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Tamiya is by far the world's largest hobby-related company, posting 1995 sales of 31.2 billion yen (that's roughly 280 million US). This is quite a bit more than the sales of every other Japanese hobby company put together (Hasegawa, for example, had 1995 sales of 1.7 billion yen, while Fujimi is just 1.0 billion). The key to understanding the current state of affairs in the Japanese hobby industry, however, is to look at Tamiya's 1994 sales: 18.0 billion yen. That's right, a 73% increase in one year! And though 1996 sales won't grow that much, they are likely to have shown another increase. The sole reason behind this stunning growth is the Mini-4WD Car boom.

Besides scale plastic kits, Tamiya also has a large radio-control kit segment which, though down from its peaks, still makes up a good chunk of their sales. Overall, the company probably sells from 2 to 3.0 billion yen annually in scale kits (estimate mine).

But even if one completely forgets about Tamiya's other business segments, they are arguably the world's finest producer of scale models. Not only do the have the broadest and deepest product line of any firm, but their quality standards have, over the last ten years, become legendary. To view a recent 1/48 aircraft or 1/35 AFV kit from Tamiya is an experience that will cause any modeler to salivate profusely. The level of detail is stunning, and the engineering of their kits superb. They have truly mastered the art of mold design, the ultimate goal of which I'll define as producing the most detailed kit possible in the fewest parts and while keeping it easy-to-assemble.

In recent months, the Mini 4WD car boom has begun to wane, and Tamiya's sales are falling off as a result. Because of this, the pace of new releases is expected to decline somewhat, but we'll hope that they choose well the subjects they do decide to release.

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