You produce tin mechanical toys with a distinctive retro design. What is it that is still interested in them?
In a way, our products are iconic – they have passed through the hands of almost all Czechoslovaks born after 1940. When someone encounters our product, there is often a certain amount of nostalgia and memories. In addition, we are still a purely Czech handmade production with a seventy-year tradition that produces toys from semi-finished products and tools to final products. Nowadays, when people are beginning to realize the need for sustainable development, sheet metal is attracting attention as a used material because it is easily recyclable. Today, almost no one works with him anymore. At the same time, almost the entire twentieth century was in the spirit of tin toys. Market interest will therefore be a combination of these factors.
Is the legendary red-yellow key tractor still the biggest hit? You offer it in a number of modifications from the Zetor 25 or 50 Super through the Porsche Master to the Man, Kubota or John Deere types.
According to the number of pieces sold, the ladybug on the key is a blockbuster, which we sell ten thousand pieces every year. Of the tractors, Porsche is the biggest driver, customers buy around a thousand. We sell all types of tractors seven thousand a year.
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What else are customers most interested in?
These are the two basic product groups. They are either addressed by completely new models, or on the contrary by the older ones from the times of the original Náchod Metalworks. We have a circle of fans around the world, and they have an overview of our history. Some want different models that are no longer available. Others want new types of tractors.
We are happy to accommodate them, but the investment in the development and introduction of each new tin toy into production is huge. For example, for the production of one type of tractor, we need seventy tools. Although we make them ourselves, we must look for resources to finance each such project.
How big shares of sales fall on the Czech and foreign markets? To which countries do you export the most?
By default, our sales pie is divided in half – half domestic, half foreign. This year, the situation was negatively affected by the coronavirus, and demand from abroad fell. The good news, however, is that the decline in foreign sales has been offset by an increase in domestic demand.
The largest foreign customer is, by default, Germany, where the Kovap brand is very well established. This year we are also seeing enormous demand from the UK, where we have tripled our turnover compared to last year. In addition to Europe, we have exotic destinations such as Australia, Canada, Chile or Japan. But these are not too big numbers. There are dozens of toys sold per year.
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Was it hard to break through in Japan?
A model of a Japanese Kubota tractor helped. The Japanese are big fans of tin models and toys, even handmade ones. The initial contact was initiated by one of the Japanese collectors, who has an overview of the world market and who knows Kovap. Through him, we managed to close the first deal. Currently, the Japanese distributor is preparing a website and e-shop exclusively for the Japanese market. We plan to launch it early next year.
Do you have other plans abroad?
Yes, we are an export-oriented company. First of all, we want to use mainly the potential of already established foreign markets and understand the possibilities of development. Just as Japan opened up to us with the Kubota tractor, I believe that we will be able to reach other countries as soon as we have one of their traditional industrial icons in our portfolio. We don’t have a single Frenchman or Italian among the tractors. At the same time, for example, the Lamborgini 1R model from the 1960s will certainly be a huge hit in Italy.
How did the caravan or Mercedes or Volkswagen car models get into the production portfolio?
The tools for the production of these toys were already bought in the 1980s from the bankrupt German company Kellerman & CKO. It operated from 1920 to 1979 in Nuremberg, which is a kind of capital of tin toy manufacturers. You can see its logo on the chassis of caravan or Mercedes models.
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What about competition from cheap toys from China?
It depends on who we consider to be a competitor. As far as manufacturers of sheet metal models and toys are concerned, there are not many of them in the world. World leaders are Germans represented by Schuco or Wilesco. Unfortunately, even these companies went the way of allocating production capacity to Asia.
Is it difficult to protect know-how from copying?
Of course, several Asian countries in particular tried to do this several times, and several samples also came into our hands. However, the differences in the quality and detail of processing are abysmal, of course in favor of our manufactory production. At the moment, I do not know of any Asian tin toy manufacturer that would succeed in the European market.
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