Toy Fair New York 2022

TOY FAIR

NEW YORK 2022

February 19 through 22 Jacob Javits Convention Center

This time a year ago, we were all looking forward to an inperson Toy Fair that, because of COVID, had been moved from February to May. We held our collective breath and watched pandemic numbers fall and spike and fall and spike around the world until the Toy Association reluctantly canceled the event. Toy Fair Everywhere and other virtual marketplace events helped keep the market churning, but we all mourned the loss of toy industry togetherness.

2021’s cycle of anticipation and letdown has only increased the excitement for Toy Fair 2022. To discover what’s in store there this year, we turned to Kimberly Carcone, the Toy Association’s senior vice president of global market events, and Pamela Mastrota, executive director of the Toy Foundation. Robin Raskin, creator of Toy Fair’s new Welcome to the Metaverse educational programming track, offered insight on what the metaverse means to the toy industry.

Robin, why is “Welcome to the Metaverse” important? What will be the impact of the metaverse on toys and play, both short- and long-term?

Robin Raskin: Think of it this way: Web 1.0, or the early web, was about visiting websites to find information. Web 2.0 was about social media; letting you interact with each other and brands. Web 3.0 is about actually entering the web to play, socialize, and get educated. That means something like becoming an avatar and actually entering into new worlds.

The short term is about experimenting with the concept. The longer term is seamlessly blending the worlds together. This gives toy and game makers the opportunity to literally make a digital representation of their physical property. Your favorite plushy animal can become your avatar adorned with accessories. You’ll play with other friends in the metaverse dressed in your favorite makebelieve clothes. And with AR, you might use your virtual set of crayons to color the Empire State Building your way.

So the purpose of this programming is to get us all thinking about the ways toy brands can merge with AR/ VR and with an immersive web.

RR: Yes. And the possibilities are endless. We need the toy industry to understand and begin to dabble in this new world not only to increase revenue but also to foster connections with their audience. To do that, we’re bringing some of the best thought leaders to Toy Fair to give you a taste of what this looks like. It’s in the Toy Association’s DNA to lead the industry to new places.

We need to get used to the idea that kids will play with toys in their physical and virtual lives, and probably not see the difference we see as a different generation. They’ll be willing to outfit their avatars, buy sneakers and funny pieces of art, and decorate their virtual homes. Amazingly enough, sometimes they may be more willing to put dollars into this new world of virtual items than into their physical items.

It’s only the beginning of the metaverse and there’s a lot to figure out, but the idea is to think about the interactions toy brands want to have with their community in a new world.

How do you imagine retailers adapting to the metaverse?

RR: The first thing to figure out is what sort of relationship the retailer wants to have with its audience. Some apparel companies let kids dress their avatars. Others let them create their own fashions for avatars.

Toy brand Roblox, for instance,