Follow us on @toynewsonline CONTENTS
Regulars 06 News 12 NPD Analysis 13 Campaign of the Month 13 Playtime 14 Industry Movers 17 Audience Watch
(sponsored by Nickelodeon)
Issue: 139 May 2013
MEET THE TEAM
Samantha Loveday Editor
Samantha.Loveday@intentmedia.co.uk
Dominic Sacco Deputy Editor
Dominic.Sacco@
intentmedia.co.uk
Robert Hutchins Staff Writer
Robert.Hutchins@
intentmedia.co.uk
Jodie Holdway Sales Manager
Jodie.Holdway@intentmedia.co.uk
Abigail Fanger Senior Production Manager
Abigail.Fanger@intentmedia.co.uk
Lisa Carter Publisher
Lisa.Carter@
intentmedia.co.uk
Editorial: 01992 535646 Advertising: 01992 535647
www.toynews-online.biz
18 Industry Opinion 23 Exclusive Dubit Research 24 Toy Shop UK 88 Toy Talk 90 Jon Salisbury
Features 26 Special look... eBay 28 The rise of pop-up shops 30 Power Rangers: Anatomy of a Blockbuster 33 The Big Interview: Michael Acton Smith
Licensing.biz 35 News
Pre-School (sponsored by VTech Baby) 41 News 42 A Mummy Blogger’s View 45 Good Toy Guide 47 Sector Guide: Pre-school
Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations
AUDITED CIRCULATION: Average Net Circulation: 6,199
July 1st 2011 to June 30th 2012.
ToyNews circulation is 19.3% higher than its closest competitor.
ToyNews has 100% named circulation and 0% duplication.
Retail 59 News 60 Counter Insurgent 61 Recommended 62 Retail Advisory Board 65 Toymaster Show Guide 73 Sector Guide: Dolls 79 Sector Guide: Action Vehicles, R/C & Die-cast
“As part of our look at eBay in this month’s issue, we found several toys which have low RRPs, but are being listed for thousands.”
Bay watch COMMENT
I HAVE a confession. I’ve never bought anything on eBay. I don’t have the patience to cope with the bidding system, to search for a bargain or to go through the rigmarole of delivery or collection. For the toy industry though, eBay is both an opportunity and a potential curse. On one hand, it’s great for dealers to shift overstocks and act as another revenue stream, but on the other it encourages ‘backroom businesses’ which - some believe - could ultimately harm the trade. As part of our look at eBay in this month’s issue, we found several toys which have low RRPs, but are being listed for thousands (the Skylanders example on the cover being just one). Many are rare collectables – either discovered naturally in blind bags or hunted out on purpose, or picked up from overseas. Genuine adult collectors, of course, will be used to digging deep into their pockets for rare figures, but what about your average customer? Children desperate to complete their prized Skylanders or Moshi collections so resort to parent pester power? This is where eBay could become an issue, as there’s the danger that the toy industry could be seen as the bad guy. There’s also the concern over counterfeit products. While eBay does have procedures in place, these rely on rights owners reporting fakes or copyright infringements to them in the first instance. And there simply aren’t enough man hours for suppliers to be constantly online. But maybe our report will encourage many more to scour those listings.
Samantha Loveday ToyNews takes soundings from its Retail Advisory Board on toy industry issues. The current members are: RE RETAIL AD ADVISORY BOAR ARD
WELCOME
Stuart Grant, The Entertainer
Fiona Murray-Young, Toys R Us
www.toynews-online.biz
Andrea Abbis, Argos
Brian Simpson, Toytown
Tom Folliot, Sainsbury’s
Marc Dean, Morrisons
David Miller, Harrods
Steph Strike, Asda
Ian Edmunds, Toymaster
Ben Redhead, Firebox
Steven Bradley, Boots
Helen Gourley, Toy Hub
May 05
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