Tomy's 'Phantom' goods to find rival in 'Monsters'

'Pocket' powerful, 'Wars' toys may top $25 mil in sales

By JON HERSKOVITZ

TOKYO -- A new generation of "Star Wars" goods will hit Japanese store shelves on Saturday, and toymaker Tomy said it expects to rack up about 3 billion yen ($25 million) in sales from the "Phantom Menace" and related products.

Tomy won rights to be the exclusive distributor of "Star Wars" products in Japan from Hasbro last fall.

The company will have about 200 licensed "Star Wars" products in its lineup.

"The Phantom Menace" will start its run in Japan on July 10 on 400 screens. It is poised to set an opening weekend box office record because the bow is the largest in recent Japanese film history.

'Monster' mash

But "Star Wars" goods are certain to take a back seat to "Pocket Monsters" merchandise in Japan. "Pocket Monsters" are the kings of the Japanese character product market, with annual sales reaching the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The second "Pocket Monsters" movie will open in Japan on July 17 at 260 theaters.