Max Factory

Max Factory (株式会社マックスファクトリー) is a Japanese hobby manufacturer whose business includes planning, developing, and producing toys, making toy prototypes, producing video content, and operating food-service businesses. It began in 1987 as a garage-kit maker in Kokubunji, Tokyo, and has since developed a broad range of collectible and hobby products. The company describes its work as serving fans of character-based content and sharing the enjoyment of sculpting and hobby making. Its product history spans painted soft-vinyl figures, character figures, polystone and PVC figures, model-making supplies, articulated figures, and plastic model kits. The company’s best-known line is figma, an articulated action-figure series launched in 2008. Max Factory says figma became a representative popular product through a combination of accessible pricing and high quality. Its official product catalogue also features character figures and products associated with series such as PLAMATEA and other figure and model lines. The company is headquartered in Tokyo and lists a workshop in Fukuoka. Its corporate history records earlier moves and the establishment of workshops in Shizuoka and Fukuoka. Max Factory became a stock company in 2014, having previously been organized as a limited company. It has a business relationship with Good Smile Company: the company history records an alliance in 2001, and Max Factory identifies Good Smile Company as a major business partner. The supplied evidence does not establish that Good Smile Company owns Max Factory. Max Factory’s official company profile names Makoto Watanabe as its representative director and lists 60 employees. Its business partners also include Hobby Japan, Kadokawa, Kodansha, and Shueisha. The company presents itself as a Japanese hobby maker with sculpting capabilities and flexible product planning, aiming to bring character merchandise to fans in Japan and worldwide. Its current official site continues to publish product announcements, release and shipping notices, event information, and company blog updates.

Max Factory was established in 1987 in Kokubunji, Tokyo, as a limited company and garage-kit maker. It moved to Matsudo, Chiba, in the same year. The company’s early product history includes a painted soft-vinyl Robocop figure in 1988 and its first bishōjo figure, a 1/6-scale Madoka Ayukawa, in 1990. In 1996 it released its first painted finished bishōjo figure, a 1/4-scale Rei Ayanami. The company moved its headquarters to the Piaza Matsudo complex in 1998 and to Kita-Matsudo in 2001. In 2001, Max Factory formed a business alliance with Good Smile Company, then a limited company. Its subsequent product development included a first polystone finished figure in 2003 and a first painted PVC finished figure in 2004. In the same year, its painted PVC figure Kasumi – Blue Ver. achieved reported cumulative sales of 44,000 units. The company also worked with Too to develop the Copic Modeler hobby marker, released in 2004. In 2005 it made its first appearance at the Wonder Festival summer event with a WONDERFUL HOBBY LIFE FOR YOU! booth. Max Factory established a Shizuoka workshop in 2007 and a Fukuoka workshop in 2008. February 2008 marked the start of figma, with Yuki Nagato as the first generally released figure in the series. figma became the company’s signature line; later milestones included the announcement of figma No. 100, Hatsune Miku Append Ver., in 2011, and the 2013 release of figma No. 200, Hatsune Miku 2.0, featuring new joints. In 2014, Max Factory released its first plastic model kit, a 1/72 Combat Armor Dougram. That year it opened Mile Post and Mile Post Cafe in Chuo, Tokyo, and changed its corporate form from a limited company to a stock company. The company profile lists its current headquarters in Akihabara, Tokyo, and a Fukuoka workshop. It describes its business as toy planning, production and manufacturing, toy prototyping, video planning and production, and restaurant management. The company identifies figma as a representative popular product and frames its present ambition as bringing fresh experiences and enjoyment to character-content fans in Japan and around the world. The supplied official site shows continuing product announcements and company updates. The supplied evidence does not establish a founding individual, an ultimate owner, or a parent company.

• 2014

  First plastic model and corporate reorganization

• 2013

  figma No. 200 released

• 2011

  figma No. 100 announced

• 2008

  Fukuoka workshop and figma launch

• 2007

  Shizuoka workshop established

• 2005

  First Wonder Festival summer booth

• 2004

  PVC figure and hobby-marker releases

• 2003

  First polystone finished figure

• 2001

  Business alliance with Good Smile Company

• 1996

  First painted finished bishōjo figure

• 1990

  First bishōjo figure

• 1988

  First painted soft-vinyl finished product

• 1987

  Company established in Kokubunji

A Japanese hobby maker focused on character merchandise, collectible figures, and model products, emphasizing sculpting capability, flexible planning, and products for hobby fans.

• figma

  An articulated action-figure series launched in 2008; Max Factory identifies it as a representative popular product.

• PLAMATEA

  A model-kit line represented in the official site's product listings.

• Character figures and plastic model kits

  The official catalogue lists character figures and model products, including kits and figures based on licensed character properties.

• Conversion to a stock companyOther

1. 1トップページ | MAX FACTORY公式サイトmaxfactory.jp
2. 2会社概要 | MAX FACTORY公式サイトmaxfactory.jp
3. 3Max Factorywikidata.org