from the I


’d like to start by wishing all of our


readers a Happy – and hopefully prosperous – New Year. I’m writing


this column between Christmas and New Year, thus proving that retailers aren’t the only ones working over the festive period. So how did festive toy sales finish up? Did the predicted last-minute surge materialise? Did that final extra trading day allow retailers to put a little gloss on what was widely reported to be a reasonable – if not exactly overwhelming – Christmas (“acceptable rather than exceptional” according to the BRC)? Unfortunately it’s still too early to give precise and accurate answers to those questions, but all should become clear by Toy Fair. One sector that shows little sign of struggling is online sales; according to Experian, Boxing Day set a new record for online shopping in the UK, whilst web sales were said to have increased by 30% across the Christmas period as a whole. Those figures cover the overall retail market, but I would be surprised if online toy sales didn’t follow the trend. By the time you read this, January will have dawned, which can only mean one thing for the whole global toy community: Toy Fair season is upon us once again. As ever, Toy World will be enthusiastically participating in the key toy shows in the UK and across the globe. It’s the perfect opportunity to view all the new products which are being released for the coming year, catch up with pretty much our entire customer base, swap opinion and gossip with people in the know, and generally start to get a handle on what to look out for in the coming year. One show has already been ticked off the list


– Hong Kong – with Toy Fair, Nuremberg and Spring Fair to follow over the next three weeks. It will be March before we know it (there’s nothing like a quiet start to the year, is there?). But I guess we wouldn’t have it any other way. Toy World will be exhibiting at Toy Fair again


publisher John Baulch - @Baulchtweet


this year. You can find us on Stand GH 61, so please drop in to say hello to the team at some point. It’s a modest stand, so please don’t all come at once, but you’ll be most welcome. Inevitably, a large section of this edition is


devoted to the Toy Fair; our comprehensive preview starts on page 115. We hope it provides you with plenty of food for thought; some new products that you weren’t aware of, perhaps a new supplier or two to add to your portfolio. Retailers, please feel free to mention Toy World if you are suitably inspired by something you see in this or indeed any other issue; judging by your comments, it seems that we’ve made a big difference to the trade press arena in the UK, but it doesn’t hurt if advertisers hear that from their customers occasionally. You will also find a comprehensive guide to the major character licences for 2013 on page 67 – we’ve called it ‘Hot Properties’, and it’s our attempt to distil all the key licences which will be driving the kids’ market in 2013 into a focused, manageable feature. So whether you’re a retailer deciding which properties to back, or a licensee looking to add to your portfolio, our 30-page round-up of the hottest brands around will certainly give you food for thought. In its Diamond Year, it’s great to see that


Toy Fair continues to grow, although despite an increase in the number of exhibitors, it remains a three-day event. With more than 230 exhibitors to get round over the course of the three days, it’s going to be a mammoth task, but the Toy World team will do its best to catch up with as many of you as time permits. If you’d like to make an appointment with any of the team, our email addresses are on the contents page. Next stop for Team Toy World is Nuremberg,


where the world’s largest Toy Fair awaits, along with tens of thousands of new toys (definitely), bracingly cold conditions (probably) and copious quantities of lager and sausages (possibly). Finally, we’ll be heading to Birmingham for the Spring Fair. Along with this


substantial issue, you will find a special pull-out supplement devoted to Spring Fair, highlighting some of the exciting new toy lines being unveiled at the show. Many of the mainstream toy companies don’t exhibit at the Spring Fair, but the event still represents a good opportunity for retailers who are looking for children’s products that offer a point of difference. It also provides a chance for toy suppliers to put themselves in front of retail buyers from alternative channels who would not necessarily attend more mainstream toy shows. As well as a veritable treasure trove of


information covering the forthcoming shows, there is plenty of additional compelling content within the following 228 pages, including an exclusive interview with Duncan Grant about The Entertainer’s overseas expansion plans, a Q&A with Shop Direct buyer Andrea Gornall, plus views from all corners of the trade about what lies ahead for 2013. And, of course, more new product than you can shake the proverbial stick at. I’d like to finish by saying a massive thank


you to the Toy World team for their hard work in pulling this massive issue together, and of course to all of our advertisers, whose fantastic support has enabled us to produce such a weighty January edition. We’re proud of the impact Toy World has made on the market in such a short time; to be the market leading toy title after only eighteen months is a wonderful position to be in, and we’re certainly aiming to continue to move forward in 2013. We’ll be back in the first week of March with an issue which will round-up our experiences from each of the Toy Fairs. In the meantime, log on to our website – www.toyworldmag.co.uk – for daily news updates over the whole of Toy Fair season. The popular ‘Baulch Blog’ will also be increasing in frequency over this period, so we can bring you the sort of information that rarely comes in the form of an official press release (regular readers will probably understand what I’m referring to...).


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