongebob?

Answer:
I’m sure that you’re aware that the argument that only major children’s franchise toys like Barbie and Spongebob Squarepants get rendered as statues or figures, but the thrust of your idea isn’t entirely inaccurate. American comic book characters, genre movie characters, and characters from a variety of American children’s cartoons frequently get action figure toys and expensive collectable statues, but observers that are only familiar with anime might not realize that figures based on American characters are as common as they are.

The primary difference between the American and Japanese markets for collectable and toy figures has actually little to do with the characters themselves and more to do with the market for collectable toys. The American figure manufacturing industry is divided between major manufacturers like Kenner and Tomy that produce children’s toys for mass market, mainstream distribution, and specialty manufacturers that specialize in manufacturing statues and figures of comic book super heroes and movie characters.

The majority of Japan’s figure manufacturing industry, however, targets only older, more affluent collectors. While Japan does have a market for inexpensive action figure character toys for children, Japan’s figure market seems much more interested in upscale, expensive figures for young adult and adult collectors. The Japanese collectable market sees such a massive variety of character statues for two primary reasons: consumer demand, and the fact that Japan has so many artists interested in sculpting figures.

The primary market for figure toys in America is children. That’s why cheap children’s toys from popular franchises are the most visable examples of American figure toys. I think that there actually is quite a large variety of American collectable figures and statues, but they’re not very visible because the American market for them is small. Furthermore, unlike Japan, America doesn’t have major fan organized conventions just based around exhibiting fan created figures. I think that these two facts support the theory that Japanese fans are simply more interested in crafting, purchasing, and collecting character figures, models, and statues than mainstream American society is.