Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 07:47 PST
I did come across a couple researching your original question,
including some equipment for sale to produce them (asking price was
$90,000, I believe, but I'm not sure where I located that result - I
only listed the strategy that produced my info). I searched again and
discovered:
"Koto, Inc. was first established on March 6, 2000, to distribute its
parent company, Kotobukiya Company's products in the US and Europe.
With the success of the Final Fantasy ® VIII Guardian Force action
figures and character-based soft vinyl statues and cold-cast statues,
Koto, Inc. is fast becoming known as a manufacturer of high quality
toys. (For more information on the origins of Kotobukiya Company and
its full range of Japanese products, please visit
http://www.kotobukiya.co.jp). Since then, Koto, Inc. has begun its
own operation of offering high quality services to US companies, and
have undertaken co-development efforts with companies such as Dark
Horse Comics, N2Toys, and D-Boy, Inc."
From http://www.toydirectory.com/KotoInc/ [more on the company at
this link, too - also see
http://www.artfx-kotobukiya.com/coprofile.html]
I followed a link from that site "Action Figures" and it resulted in a
list of "Manufacturers/Wholesalers of Action Figures" at
http://www.toydirectory.com/L1_101.htm - there are about 60 companies
to choose from in the results there. I then searched for dolls in the
Product Category search and found a list for that at
http://www.toydirectory.com/L1_158.htm - there may a few companies
there that offer action figure doll production but I think you are
best off with the Action Figure list. Some heavy players such as
Mattel were listed in the Action Figure list and then companies such
as PSC Fabricating (http://www.toydirectory.com/PscFabricating/index.htm)
were also present.
Another list of manufacturers is available at
http://www.geocities.com/toys_nz/toy_manufacturers.htm
I couldn't discover the "vinyl" keyword at the Moore Action
Collectibles site (http://www.mooreaction.com/) but I wanted to
include the link for you because the figures looked like vinyl and it
seems to be a very professional studio.
The site, http://www.ebigchina.com/, has a "Wanted" message board on
site and you might consider joining (it appears to be free to join)
and posting a query there. See about midway down the page
http://www.ebigchina.com/msg_list.phtml?SearchText=dmlueWwgbWFudWZhY3R1cmluZw%3D%3D&cu=
for the "Wanted" link. That link will take you to the sign-up page.
Also, I found this link while perusing manufacturers and I think it
may be of interest to your original question: "Garage Kit Figure
Modeling" at http://www.heycomputer.com/qa.html
I would also suggest you contact Kid Robot, the link you provided and
inquire as to who does their production - thier figures are awesome!
Contact: sales@kidrobot.com
I hope my additional research proves to be of assistance to you and
should you need clarification, please request it. :)
SEARCH STRATEGY:
soft vinyl manufacturing action figure
soft vinyl manufacturers action figure
vinyl action figure production
vinyl doll action figure production
action figure manufacturing
