Manage molds and read hot-selling items......Doyusha's hard work to completely reissue the 40-year-old "Fang of the Sun Douglas" plastic model! [Hobby Industry Inside #72

Doyusha, a long-established model maker in downtown Tokyo known for plastic models of castles and portable shrines, will release a "40th Anniversary Collector's Box" containing 10 kits from the robot animation "Fang of the Sun Dougram" (1981), which will celebrate its 40th anniversary this summer.
Yes, the other face of Doyusha is "a company that reissues character plastic models. We asked Mr. Munehiro Uchida, president of Doyusha, about the company's intention to reissue plastic models from other companies 40 years ago and the hard work behind it.

The reason for the third re-release is to "slowly disappear from the market over time"?

───The "Fang of the Sun Douglam 40th Anniversary Collector's Box" is being released this time, but you have sold similar products in the past, haven't you?

Uchida Yes, this is the third time we are selling this box set. The first was for the 30th anniversary of the "Dougram" broadcast. The second time was 3 or 4 years after that, just when the 30th anniversary commemorative box was discontinued from the market.


─ So the second reissue was not timed to coincide with any particular anniversary. Do people around you ask you to sell them again?

Uchida: When I visit retailers and wholesalers, I am often asked, "Why don't you reissue the Nitto Kagaku Douglas again? I am often approached by people who say, "Why don't you reissue the Nitto Kagaku Douglas again? But if it was just one person, the person in charge might just happen to be an enthusiastic fan of "Dougram" (laugh), after being told by multiple people in charge of different genres, regions, and store atmospheres, such as "who's in charge at A store," "who's in charge at B store ......," and so on, When I looked again at the sales floor, I found that they were indeed not on the store shelves. That finally made me think, "Maybe it's time to resell Nitto's Douglas Douglas again.

─ ─ In other words, they have remained on the sales floor for several years, haven't they?

Uchida: Doyusha's plastic models tend to sell slowly over time. Major figure manufacturers advertise in magazines and on the Internet and sell out the first production run in one fell swoop. In the case of our company, we do not spend much money on advertising and do not give enough notice, so some customers do not know that the product has been re-released until they come to the sales floor. There are not only those who visit the model department of mass retailers every week, but also those who visit only once every six months or so. These are products that can be bought even six months later, reaching such ordinary customers.

─ ─ Is that because of the long-lasting popularity of the "Douglas" content? ......

Uchida: Of course it's the popularity, but it's also a sense of security. People seem to think, "If it's a Doyusha product, it won't disappear anytime soon," or "They probably still have some left. I think they think, "If it's a Doyusha product, they won't run out right away.

───Have the contents of the box set always been the same?

Uchida Yes, they are always the same. The boxes and manuals are scanned from the Nitto Kagaku era and reprinted as much as possible. Because of this, there are still some instructions to paint them in "Douglas colors," which are no longer sold, but we put a note on the outer box.


─ ─ It is strange that the inside box is still "Nitto Kagaku" but the outside box is "Doyusha.

Uchida This box set is a product of Doyusha. However, what customers are looking for is Nitto Kagaku's product. Doyusha?　They're going to use some other mold and reprint it again anyway, aren't they?" I still have the box from the original manufacturer." It is more fun to talk about such geeky things among customers. I think I am aware of my position, because they say, "It's Doyusha anyway" (laughs).