ToyCo

ToyCo, Ltd. (株式会社トイコー) is a Japanese toy company responsible for licensing the original Shockwave mold to Hasbro and Takara for The Transformers toyline in the 1980's.

ToyCo was founded on November 20, 1981, in [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Sumida, Tokyo|{{#if:||Sumida, Tokyo}}]]. They are still in operation today, mostly selling highly detailed toy cars.

Notes

• There is a Korean toy company also called ToyCo (토이코코리아) making and/or distributing a large variety of toys in Korea, including off-brand transforming robot toys, as well as licensed Transformers: Prime kids' inner tubes. Other toys they make or distribute include battery-operated toys, and cheap Power Rangers and Hello Kitty toys that supplement the range of toys released by larger companies, such as Bandai, in Korea. It is unclear if the two companies are related.
• It had been believed for many years by the early-Transformers fandom that ToyCo was a Korean company, as both Shockwave and the RadioShack-exclusive Galactic Man both feature "Made in Korea" stamps on their inner legs, where the original Astro Magnum toy featured a "Made in Japan" stamp instead. As it happens, the toy was only being produced in Korea around the time of the Generation 1 toyline, before ToyCo shifted production to China where it was cheaper.<ref name="tformers">"After the Astro Magnum was produced in South Korea, during the Transformers period, production shifted to China where the production cost was cheaper." - Interview with ToyCo at Tokyo Toy Show in 2008.</ref> All things considered, it probably didn't help that the aforementioned Korean company also exists.
• Following the licensing of the Astro Magnum mold to Hasbro, Takara, RadioShack and many other toy companies, the rights to the mold were sold on, meaning that any hopes for future official reissues of Shockwave are very slim.<ref name="tformers"/>

References

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External links

• ToyCo web site (in Japanese)
• ToyCo Twitter (in Japanese)
• ToyCo Instagram (in Japanese)
• YouTube Channel (in Japanese)