Special Feature - Bandai

Collecting one’s thoughts

Pushing towards half of Bandai’s UK business, Bandai’s Collector segment, encompassing all things manga, anime and pop-culture, is surging thanks to changing perceptions among customers and end consumers alike. Toy World editor Rachael Simpson-Jones sat down with the company’s passionate Collector team to discuss why this is one category toy retailers really shouldn’t overlook.

Jack Sturman

Dan Wilkes

Leanne Royce

Ben Austin

Bandai’s Collector segment is majorly on the up, driven by improved content accessibility across streaming services such as Crunchyroll and Netflix, cinemas and gaming platforms, and a marketplace that has become significantly hungrier for the company’s own-IP, licensed and third-party Collector brands. Just a few years ago, I’m told, there wasn’t the appetite in the UK to justify bringing many brands over from the Japanese side of the business. Now, there is - and it’s growing all the time.

Collector has historically been pigeonholed as the preserve of ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’, but it’s both untrue and unfair to try to force such a vast category into such narrow constraints. Everyone is a fan of something, after all, and they should have the opportunity to express their fandom by collecting product. Dan Wilkes, Collector sales manager at Bandai UK, believes Marvel deserves much of the credit for turning being a collector into something aspirational and cool. He also agrees that the pandemic accelerated content consumption across all channels and streaming services. Anime was a major part of this landscape, particularly on Netflix. Disney, meanwhile, has just bought the distribution rights to an anime series called Bleach, a major departure from the norm for the studio and its subscription streaming service.

In gaming, too, the Collector market is benefitting from new content. In June 2022, Fortnite announced its Fortnite x Naruto: Rivals collaboration, a follow-up to Chapter 2, Season 8’s initial anime foray, while the game also included My Hero Academia characters as of December 16th of last year.

Despite all this, Bandai says Collector isn’t a content led category. Yes, new movies, games and TV series help boost sales, but they aren’t the major tentpole moments other licences often build theiractivities around. According to Dan, true collectors are 100% invested, 100% of the time: content releases give sales of product a little nudge, perhaps, but the fans are buying regardless - 365 days a year. Where content is king is among retailers, especially Bandai’s more mainstream customers. Here, those new movies, games and TV series can be used to get a foot in the door with accounts that appreciate the correlation between content and sales. It’s undeniable, for example, that December’s cinema release of the long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water helped drive sales of McFarlane Toys’ licensed Avatar figures range, the same way Matt Reeve’s The Batman boosted sales of McFarlane’s Batman figures (and DC superhero figures in general).

Leanne Royce, commercial manager – Hobby & Collector, says the tables have turned in recent months, with retailers now asking Bandai for support in setting up a Collector section, rather than the company having to convince them it’s worth doing. If you’re reading this, and you want to start offering Collector products but have absolutely no idea where to begin, fear not. Bandai’s team, particularly Jack Sturman, Collector & Hobby channel brand manager, is here to help.

“I want some of the language surrounding this channel to change,” says Jack, who’s keen to dispel some of the myths surrounding the space. “Collector isn’t this murky, dark, impenetrable category: a good portion of our business is anime toys. And anime in itself is a vast genre - there’s mech anime, science fiction anime, sports anime, horror anime. The list is endless. A fan of science fiction anime may well also be into Stranger Things, while a fan of Captain Tsubasa, a football anime, is likely to be drawn to sports ranges from our other brand. My first piece of advice is to overhaul your understanding of what Collector means. This is a category any retailer can get into if they take sensible steps.”

What Bandai fondly refers to as ‘The Big 6’ – Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Naruto and One Piece (all anime properties) – generally tend to be safe bets for the average retailer or national. (More niche anime such as Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion, widely considered to be cult classics, may suit more specialist toy and hobby stores.) Within The Big 6, Bandai offers three core product pillars that will appeal to consumers watching the pennies in the current climate: 5” action figures (RRP 12.99), 6” action figures (RRP £19.99), and Chibi Masters (RRP £9.99), a miniature collectible brand. According to Jack, those properties and product ranges constitute an ideal jumping off point, a starter pack of sorts, for retailers beginning their journey into the space. And from there, the world of Collector is their oyster.

It's arguably an overused phrase, but the beauty of Collector is that there really is something for everyone. The range of properties, brands, products and price points is vast. Bandai UK’s portfolio, for example, goes from pocket money collectibles through to Megahouse figures for several hundreds of pounds, and covers six core categories: Miniatures, Figures, Plush, Devices, Statues and Hobby. Bandai also produces a number of major trading card ranges. Selling into retail isn’t something to be taken lightly when you’re dealing with such a breadth of range, Jack is keen to highlight, especially when you’re talking about a £500 statuette. He and the team have to be certain that recommended products suit each individual retailer. They’ve also got to explain exactly why certain ranges sit at certain price points. Happily, Jack and Ben are both avid collectors themselves.

One of the best things about Collector from a commercial perspective is that there’s substantial crossover into the toy category. Is a Tamagotchi, for example, a Collector product or a toy? Technically, it’s both. What about a Banpresto figure? Again, arguably it’s both. This overlap gives toy retailers a very strong cross-selling opportunity. You need only look to the successes being enjoyed by the likes of Midco Toys to see the truth in that.

Ben Austin, sales manager, Hobby & Collector channel at Bandai UK, says current trends indicate that the consumer base for these products will continue to grow. The amount of space dedicated to manga, for example, is expanding at retail across the board, and Netflix clearly sees anime as a vital part of its content slate moving forward. Demand for product isn’t slowing down, and Bandai’s all-encompassing portfolio gives the company the ability to age up with its collectors, from the collectible toy end of the spectrum through to games and mid-range figures, then onwards to the ‘serious’ Collector brands available at the highest price points.

Leanne enthuses: “We really do feel that there’s no other company with the breadth of anime licensed products and product categories – we can cater to every level, meeting all our retailers where they are comfortable starting out and opening up a raft of possibilities that really can take them anywhere.”

Dan emphasises that Bandai isn’t trying to rush the growth of its Collector channel, saying instead that the team is focused on ‘slow and smart’ expansion. Retailers allowed to grow and develop in their own way, in their own time, see the most success. Many of the properties Bandai is working with have been around for decades, after all, benefitting from established fandoms and huge back catalogues from which to draw inspirations. Managed well, they will produce good results for retailers for decades to come. It’s all about the long game.

Ben explains that as Bandai’s consumers are naturally very well informed, communications centre upon nurturing the community via two-way conversations. Social media allows the company to get out in front of its fans with information on pre-order dates and new content, while those fans will let Bandai know what they want from the product side of things. Bandai can then meet more and more of the growing demand with product it knows will sellthrough at retail.

Bandai is one of the many companies heading back to London Toy Fair this month, where it will be presenting a raft of new ranges within its Collector segment. The stand will be split roughly in line with the wider business, so visitors can expect Collector brands to dominate roughly half the stand, from entry level to mid- and highpriced ranges. This will be the perfect place for retailers to begin their journey into the space, guided by the people that play in it every day. In addition to sharing their product knowledge, Leanne, Jack, Ben and Dan will be helping retailers understand how, in turn, they should talk to their own Collector fanbases to ensure those consumers keep coming back to their stores time and again.

The team says new brands are due to launch next year that will work well with Western audiences. Minix focuses on sports entertainment licences as well as Stranger Things, The Witcher and Squid Game, and will likely appeal to retailers for whom even The Big 6 are a step too far into the unknown. DZNR plush from YuMe Toys is also launching in 2023. Initial waves incorporate some of popular culture’s most iconic properties including Stranger Things, Power Rangers and Transformers. According to Leanne, the company is seeing a huge resurgence in Plush and expects this range to be extremely popular.

With such a vast portfolio at their fingertips, I was keen to find out if Leanne, Dan, Jack and Ben were particularly looking forward to showcasing one particular brand at Toy Fair. Dan’s choice is Bandai’s Gunpla robot model kit range, which is being shown in the UK for the first time, having previously only be available via import. Ben is a fan of Megahouse, which I mentioned earlier and was shown at MCM London Comic Con in October 2022, and Jack breaks the rules by opting for the entirety of the Digimon brand, which has welcomed a large number of crosscategory products over the past 12 months and seems set to grow even more.

Leanne, meanwhile, is excited to be showing Ichibankuji, a Bandai own-brand she’s been heavily involved in since joining the company. This very Japanese concept, which covers a number of core anime properties, works a little like a raffle: consumers buy tickets for a set price (RRP £14) to be in with a chance of unboxing anything from smaller collectibles to desirable chase figures that would ordinarily retail for a much higher price point than the face value of their ticket. What makes this range even better is the fact 20% from each ticket goes to The Toy Trust, as it has to be legally treated like a lottery. One can easily see why this range would drive consumers back into smaller stores again and again once Bandai’s exclusivity agreement with Forbidden Planet International ends later this year.

The Collector team is also looking forward to a number of key moments in 2023. Digimon celebrates its 25th anniversary, while Series 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen launches early in the year. Demon Slayer, another of The Big 6, welcomes series 3 in April, and the Flash and Aquaman movies, both from DC, are expected to boost sales of McFarlane’s figure ranges. Bandai will also be returning to MCM London Comic Con in May, a consumer show that is clearly close to the team’s heart. Readers are encouraged to attend and see for themselves just how committed the Collector community is.

If you’d like to speak to the team about how Collector might work in your store, email collectorsales@bandai.co.uk or visit the team at Toy Fair, stand N17.