However, TOSY Robotics Joint Stock Company (TOSY) has initially succeeded in bringing its products to the world.

August 2011 marked a milestone in Vietnam’s toys industry when TOSY spinning tops became the first made-in-Vietnam toy certificated by Guinness World Records as the longest running mechanical spinning top clocked at 24hr 35min 15sec. 

So far, hundreds of thousands of TOSY spinning tops have been exported to Italy, France, the UK, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Denmark, India, Brazil, and Israel.

Earlier, in 2004, TOSY rose to fame with its first made-in-Vietnam high-tech toy called AFOs (Alien Flying Objects). Later, its upgraded version 3.0 has been acknowledged as the most modern boomerang which can return exactly to where it is thrown and be played both indoors or outdoors in an easy and safe way.

In 2011, TOSY AFO won the Best Toy Awards from Good Housekeeping Magazine and was voted as the Top High-tech Toy at the American International Toy Fair. It has been sought after by many foreign companies, especially those in Japan.

Meeting strict technical requirements, TOSY AFO has been exported to nearly 40 countries around the world such as the US, UK, Japan, and Germany, says a representatives from TOSY.

“We have paid due attention to the domestic market, but also found it important to penetrate the global market. Our policy is to build a strong brand name and bring Vietnamese toys to different parts of the world,” he says.

At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Last Vegas in January, the mRobo, a TOSY consumer electronics product, was also selected as the best audio device, followed by the Sony Mp3 player which runs on the Android OS.

TOSY CEO Ho Vinh Hoang says there are now only nine countries which have strongly developed the toys industry such as Germany, Japan, the US, Switzerland, Italy, France, the UK, Canada, and the RoK.

He is confident that Vietnam will be able to export reasonable-priced industrial robots and high-tech toys to other countries.

TOSY plans to produce industrial robots to replace workers who have to work in the hazardous and polluted environment, he says, adding that low cost is one of made-in-Vietnam robots’ advantages.

Hoang also refers to challenges facing TOSY as Vietnam is in the initial stage of developing robot and support industries.

According to the Department of High Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, some made-in-Vietnam robots have been designed and developed by universities and research institutes, and TOSY is in the vanguard of exporting high-tech toys to the global market.