>>8109278I think it has to do with the culture and market appeal. To beat a dead horse: Japan focuses on a general collector market and craftsmanship, while the west (at least America) focuses on the kid market and playability. It's very rare to see toy stores in the states. During my visit to Japan (in Tokyo, Shinjuku and Akihabara) there were tons of toy stores with people of all ages and genders shopping there. It was amazing. I wish we had that sort of appreciation for toys in the states. With that said, there are also toys catered to kids in Japan too, just that its more accepted that there toys/models/etc. are appreciated more there based on the market. I know people will hate to hear this, but with Funko and other toy companies catering towarrds that collector market we're seeing a slow acceptance of that collector market in the past decade (outside of big names like Star Wars and Transformers). However we've also seen equally more junk toys that cater to the lowest demographics made of the cheapest quality to counter that movement. It's a weird time.
There's a good video on gacha toys that kind of goes into detail about it with regards to Japanese culture.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eR7sHTze0Y 