Manley Toys Ltd.

Manley plays safe with smart toys

If you see your kids brushing up on English vocabularies, taking drills in mathematics, would such scenario seem to be a little bit odd? But they are not cramming for their school tests; they are just playing with their new toy, Cindy Smart, an educational doll aimed at children of three to six, wholly designed by a creative Hong Kong toymaker.

Cindy Smart, programmed with learning applications, a dictionary together with a video cam, not only can answer children's questions like "What colour is it?" or "What's the sum for 3+7?", but also capable of offering lessons in English and maths. The interactive doll is one of Manley's preschool electronic toys, a category of toys that has proliferated in recent years as parents scramble to give their children an edge well before they enter kindergarten.

Though a doll of this kind is no longer any innovation, the idea to converge interactivity, education and fun of play by integrating existing technologies is wise enough to deserve an extra credit - and Cindy Smart has just been awarded by the Hong Kong Productivity Council with its "Hong Kong Awards for Industry - Consumer Product Design Award" in October 2003.

Aside from such latest award, many of Manley's "inventions" have been accredited by overseas toy authorities with accolades of merits. Among many other award-winning playthings "Tekno Dog" was awarded the honourable title of "Toy of the Year" issued by Family Fun in 2002.

"Comparing with other lines of products, the market outlook next year for preschool learning aids and electronic toys are rosier," said Mr Samson Chan, chairman and CEO of Manley Toys, forecasting 2004's toy market. Thus, in addition to marketing Cindy Smart and electronic pets, Manley is developing a new line of electronic learning toys that will be introduced in 2004.

However, children's mentality is getting mature quicker nowadays than before. The so-called "age compression" has posted a slight effect on the entire toy sector, Mr Chan said, so Manley is turning to fancier, more interactive toys to fascinate smarter-than-ever kids, such as its VR Sports series. "But in general, in contrast to many other sectors, the growth of demand for toys is more or less steadier, which is also quite sensitive to cartoon and animation fevers," he furthered.

No matter how depressed the economy is and whether they are glad or mad, children would just like to have fun with toys. It is very easy to find action figures, masks, and the like of such heat characters as Spiderman, Power Rangers and Hulk everywhere in Manley's Hong Kong showroom. "Apart from this (Hong Kong) showroom, we also run several in the US as a regular showcase for buyers there," he remarked.

Manley always brings out-of-the-box surprise to buyers in international trade fairs. Mr Chan said his company had been taking part in Nuremberg Toy Fair and New York Toy Fair for many years. Manley's products have always been being spotlighted in overseas media during fair periods.

"I am also impressed by the volume of buyers and positive market sentiment I felt at this year's Mega Show hosted by Kenfair last October," he added.

Being one of the biggest toy exporters in Hong Kong, Manley Toys focuses much more on product design and marketing, whilst most of its production is outsourced to factories in the Mainland China. "Manley already has three decades of experience in marketing worldwide. By partnering with OEM factories, we can have more resources devoted to product design and marketing," added Mr Chan.

In spite of playing a role as Manley's head, Mr Chan also serves as the president for the Hong Kong Toys Council (HKTC). And earlier this year he has, on HKTC's behalf, introduced the International Council for Toy Industries (ICTI) Code of Business Practice to Hong Kong toymakers, aiming to converge various existing audit codes being used by individual retailers and save manufacturers' resources incurred from being audited repeatedly.

He believes the new code will be particularly helpful to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as being subject to duplicate audits and various codes of practice makes it more difficult for smaller companies to gain new business.

The ICTI code was drafted over three years, starting with a two-page outline of the code's aims and targets in 1995. In 2001, it was updated with three appendices covering 204 questions auditors should ask concerning issues of toy safety, environmental standards and factory conditions.

With a clear mission in mind, Mr Chan is dedicated to supplying all toys under Manley with a thoughtful and safety label, on top of all the various value-added services.

(Photo caption: Mr Samson Chan, CEO of Manley Toys and chairman of Hong Kong Toys Council)