Uncle Moroboshi	Oh, this is the neighborhood supermarket. They didn't used to sell toys here.
Hoshino	Hee-hee-hee. Now I have to go, but Dr. Baltan will take you through the rest of the tour.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Hello.
Anne	We are busy so please excuse us. See you later then. Dr. Baltan, good luck.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo.
Uncle Moroboshi	Where do they sell these monsters?
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Right here.
Uncle Moroboshi	Really? This is a candy store. I don't see any of those toys here.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Take a close look. Don't you see boxes of 100 yen, 200 yen, 300 yen with those characters on them?
Uncle Moroboshi	But if these boxes have candy in them, the toys must be pretty small.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Try one anyway.
Uncle Moroboshi	Wow, this is a sofubi (soft vinyl) doll, and only a few soda candies as if they were additional! This is the opposite of what we used to have.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. There are still candies which are mostly candies, but for the last decade sales of these kinds of toys, called candy toys, are skyrocketing. The market is said to be around 30 to 40 billion yen.
Uncle Moroboshi	You look just like Alien Baltan and you know so much! This is a sofubi monster, empty inside. We didn't have these tiny toys when we were children. They are indeed well-made. I will buy another one.
Uncle Moroboshi	Now this is a little bigger enbi (vinyl chloride) toy. I've never seen this type of Ultraman.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. That is the new series, 'Ultraman-Tiga', which only started this year. Candy toys are relatively expensive and 10 years ago supermarkets wouldn't sell them because they didn't think parents would pay more than 100 yen for their children's' toys during grocery shopping.
Uncle Moroboshi	Actually, I got myself another sofubi monster.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Let me finish my talk. When the supermarkets actually sold these products, they unexpectedly sold really well. These toys were much cheaper than other toys, and the their quality improved thanks to the low-cost production in China.
Uncle Moroboshi	It is surely a pretty good deal.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. I've bought one, too.
Uncle Moroboshi	Wow, this one has two toys in it. This must be Zeath, from the TV commercial of a petroleum company.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. They are vinyl chloride dolls, and Zeath is fighting with this monster. See, Zeath is even beaming at him.
Uncle Moroboshi	I just can't resist these sofubi toys. I actually bought another one.
Dr. Baltan	Fo-fo-fo. Most of the consumers of candy toys are under the age of five, and each item requires about 100,000 units of production. This may make it difficult to produce a wide variety of toys. But if they become more popular among different generations, you might get to see some dream projects come true. I personally like the series of Beetles of the World and that of Locomotive Thomas.
Uncle Moroboshi	I hope that some day I'll be able to buy a Superjetter and a Giant Robo for 200 yen ...
Dr. Baltan	Well, that may be difficult ...