Wednesday June 2, 5:50 am Eastern Time

## Tomy shares boosted by "Furby" debut in Japan

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - Shares in major Japanese toymaker Tomy Company Ltd rose sharply on Wednesday in response to news of strong initial sales of a Japanese version of the electronic pet toy ``Furby.''

The company declined to reveal sales numbers, but Japanese business daily the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Wednesday that an initial shipment of 200,000 Furbies had sold out a few hours after hitting the shelves last Saturday.

Tomy's share price ended up 330 yen or 4.1 percent at 8,380 yen on Wednesday.

The original Furby, made by Hasbro Inc (AMEX:HAS - news)'s Tiger Electronics Ltd, was a big holiday season hit last year in the United States. It led to massive queues at many retailers as customers scrambled for each store's limited ration.

Tomy has a contract with Tiger to market Furby exclusively in Japan. It said it planned to sell more than one million units of the Japanese version by the end of March 2000.

        The toy is priced 3,980 yen in Japan.

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[Note: 3,980 yen is about $40 US dollars - Kat]

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Article is quoted from Yahoo News and is not edited in any way.
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