from the W
elcome to the first anniversary edition of Toy World. Yes, it really
has been a year since we unveiled the first edition of our new ‘baby’ to the world. It’s hard to avoid lapsing into cliché at this point; the past 12 months have indeed flown by, it has been a rollercoaster ride at times, but it was undoubtedly the best decision I ever made (and yes, I do wish I’d done it sooner- but hindsight is a wonderful thing). As I’m sure many of you are acutely aware, launching a brand new business is a huge challenge; we certainly knew it would involve a lot of hard work, long hours and determination. But without a shadow of doubt, all of the effort has been worth it in the end. One year on, Toy World is firmly established and we already have by far the largest advertising share of the three toy publications. Just as importantly, so many people have told us how much they’ve enjoyed our fresh approach, both in print and online. We always said that things needed shaking up, and I think it’s fair to say that we’ve managed to achieve that. On a personal level, I’ve enjoyed the past year immensely, and I’m looking forward to making sure that Toy World will enjoy many more successful years as the toy trade’s journal of record. None of this would have been possible without the support of my fantastic team, who all share my enthusiasm and passion for the world of toys. You can teach people to do a job, but you can’t teach them to care. Here at Toy World, we care. From day one, the support shown to
Toy World by the trade has been truly overwhelming, so I’d like to extend a huge thank you to our readers and especially our advertisers, for believing in us and trusting that we would deliver what we promised. And I promise that we will carry on delivering for a
publisher John Baulch - @Baulchtweet
long time to come. So what’s in store in this month’s first
anniversary issue? There’s an extensive round-up of the Games and Puzzles sector, timed to give retailers the lowdown on all the latest introductions as we move into the peak selling period for the category. Equally timely, there’s a special feature on toy companies’ TV advertising plans for Q4, and we also focus on Playground Crazes (just as kids are heading back to
school....see what we did there?) and the Radio Control market. Plus we bring you all the usual analysis and opinion from our panel of expert contributors, which is augmented this month by experienced toy retailer Brian Parrish, who has strong views about the way that some online sellers are conducting themselves, and the impact this has on toy retailers. As ever, we welcome feedback on this and all our articles. This month also sees the introduction of a
brand new regular feature, Talking Shop, in which our assistant editor Kayleigh Conway talks to a selection of the leading toy retail specialists about some of the issues affecting their business. Look out for more new features and exclusive content over the coming months – as we enter our second year of trading, I can assure you that we have no intention of resting on our laurels! On the subject of receiving feedback, the
story we recently ran online about Lego’s decision to offer its new Minifigures series as a one month exclusive to a single major retailer certainly attracted its fair share of comment. It seems that the specialist trade is, somewhat predictably, not best pleased. Of course, exclusives are very much part of the toy landscape these days; indeed, Lego has already used the tactic with both Lego City Miners and Star Wars ranges earlier this year. But somehow it feels like an unusual approach for a pocket money collectable range such as Minifigures. We did ask Lego on several occasions if they would like to offer any comment, but at the time of going to press, none was forthcoming.
Maybe they decided it was better to say nothing, so as not to exacerbate the situation, but nevertheless it is frustrating for us not to be able to report both sides of the story. Although August is traditionally a quiet time for many businesses in the UK, this year we had an enthralling, once-in-a-lifetime spectacle to keep us occupied; the London 2012 Olympics. After months of media coverage which seemed to focus mainly on how badly things were going to go wrong, the end result was a resounding triumph, both on and off the pitch (so to speak). The media turned from being harbingers of doom into purveyors of daily glad tidings, and for just over two weeks, Great Britain was a truly great place to be. Without doubt, the whole event uplifted the nations’ spirits; wherever you went the mood was positive and there was an overwhelming sense of camaraderie. It will be great if this ‘feel good factor’ continues to last a little while longer, as I believe it could have a significant effect on consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas. August also saw Phil Shayer step down from
his role as deputy MD of TOYS R Us UK after a sterling 28 years service, although I understand he will continue to be involved with the American arm of Toys R Us on a consultancy basis. The word ‘legend’ is bandied about far too frequently these days, but Phil is one of those people for whom that particular epithet is the perfect description. His product knowledge is said to be second-to-none, and he has always been a passionate advocate for Toys R Us and indeed the role of the specialist toy retailer. I’ll sign off now by wishing our editor Tom and his fiancée Joley all the best for their wedding in a few days time. We’ll be back next month with a jam-packed edition which will have a strong character licensing flavour; there will be a comprehensive preview of October’s Brand Licensing Show, and a separate feature highlighting some of the latest character licensed merchandise which licensees will be launching over the coming months.
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