Tokyo toy show's tempting treats

Updated 15.00 Thu Jun 19 2008

Keywords: show, toy, Tokyo

Mini karaoke machines and heart-throb piggy banks are just some of the items on offer at this year's Tokyo Toy show.

The battle is on for the consumer dollar, with over 30,000 toys unveiled.

Also on offer is an electronic piggy bank on which five different animated men appear every time a deposit is made

Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy is promoting what it claims is one of the smallest portable karaoke machines in the world.

The seven cubic centimetre system weighs less than a pound and is being targeted at teenage girls who are too young to go to karaoke parlours.

Also on show is an electronic piggy bank on which five different animated men - who range from the "cool model" type to "older man with patience" - appear every time a deposit is made.

The love story ends when the bank is filled.

Hiroko Ono from the Girls Toy department at the piggy bank's makers, Bandai, said: "Our target is basically anyone who hasn't had a recent heart-beating experience and wants to get that feeling back."