from the A
s ever, it has been a hectic Toy Fair season, but a thoroughly productive one. I walked for miles, talked for England, ate erratically, slept (very)
sporadically and now the dust is beginning to settle, I am in the process of wading through a mountain of follow-up emails and proposals. In short, it was everything I hoped it would be. I’ve seen some great new products, met some interesting new companies and we’re looking forward to sharing many of the developments we’ve come across with you over the coming months. I have always maintained that the UK Toy
Fair constitutes three of the most valuable days of the year for the whole Toy World team, and that was most certainly the case again this year. Taking up where Hong Kong left off, the mood was upbeat: even the NPD announcement that the UK toy market shrank by 1% last year didn’t derail the positivity. Perhaps this was because the November numbers had lead people to believe that the final figure would be further down than it eventually turned out to be? One visiting American business owner told me that the UK economy only came up in one conversation all week: it seems we’re finally focusing on the things we can control rather than the things we can’t. And the buzz-phrase of the week was “Promises are up,” which even manages to mix some smart self-deprecation in with the optimism (something the toy trade has always been adept at doing). This year’s Toy of the Year awards saw
deserved victories for Character Options, who won the overall ‘Toy of the Year’ for Teksta, and John Adams, who picked up ‘Supplier of the Year’. Bentalls was the slightly surprise choice
publisher John Baulch - @Baulchtweet
for the Toy Retailer of the Year award, proving that you don’t always have to be the biggest to be the best. Lego once again dominated the Construction Toys category (which may have to be renamed the Lego category if it carries on like this), while other winners included Mattel (Monster High), Zuru (RoboFish), VTech (Toot Toot Drivers), Flair (Doc McStuffins), Character Options (Chill Factor) and Hasbro (Monopoly Empire, Nerf and Furby Boom). Our feature on this year’s awards – including a list of all the winners – can be found on page 36. This edition also includes reviews of each of the major global toy shows: Hong Kong, London, Nuremberg and New York. If you didn’t manage to make it to any of the events, hopefully this issue will help to give you a flavour of what happened and flag up some of the things you may have missed. Product-wise, there were a number of old
favourites making a welcome return, and lots of ‘refreshed’ ideas, but when a blast from the past wins Toy of the Year, it offers concrete evidence that a great toy is always a great toy. The fact is that the past is full of great ideas to plunder. But that doesn’t mean there was no new innovation and fresh thinking. There is a whole new wave of augmented reality products and lines which interact with the online world which will thrill 21st Century, tech savvy kids (take a look at page 33 for one such line – Toys Talk’s Aremi, the Magic of Gaia). There were also a number of strong developments from companies which occupy a more traditional part of the toy market. In short, there really was plenty for everyone to get excited about over the coming months, no matter what part of the toy trade they operate in. This month we’re focusing on the Boys Collectables sector and the Outdoor Toys category: with Easter rapidly approaching, sales in both areas are poised to pick up over the coming weeks, and there is no shortage of new product in both categories to keep your retail offering fresh. In addition to our comprehensive product
guides, we’re also delighted to bring you a pull-out supplement devoted to one of the most popular new licensed properties to emerge over the past few years: Skylanders. The overwhelming success of the brand has proved conclusively that the digital world and the toy world can comfortably co-exist, despite the reservations of many seasoned veterans in both markets. We first highlighted the range in the second-ever issue of Toy World (October 2011). Following up a tip from our contributor Dan Salem, I visited Activision’s PR offices in Camden, where a brief demonstration literally blew me away. Within seconds, I was convinced it was going to be an enormous hit; someone had finally succeeded in developing a product which truly bridged the gaming and toy markets, taking advantage of the best that both worlds had to offer. The rest, as they say, is history: the phenomenal success of the core toy range has been well-documented - since its launch, the Skylanders series has grossed more than $2b worldwide, selling an astonishing 175m individual toys in the process. Think what a difference that would make to the size of the overall toy market if it was included in NPD’s numbers. Regardless of whether it is classified as a toy or a video game accessory, the fact is that millions of kids around the world feel exactly the same thrill when playing the game as I did when I first saw it. Inevitably, the success of the core toy range quickly lead to the implementation of an extensive licensed merchandise programme, and we are delighted to be able to share the latest developments for 2014 from the key Skylanders licensees in this exclusive supplement. We’ll be back next month with in-depth
features on the Games & Puzzles and Infant & Pre-school sectors, as well as all the latest news from around the toy market as 2014 really gets into gear. In the meantime, enjoy our round-up of Toy Fair season: I hope it was as successful for you as it was for Toy World.
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