Shopping Guide
We’d like to introduce the fourth part of “Modeling Business! The Latent Potential of the Figure Maker,” the 11th episode of the Japanese subculture TV program Japacon TV (broadcast at 12:00 a.m. Fridays via the poplar satellite channel BS Fuji). This time, the focus will once again be on Good Smile Company aka “Gussma.”
The long-standing figure maker Good Smile Company is known for its production and selling of the first deformed figure series called Nendoroid. In addition to this, the company is continually jumping into new areas, such as helping on the anime Black Rock Shooter and creating their own champion racing team called Good Smile Racing. In particular, their surprising promotion of distributing for free 670,000 anime DVDs for Black Rock Shooter created a huge stir.
This daring business Gussma is currently pouring its power into embarking into Asia. In 2011, the branch office Good Smile Shanghai was established as one base in Asia. Though authentic items are jumbled together with bootlegs in China, the population is huge and anime fans are increasing. Because of this, the market is fairly large. If the company can succeed in China, there is no doubt that its growth will accelerate even more.
Next on the company’s agenda is a low-cost 3D printer. How will such a printer that can create 3D molds for figures and more be used to expand this business? Watch Japacon TV to find out!
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
