When Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, parents often puzzle about which toys to choose from the shelves of supermarkets and toyshops. Of course they cannot humour their children's every wish. Unfortunately, local shops only sell either high quality, expensive toys or low quality, cheap ones. High quality toys made in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan are too expensive for most buyers. Chinese toys — including soft toys, miniature cars and planes, robots, masks, and assembling toys —have flooded the Vietnamese market but are of poor quality.
Domestic businesses don't pay much attention to this potential market. At present, domestically imported ones because toy production costs are high while profit margins are low.
Only a few Vietnamese companies produce toys. These include Hirng Sang Limited Company (which makes soft toys) and Educational Equipment Company 1 (which produces wooden and plastic assembling toys). Some other companies make outdoor playthings.The prices for these domestically made toys are not cheap for Vietnamese buyers. The smallest Hirrig Sang teddy bear costs from VND 15,000-20,000 (US$1.00 - $1.33); a set of assembling toys from Educational Equipmr nt Company 1 is equally expensive.
Several domestic toy companies have failed in the market economy. Mr. Than Ngoc Tinh, a member of the Hung Sang Company, said that his company's soft toys are of very high quality and also have an educational nature, but the price is high. The company's major markets are Ha NOi, South Korea, Canada, the U.S., and Eastern European countries. Hung Sang can't yet make other toys because of the huge investment required and the current market instability.
Demand for children's toys is large. Most parents are prepared to buy toys even though the family might not have other material comforts. Toys offer children companionship and encouragement and help them enlarge thei understanding. Toys also help develop a sense of beauty, promote positive behaviour, and improve mental and physical strength. Unfortunately, many imported toys do not meet these educational and aesthetic requirements but are made simply to satisfy market demand. Some of these toys — guns, war machines, and aggressive monster figures —also encourage violence and have a bad influence on children.
Toys provide a wonderland for children and help nurture and develop their personalities. Our families, schools, and society as a whole should care about the development and distribution of Vietnamese-made toys.