Takara, Japan's second-leading toy manufacturer, is forecasting a net loss for 2004 due to declining overseas sales for its Beyblade spinning top game. For the past four years Beyblade has been Takara's top income producer, but foreign sales have dropped more than 50% (from 14.8 billion yen to 5.8 billion yen) in 2004. Hasbro has the American license for Beyblade, and though it has made successful attempts this year to go after other companies that are producing 'knock-off' type imitations (see 'Hasbro Scores Knockout Agains Knock-Offs'), the popularity of the toy line appears to be fading fast. The Beyblade anime series remains on the ABC Family Channel, where it is shown four times a week at 8:30 am (ET).
Thanks to Declining Sales of Beyblade
Posted by ICv2 on October 11, 2004 @ 11:00 pm CT

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