Saturday, October 27, 2001
Toon Art targets Japan's baseball fans
Forest Park firm markets prints
By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Toon Art Inc., the Forest Park developer of cartoon and sports collectible art, thinks it has hit a home run with an expansion into baseball-crazy Japan. The company has released the first of a series of Major League Baseball-licensed limited-edition color prints of top players, including the Seattle Mariners' phenom Ichiro Suzuki.
“Ichiro is like a god in Japan,” said Loveland ophthalmologist Rick Abrahamson, who started the company 11 years ago.
“We think this agreement could absolutely explode this company,” generating sales of several million dollars an nually, he said. The company now has revenues under $2 million, he said. The company's first order for several thousand pieces is with Major League Baseball Japan, a chain with 26 outlets.
The company is marketing the prints, which sell for $15 unframed or $30 framed, through its Web site, toonartinc.com.
Toon Art, with a staff of 12, employs its own artists to create its collectible art and uses local printing companies such as Arnold Printing to produce its limited editions.
Besides Mr. Suzuki, other Japanese players in the new “Toon Collectibles” series include Mariners pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki, New York Mets outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Boston Red Sox pitcher Hideo Nomo. The first series also includes Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, and Reds stars Adam Dunn, Sean Casey and Ken Griffey Jr.
Each of the lithographs includes an artist's rendering and a photo of the player in action.
Toon Art has had a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball for a number of years, but after seeing a feature of Mr. Suzuki's popularity in Japan during the All-Star Game, it sought an amendment to expand its licensing to all of Asia, Dr. Abrahamson said.
Through a mutual friend, Dr. Abrahamson met Henry Morozumi, a Cincinnati businessman with extensive contacts in Japan. Mr. Morozumi developed sales materials and contacts in Japan.
Mr. Morozumi said he's marketing the sports prints to big corporations such as Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways, as well as through several Japanese retail chains.
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Toon Art targets Japan's baseball fans
