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たまごっち狂奏曲
ゲーム「たまごっち」の人気は半年以上続いている。しかし、いまだに国内の玩具店などで個人が入手することは難しく、企業や卸売り業者が何倍もの値段で買い取っているという。こうした「闇市状態」は、何かがおかしい…。
Back in February, Bandai took the unusual step of placing advertisements in the newspaper to apologize for the short supply of the toys and promising that there would be plenty by April. Well, April has come and gone. It's now July, and all the toy stores in my neighborhood still have those "Tamagotchi Sold Out" signs taped up near the cash register or entrance to the store. I personally know only three people who even own a Tamagotchi, and they all got theirs through special connections, like from someone related to the toy industry, not by picking it up at a regular toy store.
So Tamagotchi are still in very, very short supply in Japan. But this is where things get strange. If Bandai cannot even meet demand at home, why are we now seeing reports about Tamagotchi going on sale overseas? And why does there seem to be no shortage of Tamagotchi being given away as special prizes or in promotions?
Many pachinko parlors are advertising that you can win a Tamagotchi from them. And portable phone companies and gasoline stations are also promoting Tamagotchi presents if you buy their latest phone, or sign up for a credit card, or whatever. Where did they get this stock if regular toy stores, who specialize in that kind of merchandise, cannot get any?
The fact is, a kind of black market in Tamagotchi has developed, where distributors and other companies are willing to pay several times the ¥1,980 retail price of the toys in order to get their supply, preventing stocks from reaching regular retail stores. This isn't surprising, as many individuals are also reported to be selling Tamagotchi for prices sometimes as high as¥30,000 or ¥50,000
High prices themselves are not a problem since Japan is a free, capitalist market and people are allowed to buy and sell goods at whatever price they agree on. What becomes clear from this, however, is that Bandai made a huge mistake and badly underestimated the true value of a Tamagotchi when setting that ¥1,980 price.
The victims of this situation are ultimately the local retail toy stores. Consumers who want a Tamagotchi badly enough can usually find a way to get one. But small retail shops have been completely left out of the boom. Bandai should take steps to bring order to the market and either abolish the teika retail price altogether and go to "open" pricing system, or reset the retail price at a level that more accurately reflects the public's demand for those cute little virtual pets.
Bandai Co.'s virtual pet toy, Tamagotchi, has become a huge fad. This is not news. The craze has been going on for nearly six months now. But there are some funny things about this phenomenon, particularly in the area of product supply, that are really starting to puzzle me.
Back in February, Bandai took the unusual step of placing advertisements in the newspaper to apologize for the short supply of the toys and promising that there would be plenty by April. Well, April has come and gone. It's now July, and all the toy stores in my neighborhood still have those "Tamagotchi Sold Out" signs taped up near the cash register or entrance to the store. I personally know only three people who even own a Tamagotchi, and they all got theirs through special connections, like from someone related to the toy industry, not by picking it up at a regular toy store.
So Tamagotchi are still in very, very short supply in Japan. But this is where things get strange. If Bandai cannot even meet demand at home, why are we now seeing reports about Tamagotchi going on sale overseas? And why does there seem to be no shortage of Tamagotchi being given away as special prizes or in promotions?
Many pachinko parlors are advertising that you can win a Tamagotchi from them. And portable phone companies and gasoline stations are also promoting Tamagotchi presents if you buy their latest phone, or sign up for a credit card, or whatever. Where did they get this stock if regular toy stores, who specialize in that kind of merchandise, cannot get any?
The fact is, a kind of black market in Tamagotchi has developed, where distributors and other companies are willing to pay several times the ¥1,980 retail price of the toys in order to get their supply, preventing stocks from reaching regular retail stores. This isn't surprising, as many individuals are also reported to be selling Tamagotchi for prices sometimes as high as¥30,000 or ¥50,000
High prices themselves are not a problem since Japan is a free, capitalist market and people are allowed to buy and sell goods at whatever price they agree on. What becomes clear from this, however, is that Bandai made a huge mistake and badly underestimated the true value of a Tamagotchi when setting that ¥1,980 price.
The victims of this situation are ultimately the local retail toy stores. Consumers who want a Tamagotchi badly enough can usually find a way to get one. But small retail shops have been completely left out of the boom. Bandai should take steps to bring order to the market and either abolish the teika retail price altogether and go to "open" pricing system, or reset the retail price at a level that more accurately reflects the public's demand for those cute little virtual pets.
Shukan ST: July 4, 1997
(C) All rights reserved
- virtual pet toy
- おもちゃの仮想ペット
- huge fad
- 熱狂的な流行
- craze
- 大流行
- has been going on
- 続いている
- there are some funny things about 〜
- 〜 について不思議なことがある
- phenomenon
- 現象
- product supply
- 商品の供給
- puzzle 〜
- 〜 を戸惑わせる
- took the unusual step of 〜
- 〜 という珍しい処置をとった
- placing advertisements in 〜
- 〜 に広告を掲載する
- short supply of 〜
- 〜 の不足
- plenty
- 十分な
- neighborhood
- 近所
- Sold Out
- 売り切れ
- signs
- お知らせ
- taped up near 〜
- 〜 のそばに貼られている
- cash register
- レジ
- personally know 〜
- 〜 を個人的に知っている
- someone related to 〜
- 〜 の関係者
- toy industry
- おもちゃ業界
- picking it up at 〜
- 〜 を買う
- this is where things get strange
- そこからがおかしなところだ
- cannot even meet demand at home
- 日本国内でさえ需要を満たせない
- reports
- 報道
- going on sale overseas
- 海外で売り出されている
- shortage
- 不足
- being given away
- 贈呈される
- promotions
- 販売促進
- pachinko parlors
- パチンコ店
- portable phone companies
- 携帯電話会社
- gasoline stations
- ガソリンスタンド
- latest
- 最新の
- sign up for 〜
- 〜 の契約をする
- stock
- 仕入れ品
- specialize in that kind of merchandise
- おもちゃの売買を専門に行なう
- black market
- 闇市
- distributors
- 卸売り業者
- are willing to pay several times 〜
- 〜 の数倍支払うのをいとわない
- retail price
- 小売り価格
- preventing 〜 from reaching 〜
- 〜 を 〜 まで行きわたらなくさせる
- regular retail stores
- 一般の小売り店
- capitalist market
- 資本主義の市場
- goods
- 商品
- badly underestimated
- 過小評価しすぎた
- true value
- 本当の価値
- victims
- 被害者
- ultimately
- 結局
- Consumers
- 消費者
- want 〜 badly enough
- 〜 をとても欲しがる
- have been completely left out of the boom
- 流行から完全にとり残されてしまっている
- bring order to the market
- (たまごっちの)市場に秩序をもたらす
- abolish the teika retail price altogether
- 小売り価格をまったく定めない
- "open"pricing system
- オープン価格(小売店が自由に値段を設定する)制度
- reset
- 設定し直す
- more accurately reflects the public's demand for 〜
- 〜 に対する一般の需要をもっと正確に反映する