OBSERVATIONS 0F A TOY INDUSTRY SURVIVOR Jon Salisbury
IT’S DIFFICULT to criticise the press for adding fuel to the fi re at the fi rst opportunity and joining the throng of critics who already have the toy industry in their sights for, once again, stifl ing demand for the latest hit toy - and it’s even easier when the culprit is the world’s largest creator of entertainment properties. The Daily Mail, of course, has had a fi eld day with corny headlines like ‘F
rozen black market heats up.’
the social status attached to being able to fi nd it.” So, the problem is not
going to be resolved until it’s resolved. Until licensees turn the tap back on, eBay will be the only winner and secondary market prices will keep on rising. Is Disney the real culprit for not correctly anticipating demand for licensed F
rozen
merchandise or did risk averse buyers adversely infl uence in-store and online orders?
Until Frozen licensees turn the tap back on, eBay will be the only winner and secondary market prices will keep on rising.
This time, it’s Disney
who are to blame for underestimating the beast that they unleashed and the story just keeps on growing in the telling. F
rozen has now become
Disney’s highest grossing movie of all time and the shortage of product has been truly global. People have not been
slow to also point the blame at retailers’ short- term memory having had a less than stellar sales experience with a previous Disney property in the shape of Brave. Experts have likened the phenomenon to the Cabbage Patch Kids craze in the 1980s and toy analyst Sean McGowan said: “We’re now at the stage where the demand is almost being driven by the scarcity because of
It’s not as though this kind of thing hasn’t happened before. It took an unknown
small Canadian outfi t in Thinkway Toys to sign on the dotted line for the original T
oy Story. Big
business in the shape of Disney and Mattel were very late on the scene to join that particular party. The fi rst movie to
introduce the world to the wonder of computer animation and the subject matter was toys that came to life. You couldn’t imagine a more ‘toyetic’ concept, surely? I wonder who dropped the ball with that licence? Perhaps the most
famous DIY solution to such a dilemma came about when Blue Peter showed you how to make your own Tracey Island
Jon Salisbury has written about the toy business since 1985, editing magazines and running toy media events in New Y He can be contacted at
jonsalisbury@icloud.com or @JonSalisbury
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News that Frozen toy demand is outstripping supply has our columnist remembering similar out-of-stock crazes
play-set in 1993. Anthea Turner demonstrated how assorted boxes; yoghurt pots and papier mache could solve matters. The marketing team
at Matchbox had brought the toy to market and I suggested that their purchase by the US company Tyco had deprioritised the importance of what was basically a UK only toy. ‘Thunderbirds are No’
was the tongue in cheek headline that I ran with and Tyco thought I was being a tad disrespectful and told me so in no uncertain terms.
to the F
This time, the solution rozen problem by
a reader of The Guardian was beautiful in its simplicity: ‘Simply buy a Barbie doll and put it in the freezer.’
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