ToyNews Issue 118 June 2011

Issue 118

The toy industry’s highest circulation trade title Exclusive media partner

FIRST LADIES Want to know what’s big for girls? Check out our guide

BOX OFFICE SMASHES A look at the major summer movies that will help shift toys

KICK OFF AT MV SPORTS Kickmaster treated to firm’s biggest ever marketing drive

THE HOME OF NO.1 TOYS

ENTER THE NINJAGO

We take a closer look at Lego’s new homegrown IP

June 2011

THE HOME OF NO.1 TOYS

Contents REGULARS 4

News

6

Exclusive NPD analysis

8

Media Tracker

10

TV ratings

12

Appointments

14

Campaign of the Month

LICENSING

Samantha Loveday Editor Samantha.loveday@intentmedia.co.uk

Katie Roberts Deputy Editor Katie.Roberts@intentmedia.co.uk

Lewis Tyler Staff Writer Lewis.Tyler@intentmedia.co.uk

Emily Briggs Sales Manager Emily.Briggs@intentmedia.co.uk

Suzanne Powles Production Manager Suzanne.Powles@intentmedia.co.uk

18

News

20

V&S’ Everything’s Rosie plans

Dan Bennett Design

22

Licensing International preview

Dan.Bennett@intentmedia.co.uk

24

Summer movies special Jon Salisbury Contributor jon@wotkidzwant.com

FEATURES 29

MV Sports talks Kickmaster

30

MGA’s year ahead

32

Brand Focus: Lego Ninjago

35

Fashion dolls

41

Girls sector special

Stuart Dinsey Publisher Stuart.Dinsey@intentmedia.co.uk

RETAIL 61

News

62

Counter Insurgent

62

Price Check

63

Retail Charts

64

New Products

65

Hero Product

Editorial: 01992 535646 Advertising: 01992 535647

Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations

AUDITED CIRCULATION: Average Net Circulation: 6,043 July 1st 2009 to June 30th 2010. www.toynews-online.biz ■ ToyNews circulation is 15.9% higher than its closest competitor.

■ ToyNews requested or paid for circulation is 23.4% higher than its closest competitor.

■ ToyNews has 100% named circulation and 0% duplication.

COMMENT POCKET ROCKETS

AS WE reach the half way point in 2011, there’s been some welcome news from NPD on how the toy industry has performed so far this year. Encouragingly, for the first three months of 2011, retail toy sales in the UK increased by four per cent in revenue.

But it’s not some big ticket items which have helped the market get off to a positive start.

Pocket money lines – ranging from £5 to £9.99 – including Lego Minifigures and Vivid’s Moshi Monsters collection are the primary cause of the growth.

Indeed, the sector has seen an 11 per cent increase in the first quarter, with NPD predicting this is a trend which will continue in the UK throughout the year.

2011 could well be the year of the collectable.

The pocket money sector is up 11 per cent so far.

The firm believes that general market growth in the first quarter would have been even greater were it not for the late Easter (sales will be accounted for in April this year, rather than March in 2010).

ToyNews did its own straw poll with several key execs for this issue on how 2011 is panning out so far, and again the reaction was positive.

Indeed, many said it was better than they had been expecting.

While toys is seemingly bucking the lacklustre trend which is affecting other markets, everyone we spoke to also knows that now is not the time to get complacent. But the signs are certainly good as we move into the second half.

Samantha Loveday Samantha.Loveday@intentmedia.co.uk

4

NEWS

Collectables help market growth, says NPD....

UK market up four per cent in first three months of 2011; Lego Ninjago is best new brand according to Retail Tracker

by Samantha Loveday A SURGE in sales of collectables has helped the UK toy market to four per cent growth in the first three months of this year, according to NPD. Industry analyst Frederique Tutt said that the collectables trend is likely to be bigger than ever in the UK this year, with star performers including Lego Minifigures, cards from Topps, Spin Master’s Zoobles, Squinkies from Character and Moshi Monsters from Vivid.

The £5 to £9.99 price point has seen the most dynamic growth with an 11 per cent increase in the first quarter. The best new brand in NPD’s Retail Tracker is currently Lego’s Ninjago, which, as well as having a toy line, is on tour and also on TV with a mini cartoon.

There is also a resurgence of packaging designed to add to the anticipation for children, as ‘blind

packs’ supersede traditional blister presentation, with NPD seeing this as an increasing trend.

“The collectables trend is likely to be bigger than ever in the UK this year and it is the kids who have the power to make or break a brand with their choice,” said Tutt. “The data

The collectables trend is likely to be bigger than ever.

Frederique Tutt, Industry Analyst indicates that Lego Ninjago has the potential to be a big winner.

“However, these first few months of the year are key to establishing new brands, as retailers don’t tend to give those that fail to impress a

Minifigures and Zoobles have helped boost the toy market, says Frederique Tutt, above...

second chance. We’re expecting the first four months of the year to confirm the very good start, with a

seven per cent increase on the same period for 2010.”

NPD: 01932 355580

...as industry agrees 2011 has started well INDUSTRY EXECS have told ToyNews that the year has begun well and, in some cases, business is slightly up – however, a note of caution was also sounded about not becoming complacent and continuing to push on with innovative product backed with strong marketing.

Most execs ToyNews spoke to said that 2011 had so far been slightly better than expected. “2011 has been a massive success to date, largely due to Moshi Monsters, Crayola and Animagic,” Neil Bandtock, MD at Vivid Imaginations, said. “We would be expecting strong double-digit growth for this year vs 2010 after such a strong start. Easter is always a welcome upward spike in demand and this year for us was better than normal; every piece of Moshi Monsters stock that we could deliver flew off the shelves.”

Judith Dayus, Great Gizmos MD, said that things had picked up well since the beginning of the year, with April being “surprisingly good”.

JUNE 2011

“With the right attitude and a strong focus, I think we could all have a cracking year,” she added.

Esdevium’s sales director, Steve Buckmaster, said 2011 has so far been roughly as the firm expected, with business on track with what it’s looking to achieve.

Mattel’s senior director of marketing, Erica Zubriski, said that the firm knew it had a strong line-up from January and this has played out.

As well as success with licensed partners, its own property Monster

With the right attitude and a strong focus, we could all have a cracking year.

Judith Dayus, MD, Great Gizmos High also started well, while the momentum behind Barbie continues to grow.

From left to right: Claire McCool, Neil Bandtock and Robert Mann...

“I don’t think anybody thinks this year is going to be easy,” she told ToyNews, “although we have seen a great start to the year and we are encouraged by the positive sales we are seeing on a lot of our core brand and licensed properties.

“We are confident that we have the tools to make this another great year, but you can never be complacent in this industry.”

Tomy CEO Robert Mann agreed that the market must not become complacent: “We must continue to aggressively support the market with

innovation, timely delivery and high energy media campaigns. If we can maintain this momentum, then we should see growth year on year.”

Benn Bramwell, marketing manager at Ravensburger, and Drumond Park’s marketing director, Claire McCool, also confirmed they had been enjoying high interest in their properties since the beginning of the year.

Ravensburger has seen a strong uplift in adult puzzles, while McCool reported “substantial” interest in all of its genres, including children’s, family and adult puzzles, magic and novelty.

04-05 TN118_final

27/5/11

17:44

Page 2

NEWS

www.toynews-online.biz

5

Mattel links Barbie with The Saturdays Barbie Fashionistas line set to be boosted by national promotion with the leading UK girl band...

by Katie Roberts BARBIE IS teaming up with girl band The Saturdays for a major national promotion.

The initiative will feature on-pack stickers on a number of Fashionistas products, which will direct fans to a dedicated promotional microsite.

Once on the site, girls will be given the opportunity to win ‘money can’t buy’ experiences with The Saturdays.

The promotion will culminate in an exclusive party with the girl band for the winners, which will include performances of the band’s hit singles.

VIP prizes will include chances to sing and dance with The Saturdays on stage or be dressed by their stylist.

Mattel created the fashionthemed partnership to reflect

Barbie’s link with The Saturdays reflects its ongoing relevance in the tween market...

Barbie’s ongoing cultural relevance in the tween market.

The company hopes the promotion will drive sales to accelerate the growth of the Barbie Fashionista range.

The on-pack promotion will appear on both the opening price point dolls and also the feature dolls – Barbie Fashionistas in the Spotlight – for maximum exposure across the Barbie Fashionistas Swappin’ Styles collection.

The campaign will be supported by a fully integrated marketing campaign including TV, online and PR activity.

Retailers can visit www.barbie.co.uk/thesaturdays for a chance to win exclusive prizes, including free stock.

Mattel: 01628 500000

Lego UK to rebuild Technic with new TV campaign

by Lewis Tyler TECHNIC’S FIRST TV campaign since 2001 will be concentrated in Q4, focusing solely on its hero product: the Supercar – a 1,281piece muscle-car model which will retail at around £100.

Ads will air on terrestrial and nonterrestrial stations alongside sponsorship on a major kids’ channels, while a partnership with Smyths will see Technic receive a push in-store.

Speaking to ToyNews, Harry Harrison, marketing executive for Technic and Racers, said: “Slowly but surely, Technic is coming back from

being a niche brand to the mainstream brand it once was.”

The brand’s consistent growth has persuaded Lego to invest in the campaign. Since 2005, Technic has charted year-on-year rises above Lego’s other IPs, and last year the brand recorded a 40 per cent increase on 2009.

Additionally, results of tester commercials last year revealed potential for further growth.

Harrison said: “We ran a light four-week TV campaign during weeks 44 to 47. We saw an uplift of over 300 per cent during the four weeks it was running. In the UK, the same four weeks saw a 150 per cent

increase, so I can confidently attribute at least half of the Irish growth to the TV campaign.

“We are excited to see how far these results can be replicated here in the UK.” In August, Lego will team up with Legoland, which will host Technic Challenge building competitions.

With this and the Smyths support, Harrison is confident the effort will convert into sales – such sampling has traditionally boosted figures throughout Q3 and Q4.

Apart from promotional competitions, Harrison believes Technic’s growth is largely down to research and development: “The toys get stronger and stronger as we learn more about the consumers and the product.”

Lego: 01753 495000

ADVERTISING ON TELLY DOESN’T HAVE TO COST A SMALL FORTUNE

6

NPD RESEARCH

Retail Sales Trends

Properties

Late Easter hits, but year so far still strong THE MOVEMENT of the Easter holidays has had an impact on March sales, which were down two per cent for the month. However, the overall market year-to-date in March was still in growth, up four per cent in value.

Prices continued to rise, with the £5-£10 price point the fastest growing segment, up ten per cent year to date, bringing the overall average price for January to March up to £5.81. Some of the increase could be a result of the VAT rise at the start of the year.

The dolls category performed strongly for the first three months of 2011, with fashion-themed dolls especially strong in March, up 27 per cent. Barbie remained the top property for dolls despite Disney Princess Rapunzel (Tangled) moving up to be the number two property in fashion dolls and the continued strength of Sylvanian Families – the number two property across total dolls. The Disney Featuring Rapunzel doll was the top selling doll item in the category for March, while Monster High Assortment was at number six.

The launch of Vivid’s Justin Bieber dolls also helped the fashion dolls category growth in March, while the new play-set themed dolls properties, including Zoobles, Moshi Monsters and Squinkies, drove that segment of the category. Moshling Monsters were the number two bestselling item in dolls for the month of March.

For boys, building sets remained the strongest performing category with growth sustained over the last two years. Unit growth in March was a significant 40 per cent, although value was up only three per cent as both Lego and Mega Brands drove volume through pocket money collectables – Lego Minifigures and Halo Wars Hero Assortments. The new Lego Ninjago range also continued to perform strongly.

Sales

Average price

UK toy sales (value, year to date)

March 2010

Source: NPD

JUNE 2011

March 2011

4%

Top 5 properties March 2011 1. TOY STORY 2. STAR WARS 3. LEGO CITY 4. BEN 10 5. THOMAS & FRIENDS

Best property progression March 2011

MATCH ATTAX Topps’ popular football cards moved up from 64 in February to 35 in March…

New ranges for both boys and girls are appealing to the collectors, where there’s opportunity to complete the set. This encourages repeat purchasing of the brand and drives ongoing sales.

Jez Fraser-Hook, NPD

March 10: £5.38

“New ranges for both boys and girls are appealing to the collectors, where there’s opportunity to complete the set. This encourages repeat purchasing of the brand and drives ongoing sales,” says Jez Fraser-Hook, director of NPD Group’s toy business in the UK. “These collectable ranges have a range of price points from pocket money to higher priced gift items which should cover almost all occasions,” he added.

March 11: £5.81

Best Item Progression March 2011

Twist and Roll Scooter Assortment (Mondo) The scooter shot up the charts from 181 right up to 37…

NPD RESEARCH

www.toynews-online.biz

Retail Sales Trends UK MARCH 2011 (£ SALES - VALUE)

UK MARCH 2011 (UNIT SALES - VOLUME)

1

MINIFIGURES

2

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

3

STAR WARS 2011 TROOPER BATTLEPACK

4

BEYBLADES BATTLE TOP ASSORTMENT

5

NINJAGO SPINNER WAVE 1

6

KIDIZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

7

DISNEY FEATURING RAPUNZEL

8

LITTLE TIKES COZY COUPE 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

9

NERF BARRICADE MREV-10

10

BAKUGAN STARTER PACK

LEGO

1

MINIFIGURES

BANDAI

2

MATCH ATTAX 2010/2011 PACKETS

LEGO

3

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

HASBRO

4

MOSHI MONSTERS MASH UP TCG

MINIFIGURES

2

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

3

NINJAGO SPINNER WAVE 1

4

KIDIZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

5

STAR WARS 2011 TROOPER BATTLEPACK

6

BEYBLADES BATTLE TOP ASSORTMENT

7

ZHUZHU HAMSTER PACKS ASSORTMENT

8

DISNEY FEATURING RAPUNZEL

9

BAKUGAN STARTER PACK

10

NERF BARRICADE MREV-10

MATTEL TOPPS

LEGO

5

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

VTECH

6

CRAYOLA SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12

MATTEL

7

CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

MGA

8

MATCHBOX 1:75 MINATURES ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

HASBRO

9

PLAY DOH SINGLE TUB ASSORTMENT

10

HALO WARS HERO ASSORTMENT

SPIN MASTER

UK YEAR TO DATE (£ SALES - VALUE) 1

LEGO TOPPS

BANDAI VIVID

HASBRO MEGA BRANDS

UK YEAR TO DATE (UNIT SALES - VOLUME) LEGO

1

MATCH ATTAX 2010/2011 PACKETS

BANDAI

2

MINIFIGURES

LEGO

3

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

VTECH

4

MOSHI MONSTERS MASH UP TCG

TOPPS LEGO MATTEL TOPPS

LEGO

5

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

BANDAI

HASBRO

6

CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

CHARACTER

7

PLAY-DOH SINGLE TUB ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

8

CRAYOLA SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12

VIVID

SPIN MASTER

9

HALO WARS HERO ASSORTMENT

MEGA BRANDS

10

MATCHBOX 1:75 MINATURES ASSORTMENT

HASBRO

HASBRO

MATTEL

NOTES: All participating NPD retail data suppliers provide weekly data via EPOS systems. NPD figures are not projected to represent non-participating retailers but provide 100 per cent of the sales from participating stores. EPoS sample includes the following retailers: Amazon, Argos, Asda, Boots, ELC, Firebox, Freemans, Grattan, Hamleys, HMV, Halfords Littlewoods, Mailorderexpress, Modelzone, Mothercare, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Shop Direct, Tesco, Toymaster, The Entertainer and WHSmith. The approximate coverage is of 60%

NPD Eurotoys is the Number 1 information provider for Market Research to the Toy Industry in Europe Contact: NPD Eurotoys UK, Rosemount House, Rosemount Avenue West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 6LB. _ 01 932 355 580

7

8

STATS

Media tracker LICENCES VALUE % SHARE BY SUPERCATEGORY

Behind THE SCREEN

By Clive Crouch I OFTEN hear that one of the many challenges facing the toy industry is the fact that children are getting older younger. This lifestyle change is more prevalent in girls than boys. 20 years ago, childhood meant becoming an adult gradually. These days children are maturing earlier, thereby experiencing a lack of childhood years. This industry has a dependency on regulation, which provides a benefit to ensure that every aspect of toy products are compliant. This in turn provides safety, protection, copyright and much more. Meanwhile, surrounding the parents who purchase these products and the children who play with them, is the internet, a communication platform that becomes more powerful by the day, yet remains free of any regulation.

We tend to rely on legislation to protect users of products – as demonstrated by the rules on high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS). Tony Blair, when in office as Prime Minister, was under pressure to address child obesity and sent Tessa Jowell from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, on a mission to Ofcom, with a three line whip to ban any products with HFSS from appearing in television advertisements that may influence their viewers to consume these products.

After two years of consultation, the net result removed £300m worth of advertising from appearing in children’s programmes and beyond.

This was obviously seen as a far more demonstrable action than addressing the issues of children’s diet and parental responsibility for their children’s diet.

Earlier this year Panorama played out for the second time, a documentary called Too Much Too Young. This addressed the behaviour of children ageing from an even younger age, effectively from either

JUNE 2011

11 or even nine years old. Children do like to imitate adults. The documentary showed a portfolio of viewing where young girls were exposed to WAGS and phony Big Brother celebrities as role models.

Add to this music videos with provocative dancing and the bump and grind of commercials for clothing to look like Cheryl Cole from the age of ten. 20 years ago girls of this age may well have been playing with Sindy as well as Barbie, but in today’s world of sexualised images their ‘want’ list is more likely to start with fashion of a provocative nature.

Children who are viewing adult images from the age of ten upwards are certainly impressionable.

Panorama’s presenter did highlight that the Scottish Parliament has already commenced an investigation into the effect of this lifestyle and added that the Government was also currently looking at the position. To this end, I have also heard soundings that regulation may be afoot on these matters. In a snapshot it would appear to be a large area to capture with a new regulatory code covering retail and broadcasting, but I think a campaign to give children back their childhood and allow development into adult years to be more gradual would gain a lot of moral support.

Given the example I mentioned earlier we should not underestimate the appropriate regulator’s desire to implement change. Any wave of publicity and lifestyle that would follow such regulation and meant children staying in younger mode longer would undoubtedly have a benefit for the toy industry. Let’s hope this becomes public sooner rather than later.

www.clivecrouch.com info@clivecrouch.com 07831 670453

YTD 2010

YTD 2011

TOTAL MARKET

26.3

26.8

ACTION FIGURES & ACC.

61.1

67.7

ARTS & CRAFTS

10.1

10.2

BUILDING SETS

32.3

28.8

DOLLS

33.8

34.5

GAMES/PUZZLES

22.3

23.0

INFANT/PRE-SCHOOL

22.4

24.0

YOUTH ELECTRONICS

27.1

45.2

OUTDOOR & SPORTS TOYS

11.4

9.7

PLUSH

32.7

32.5

VEHICLES

21.7

21.8

ALL OTHER TOYS

28.8

33.4

In 2010 licences struggled, with sales growth slower than non-licensed products, but so far in 2011 revenues are growing by six per cent, ahead of nonlicensed growth of only three per cent.

Action figures remains the most heavily licensed super category, but youth electronics has seen the biggest rise in licences, driven mainly by the high priced Toy Story items within the category.

SOURCE: NPD

MARKET VALUE YEAR TO DATE (MARCH)

2010

2011

£180M

£120M

£60M

£153.5M

£0

£148.3M

SOURCE: NPD

STATS

www.toynews-online.biz

9

TV insight from former GMTV veteran, Clive Crouch; toy market value; top licensed toys and comparative market data on all manner of entertainment products….

TOP LICENCES YTD MARCH 2011 (VALUE) RANK # TOY STORY

1

STAR WARS

2

BEN 10

3

THOMAS AND FRIENDS

4

DISNEY PRINCESS

5

PEPPA PIG

6

HELLO KITTY & FRIENDS

TOP LICENCES YTD MARCH 2011 (VOLUME)

Toy Story remains the top selling licence with a wide range of products across many categories keeping sales strong. Hello Kitty has moved up the rankings, while the TV show Metal Fusion has helped Beyblade licensed products to perform well so far this year.

RANK # TOY STORY

1

DISNEY PRINCESS

2

STAR WARS

3

BEN 10

4

MOSHI MONSTERS

5

THOMAS AND FRIENDS

6

7

PEPPA PIG

7

SYLVANIAN FAMILIES

8

DISNEY ALL OTHER

8

FIREMAN SAM

9

HELLO KITTY & FRIENDS

9

BEYBLADE

10

CARS THE MOVIE

In units Moshi Monsters has performed well with the trading cards, Moshling figures and plush items all adding to sales.

10

SOURCE:NPD

SOURCE:NPD

CHILDRENS BOOKS (MAY 10TH 2011)

TOP 10 GAMES (WEEK ENDING APRIL 9TH 2011)

1

HARRY POTTER BOXED SET

BLOOMSBURY

1

ZUMBA FITNESS

2

BEATRIX POTTER THE COMPLETE TALES

WARNE

2

PORTAL 2

3

WHERE’S SPOT?

WARNE

3

MORTAL KOMBAT

4

HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE

BLOOMSBURY

4

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS

ACTIVISION

5

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

BLOOMSBURY

5

LEGO STAR WARS III: THE CLONE WARS

LUCASARTS

6

STAR WARS: FATE OF THE JEDI: CONVICTION

CENTURY

6

FIFA 11

7

DR SEUSS: OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO

HARPERCOLLINS

7

OPERATION FLASHPOINT: RED RIVER

8

DR SEUSS: THE CAT IN THE HAT

HARPERCOLLINS

8

WII FIT PLUS

NINTENDO

9

IN THE NIGHT GARDEN: LITTLE LIBRARY

BBC CHILDRENS BOOKS

9

POKEMON: BLACK VERSION

NINTENDO

10 WINNIE THE POOH: COMPL COL OF STORIES & POEMS METHUEN

10

JUST DANCE 2

SOURCE: AMAZON, CHILDREN’S BOOKS, CHARACTERS & SERIES

SOURCE: GFK CHART TRACK

505 GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE

ELECTRONIC ARTS CODEMASTERS

UBISOFT

JUNE 2011

10

AIRTIME STATISTICS

Top programmes The top-performing children’s TV shows on terrestrial and multi-channel....

SHOWS ACROSS ALL TIMES APRIL 11

SHOWS ACROSS ALL TIMES YTD APRIL 11

CHANNEL

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

OOOs

AIRINGS

CBBC

MYSARAHJANE:ATRIBUTETOELISABETHS 3.34

14

284

1

1

2 CBBC

LEAGUE OF SUPER EVIL

3 CBBC

ROAR

2.46

23

209

1

2 CBBC

COP SCHOOL

2.53

11

215

8

2.13

14

181

6

3 CBBC

SCHOOL OF SILENCE

2.17

11

184

8

4 CBEEBIES LAZYTOWN EXTRA

1.87

10

159

1

4 CBBC

TRACY BEAKER RETURNS

2.03

13

172

108

5 CBBC

1.85

10

157

2

5 CBBC

TRADE YOUR WAY TO THE USA

1.96

11

166

10

1.79

10

152

3

6 CBEEBIES GARTH AND BEV

1.91

9

162

2

1

TVR

PIXELFACE

6 CBEEBIES PINKY DINKY DOO

%

7 CBBC

DANI'S HOUSE

1.72

12

146

26

8 CBBC

THE SLAMMER

1.66

12

141

5

9 CBEEBIES GRANDPA IN MY POCKET

1.66

10

141

10 CBBC

1.65

8

140

PROJECT PARENT

1

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

TVR

%

14

AIRINGS

284

1

8

162

5

156

138

24

9 CBBC

SADIE J

1.83

10

155

33

2

10 CBBC

THE SPARTICLE MYSTERY

1.81

10

154

26

COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL SHOWS (ALL TIMES) YTD APRIL 11

OOOs

AIRINGS

CHANNEL

112

6

1

2 CITV/ITV HANNAH MONTANA

1.26

8

106

5

3 CITV

1.14

7

97

1

4 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY

1.12

12

95

5

5 CITV BKFST POKEMON: DIAMOND & PEARL

0.78

6

67

17

6 CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

0.80

6

67

4

7 CITV BKFST POKEMON BATTLE DIMENSION

0.67

5

57

17

8 CITV BKFST HERO 108

0.66

5

56

20

9 CITV/ITV THE COOL STUFF COLLECTIVE

0.64

7

55

MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM 0.63

4

54

JUNE 2011

MYSARAHJANE:ATRIBUTETOELISABETHS 3.34

OOOs

9

9

SOURCE: INFOSYS/BARB.

CBBC

%

1.84

1.33

10 CN

TVR

8 CBEEBIES GRANDPA IN MY POCKET

CITV/ITV PHINEAS AND FERB FILM: POKEMON: THE RISE OF DARKRAI

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

7 DISNEY CH SUITE LIFE ON DECK: BREAK UP IN PARIS 1.91

COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL SHOWS (ALL TIMES) APRIL 11 CHANNEL

CHANNEL

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

CITV/ITV PHINEAS AND FERB

TVR

%

OOOs

AIRINGS

1.33

9

112

6

2 CITV/ITV HANNAH MONTANA

1.15

7

98

17

3 CITV

1.14

7

97

1

4 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY

0.93

10

79

24

5 CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

0.93

8

78

15

6 CITV BKFST POKEMON: DIAMOND & PEARL

0.84

6

71

51

7 CITV

POKEMON:ZOROARK-MASTEROFILLUSIONS 0.83

5

71

1

8 CITV

WOLVES WITCHES AND GIANTS

0.81

5

69

105

9

9 CITV

HORRID HENRY

0.79

6

67

582

2

10 CITV BKFST POKEMON BATTLE DIMENSION

0.67

5

57

17

FILM: POKEMON: THE RISE OF DARKRAI

NOTE: THESE CHARTS ARE BASED ON AVERAGE PERFORMANCE

70

TOY CAMPAIGNS ON OUR NETWORKS CAN BE ACHIEVED FOR LESS THAN YOU THINK AND LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT SALES UPLIFTS.* Whatever size your brand and budget, there’s a place for you on our channels.

Find out more at www.turnermediainnovations.com/toynews Or call our Sales Director, Andrew Mallandaine, on 0207 693 1143 *Source: Data2Decisions TMI Effectiveness Project 2006 -2011

12

APPOINTMENTS

INDUSTRY MOVES John Crane names new Major Account Executive, Steve Hogg shuts up shop and launches consultancy, Clive Crouch joins Lisle International Licensing, Hasbro Global Brand Licensing and Publishing expands team, Moshi Monsters heads to US… FROM LEFT: Steph Rowe, Hayley Maguire, Clive Crouch

STEPH ROWE has joined John Crane as major account executive from a previous role at Letterbox, where she was head buyer and worked on catalogue production and website development.

The new recruit will be managing the firm’s major independent and internet accounts.

Managing director Jon Thorpe, commented: “Coming from a buying background, Steph was the ideal choice to manage our key internet and independent accounts.

“She will already be familiar with their business model and day to day issues they face as well as having an in depth knowledge of the market and competition too.”

Steve Hogg, the former Hoggosaurus Toymaster shop owner, has closed his retail outlets and launched a consultancy company for the toy trade.

Hogg said he will target small to medium-sized companies in need of an experienced advisor, but which can’t employ a full time manager.

Hogg ran his own chain of Toymaster shops for 20 years and before that held senior management positions at Early Learning Centre and Zodiac Toys. He has been a member of the Toymaster selection committee for the past 15 years.

Nick Joslin has resigned as managing director of Re:creation.

Joslin tendered his resignation in April, stating personal reasons for his departure. He founded Re:creation 12 years ago.

Joslin paid tribute to the efforts of his team in a statement.

Clive Crouch, former chief operations director of GMTV, has joined Lisle International Licensing.

Crouch brings a wealth of broadcast and other media experience.

Crouch, who writes a monthly comment for ToyNews, will also continue his consultancy work with the Media Insights Agency that he founded after leaving GMTV. Founder, Colin Lisle commented: “We are delighted to have Clive on board as one of our partners.

His media expertise, especially in the broadcast sector, together with the contacts and relationships he has forged in the industry will be a huge benefit to Lisle and the properties we represent.”

Former Chorion exec Eric Karp is to head up Moshi Monsters licensing for the Americas.

The growth of the Moshi Monsters brand is continuing, with Mind Candy setting up a US base, headed up by former Chorion, MGM and Fox exec Eric Karp.

Karp has been charged with developing the newly formed Americas Licensing division, which is based in New York.

He will report in to Darran Garnham, Mind Candy’s head of global licensing, and will be developing, expanding and rolling out a licensing programme for Moshi Monsters in the territory, as well as building up the US team.

Karp has some 16 years experience in children’s licensing. Most recently he was head of global licensing for

Massiverse and transmedia boy’s action property, Dragons Vs Robots.

He has also held senior roles at Chorion, MGM Studios, Copyrights and Saban/Fox Family Worldwide.

“I’m hugely excited about the opportunity to work on a children’s brand as hot as Moshi Monsters,” Karp commented. “We’ve only scratched the surface on its potential, so I’m thrilled to begin the heavy lifting and bring Darran’s global vision to life for kids in this hemisphere. We have some big surprises up our sleeves.”

Hasbro Global Brand Licensing and Publishing has added to its team with the recruitment of Hayley Maguire as head of design and development for Europe.

Maguire has 15 years experience in product development and joins from Disney, where she worked on European infant and UK licensing.

The new recruit will work with Hasbro’s creative department to improve product development within the firm’s overall European strategy.

14

CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH

Bop-It XT Hasbro The latest incarnation of Bop-It, Bop-It XT, will be launched with TV coverage, promotional nights in universities, viral and blogging campaigns and instore support...

BOP-IT WAS something of a global phenomenon when it launched back in 2009, with Hasbro saying that it took the number one electronic game spot for the year – and now it has been updated to make it even better than ever.

The all-new version – Bop-It XT – features a ‘Shake It’ command, which joins play modes including Single Player, Pass It, One on One and Party. There are also four levels of play, while a headphone jack is included in the unit to allow kids to fine tune their skills quietly, or to hook up to speakers for group play.

The campaign for Bop-It XT will roll out this autumn, focusing on getting consumers to tell them where they ‘shake their Bop-it’.

TV Over 500 TVRs are planned during the campaign, which is 20 per cent more than the 2009 launch for the original Bop It. Promotional activity On top of this, ‘Bop-Off’ promo nights will be running in universities across the UK, while there will be PR stunts and launch activity to generate national media coverage.

JUNE 2011

Online Viral and blogging campaigns are running, delivering five million impressions. In addition, an online Bop-It demo is available on Facebook, targeting over 150,000 fans.

In-store Hasbro will have a number of Bop-It free standing display units and point-of-sale available to support the launch in-store.

The UK’s only dedicated monthly licensing coverage

News • Media • Opinion

THIS MONTH

News Summer at the movies Pages 24-27 Pages 18-19

A Rosie future

Big in Vegas

Page 20

Page 22

There’s a bumper crop of sequels, plus a potential new franchise and the culmination of an existing one to look forward to. Plus, there’s plenty of toy product due, too...

One year on from its Cbeebies debut, V&S’ Everything’s Rosie is airing in 150 countries.

We ask what’s next...

Licensing International returns to the Mandalay Bay for the third year. We take a look at what visitors can expect...

Vivid to launch One Direction dolls, Tomy plans Winnie the Pooh line, Coolabi appoints Golden Bear...

18

LICENSINGNEWS

IN BRIEF

Vivid bags One Direction deal

BLE 2011 REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Global Merchandising Services signs up toy company as licensee for X Factor boy band

Advanstar is aiming to build further on the record breaking success of last year’s Brand Licensing Europe, which welcomed 5,634 visitors through the doors of Olympia. The 2011 show will run from October 18th to 20th in the London venue’s Grand Hall, with free admission available up to October 17th, after which it will cost £15. Visit the official website for further details. www.brandlicensing.eu

by Katie Roberts

VOGUE ADDS MINNIE MOUSE Housewares specialist Vogue International is launching a range of new products featuring Minnie Mouse. There are eight items in the collection, including a Drawstring Tidy, Snack Pot, LED Torch, Pop-up Room Tidy and Glitter Dome Bubble Glass. Prices start at £1.99.

Vogue: 01865 340500

DUO SIGN UP FOR WORMS Worms brand owner Team 17 has confirmed that the licensing programme for the classic video games brand is now up and running, with two partners on board so far.

Gaya Entertainment and IGS Corporation will roll out initial items including large plush and squeezies, through to beanies, key rings and ceramic mugs. Additional deals are due to be revealed shortly covering further plush, plus toy and collectable product categories.

AT New Media: 0845 363 7192

WORLDS APART ADDS ME TO YOU Carte Blanche Greetings has signed up Worlds Apart to help expand the popular Me to You brand in the toy sector. Lucy Wynn Jones, head of licensing at the toy company, explained: “The demand for Me to You gift merchandise from younger girls is already huge – by actively marketing and creating a new range of collectable toys and play-sets we are simply satisfying the demand that’s already there. We could not be more excited about working with Carte Blanche on this opportunity.”

Worlds Apart: 0800 389 8591

BULLDOG PICKS UP BUILDA-BEAR The licensing programme for the Build-A-Bear Workshop is gathering pace, with Bulldog on board to manage the drive in the UK. Wild Pumpkin has also been hired to look after Australia and New Zealand. In addition, Playmates Toys will be developing a line of mini figures and play-sets, due for launch in 2012.

Bulldog: 020 8325 5455

JUNE 2011

FOLLOWING THEIR appearance at the X Factor arena tour around the UK this spring, Vivid is planning to immortalise One Direction as collector dolls in time for Christmas.

The Vivid team is working towards a Q4 retail launch and is already projecting sales in excess of 250,000 units in the first year.

The One Direction dolls add to Vivid’s existing catalogue of licensed dolls, which includes Justin Bieber, JLS and Take That.

“We know that One Direction are without doubt the next big thing on the UK boy-band scene and we know their audience is young enough to convert to strong doll sales,” commented Emma Weber, licensing and marketing director at Vivid.

“Our belief is that the band could scale the dizzy heights of success enjoyed by Take That over 20 years ago and we’ll be doing everything in our power to secure stock availability for the upcoming Christmas season as this represents a fantastic opportunity for our retailers to claw-back tween

sales revenue that is often lost to other categories.”

Vicky Kostura from RMI, which manages Global’s licensing campaigns, added: “We are delighted to have Vivid on board as our doll and accessories licensee for One

Direction as they have such a strong track record of success in this area.

“We believe the band will reach a wide audience with the dolls this Christmas and plan to extend with a full merchandise plan in 2012.”

Vivid: 01483 449944

Tomy readies Winnie the Pooh infant line DCP hires firm to launch nursery, infant and pre-school toys for the evergreen brand...

by Samantha Loveday TOMY IS expanding its presence in the nursery and pre-school sector, lining up a new line of products featuring Disney’s Winnie the Pooh.

The range will be aimed at children from birth to three years old and will begin to roll out from January 2012. It will include 16 new products from core nursery lines such as rattles and lightshows, through to playsets and feature plush.

Tomy is planning a major marketing campaign to support the products, including national TV advertising.

The line will launch across Europe, in

the UK, France, Germany, Benelux and emerging markets.

“Disney is delighted to collaborate with Tomy who hold a global track record for creating compelling play features,” said Edward Catchpole, SVP, toys and stationery, The Walt Disney Company EMEA. “We look forward to working with Tomy to develop and market this range of Winnie the Pooh products that are expected to truly capture the essence of the brand and connect with our core customers.”

Robert Mann, chief executive of Tomy Europe, added: “Tomy is one of the most trusted brands for parents in the nursery and pre-school market, and Winnie the Pooh fits perfectly with our existing nursery and pre-school portfolio.”

Tomy: 020 8722 7300

LICENSINGNEWS

www.licensing.biz

19

eOne takes bold steps into the US IN BRIEF New VP of licensing on board as firm looks to ramp up strategy in the territory...

TANGLED AND TOY STORY STAR IN DISNEY’S Q2

by Samantha Loveday

The Walt Disney Company’s consumer products division reported an increase of five per cent on revenues for the quarter ending April 2nd, up to $626 million.

Segment operating income increased seven per cent to $142 million – improvements at the Disney Store North America and strong sales of Tangled, Toy Story and Cars merchandise all helped growth. The company as a whole reported revenues of $19.8 billion for the six months ending April 2nd, an increase of eight per cent on the previous year.

DCP: 020 8222 1000

WITH PEPPA Pig now airing on Nickelodeon in the territory, Entertainment One is looking to significantly ramp up its presence in the US, creating a base in the region to drive the licensing strategy for the brand forward.

Based in LA, Jennifer Bennett has come on board as VP of licensing and merchandise for North America.

As well as Peppa Pig, Bennett will spearhead the US licensing programmes for other eOne properties from the TV, film and music divisions.

Reporting to head of licensing, Andrew Carley, Bennett will be responsible for managing business

plans, budgets and revenue goals.

These will be integrated into eOne’s wide business objectives for both Peppa Pig and the firm’s other brands.

“We’re delighted to welcome Jennifer on board,” commented Carley. “She brings 15 years of brand management experience and valuable relationships with licensees and retailers across the States that will be crucial to the North American expansion of both Peppa Pig and eOne’s other properties.

“Having a dedicated person on the ground is integral to our plans to establish eOne as a major player in North America.”

Previous to joining eOne, Bennett held roles as vice president of licensing and brand development for CCI Entertainment and vice president of merchandising and licensing at Alliance Atlantis. eOne: 020 7907 3797

Golden Bear in for Poppy Cat Cartoonito targets EMEA

COOLABI HAS appointed Golden Bear as the master toy partner for its Poppy Cat property.

The company will be launching its toy range in the UK and Ireland from autumn 2012. The line will include plush, plastics and arts and crafts.

The toy partner is a key piece of Coolabi’s licensing programme, which already boasts TV tie-in publishing, magazines, nightwear and underwear and games and puzzles.

“I am really pleased that Golden Bear is our master toy partner for Poppy Cat,” said Anna Hewitt, head

of licensing at Coolabi. “Their enormous experience and success in pre-school makes them the perfect fit for the brand and we look forward to working with the whole team.”

Christine Nicholls, product and marketing director at Golden Bear, added: “We are delighted to have been appointed as master toy licensee for this exciting new preschool property. Our company is looking forward to working with Coolabi on the Poppy Cat range, which will launch a range of exciting and innovative products in autumn/winter 2012.”

Coolabi: 020 7258 7080

TURNER BROADCASTING is to roll out its UK pre-school channel Cartoonito across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The move will increase the channel’s distribution to 125 million homes in 112 territories. The roll out will begin in September, with Cartoonito launching across a number of EMEA territories as a branded block on Boomerang.

In Turkey and the Middle East, the Cartoonito block will be broadcast on Cartoon Network.

Turner has also picked up the new series of Bananas in Pyjamas as one of its flagship debut shows, as well as 3D animation Jelly Jamm.

Turner: 020 7693 1000

TOY REVENUES UP AT WWE WWE’s partnership with Mattel is continuing to go from strength to strength, with revenues from toys increasing by approximately $3 million in the firm’s Q1 results.

Revenues from WWE’s consumer products businesses increased by 13 per cent to $34.8 million for the first quarter ending March 31st, with the licensing and home video sectors contributing much of the growth. Licensing revenues stood at $23.9 million, while home video reached $8.1 million.

WWE: 020 7349 1740

MEGA JOINS POWER RANGERS LINE-UP Mega Brands has partnered with Saban Brands for a multi-year global licensing deal, excluding Asia. The new toy collection will be based around the latest series – Power Rangers Samurai.

The Mega Bloks Power Rangers Samurai construction toy sets will launch in spring 2012, and will include vehicles and play-sets.

Vic Bertrand, chief innovation officer of Mega Brands, commented: “We're excited to be partnering with Saban Brands and build on the immense success of the Power Rangers franchise.”

Mega Brands: 01844 350033

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JUNE 2011

20

LICENSING V&S’ ROSIE PLANS

A whole lotta Rosie

One year on from its CBeebies debut, V&S Entertainment’s Everything’s Rosie airs in 150 countries and has a complete toy range on the way. So what next for the new pre-school hit? Samantha Loveday reports...

THE EPONYMOUS star of Everything’s Rosie is the brainchild of V&S Entertainment MD, Vickie Corner, and was actually in development for nine years before going into production for the BBC. The show was first broadcast on Cbeebies in May 2010, immediately proving a hit with audiences – peaking with a 25 per cent share on the channel in December 2010. The second series was delivered in May and will be airing shortly.

In terms of licensing, the brand is beginning to make its mark, too. Over 20 partners are on board in the UK, with Vivid leading the pack as master toy, supported by Jumbo and Worlds Apart, as well as a range of firms from other categories including Blues, Zap, Zeon, Redan and Pedigree.

Initial product begins to hit shelves from July, with second tier categories such as outdoor toys, electronic learning, wooden toys, creative play, new media, toiletries and dress–up in discussion.

JUNE 2011

“The reaction from buyers has been fantastic; initial listings are incredibly strong across all retailers,” says Julie Quirke, director of licensing at V&S. “It is evident that buyers have recognised there is a gap in the market for a new girls property and

“Central to Rosie’s success are the. extraordinary production values evident on screen, that set a new quality benchmark in the pre–school market,” Quirke continues.

“The storylines are funny and engaging, and appeal to a wide age range, underlining that Rosie is truly

The initial reaction has been fantastic. It is evident that buyers have recognised there is a gap in the market for a new girls property and Rosie is the brand to fill it.

Julie Quirke, Director of Licensing, V&S that Rosie is the brand to fill it. The fact that Rosie will have been on the air for over a year at the time products launch is a further comfort factor that underlines the huge consumer base waiting for Rosie merchandise.”

Rosie’s global broadcast footprint is also growing. The first series now airs in 150 countries, with new deals with major broadcasters in key markets being announced in the coming months in France, Italy, Portugal and Eastern Europe, while a deal in the US is imminent.

In merchandise terms, products will roll out across key markets in the next 12 to 18 months, starting in Spain – where Everything’s Rosie has an audience share of 64 per cent in the four to six year–old age group – and extending through Europe to Italy, Portugal, France, Scandinavia and then the US.

a family viewing experience. One of the key factors is that Rosie is a confident and independent character, which is unlike any other pre–school character of recent times.”

Quirke says that the product packaging will utilise key elements which are instantly recognisable from the show to create stand out on shelf.

“The usual challenge of launching a pre–school brand in a saturated market did not apply to Rosie, as the quality was instantly recognised by the audience, licensees and retailers. The top high level

production values, strong characters and distinct visual look define Rosie as a stand out series of immense quality for the long–term.”

By the end of 2011, Quirke wants to have established Rosie as a top ranking pre–school brand, with a range of products which reflect the high quality production values of the TV series. And the future?

“Our long–term strategy is to establish Rosie as the number one pre–school brand in key markets,” Quirke states.

“We are now signing agents and top level licensees in key territories to ensure that our brand strategy is implemented to successfully build the brand long–term.

“The audience reaction in Spain is a powerful indicator that the distinct visual look of the series and strong cast of colourful characters is resonating with an international fanbase, creating enormous worldwide licensing potential for the future.”

22

LICENSING VEGAS 2011 PREVIEW

Big in Vegas Flights and hotel sorted? Meeting schedule already packed? Songs picked for Brit night at the Piano Bar? Then you’re ready for Licensing International. This year’s event – which runs from June 14th to 16th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas – is likely to be the largest yet and, as Samantha Loveday discovers, there’s going to be plenty for visitors from the toy industry to see...

SO, WE’RE used to Las Vegas now right? We’ve worked out the signing on the showfloor and the best places to meet for networking afterwards.

Last year, a vast number of execs said Licensing International had surpassed all expectations. And, whisper it, but many agreed that the vibe was back on a par with what had been experienced when the show was held in New York.

So, Advanstar is understandably looking to build on this enthusiasm this year, and to help with its plans, the show is likely to be the largest yet. At the time of writing, there were over 340 exhibitors signed up, with international participation in the event shaping up to be stronger than ever.

“We are experiencing tremendous growth from last year’s event,” show director Liz Crawford explains to ToyNews. “The showfloor looks like the ‘who’s who’ of brands, with close to 400 exhibitors from all categories including toy companies. Hasbro, Mattel, Cepia (ZhuZhu Pets) and Ugly Doll are just a few of the toy brands and manufacturers on the showfloor. We are also seeing a large increase in international exhibitors.”

Indeed, pavilions from China, Japan, Spain, Thailand and Korea among others will all be included.

In terms of the key licensors and agents the UK industry will be aware of, there are a number of highlights.

BBC Worldwide – which had one of the best looking stands last year – will be updating the business on the

progress of its properties in the US, including Top Gear, In the Night Garden, BBC Earth, Lonely Planet and Doctor Who. Cartoon Network caused ripples in 2010 when it revealed it had become the exclusive global licensing agent for Spin Master’s portfolio and it is likely to

latest pre-school property, Mike the Knight, ahead of its broadcast debut this autumn.

After a strong first outing last year, Saban Brands will arrive back at the Mandalay Bay with a comprehensive programme for Power Rangers Samurai, and has the potential to

We are experiencing tremendous growth from last year’s event. The showfloor looks like the ‘who’s who’ of brands with close to 400 exhibitors.

Liz Crawford, Licensing International Show Director use this year’s show for more announcements on how it’s expanding its stable.

Meanwhile, eOne will be hoping to make an impression following the setting up of its North American licensing arm and the introduction of Peppa Pig to US audiences, while Hit Entertainment will be showcasing its

surprise the industry with news of other high profile acquisitions.

Studios Fox, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Paramount and Lucasfilm are always worth taking a closer look at, while all eyes should also be on Mind Candy as it takes its Moshi Monsters brand to the show for the first time.

On top of all this, nine UK companies have also been nominated in the 2011 LIMA Licensing Awards – V&A Enterprises; Creative Tops (for V&A Museum); The Smiley Company; JCB; The Licensing Company (for Jelly Belly); Boots (for Strictly Come Dancing); eOne (for Peppa Pig); Ludorum (for Chuggington); and Chorion (for its Mr Happy Should’ve Gone to Specsavers promotion). The accolades will be handed out at the Opening Night Ceremony on June 14th.

A Licensing University programme is also planned, with this year’s keynote delivered by Rick Darling, president of LF USA. Other speakers across the three-day line-up include Neil Ross Russell, MD, Children’s Global Brands and Licensed Consumer Products, BBC Worldwide; Germaine Gioia, SVP of licensing for Capcom Entertainment; LIMA US’ Marty Brochstein; and Marty Malysz from Dependable Solutions.

24

LICENSING SUMMER MOVIES

Celluloid champions Among the bumper crop of sequels hitting the box office this summer, there are also some potential new franchises and a kids’ TV hit making his big screen debut. One thing they all have in common though, is that they are likely to give a significant sales boost to the toy industry. Samantha Loveday highlights just some of the products available...

MATTEL

A raft of characters, from old favourites to newcomers, will be brought to life in Mattel’s Cars 2 line. A new character, British secret agent Finn McMissile – voiced by Michael Caine – comes with product packed full of top secret spy weapons, firing missiles, lights, sound effects and transformations.

There are also over 30 new 1:55 scale die-cast character cars to collect, plus an array of track sets based on some of the most exciting moments from the film.

Also new for the autumn is the Mattel Cars 2 Action Agents assortment.

Mattel will also unveil a range of action figures, vehicles and role-play items for The Green Lantern. The Battle Shifters Figure Assortment comes with jumbo battle accessories ranging from a giant scorpion to a huge battle fist. Fans can also recreate scenes from the movie

RAVENSBURGER

Ravensburger’s line of Cars 2 items includes a 2D selection of puzzles featuring favourite characters cut to either ten, 12, 14 or 16 pieces, four-in-abox puzzles, three 49-piece puzzles, a 60-piece giant floor puzzle and a 100piece XXL puzzles – all suitable for ages six and above.

There is also a 3D range, with both 54 and 108-piece Puzzleball designs

JUNE 2011

01628 500000

with The Green Lantern Final Showdown: Parallax vs Hal Jordan play-set. The teninch Parallax figure comes with tentacles which move and a secret claw attack that can extend, grab its prey and launch it into orbit. The four-inch Hal Jordan figure comes with a bladed construct arm to fend off the monster.

Finally, Mattel is launching plush, vehicles and figures for Kung Fu Panda 2. A key item in the range is the 16-inch Wrestle Buddy Po which bends, twists, flops and squashes as children play with it. Featuring phrases and sound effects, it also comments on kids’ moves.

Also in the line-up are Po’s Rickshaw, the Kaboom of Doom Cannon, a deluxe figure assortment and Smack Talkers, which feature all the key characters and speak a selection of fun fun phrases from the film.

01869 363800

available. The firm’s popular giant card game format allows youngsters to play four favourite card games, while there is also the World Grand Prix race game.

“We’re confident the puzzles will be a hit with children and families across the UK and beyond, and are very grateful to Disney for all their help with the development of the designs,” says Tim Hall, Ravensburger MD.

HASBRO

Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens worldwide on July 1st. Hasbro’s new Mechtech range showcases popular characters such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in multiple scales, all coming with Mechtech weapons which are interchangeable across the assortment and can also connect together.

For Cars 2, Hasbro will be introducing Monopoly: Cars 2 Lightning McQueen Racetrack Edition. The game board has been made into a round racetrack which also serves as the game dice. Cars 2 Operation is also due, where players must fix Mater, while Cars 2 Frustration features Mater as the Pop-O-Matic die rolling bubble.

FLAIR

Flair’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides master toy collection includes the Queen Anne’s Revenge Ship, with working projectile cannons, a retractable walk the plank feature, treasure chests and LED lights which reveal eerie hidden details. Also in the range are ten and 15cm figures of the main characters, plus a Jack Sparrow role-play kit.

The firm also has a collection of Cars 2 creative play items, including the Cars 2

020 8569 1234

The Play-Doh Cars 2 Grand Prix Race Mats play-set includes mats featuring scenes from the movie, character moulds, double-sided accessory moulds and cans of Play-Doh. There is also a Cars 2 Play-Doh Mould n Go Speedway play-set where kids can mould Lightning McQueen and other characters into real rolling chassis.

Finally, key products in the Captain America role-play line include the Disc Launching Shield which blasts foam discs, while there is also a range of 3.75-inch action figures with accessories, plus the Captain America Strikefire Transport vehicle and an exclusive Captain America 3.75-inch action figure.

020 8643 0320

Remarkables Mat, with washable pens, and the Cars 2 Comic Maker Kit. Backing up The Smurfs: Lost in New York will be 20cm and 30cm plush toys of key characters Papa, Gutsy, Clumsy and Smurfette, as well as six cm articulated figures.

Flair’s range of Horrid Henry toys include Henry’s Yo-Yo – which features in the film – as well as Make Your Own Slime, a Voice Changer megaphone and Super Snooper.

LICENSING SUMMER MOVIES FIESTA CRAFTS

020 8804 0563

Already a hit on the small screen, Horrid Henry will be making the leap to cinemas in August, and Fiesta Crafts is now shipping all of its products with the movie logo to aid consumer recognition.

The firm’s toys are designed to engage children in fun activities which simultaneously provide key learning benefits. Full-fabric hand puppets are available for fans to recreate some of Henry and Peter’s antics, as well as dreaming up some of their own adventures.

Meanwhile, the large and small magnetic Reward Charts include Horrid Henry-themed activity pieces – for example ‘Do My Homework’ and ‘Tidy My Room’ – as well as a dry-wipe pen so children can write their own. Magnetic large and small calendars are also available, designed to help children engage with Henry on a day to day basis, as well as helping them to learn about days, dates and the weather.

MEGA BRANDS

01844 350033

DKL

After the success of the firm’s Disney Cars gift boxes, Hama is launching a box set to coincide with the release of Cars 2 in July.

The Cars 2 Lightning McQueen and Francesco gift box includes 4,000 beads and three large pegboards, enabling fans to create models of McQueen and

LEGO

Mega has unveiled what it is claiming is the ‘ultimate’ super hero construction toy line featuring Spider-man, Iron Man and Captain America. Coinciding with the launch of the Thor and Captain America movies, the range enables kids to construct their own battles of good versus evil.

Available in early summer, and kicking off the range, are Series One Marvel super hero Micro Action Figures featuring characters such as Iron Man, War Machine, Spider-man and the Green Goblin. The Marvel Hall of Heroes Assortment, meanwhile, consists of a character and scene, while the Marvel Buildable Vehicle Assortment is made up of 50 pieces, allowing fans to build and then re-build. Available to collect are the Spider-man Chopper, Iron Man Mark III Jet Boat and the Captain America Drop Pod. Also available in the firm’s Marvel line, the ten-inch buildable Captain America Techbot includes working launchers and a podium which allows

kids to position the super hero standing, flying or hovering in action. Finally, the Showdown Assortment includes Spiderman and Captain America Showdown, plus the Iron Man V1 Super-Racer. Each set includes two buildable super hero characters and vehicles with working launchers.

Elsewhere, Mega has a new Smurfs collection aimed at ages four and above, which includes small and large themed buildable play-sets. All sets feature a green buildable plate, character and detailed accessories.

Children can collect a range of different Smurfs characters, including Baker Smurf, Lazy Smurf or Harmony Smurf which comes with score, chair and instruments. Papa Smurf and Smurfette now have buildable houses featuring a range of accessories, while the largest play-set – Carnival – is a ferris wheel with a hand powered crank to get it spinning faster, a bridge, twostorey windmill, slide and two buildable mushroom houses.

A range of Lego play-sets and minifigures are available based on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The role-play sets include moving features and light functions, while the collection of minifigures based on the key characters including Jack Sparrow (with two faces), Blackbeard, Barbossa and a variety of new pirates.

Lego is also extending its System range of Harry Potter sets and minifigures, with three new products due. The range will see the introduction

23

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new character, Francesco Bernoulli. The models are made by arranging the beads on the pegboard and then ironing using the special paper enclosed to make the designs permanent.

DKL is anticipating the Cars 2 products will be amongst Hama’s best selling items in 2011.

01753 495000

of The Forbidden Forest, The Knight Bus and Battle for Hogwarts, which features seven collectible minifigures and locations from the movie.

Finally, June will see the Lego Duplo brand launch five new Cars 2 building sets ahead of the film release. An extension of the brand’s existing Cars line, the new skus feature scenes from the movie, classic characters, new introductions and special elements such as cacti, highway signs and racing related accessories. Lego also has the Cars System play-sets and vehicles.

JUNE 2011

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LICENSING SUMMER MOVIES

TOMY 020 8722 7300

As master toy licensee for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Tomy is adding to its successful range which already includes the Monster Book of Monsters, which was selling strongly pre-Christmas.

In addition, Aquadoodle mats are available for pre-school fans of Lightning McQueen and other Cars 2 characters.

Aimed at children aged 18 months and above, the main Cars 2 mat comes with a Lightning McQueen which follows the lines that children draw. There are also Aquadoodle Mini Mats in the collection.

VIVID IMAGINATIONS

Vivid has a number of products focusing on Cars 2, starting with the Mini Klip Kitz Assortment with four Mini Kitz characters to choose from.

There are also two-in-one Deluxe Kitz, Race to the Finish Line Kit and the Lightning McQueen and Mack Klip Kitz Set, which has stickers included.

A Cars 2 plush range has also been rolled out, with the TV advertised Drive & Talk McQueen feature plush – which includes character phrases, engine and racing sounds – a line of Talking Cars and a selection of plush sizes ranging from keyrings to giant.

JUNE 2011

RUBIE’S

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Rubie’s is supporting several summer blockbusters with dress-up product.

To start, a Captain Jack Sparrow costume for adults, plus a kids’ outfit will be supporting the launch of Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The firm has also produced a range of kids and adult costumes for Transformers 3, including Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee full costumes and masks, plus new blister playsuits, including a printed jumpsuit and mask.

New Warner Bros franchise, The Green Lantern, will be backed with

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Meanwhile, the Story Studio lets children take their own starring role in a Cars 2 adventure. Using a unique online access code, the website will transform any photo into a unique character. It can then be placed into a range of scenes and adventures can be tailored to the player. Once complete they can be printed out and coloured in using the Crayola markers and pencils, while stickers and stencils are also included to add details.

Crayola’s Disney publishing range, including Color Wonder, will also be updated with the launch of Cars 2.

costumes and accessories including light-up muscle chests and the light-up Green Lantern ring. Meanwhile, the final instalment in the Harry Potter series will be supported heavily. The original Harry Potter robe continues to be one of Rubie’s best sellers throughout the year, although the firm is understandably expecting sales to reach new heights in the summer months.

Finally, Rubie’s will have seven different styles in its Cars 2 line of drivers’ suits and character costumes.

WORLDS APART

The firm will be launching a new collection of Pop Ups and Home toddler bedroom furniture based on Cars 2 themes and characters.

The Lightning McQueen Play Tent has two side windows to keep an eye on what’s happening on the ‘road’, while the t-shaped entry structure at the back means it can be connected with a play tunnel to add play value.

Meanwhile, the Cars 2 Feature Combo has a pop up central structure and designs from global destinations.

CARTAMUNDI 01268 511522

Cartamundi will be rolling out a number of items to support several of this summer’s key films.

The firm has created its largest Harry Potter range to date to celebrate the final film.

The range includes playing cards for both Part 1 and Part 2 of The Deathly Hallows, an action game, a gift set containing both sets of playing cards, an augmented reality card with the action game and a limited edition collector’s box set containing playing cards from all eight movies.

Moving on, and Cartamundi will be creating playing cards for Marvel movies Thor and the upcoming Captain America.

A Cars 2 range, meanwhile, will include Happy Families, Pairs and a Donkey game, Happy Families in a metal tin, Mega Memo and a backpack gift set.

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There are two large arch tunnels, fold down character sections and three fabric racetrack mats.

Products available in the themed bedroom sets include the Lightning McQueen Feature Bed, a six Bin Storage Unit and Sling Bookcase, a Cars Desk and Stool, a Toy Box, Cars Cube Tidy, Fabric Wardrobe, Cosy Chair and Flip Out Sofa.

Accessories include the Cars 2 Go Glow Light and Go Glow Clock Bedtime Trainer.

LICENSING SUMMER MOVIES GB EYE 0114 276 7454

GB Eye has a bumper crop of posters based on the latest Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the Transformers threequel, the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Cars 2.

The firm has already released Thor and Captain America posters, while it is also planning a Smurfs range. GB eye’s product collection will include posters, 3D posters and badges, with the firm utilising poster racks and FSDUs to boost in-store awareness.

JUMBO To coincide with the release of Cars 2, Jumbo will be launching a collection of puzzles including the Disney Car Puzzle and Colour, a giant 24-piece doublesided floor puzzle which doubles up as a colouring activity. Once the puzzle is completed, children can turn it over and colour in the black and white image on the back using the wipe clean crayons provided.

Other jigsaws include a Giant two-in-one Activity Floor Puzzles depicting the cars from the film, a 100-piece puzzle in a deluxe tin, with a free Cars fridge magnet, Puzzle in a Tube, the Supercharged four 35-piece assortment of puzzles and a 100-piece Glow in the Dark puzzle.

Jumbo will also be launching a range of Horrid Henry-themed puzzles and games.

These include a two-in-abox puzzles and a 100-piece Discover puzzle with an i-spy game for children to play once they have completed the jigsaw.

Games include the Horrid Henry Slide & Find

SCHLEICH

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To celebrate the release of the new Smurfs movie, Schleich is launching brand new figures of the six main characters.

The line is led by Papa Smurf and Smurfette, while Gutsy, Grouchy, Clumsy and Brainy complete the set.

Schleich’s characters have blue eyes and much bigger ears, noses and feet than the classic Smurfs, replicating the on-screen counterparts.

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Also available is a six-piece Smurf movie set, in a special presentation box with the figures displayed against a diorama. The six pieces will be available individually, as well as in a special CDU package.

There will also be additional display units for the box sets, plus decoration packs to boost in-store appeal.

WIND DESIGNS

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LITTLE TIKES 01908 268480

Featuring realistic details, sporty styling and racing wheels, the Lightning McQueen bed also helps with the transition from cot to toddler bed, according to the firm.

The rotomoulded Lightning McQueen Roadster Toddler Bed is easy to assemble and is aimed at kids aged from 15 months up to five years.

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and giant playing cards, with 36 oversized cards featuring the character, his friends and family.

The new Cars Blast N Launch is an airpowered launcher which can skim Lightning McQueen over 30 feet across the ground. The set also includes a Piston Cup Championship archway for recreating the races in the film.

Wind Designs also has Cars 2 Flying Wheels, which fly through the sky and carry on spinning as they land. Also available are a collection of kites, such

as a Lightning McQueen-shaped kite and a compact keyring kite.

Meanwhile, Transformers 3 products include the new MechTech Weapons Systems characters with deployable weapons. There is also the Cyberverse Collect the World assortment and a Robots Heroes collection, which includes Optimus Prime and Bumblebee among others.

JUNE 2011

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KICKMASTER BRAND FOCUS

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The bootiful game MV Sports has launched the biggest ever marketing campaign for its Kickmaster football brand to run in the first and second quarters. Katie Roberts chats to Phil Ratcliffe to find out what the money is being spent on…

HAVING TAKEN on the Kickmaster range in 2001 to take advantage of football being boys’ most popular pastime, MV has successfully highlighted the sector through TV, endorsements and PR. The striking black and yellow Kickmaster products sit between cheap toy products and serious adult targeted football equipment and have a track record in keeping the football sector fresh, cool and relevant.

MV Sports is now throwing more weight than ever behind the brand, with a huge marketing campaign throughout Q1 and Q2 this year.

The campaign takes in five main elements. The first centres on a new product, Boot It, which will be supported by a traditional TV advertising programme. Boot It is a new, innovative, technology driven hero product for the Kickmaster portfolio, which was one of the driving factors for launching the marketing campaign.

Phil Ratcliffe, sales and marketing director, explains: “We have a wow product in Boot It, which combines the fun training/skill development aspect of the Kickmaster brand with indoor electronic games.

“In the same way that Wii Fit has successfully combined the concept of exercise and electronic gaming, we want the Kickmaster

concept of improving football skills to move in the same direction.”

The ad campaign will run from July to August, then October to December and is estimated to incorporate 450 TVRs overall.

Next is a sponsorship deal with the Disney XD channel. Kickmaster is the official sponsor of Goalmouth and its spin-off series, Football Funnies, new programmes aiming to be ‘a younger person’s Soccer AM’.

It is important that when faced with a choice, kids will choose the Kickmaster brand because it is a brand that they know and trust whilst being successful at the same time.

Phil Ratcliffe, Sales and Marketing Director, MV Sports The second main reason for the campaign, is to increase awareness, as Ratcliffe explains: “It is important that when faced with a choice, kids will choose the Kickmaster brand because it is a brand that they know and trust whilst being successful at the same time.”

The sponsorship includes a ‘sponsored by Kickmaster’ bumper, which is featured four times per show, racking up an impressive 172 bumpers over the course of the deal.

Over 1.8 million children aged four to 15 are estimated to watch the show, encompassing almost 650,000 boys aged seven to 12.

Ratcliffe comments: “We want to spread the awareness of the Kickmaster brand to a new generation of footballers.

“Our links with and sponsorship of Disney XD’s Goalmouth TV series is perfect for the brand because football crazy kids will be made aware of the Kickmaster brand while watching this excellent new football magazine style show.”

For retailers which support Kickmaster, there is the option to

have an in-pack promotion, offering a brand relevant, free football training session in association with Premier Sport. Sessions are available across the UK and the offer is designed to emphasise the skill training message of the brand.

Targeting boys directly in a fourth section of the campaign, is the Fantasy Football League competition, which Kickmaster sponsored for the month of April. The monthly quiz section boasts 2,000 – 3,000 unique page views per week and welcomes over 50,000 players per season.

Tying in with each of the other four strands of the activity, is the www.kickmaster.tv website. Initially, Disney will create a hub through its website, www.disney.co.uk, for viewers of the Goalmouth series to play games, quizzes, watch clips, get football tips and enter competitions.

The Goalmouth website, which is forecast to generate over two million hits, will link to the Kickmaster page, which includes product information, games, competitions and links to retailer websites. Once the series is over, content from the Disney hub will move to the Kickmaster site.

With all of this activity, it seems there will be few boys in the UK who don’t know about Kickmaster by the end of the year. Although the range enjoyed strong growth last year as a result of the World Cup, Ratcliffe has high hopes for further sale increases this year: “We anticipate double digit growth this year as a result of the activity in place.”

This is largely due to the focus of the campaign. As opposed to the wide reach of TV ads, this marketing has been designed to hit the core audience. Ratcliffe explains: “The activity is ‘laser targeted’ with no waste in terms of reach. Every strand of activity is reaching kids who have an active interest in football.”

And this certainly isn’t a one-goal wonder. MV plans to expand the concept of Boot It further once it has established itself and more marketing will roll-out in 2012 and beyond.

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SUPPLIER FOCUS MGA

Beyond Bratz The launch of the Bratz line was undoubtedly a major milestone for MGA Entertainment, but there is much more to the company than the pouty fashion dolls. Katie Roberts found out more from Marian Davis…

BOASTING NOT only Bratz, but also brands including Moxie Girlz, and more recently Lalaloopsy and through Zapf Creation, Baby Born and Baby Annabell, MGA has firmly established itself as a leading force in the girls sector.

Furthermore, marketing manager, Marian Davis’ boasts a strong experience in girls brands, including a stint at Mattel, working on Barbie.

However, Davis assures me that, perhaps contrary to public opinion, MGA is not just about girls.

“The MGA Entertainment portfolio also encompasses the Little Tikes brand, which is a market leader in the outdoor toy industry,” Davis explains. “We do however pride ourselves on being the best in the industry at manufacturing girls’ toys, but we will have some big non-girl launches coming soon.”

In fact, the company was founded back in 1979 in what is traditionally a male domain, as a consumer electronics business by CEO Isaac Larian. In 1987, MGA JUNE 2011

(Micro Games of America) gained entry to the toy market by obtaining exclusive rights to sell a Nintendo handheld LCD game in the US. This step allowed MGA to begin to create products for other properties, including Hello Kitty and Power Rangers. Following on from this, the company has worked with a number of other licences including SpiderMan: The Movie and Shrek.

Having perfected its work as a licensee, MGA went on to also operate as a successful licensor. Bratz was launched in June 2001 and quickly became a strong seller with girls worldwide.

Davis explains: “The Bratz dolls reinvented the traditional fashion doll category by encouraging diversity and aimed to promote individuality, self expression and girl power.”

The success of Bratz led to MGA signing in excess of 450 licensees, across a wide range of categories including apparel, footwear, accessories and much more.

Alongside licensing the brand to increase its appeal, MGA creates strong marketing campaigns to keep

MGA SUPPLIER FOCUS

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Bratz at the forefront of girls’ minds.

Davis gives a clear example: “To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Bratz dolls, ten new limited edition characters were unveiled on October 10th 2010.

“The anniversary was supported by an extensive marketing campaign including TV, national promotions, social media, PR and merchandising displays,” she adds.

In fact, each of the lines is backed by marketing support, including TV advertising, PR support, online, social media and marketing. And as with many companies in the toy space, the company is placing an increasing emphasis on social media.

Davis comments: “MGA will be employing social media more and more across all of its brands by engaging with its customers and fans on a more social level. In fact, the US Bratz Facebook page now has 300,000 fans.

“Also for the 10/10/10 Bratz anniversary celebrations, another social media channel MGA has been engaging with is YouTube, which saw the brand take over the homepage for the day. It has since had 873,758 vide views and 56,570,271 impressions.”

Not content with MGA’s success though, Larian has grown his business further over the last five years. In 2006, Little Tikes became a part of MGA. The company, which was founded in 1970, is a multi-

national manufacturer and marketer of children’s products.

A year later, in 2007, Larian became a major shareholder in Zapf Creation, which was founded in 1932

by Max Zapf and is a leading supplier of dolls and accessories.

All of this development happened from the US, until, in 2008, the UK office for MGA Entertainment was set up in Milton Keynes. Today the MGA family incorporates Moxie Girlz, Bratz, Lalaloopsy, Rescue Palz,

a serious player in the fashion doll arena and we have some great new segments for the autumn season,” Davis offers.

Little Tikes has also continued to grow both with its core products like the iconic Cosy Coupe and with new introductions, such as the 3 in 1 Trike and the new wood programme.

Further positives in the doll sector include the new Lalaloopsy line.

Davis says: “Lalaloopsy showed that we are at the forefront of cutting

The MGA portfolio also encompasses Little Tikes, which is a market leader in outdoor toys. We do, however, pride ourselves on being the best at manufacturing girls’ toys, but we have some big non-girls launches coming soon.

Baby Born, Baby Annabell, Chou Chou and Little Tikes.

Despite having a strong pedigree of brands in place, the last year has seen a number of challenges, as Davis describes: “It’s been an interesting year for suppliers and customers alike. We are all seeing the same challenges in the cost of making and bringing product to market and this is a constant struggle.”

From a product perspective, though, there has been a number of success stories at MGA over the past year. “Moxie Girlz has developed into

edge design. A unique large doll collectable with fantastic fashions has taken the US and UK by storm and we will see this brand develop even further in 2011.”

In a challenging environment, though, there is little time for MGA to sit back and admire its successes to date. Plans are in place to push the brands further forward over the coming 12 months.

“The big news in Bratz,” says Davis. “We are launching three new TV segments for this iconic brand, which will put Bratz back on the

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map. There are so many fans out there that have been waiting for new developments and we will definitely not disappoint them in 2011.

Autumn sees the introduction of new segments, which tested highly among our target consumers, including Bratz On the Mic and Bratz Masquerade.”

New themes and development for Moxie Girlz will continue to target younger girls, while the brand continues to grow in 2011.

Little Tikes also sees more development with new sand and water tables, ride-ons, swing sets and a Cosy Truck, among others.

Davis concludes the plans: “The phenomenal Lalaloopsy brand is causing quite a frenzy globally and we have some fabulous new introductions planned for the second half of the year, including new quirky large doll characters such as Sunny Side Up and Berry Jars N Jam. “Consumers are willing to hunt down the characters (and pay a lot of money for them), so it is important for our retailers to stock these fun characters. Lalaloopsy also now has a miniature doll called Mini Lalaloopsy.

“By the end of 2011, we will have 26 different large dolls and 64 different mini dolls, as well as playsets and fashions.”

With lots planned for girls and dolls and even more yet to be unveiled in other sectors, it looks as though MGA is one to watch.

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BRAND PROFILE NINJAGO

Enter the Ninjago It has enjoyed considerable success with a number of third party licences and now Lego is using that experience on its latest IP. And as Lewis Tyler finds out, the toy line is just the beginning for Ninjago...

AIMED AT boys aged between five and 12, Ninjago is Lego’s first stab at an intellectual property to match the scope of its hit Star Wars and Harry Potter licensed ranges.

“This is the first thing we’ve done ourselves on such a huge scale,” Sally-Anne Weekes, Ninjago’s UK brand manager, explains to ToyNews.

“We definitely used the experience of the licensed IPs to develop our own.”

Within the Ninjago brand, there is already a Nintendo DS video game, an iOS app and an animated series, but the most important component is

the Spinner, a collectable toy from which all other facets of the brand spiral outward.

This entry-level unit retails at around £7. It’s essentially a playing piece for the tabletop battler known as Spinjitzu, Ninjago’s fictional martial art.

why it appeals to so many boys,” says Weekes. “We absolutely know that boys love building and battling.”

Inside a Spinner pack, you’ll find influences from a host of other toy categories. It contains one spinner, one Minifigure, three weapons, additional Lego bricks and a set of

The objective is to bring new boys into Lego and we can do that with the spinners. They have a very wide appeal.

Because they feature simple building, they can get kids in who aren’t used to Lego.

Sally-Anne Weekes, UK Brand Manager, Ninjago “It’s combining that playground craze of battling and competition with a small amount of building.

There are elements of strategy, there’s the battling element with the weapons and there’s also the collectability and that’s

JUNE 2011

five cards. The collectability is achieved with unique weapons, trading cards and the Minifigure character piece.

“The objective is to bring new boys into Lego and we can do that with the spinners. They have a very wide appeal. Because they feature simple building, they can get kids in who aren’t necessarily used to Lego.”

Ninjago is set up so that if kids buy into the spinner craze, they can then explore Ninjago through a myriad of other media, a set-up that many rival playground toys currently lack.

“Every Lego theme that’s developed has a story behind it. In Ninjago there’s four ninjas and Sensei Wu who is their master. And then there’s Lord Garmadon who has an army of skeletons, and is also Sensei Wu’s brother,” Weekes offers.

The Nintendo DS game reached as high as six in the DS platform charts, a performance which Lego is “very happy” with for a standalone brand.

Games is a lucrative business and gives the firm a vital presence in the digital space, which is of growing importance for the toy industry.

Right now, Lego has no plans to expand Ninjago onto other games consoles, as it has done with its licensed properties and Weekes is keen to point out that Ninjago is not a copy-cat brand.

“Our designers didn’t say, this is Star Wars, now we’re going to replicate that with Ninjago. They wanted to take an IP approach – although they didn’t use Star Wars as a blueprint, they wanted to do something like it.”

So what’s the future of Ninjago?

“Ninjago is a three-year property, so it will be around in 2012 and 2013. Although, Bionicle was only planned for a year, and ten years later it’s still around – so it’s hard to know what’s going to happen in the world of Lego,” Weekes concludes.

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SECTOR GUIDE FASHION DOLLS

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Dedicated followers of fashion Fashion dolls are offered by just a handful of suppliers, with a few key brands leading the way. The sector, however, makes up around a tenth of the girls’ market. Katie Roberts finds out what’s new…

MATTEL

2010 was a strong year for fashion doll brand Barbie with 52 per cent growth in the UK, where the brand sold enough units for every three to seven year-old girl in the UK to have received a Barbie doll in the last year.

In 2011, Mattel aims to build on the growth with the launch of new Barbie products driven by extensive marketing programmes that deliver on fashion credibility, aspiration and cultural relevance.

This year, Mattel has introduced a new Barbie segment - Family - which will leverage Barbie’s heritage.

FLAIR

Flair’s Disney Fairies collection is bolstered with the addition of the Magic Glow Fairies with their light–up wings.

New for autumn is the Flower Scents

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It will encapsulate Ken, friends, family and pets, with pet-based waterplay items including Barbie Doggie Water Park, which will build on 2010’s Girls Toy Of The Year, Puppy Swim School play-set.

Following on from his cameo in Toy Story 3, Ken celebrated his 50th anniversary earlier in the year. Having demonstrated fashion sense in the movie, Ken embarked on a number of high-end fashion collaborations. Ken recieved a global social media campaign and outdoor initiatives that were a marketing first for the brand.

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Dress Up Fairy Assortment which allows girls to design their own fairy fashion outfit with the provided flower petals, and new Fairy Petites.

Products such as Sweet Talkin’ Ken and Shaving Fun Ken continue to be popular in the girls market and are joined by Ken Fashionista dolls for fashion play.

New developments for the brand will also take hair and beauty play to the next level. Barbie Hairtastic Printables allow girls to print designs directly onto hair extensions.

Barbie Entertainment will release Princess Charm School this autumn.

Mattel’s supporting toy and licensing range will bring the movie and characters to life with a collection of transformation

ZAPF CREATION

The Annabell Tween dolls, dressed in sophisticated outfits and accessories, demonstrate how Baby Annabell has grown up and evolved into a tween fashion doll.

Zapf Creation will be refreshing the popular fashion dolls this autumn, with the new Annabell Tween Bling dolls.

There are four tweens on offer, each

dolls, play-sets and accessories.

Barbie will also be teaming up with a leading UK girl band to deliver a national promotion with ‘money can’t buy’ prizes and a girl engagement programme. The fashion-themed partnership reflects Barbie’s ongoing cultural relevance in the tween market and will drive the new Fashionista collections.

Barbie I Can Be allows girls to play out careers with a range of dolls, plus digital content. This year, Barbie I Can Be… Architect will be the new career.

Partnership activity with architecture and design industry associations will encourage girls to ‘try on’ the career in a new way, through experiential engagement and educational initiatives.

Monster High now has tens of thousands of Facebook fans and over six million views of its engaging online webisodes. The doll collection will be extended with a licensing programme including clothing, stationery, make-up, accessories and jewellery.

New this year, Monster High Gloom Beach dolls feature swimwear and accessories reflecting the brand’s edgy aesthetic and autumn/winter will see the introduction of more new characters.

This year’s on and offline marketing programme will drive awareness of Monster High through direct to girl communications including social media, experiential initiatives and interactive online content. A multi platform digital marketing campaign will engage girls in storylines for deeper brand connections.

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wearing up-to-date fashions and with a different hairstyle. Each Tween Bling dolls also comes with her own collectable charm.

Annabell Tween Bling dolls are suitable for girls aged three plus and are priced at around £21.99. All of Zapf Creation’s key ranges are supported by PR and social media campaigns.

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SECTOR GUIDE FASHION DOLLS

TOMY

Tomy has expanded its fashion doll range with a deal to distribute Famosa’s Pinypon range in the UK. Suitable for girls aged four and up, Pinypon is a key autumn/winter line for Tomy, with a launch planned for this summer. The range is built around the collectable, interchangeable dolls, which have accessories, pets and play-sets available.

Pinypon dolls have different pin-on accessories such as handbags and girls can mix and swap hairstyles, facial expressions, torsos and feet to create different doll designs. The more girls collect, the more combinations they can create. For girls who want to kickstart their collection, Tomy’s range includes a Ten Figure Pack, with six dolls, four pets and 11 accessories.

The dolls are also available in a ‘surprise’ package – Pinypon Eggs, which have to be cracked open for girls to discover which doll is inside.

020 8722 7300

There are also Flower Theme Pinypon Scented Dolls, each with a flower accessory, a floral scent and a tattoo transfer for girls to wear.

The Pinypon Gift Set Travel Pack is ideal for taking Pinypon out and about, with a choice of three stylish carry cases featuring two dolls, a poodle pet, over 30 accessories and three Pinypon postcards – or try the Pinypon Carry Bag, which comes with a doll, a pet and accessories.

There are several larger Pinypon play-sets, including the Pinypon Car with Doll, which comes with a picnic hamper complete with miniature knives and forks. The Pinypon Campervan comes with one doll, a pet and holidaythemed accessories including deck chairs and surfboard and a water feature. Top of the range is the Pinypon Apartment, a play-set which opens out to reveal a bedroom, TV lounge, kitchen, hammock and a roof terrace.

DKL DKL is the exclusive UK distributor of the Corolle fashion doll brand, which has seen strong growth in 2011 with more stores stocking the range.

Corolle is a collection of high quality, traditional and contemporary French style dolls, which are known on the continent for their attention to detail, stylish fashions and unique vanilla scent. The range encompasses dolls suitable for babies through to pre-teens.

The Les Cheries range are the most stylish of the Corolle dolls, dressed in the latest designs and paired with modern accessories. All Les Cheries outfits are based on real High Street fashions and have close attention to detail, including modern prints, bows and sequins. The variety of outfits includes casual wear such as Clara’s jeans, blouse and gilet combination, teamed with a pair of trainers, through to Cecile’s pink dress with ruffle detail and coordinating handbag. Camille and Chloe Ballerina wear different ballet outfits, which come with matching headbands and matching ballet pumps.

All Les Cheries dolls have accurately proportioned vinyl bodies and realistic features such as moving eyes, and long, shiny hair, which is ideal for grooming and styling.

The Corolle range is supported by a sales and marketing campaign and POS is always available.

MGA ENTERTAINMENT

0845 0533 333 MGA Entertainment has updates on its Bratz, Moxie Girlz and Moxie Teenz fashion doll brands this autumn.

There will be several new Bratz lines for 2011 including the Bratz Platinum Shimmer dolls, with frosty white fashions from head to toe, shimmering skin and platinum blonde hair.

Bratz Masquerade is all about mystery. Four new Bratz characters are hidden behind masks and dressed in costume-style fashions. The dolls also come with a girl-sized stencil mask, which allows girls to apply artwork on their own faces using the included make-up.

Bratz On The Mic allows girls to sing along to two unique songs with an auto-tune microphone, featuring special effects that transform the child’s voice and a speaker.

Also available in the range is the Bratz On the Mic Tour Bus. Bratz All Glammed Up will continue into autumn.

Bratz dolls are suitable for ages six and over.

The Moxie Girlz range will have several new segments added this autumn including Moxie Girlz Dazzle Dance dolls,

JUNE 2011

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dressed in party dresses, with a special light up tiara with sound effects when the girl brushes the doll’s hair. Moxie Girlz Magic Hair Colour Streak Studio dolls will also be new in the autumn and includes a hair applicator that allows the child to mix hair colours to create a new colour, rainbow stripes, or sparkled streaks.

Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club, a new Moxie Girlz equestrian range, will be available later this year. The doll is dressed ready for an adventure in contemporary riding gear and comes with a walking horse with sound effects.

Also available is a stable play-set, which includes a doll and pony. A doll assortment can be purchased separately.

Moxie Girlz Ready to Shine is new to the range and is all about the Moxie Girlz getting ready for a day out. The doll comes with a lip gloss for the girl to use and several doll-sized accessories to use on the doll. The creative Moxie Girlz Art-titude 3D will also continue into autumn.

Moxie Teenz, the lifestyle fashion doll, has had a refresh this year with new fashions and looks. The dolls have realistic eyes, modern fashions and articulated joints.

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For your chance to win simply answer the following question: How many TV commercials promoting our girls prom ranges are airing this Winter?

Autumn W B)1 C) 25+ A) 0 B)

send your answer, name, address & company name by June 30th 2011 to: Toynewscompetition@intentmedia.co.uk

For more information on Flair’s ranges email: enquiries@flairplc.co.uk or call 020 86430320

SECTOR GUIDE GIRLS

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Leading ladies A traditionally hard to keep sector, clever use of teen brands such as JLS and Justin Bieber, plus a reinvigorated fashion dolls segment and the introduction of new categories such as plush pets, means that the toy industry is holding on to the girls market for slightly longer. ToyNews takes a look at what’s coming up, but first NPD presents the stats...

IN 2010, traditional toys purchased for girls accounted for approximately £1.3 billion, about 45 per cent of total toys (source: NPD Consumer Panel).

Money spent on girls grew by 14 per cent, while for boys it only grew by six per cent. The growth in girls toys is driven by purchases for seven to eight year olds, where value has increased by 38 per cent compared to 2009.

However, the peak age group for girls’ toy purchasing remains two to five year olds, where dolls remain one of the key categories.

The fastest growth category for girls is building sets, showing they are expanding their play patterns.

Even stronger than the infant and pre-school category, dolls is the largest super category for all girls, accounting for 20 per cent of all value spent. This is driven by the top three properties – Barbie, Sylvanian Families and Disney Princess – all of which showed strong growth in 2010.

Plush is also very important to girls and accounted for 14 per cent of total spend, while arts and crafts accounted for a further 12 per cent. However, the fastest growth category for girls was building sets, with females accounting for 14 per cent of all building sets purchased. This shows that, although it is from a small base, girls are continuing to expand their repertoire of toys.

Within dolls, fashion-themed dolls remained the top area and grew by 33 per cent in the period January to March 2011, compared to a year ago (source: NPD EPOS Panel).

Girls spend by super category (Value) 12m Dec 2009 vs 12m Dec 2010 Total Toys DOLLS INFANT/PRE-SCHOOL TOYS PLUSH ARTS & CRAFTS OUTDOOR & SPORTS TOYS GAMES/PUZZLES ALL OTHER TOYS YOUTH ELECTRONICS BUILDING SETS ACTION FIGURES & ACCESSORIES VEHICLES

100.0% 19.6% 21.5% 12.4% 12.4% 10.4% 7.1% 6.5% 4.2% 2.3% 2.3% 1.4%

(source: NPD) 100.0% 19.6% 19.4% 14.0% 12.2% 10.6% 7.7% 6.6% 3.7% 2.7% 2.3% 1.1%

Barbie remained the top fashion doll property and is continuing to grow, while Disney Princess and Disney Princess Rapunzel (Tangled) were ranked two and three respectively. In play-set themed dolls, Sylvanian Families remained on top with 29 per cent of sales year to date, while Littlest Pet Shop was at number two.

There have been a number of new launches in dolls so far this year with the new Disney Princess Rapunzel (Tangled) range the top new property YTD March 2011 and Spinmaster’s Zoobles at number two. Moshi Monsters, Squinkies and Monster High are all adding to sales, as well as teen singing sensation, Justin Bieber.

Outside of dolls, there has been a strong trend towards plush pets, with Zhu Zhu Pets from Character Options continuing to prove extremely popular and currently the number four property for girls in 2010 (source: NPD Consumer Panel). Also making an impact in the UK is Hello Kitty which has been steadily moving up the rankings with items across categories as varied as dolls, plush, arts and crafts and outdoor toys.

The girls sector certainly seems to be in a strong position, and is continuing to be bolstered with a mixture of old and new properties.

JUNE 2011

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MATTEL

In 2011, Mattel will introduce a new Barbie segment, Family. Encapsulating Ken, friends, family and pets, Barbie Family will give girls more interaction with the brand and drive depth of purchase across the range.

The new segment grows with fun pet-based water-play items including Barbie Doggie Water Park.

New technology continues to drive the brand – Barbie Hairtastic Printables take customisation to a unique new level, allowing girls to print directly onto hair extensions.

An autumn Barbie movie is on the way in the shape of Princess Charm School, while Barbie will also be teaming up the leading UK girl band to deliver a major national promotion with money-can’t-buy prizes and a girl engagement programme.

Barbie I Can Be allows girls to play out careers with a range of dolls plus digital content. This year, Barbie I Can Be… Architect will be the new career.

Partnership activity with architecture and design industry associations will encourage girls to ‘try on’ the career in a whole new way, through experiential engagement and educational initiatives.

ESDEVIUM GAMES

Japanese collectable eraser brand Iwako has found popularity amongst girls due to its ‘Kawai’ (cute) look.

The erasers boast a unique design, many made up of several detachable parts for mixing and matching.

Handmade in Japan to a high standard, Iwako are made from natural, non-toxic dyes, meaning they are safe and environmentally friendly.

The first wave features 58 designs in the form of animals and accessory

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Following on from his 50th anniversary, and his Toy Story 3 cameo, Ken embarked on a number of high-end fashion collaborations. Products such as Sweet Talkin’ Ken and Shaving Fun Ken continue to make waves and are joined by Ken Fashionista dolls.

Monster High sees the offspring of literature and film’s most infamous monsters come together to attend high school. Engaging online content brings the brand to life alongside a range of fashion dolls, plush and electronic toys.

The doll collection will be extended with clothing, stationery, make-up, accessories and jewellery.

2011 also sees the launch of Polly Pocket Tricked Out play-sets and dolls.

The autumn/winter range includes play-sets such as Polly Pocket Race to the Concert. Also new are the Polly Pocket Stunt N Style Jet and Polly Pocket Pollyworld House. The new toys will be communicated through a 360 degree marketing programme around the theme of Polly’s ‘Best Day Ever’.

The campaign includes a large scale partnership with a leading theme park, which will get national promotion. Polly Pocket will also launch a partnership with Girl Guiding UK.

SPIN MASTER

In February Zoobles was the number two play-set themed figures property (NPD EPOS February 2011).

The balls transform into fun and cute characters when placed on their Happitat. When ‘petted’ the Zoobles react by blinking their eyes, wagging their tails, wiggling their ears and more.

Each Zooble has a name and number for ease of recognition and the online collectors’ tool ensures that girls of the target age four and over can identify which Zoobles are still to be collected.

During spring, girls had the opportunity to collect over 150 Zoobles from six different areas of the Zooble

RUBIE’S

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Isle, while this autumn a further 100 Zoobles join the range from Rocktopia, Jungleopolis and Arctania.

There will be further additions to the Zoobles family, including Mamas and Zooblings – featuring the mini Zooble babies which pop out of Mum’s tummy, an associated play-set, and Zoobles Triplets.

The TV campaign will continue through 2011, alongside merchandising in-store, a PR and print campaign and online activity. Girls can keep up to date with the latest additions at www.zoobles.com. The website also hosts interactive fun and games.

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ranges. Iwako are now on sale in the UK exclusively from Esdevium Games, available in individual packs as well as three or seven-piece themed blisters.

The brand is supported by an interactive website as well as a Facebook page, which allow members to showcase and compare their collections.

Downloadable content, such as colourable pictures and stick-together play areas are also available for free from the website.

Disney Princess continues to be Rubie’s number one choice of girls’ dress up.

This year saw the launch of Disney’s newest Princess, Rapunzel. With box office records broken and a number one doll line, Rapunzel has become a girls’ favourite.

Rubie’s range of Rapunzel costumes includes a classic and a deluxe dress,

incorporating a hair braid with each, a Rapunzel accessory blister set, with lip gloss and hair accessories and the sellout 80cm long, glow in the dark wig.

In addition, to celebrate the recent royal wedding, Rubie’s designed a special collection of Sparkle dresses, to enable little girls to glitter and amaze at any occasion.

JUNE 2011

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THE PUPPET COMPANY 01462 446040

The Puppet Company aims to develop a wide range of puppets to suit both boys and girls – ranging from individual finger puppets through to large body puppets.

Puppets can encourage communication, imagination and socialisation. With multiple characters within a theme, kids can use the puppets together to create their own plays and stage shows.

Within the collection of Large Birds and Giant Birds for example, more ‘girly’ colours are used on the Flamingo and Bird of Paradise.

There is plenty of pink in the range of story telling characters, so Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and Fairies are available in both finger and hand puppet sizes. There is also a flying pink puppet mouse.

HASBRO Cookie My Playful Pup joins the FurReal Friends family this summer. Girls can interact with the Golden Retriever puppy through voice recognition and touch sensors. The pup responds by moving her head, wagging her tail, blinking, and barking like a real dog.

Cookie My Playful Pup also plays with her squeaky toy, and she will follow it with her eyes and head as it’s moved in front of her.

The GoGo My Walkin’ Pup now has puppies. Just like their mum, GoGo’s Walkin’ Puppies walk around and with a simple stroke on their backs, they will walk in a circle and come back.

Girls can now add some glitz to their Littlest Pet Shop collection with the new Sparkle Pets which range from single pets to play-sets.

The Littlest Pet Shop Pets has a new range, the Magic Motion Collection. At the touch of a button these pets get moving in their own characteristic way.

There are 17 to collect this autumn/winter including the Walking Chipmunk, only available in the new Magic Motion Tree House play-set, which comes with three levels, eight special motion features and accessories. They can take the Hamster-powered lift up to the second floor to relax in a hammock before taking the slide to join the other pets on the tyre swing.

Blythe, the trendy Littlest Pet Shop Pet Sitter, is back with new styles, outfits and pets.

JUNE 2011

TOMY

020 8722 7300

Launched at Toy Fair, Tomy is backing its new girls’ range of Teacup Piggies to be a breakout success in 2011.

The Teacup Piggies line is based on the real-life micro pigs pet craze. Tomy’s range of six cute piggies allow girls aged six and over to take home a tiny pig without the £600 price tag.

Each of the Teacup Piggies comes complete with its own colourful teacup and feeding bottle. The Piggies are poseable and fully interactive, reacting to sensors on their backs. The pigs will also oink and talk when girls press their noses. The Piggies chatter and giggle, with over 25 unique phrases.

The range also includes the Teacup Piggies fashion set, which allows fashion conscious girls to dress their Piggies up. There is a stylish Teacup Piggies Showtime Limo, a special pink and black limousine kitted out with a Teacup Piggy outfit, lipstick, sunglasses and perfume – everything a glamorous piggy might need.

020 8569 1234

When opened the side panel of the Pet Jet will reveal an interior fit for a globe-trotting pet-sitter. Flying first class is an exclusive bulldog pet, complete with its own blue pet carrier.

The Baby Alive brand offers a complete care-giving experience with My Real Baby Alive. It says over 30 phrases, eats, drinks, pees and poops.

And after a day full of play, My Real Baby Alive is ready for bedtime and falls asleep with rock-a-bye eyes.

Hasbro will push the My Little Pony brand further than ever this year, when it returns to TV in July with a new-look toy range. New to Equestria is Princess Celestia; push the majestic unicorn’s sun-shaped cutie mark and she will talk as her wings illuminate and flutter.

Pony fans can also take Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon on a ride on Twilight Sparkle’s Twinkling Balloon.

Girls can expand their collection with My Little Pony Figures, complete with a unique pony friend.

For autumn/winter, Tomy is introducing another play-set to the range – the Teacup Piggies Fashion Runway. Retailing at £49.99, this set includes a Teacup Piggy with an outfit, hat, sunglasses and two pairs of shoes.

Girls can set up their very own Piggy fashion show, with two changing rooms, runway, lights, mirrors and even a camera and tripod.

Tomy is reporting strong early sales of Teacup Piggies, and there are plans for TV advertising to take place throughout the year.

JOHN CRANE 01604 774949

Baby Rose and Baby Chou are two little dolls in the Lilliputiens Collection

by John Crane. Both can be taken anywhere, as they arrive in flower shaped baby carriers with small handles. Made from cuddly plush fabric, the dolls are made to encourage role play and imagination.

Each doll wears pyjamas, sucks on a bottle and comes with matching slippers.

Alternatively, Babe Zoe and Baby Chloe lay in their baskets, covered by reversible quilts which double up as play mats. Both dolls wear a nappy and pyjamas which are easily removable for dress-up play.

VTECH VTech’s offering covers a range of ages and learning abilities.

New to the Disney Princess licensed range is the Princess Fantasy Notebook, a princess-themed laptop featuring an LCD screen, QWERTY keyboard, mouse, cursor pad, plus 20 activities featuring Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Belle. Enchanting animations, magical sound effects and classical style music encased in a sparkly gem design are made to engage with girls aged between four and seven as they play and learn.

The Magic Learning Wand boasts five interactive games which feature motion sensitive play, designed to improve skills such as counting, logic, music and memory proficiency.

Wave the wand to activate the motion sensor and interact with the two modes of game play on the screen.

The voices of Princesses Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Belle aim to encourage curriculum learning for three to six year olds.

Also for three to sixes, the Princess Learning Pad is a touch sensitive toy featuring a royal palace and ten doublesided activity cards.

Each card allows children to explore the alphabet, phonics and words and can be inserted into the pad to teach other topics like numbers, music, animals and manners.

MobiGo Portable Learning System is the latest handheld touch-sensitive educational gaming system, and is now available in pink. A new collection of

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learning cartridges include Kung Fu Panda, Cars 2 and Penguins of Madagascar, for children aged between four and seven.

The animated storyteller for children, Storio Interactive E-Reading System is now also available in pink. 2011 brings a new range of storybook cartridges including Cars 2, Chuggington, Disney Princess and Tangled’s Rapunzel.

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WIND DESIGNS 0844 257 1180

For active, outdoor play the Zing Air range of flying and throwing toys is not just for boys.

The Zyclone Zing Ring Blaster sends the soft Zing Ring over 60 metres, and can be played alone or in a group.

Also available are the Zyphoon Nano Launcher, which fires air foil rings up to 45 feet, and Djubi, a toy which is played with specially designed raquets and a unique ball.

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FLAIR

Flair will be introducing In My Pocket collectables, play-sets and plush lines, designed to emulate the heroes of the new Puppy in my Pocket Adventures in Pocketville TV series starting in July.

A new addition to the Sylvanian Families, Highfields Farm is a traditional farm with a thatched roof and wooden beamed farmhouse, barn and complementary accessory sets. Another new addition is the Carry Cottage.

Complete with roof space for storing small pieces, this take-along house snaps shut to keep everything secure.

Filly Princess are a collection of miniature flocked ponies, accessories and play-sets. The latest collection, Filly Fairy, will launch in the autumn; each

ZAPF CREATION

The Count and Scan shopper is a learning toy that helps toddlers shop.

Kids can scan and discover food with pretend grocery play. It aims to develop key learning skills through a series of educational games, songs and word association activities. Using the LeapFrog scanner buddy, children can discover new foods and practice counting as they scan either a shopping list or individual food items to reveal numbers colours and shapes.

The Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket lets kids hold a picnic while enjoying fun learning activities.

Suitable for six months and up, the play-set contains 14 picnic necessities including sandwiches, fruit and cups.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout is a comforting night time friend. Scout has simple learning games which are made to help children unwind before bed. He will play lullabies and ambient sounds and has a night light and a detachable blanket.

JUNE 2011

This year Baby Born reaches its 20th anniversary, and to celebrate Zapf Creation has a special edition ‘Birthday Party’ doll, which will be available in the autumn. The doll is dressed in a sparkly pink dress, with party accessories, including party plates, a golden bag and golden shoes. The packaging will emphasise the 20th anniversary year and marketing support will include PR and social media.

Also new to the Baby Born range this autumn is the interactive Baby Born Clapping Hands doll, which sings pat-acake while clapping its hands. When the child helps the doll to clap, it sings faster or slower accordingly. The range is suitable for ages three and above.

Baby Annabell will be refreshed this autumn, the update will include brand new life-like functions which enable the doll to react to the child’s voice with natural baby movements. Core features such as laughing, babbling and crying sounds have been retained. Baby Annabell is dressed in a romper outfit and hat and comes with a sheep toy.

Joining the range will also be Baby Annabell Care For Me, a special bathable doll made from a unique material that feels like a real baby’s soft skin. When placed in tepid water, the doll feels warm to touch and when massaged it responds with subtle vibrations.

Suitable for children aged three-plus.

Two new additions join the popular Chou Chou range this autumn. The Chou Chou Magic Pacifier doll includes an

0208 643 0320

pony takes on a fairy appearance with special glow in the dark wings. There are 21 to collect, including a special rare Filly Fairy Unicorn, adorned with Swarovski elements.

Jewelpets are pretty miniature animals each with a different kind of jewel for their eyes, which they use to cast special magic from their Jewel Charms. There are 12 Jewel Charms and pets to collect, as well as a collection of play-sets.

Meanwhile, Flair’s Disney Fairies line continues to grow with Magic Glow Fairies, which have light-up wings. New for the autumn is the Flower Scents Dress Up Fairy Assortment and new Fairy Petites.

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electronic pacifier which displays the doll’s needs, for example a heart indicates Chou Chou needs a cuddle.

The pacifier also functions as a calendar for the child, waking her up by an alarm, and even displaying a cake on the child’s birthday.

Patchy Dolly, a new doll for preschoolers, suitable for children ages two and up, will be introduced this autumn to the girls market.

The quirky 36cm doll has interactive play, which allows children to alter its facial expressions using the interchangeable mouth and eye pieces, to create different faces.

All of Zapf Creation’s key ranges will receive full TV and marketing support.

CARTAMUNDI 01268 511522

New for 2011, Cartamundi has created a new collection of Disney Princess Card games.

The collection features all a girl’s favourite princesses, including Cinderella, Snow White and new princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

The line includes Happy Families, Happy Families in a metal tin, Mega Memo and gift set.

The range is available to order now.

DKL 01604 678780

DKL has Hama bead sets with both licensed and generic themes.

Ballerinas is a popular set including 4,000 beads which make three dancing ballerinas. A Fashion Girls set contains all the beads needed to create model girls in funky outfits. The Little Princess Gift box contains bead supports to make models stand up.

Girls activity sets are also available, including Hair Clips and Fashion Jewellery, with different shaped beads to make necklaces and bracelets.

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ASOBI 01628 200077

Asobi is looking to inspire budding young chefs with its latest addition, The Cooking Club For Kids.

The kit has cooking moulds which are made from safe, heat resistant silicone which is cool to touch when heated, as well as brightly coloured tools and a range of recipes.

Designed to be used with parents, the culinary toys can develop creativity and maths skills, as kids measure out ingredients to bake simple recipes.

It also aims to educate children about nutrition and the importance of a healthy balanced diet.

“We think this range will be extremely popular because of the extensive range of practical cooking sets available,” says Asobi director, Thierry Bourret.

The full Cooking Club collection includes apron and hat set, BBQ, burger, cake, chocolate, cookie, cupcake, egg, ginger, ice cream, pancake, pasta, pizza and rice sets.

BANDAI 08456 028782

Bandai has teamed with an up and coming fashion designer, Chloe Bayly, to create mini replicas of some of Kate Middleton’s outfits for its Harumika line. Outfits include the Issa engagement dress, the see-through outfit which helped catch the attention of Prince William at university and the Reiss dress that Kate wore for the official engagement photos among others.

Another new addition is the Mannequin Collection, where designers can use their skills to wrap materials around the body and also tuck into the arms and legs. This enables them to make more intricate clothing like jackets and trousers.

Once satisfied with their creation they can then style the mannequin’s hair and place their finished masterpiece on the display stand.

The new items are all available from July and will feature in the brand’s TV advertising campaign, which will run throughout the autumn.

VIVID

The Moshi Monsters range launched with Blind Bags, each of which includes two collectable Moshling figurines and corresponding character cards. Vivid’s range has since grown to include a Collector Blister Pack, soft toys, a tabletop game, play-sets and feature plush.

The newest edition to the AniMagic kennels is Benji My Best Friend. Sunny My Pick Me Up Puppy and new feline friend, Cassie Goes Catwalk, will also be available in the range.

Furrblings are interactive plush pets.

Each Furrbling has over 15 different emotions and there are four to collect.

2011 sees the launch of the new edition Justin Bieber Style Fashion Dolls and the Justin Bieber Singing Dolls. An

MEGA BRANDS

Mega Bloks has expanded its pre-school Maxi range to focus on the girls market, introducing pink and girl-inspired versions of its products.

The core range now includes the 70 and 24-piece pink Maxi Bag, Fill N Dump Wagon, Lil pink bus, Kitchenette, and the Scoop ‘n Build Buckets from the Mini and Micro ranges with girly accessories.

Later this summer Mega will also be introducing a pink Build ‘n Go Wagon and Maxi Tubs with girl themes.

In the newly buildable Blok Town, there are various play-sets which aim to attract girls’ attention including the pony stable, Safari park, farm and house.

Mega Bloks has also launched construction toy play-sets based on the Hello Kitty brand, allowing young girls to build, personalise and collect their own Hello Kitty world. The range introduces a series to appeal to girls and collectors of all ages, who can personalise Hello Kitty homes and places.

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interactive play-set is also available, along with a microphone, plush bears, puzzles and board games.

Magic Ballerina: Dress Up and Dance with Darcey Bussell includes an instructional DVD, leotard, tutu and a Magic Ballerina book. The DVD will feature key characters from the book and will guide and instruct on how to correctly warm up and how to master three ballet routines.

Crayola Catwalk Creations is about creating fashion collections. The designs can be displayed on the included mannequin, and girls can personalise and experiment with printable fabric. Catwalk Creations will be backed with an extensive TV push.

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Fans can collect four mini Hello Kitty characters including the Hello Kitty Pastry Chef, Sailor, Rainy Day character and Birthday Hello Kitty. For added collectability there are the Hello Kitty accessories packs featuring the Picnic play-set and the Pretty Playground.

All products connect to other Hello Kitty play-sets.

Larger sets include the Candy Shop, the Schoolhouse with accessories including notebook blocks, a learning board and stickers to decorate the classroom, and the Flower Shop which can be built with two levels, or separated to create two smaller boutiques. The Hello Kitty Flower shop also includes an outdoor garden.

For the ultimate Hello Kitty fan, The Big House, with up to seven rooms to build, design and furnish, includes two Hello Kitty characters and features more than 65 pieces and accessories including furniture, carpets, sofas and flowers.

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FIESTA CRAFTS 020 8804 0563

This year Alice in Wonderland comes to Fiesta Crafts’ Tellatale Hand and Finger puppet range. There are four finger puppets from the classic Lewis Carroll story, joining a host of other girly puppets like Fairy, Ballerina, Mermaid, Cinderella, Horse and Rider, Princess and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Prince and Knight puppets are also on hand to rescue any damsels in distress.

The puppets are made from high quality fabric with embroidered detail.

The Tellatale Doorway Theatre and Tellatale Theatre provide a stage for imaginative girls to put on a show.

GREEN BOARD GAMES 01494 538999

Green Board Games’ Colour and Learn Animals colouring book features a range of animals from around the world including elephants, cheetahs and tigers. The books contain facts about each of the animals pictured.

Other titles include Under the Sea, Landmarks, Myths and Legends, Minibeasts and Dinosaurs.

JUNE 2011

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JUMBO

A key focus for Jumbo is the popular Disney range with the launch of the new Disney Princess Magic Wand Game. In the flagship electronic game, players need to work their way around the board by waving the magic wand and listening to the instructions. The first to get to the front of the castle and gain entry using the wand is the winner.

Jumbo has secured strong distribution for the game which will be backed by two bursts of TV advertising.

The Peppa Pig range has also been refreshed, with the introduction of new images and themes from the latest TV episodes. New products include the Peppa Pig Puzzle and Colour – once the puzzle is completed children can turn it over and colour in the black and white

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image on the back using the crayons provided – and a 9-in-1 bumper back.

Key pre-school property Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom will also see the addition of a nine-piece Wooden Cubic Puzzle, which allows children to create four different scenes from the show.

There is also a collectable puzzle in a vintage-style tin and giant Snakes and Ladders game.

Jumbo launched two new pre-school girls licences at Toy Fair, Everything’s Rosie and Poppy Cat. Everything’s Rosie games and puzzles will be in store for autumn/winter 2011 including 35-piece assortment, Lotto Game and 15-piece Floor Puzzle, while Poppy Cat product will be arriving in 2012.

HTI New for autumn/winter, HTI launches a Hello Kitty Nail Care Set and Hair Care Set. The range features the new Graphic Traffic product and packaging design style associated with the character.

HTI will release a range of role-play toys and play-sets inspired by classic play patterns. Based on real-life home appliances are the Zanussi Panini and Waffle Makers, and the new Cook & Play Kitchen. HTI’s own Smart range of roleplay toys has been rebranded into three sub brands: Smart Home, Shop and Pro. New products in the Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom range include role-play toys and dolls prams and pushchairs.

HTI will also roll out a new range of Winnie the Pooh role-play toys aimed at kids aged between 18 months and four years. The Hunny Pot Picnic Set features Pooh sounds as the lid opens and closes, while the new Market Stall has activities and interactive features to promote pre-school learning, hand-eye coordination and imaginative play.

New for autumn/winter, the Mamas & Papas main range features the replica nursery fabric pattern ‘Damask’ in black and white with bold ‘Orchid’ pink.

BRAINSTORM

01200 445113

The pink Glitter Stars from Brainstorm’s Original Glowstars Company brand are sticker accessories for a girl’s bedroom.

Under the same brand are Glow Superstars plastic planets, paper Glowstars, Glitter Stars and more, all of which can be stuck anywhere – around the bedroom, on school books, bags or furniture, among others.

Also available, the Astro Projector has three domes projecting stars, planets or spacecraft.

Brainstorm’s large range of licensed stickers and room decorations include Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, Disney Fairies and Princesses, as well as Barbie and Hello Kitty.

01253 77888 The range includes new replica lines such as the Luna Mix 3 Wheel Stroller, T2 Tandem Twin Stroller and the Rubix pram. The Mamas & Papas collection also launches the Très Petite range of ‘my first’ prams, pushchairs, dolls and accessories including a moses basket.

HTI’s Silver Cross dolls prams and pushchairs range has been refreshed with a new red with white Poppy fabric with domino spots. Product launches for autumn/winter include the Surf Pram.

The Peppa Pig range of prams and pushchairs has also been given a refresh, while a new wheeled toy range based on Disney Fairies targets girls aged five years and up. In addition, HTI has licensed fashion and design brands Monster High and Barbie. A Barbie Sketch & Design Portfolio will be launched in three themes, while there will be four different sized Monster High Sketch & Design Portfolios, including a Mini Carry-Along Sketch Book. There will also be an Artist Tote Set, while Puzzle Erasers feature the Monster High characters pets.

HTI will also introduce a Disney Princess pocket money line this year.

The colourful stickers light up at night with a glow in the dark effect.

Panda and Macaw join the Mostaix range of art and craft products. Mostaix is made up of small, different shaped plastic tiles which children put together to make mosaic style pictures. The sets are available for a range of ages, and come in eight different designs in the red ribbon series, including Horse, Collie and Butterfly.

ZipBin is the toy chest which can also be used as a toy. The themed bins come with four zips allowing the chest to open up into a playmat. When playtime is over, it easily zips back up into a storage box. Themes for girls include Fairy Castle and Country Stable.

GOLDEN BEAR 01952 608308

Winner of one of the Best New Toy awards at Toy Fair, the Magic Mirror Wand will launch this autumn. The wand allows girls to practise magic with Princess Holly – when pressed, the heart button activates the new ‘Talking Vision Technology’, which makes Holly appear in the wand and say one of five phrases.

Also from the Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom range, the plush Fluttering Wings Holly comes to life when girls place Holly’s wand on her crown, fluttering her translucent wings and speaking one of five phrases.

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GREAT GIZMOS Great Gizmos has a selection of activity kits for girls, including new creations for its recently refreshed 4M Create Your Own collection, which has had a packaging makeover for 2011 designed to attract impulse purchases.

New products in the Create Your Own range include activities such as the Make Your Own Cupcake Trinket Box, where girls can make a small cupcakeshaped box with coloured felt pens and plastic beads.

Alternatively, the Pom Poms kit enables girls to create up to three animal Pom Pom key rings.

The 4M kits have an educational aspect, as the creative activity helps to train basic motor skills.

For example, the Easy-To-Do Dye Art kit will teach kids a new technique to create colourful paper, adding a personal touch with creative designs as the colours flow. Alternatively, the

LITTLE TIKES

The Princess Cozy Coupe is a girls’ version of the classic kid-powered car.

Suitable for ages 18 months plus, it features a high seat back, a driver’s door and a working horn to warn all the boys to get out of the way. The new pink Cozy Coupe Trailer provides space for girls to take treats with them when out on adventures in their ride-on.

The Magenta Tikes Mobile now has the trademark Cozy smiling face and is designed to transport girls aged 18-36 months. The removable handle enables

01293 543221 Make Your Own Shrinking Craft kit is a science of its own, as colourful shapes and accessories shrink down to become charm rings, key rings and other unique pieces of jewellery.

01908 268 480

parents to push their child, while it has a durable plastic body with a wide seating area and plenty of floor space, plus there is a soft seat belt and spacious compartment under the bonnet.

The Pink Country Cottage features classic country styling for ages two and up. The cottage has a detailed interior including a sink with swivel tap, stove top with clicking knobs and push-button play phone. Finally, the magenta Rocking Horse for ages 12 months plus has a high seat back and easy-grip handles.

HABA Haba’s Toy Shop and Play food has numerous new play-sets and food items for 2011.

With warm weather on the way, girls can throw a barbecue just like mum and dad with the new Grill Set Sizzle Expert, which has everything they’ll need to rustle up a treat for friends and family. The grill comes with play charcoal pieces, cardboard grilling fire and tongs, as well as a choice of foods including sausages, steaks, chicken, fish and even a shish kebab.

Another summer play-set is the Ice-cream Shop Venezia. Its practical packaging turns into a colourful ice-cream counter, with icecream cones, scoops, a strawberry and wafers.

New play food items include a Fancy Sweet Cake Bakery for girls to create their own dream cake with different layers to put together an outer ring, cream

0161 304 9555 toppping and a strawberry. For a healthy option there are a range of mushrooms, corn on the cobs and magnetic oranges and lemons which halve to reveal their citrus centres.

The Blender Set is a fabric blender which vibrates, while the Ironing Set and Happy Laundry comes complete with wooden pegs and coat hangers.

JOHN ADAMS The ultimate toy for aspiring hairdressers, Girls World is back. John Adams re-introduces the original styling head with growing straight blonde hair tresses to allow girls aged four and up the opportunity to bring their own hair creations to life. The set includes a new look styling head, hairbrush, hair slides and applicator plus over 100 beads for unique coiffures.

Re-launched last year, Dream Phone remains a hit with girls aged eight years and above. In the interactive electronic board game, girls must uncover the identity of their secret admirer by using the battery-powered phone to receive texts and calls which provide the clues needed.

The Disney Princess Snow Globe Maker gives girls the chance to contain Snow White, The Little Mermaid or Cinderella in reusable snow globes. The Disney licence extends with the Disney Princess 3D Projector which allows girls to project, trace and colour in clothing and decorations for the character models. John Adams has invested heavily in the product and will be running a TV ad drive pre-Christmas.

01480 414361

The Fab Felt Jewellery Maker gives girls aged six and up the chance to make necklaces, brooches, danglies and bangles. Button Bracelets allows children to create their own designs, using the choice of 12 bracelets, 100 buttons, stickers, decorations and soft flowers. Finally, the new Chocolate Lolly Maker has heart, flower, pony and rabbit designs.

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SECTOR GUIDE GIRLS

IMC 01904 720908

Minnie is the new Mickey Mouse Club House licence extension for girls.

IMC has developed Minnie role-play toys including a complete tea set, a cash register with accessories and a shopping trolley with food assortment.

The Minnie Kitchen has more than 17 accessories, with an oven, fridge, blender ceramic hob and taps and shelves. It has three modes, cooking, dining and washing.

The Disney Princess Secret Diary keeps secrets safe, only opening with an electronic key fob. The pen has invisible ink which can only be read when the fob shines its light on the pages. If anybody tries to open the diary without the fob, an alarm will sound.

A pair of Barbie intercom phones are designed so girls can talk and listen at the same time, without having to press any buttons. With additional sounds and a light up feature, the phones are shaped like high heeled shoes and work room-to-room.

MARBEL

The Plan Toys Victorian Dollhouse is a wooden toy for girls of all ages.

It is produced from sustainable rubberwood and features classic Victorian detailing across all three of its floors. The large dollhouse provides the opportunity for children to plan, design and decorate the rooms according to their imagination, aiming to stimulate creativity and social play.

Furniture and accessory sets in several different styles and an additional floor are also available to add extra play value.

It’s a fact girls like dolls and dolls need prams.

MAPS TOYS

01208 873123

Brio has two prams which are available in a variety of colours.

With a folding metal chassis, wide tires, foot brake and shopping basket, the classic Doll Pram Gull is a more realistic pram pushing experience. If the weather turns for the worst, simply fold out the hood and padded cover.

The Doll Pram Combi features a removable soft carrier with easy carry handles. The seat, footrest and handle height can be adjusted to suit children of different ages and heights. A folding hood, folding frame, side pockets and spacious shopping basket complete the versatile pram.

01483 776 006

INTERPLAY 01628 488944

A collection of creative kits inspired by the interests and hobbies of today’s pre-teen market, myStyle is a range of jewellery and gift craft sets for girls aged between eight and 12.

As well as gifts and jewellery, the portfolio also includes Japanese friendship dolls, professional card making and other home crafts kits.

Also new for 2011, the Wild Science for Girls range are cosmetic science kits. The kits are already a hit in Australia and encourage girls to create pampering products such as body lotions and mists, face masks and moisturisers, while learning the secrets of the cosmetics industry.

Both the myStyle and Wild Science for Girls ranges will be supported by significant TV advertising and a targeted girls’ magazine campaign at the time of launch.

JAKKS 01344 638900

GIBSONS GAMES 020 8661 8866

The Shopping Madness board game is a race to collect cards by calculating sums and making lists.

The rules are flexible, with easy, harder and larger party versions.

Shopping Madness comes in a tin.

Puzzles My Fairy Tales and My Nursery Rhymes feature illustrations and designs from the award winning My World range.

They are a colourful way for a child to learn and these puzzles were made to encourage sing-a-longs, as girls put together favourite tales and rhymes.

JUNE 2011

Yummy Dough is a modelling material that allows young children to eat their creations. After adding water to the powder mix to create a mouldable Yummy Dough mixture, the dough can be moulded into different shapes, baked and eaten. The Yummy Dough mixture now comes in new look tubs which are designed to drive impulse sales.

The product can be eaten raw or baked and comes in four different colours – red, blue, green and yellow – which can be mixed together at the powder stage or when the dough is

moulded, to create different colours. The Yummy Dough is made in Germany by one of the country’s leading baking manufacturers using only high quality food products, manufactured under strict European safety regulations.

The award winning Bloco from Maps Toys has a 418-piece Horses & Unicorns set to appeal to girls. Bloco are 3D puzzles which use high-density foam designed into unique and colourful shapes. Each piece can be linked together and rotated to any angle using the special Bloco connectors.

In the girls category, Jakks has a number of value lines aimed at the impulse shopper.

The firm’s dress-up collection includes the Royal Ballet range, which is based on classic performances such as Swan Lake, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Autumn/winter will see a new range of Dora Toddler dress-up and role-play lines, using the new Dora tent-pole themes and specials to match the changes in the TV show. Products include an assortment of boxed and hanging Dresses, Jewellery Sets, Slippers, Tiara Sets and Beauty Tote.

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SECTOR GUIDE GIRLS

MECCANO 01844 350033

A touch of pink and glitter are just two characteristics of Meccano’s Girls Tool Box, which is part of the popular Construction Range.

The Girls Tool Box is packed with more than 60 pieces, which create ten ladylike vehicle variations including a bug car, scooter, plane and a flower. The sparkly pink box is a clever storage solution which will appeal to a broad age range, and contains a selection of stickers so girls can personalise their creations.

Meccano says: “With the current construction and engineering industry dominated by males we are delighted to introduce a set that aspires to develop and nurture girls’ interest in the construction and engineering fields.”

The Girls Tool Box comes with simple tools including a plastic screwdriver that makes construction easy for small hands. The Tool Box is aimed at girls aged five years and up.

WINNING MOVES 020 7298 9500

The Barbie Fashion City Board Game is made for young Barbie fans and requires quick, strategic thinking as girls join Barbie for a day in her favourite fashion city.

Activities with Barbie include a tennis match with friends, a trip to the pool and picking up the pet poodle from the vet.

At the end of a long day of fun activities and shopping, it’s time to get ready for a night out in the city.

There are several symbols on the board which players need to follow in order to have an adventurous trip around Barbie’s Fashion City.

JUNE 2011

MGA ENTERTAINMENT

MGA Entertainment has several new launches in the girls market.

Autumn will see a number of new characters joining the Lalaloopsy large doll range, including Sunny Side Up and Berry Jars ‘n’ Jam. The line will have broad appeal, with 26 dolls available in the range this year.

Also new for autumn is Silly Hair Lalaloopsy doll with wacky, wild hair which bends, curls, twists and straightens. The doll comes with accessories and her pet has a matching bendable tail. Lalaloopsy dolls are suitable for girls aged four and up.

Further new characters will also join the Mini Lalaloopsy product range, as well as two new play-sets, Bea’s School Bus, with an exclusive doll, and Mini Lalaloopsy Treehouse featuring two exclusive dolls, an elevator, bridge, swing slides and two hammocks.

RAINBOW DESIGNS

The Miffy Classic Dick Bruna Signature collection from Rainbow Designs offers a wide array of toys and gifts for Miffy fans of all ages – from plush to collectables, comfy cushions through to stylish notebooks.

The products in the collection all feature the distinctive Miffy artwork and classic primary colours.

First up, the 30cm Standing Plush Miffy and the 15cm Miffys are presented in colourful gift bags in an illustrated CDU. Both are available in one of three unique Bruna colours.

Moving on, and the 22cm Miffy is a soft toy with gingham foot patch.

Meanwhile, retailers can add the

0845 0533 333

MGA will add several new themes to its Bratz range, including Bratz Platinum Shimmer dolls, Bratz Masquerade dolls and Bratz On the Mic, which includes a doll, auto-tune microphone and a funky speaker.

Moxie Girlz will expand with several new ranges including Moxie Girlz Dazzle Dance dolls, Moxie Girlz Magic Hair Colour Streak Studio dolls and Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club, which includes a doll dressed in riding gear and a walking horse with sound effects.

Moxie Girlz Horse Riding club dolls can be purchased separately or as a stable play-set.

Moxie Teenz, the high-end fashion doll, has also had a refresh this year with new fashions and looks. The dolls have realistic eyes, super-cool fashions and articulated joints. Prices start at around £24.99.

01329 227300

finishing touch to Miffy-themed toy displays with the Miffy Bean Toy and Loop rattles.

Younger Miffy fans will adore Rainbow’s Miffy Little Star range which features cuddly, comforting interactive musical and activity toys in a delicate shade of pastel pink.

Each toy is made from so-soft fabrics, and new to the collection is the Miffy Turnaround Musical toy, a pink plush 22cm toy which plays a soothing lullaby as Miffy gently turns around.

Finally, in homeware, there is a Miffy Head Shaped Cushion, an A5 notebook and The Mug in a Gift Box, with embossed detailing.

ORCHARD TOYS 01953 859525

Party, Party, Party from Orchard Toys is a party game for fashion conscious little girls aged between five and nine.

In its bright pink box are little card handbags and accessories. The winner of the game is the first player to join her friends on the dance floor.

For the younger girls, Orchard Toys has a recently launched first card game, Farm Snap. The Farm Snap box has cuddly animals on it, suitable for three to sixes.

The game has 48 sturdy, wipe clean cards, with a farm animal theme that can be played as a simple game of snap or as a game of pairs.

As always with Orchard Toys’ games, Farm Snap aims to be both fun and educational by encouraging memory and observation skills, linking with early learning goals in creative development and understanding of the world.

WOW TOYS 020 7471 0980

Wow’s range of toys for girls continues to expand with regular new additions.

Casey Camper is a funky camper van that comes with a removable picnic table, match and sort luggage, a friendly pet dog with bowl and two removable figures.

Her friction motor gives a realistic engine sound and the roof opens up to reveal a cosy holiday home interior including a bed, sink and cupboards.

Also new to Wow is Jess n Jake’s Playground, a five-piece playground set consisting of a rocking seesaw, push-button slide, spinning roundabout and two removable boy and girl figures.

Pippa’s Princess carriage is a pushalong princess carriage, which comes with a removable princess, fairy godmother and pull-along pony.

Under the carriage lid, there is a dressing room with a revolving magic mirror that reveals Pippa’s ball gown from all angles.

SECTOR GUIDE GILRS

www.toynews-online.biz

THE IN THING 0845 365 3030

Webkinz plush pets are more than just soft toys. Each Webkinz comes with a unique code which allows the pet to be adopted online. In the virtual space users can roam, explore and watch their pet transform from a soft plush toy to their online pet. The website boasts one new user every minute.

Once users have adopted their pet within the Webkinz world they can play arcade games, enter trivia quizzes, feed, care for and look after their pet.

There is an educational focus, helping children to practice both maths and spelling while having fun.

Daniel Sayers, Webkinz UK brand manager, comments: “More and more children in the UK are jumping into the Webkinz virtual world to adopt and care for their plush pet. With a substantial TV campaign running from January to August and new styles due out every month, the future for Webkinz in the UK is very exciting. We are very confident of replicating the almost unparalleled success of Webkinz in the USA over the coming months.”

TOP BANANA 01371 873141

PlayMais is a craft toy using 100 per cent natural ingredients. Sweetcorn and plant dyes are moulded into a colourful building material, which stick to each other using just a dab of water.

The PlayMais World Deco set will allow girls to personalise their possessions. The set includes templates for a bag, gift box, bookmark and picture frame decorations. Instructions and accessories are included for girls to create one of a kind accessories.

The small One Princess set includes 70 PlayMais and allows girls to create their very own royal, while the larger World Princess set has 1,000 PlayMais, full colour templates and accessories.

The instructions will guide them in making their first model, but then they can let their creativity take over and create freeform fairytale princesses.

PlayMais is fully biodegradable and eco-friendly, and so is the packaging – even the cutting tool in each pack is made from cornstarch.

RAVENSBURGER

Ravensburger has Disney Princess and Tangled jigsaws. There is a 60-piece giant floor puzzle, showing Ariel, Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle, as well as the Rapunzel 3 x 49 piece set of puzzles featuring scenes from the film.

Hello Kitty is a brand with fans of all ages and Ravensburger offers an extensive range of puzzles to appeal to this broad spread. For younger girls there are 20, 24 and 49-piece designs, while for slightly older puzzlers there are 100, 125 and 200-piece formats, all of them featuring pink images.

Ravensburger also offers 3D puzzleball designs based on the two popular licences.

SCHLEICH

The Bayala collection is from Schleich’s World of Fantasy range. World of Elves is a play-set featuring mythical creatures from unicorns to dragons and aims to excite children as its many secrets are uncovered.

The newly launched Wedding of the Elves collection has a nuptial theme combining new figures and accessories sensitively co-ordinated with the fantasy world. The bride and groom, Sireel and Solfur who are to be married

by Eyela, the daughter of the king, while the flower elf and musician elf with her harp provide the ceremony with a romantic backdrop.

01869 363800

The Hello Kitty range includes a heartshaped keepsake format for storing trinkets. There are also larger 108 and 240-piece designs featuring Kitty in her iconic poses. All of the favourite Disney Princesses are featured on the 108-piece puzzleball.

The Mandala-Designer range is aimed at girls who are keen on drawing and creative play. Hello Kitty features on Mini, Standard and Deco Drawing Machine. Regardless of the format, the clever stencil wheel and base tray ensures picture-perfect Hello Kitty designs time after time. There’s also a Disney Princess version available too, where young artists can create images of Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel.

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The elven theme will be extended in the autumn, with the introduction of three Bayala accessory sets.

The scene is a magical marriage venue where the happy bride and groom arrive in a horse drawn carriage.

The wedding experience can be enhanced with the Elf Pavilion and Sunny Blossom Elf House, which are available to purchase separately and provide a place to display the happy couple, both during and after their marriage.

Each Schleich piece is designed to offer a play experience that lasts.

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BLUW TOYS 020 7627 1268

This summer, Bluw Toys is expanding its EggBods range with three new characters – Princess Eggabelle, Eggwhite Bride and Baby Egg. A second wave of the girls’ figures will be available from the end of July, and these include Fairy Tinkershell, Eggalina Ballerina, Nurse Eggwhite and Eggs Factor.

Just like the original Eggbods, all new models come with matching accessories and features. For example, Baby Egg has a rattle and Eggwhite Bride has a bouquet and a mesh-fabric veil.

Brian Turner, creative director of Bluw, says: “We’re strongly encouraged by the new wave of Girls EggBods, with the additional dimension of the use of textiles for their head accessories.

“These changes are set to increase the playability as it brings touch to the experience.”

LE TOY VAN 020 8979 2036

Appleby House is a new addition to Le Toy Van’s Daisylane doll’s house line.

Finished in soft pink with aqua detailing, the fully painted and decorated two-storey doll’s house features an apple blossom motif, with the Appleby House name above the door. Features include a staircase, opening shutters and windows, as well as glitter effect roof panels that can be removed to reveal a spacious loft area.

Le Toy Van offers a selection of children’s doll’s houses with 12 different types to choose: from fully furnished bungalow-style houses such as Lily’s Cottage, to the three storey Cherry Tree Hall, the range spans a variety of styles and budgets.

The Daisylane doll’s house collection is fully supported by a wide range of accessories and dolls. They also include 15 different furniture sets from traditional sets like Daisylane to the contemporary Sugar Plum. Other accessories include a Dress-up Wardrobe and Pet sets.

JUNE 2011

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SECTOR GUIDE GIRLS

BEST YEARS 01327 262189

Providing an alternative to the traditional baby and fashion dolls, Best Years has a range of crochet dolls for younger girls.

The full range includes a princess, a witch and a wizard, while bunnies, pigs and bears, with all coming in both boy or girl varieties.

The texture of the crochet work provides a tactile texture for younger hands to explore.

Handmade by a fair trade workers cooperative, the dolls are 100 per cent cotton and fully machine washable.

WEST DESIGN PRODUCTS 01303 297888

Creativity for Kids craft kits are designed for girls of all ages. The Beautiful Butterflies and Butterfly Canopy kits are bedroom decorations.

Best Friends Forever Flower Bracelets, OptiArt Rings and the retro Pop Art Necklaces are jewellery craft kits.

With Fashion Design Studio and Special Occasions Fashion, girls can create their own original designer clothes, with the kits containing fabrics, trims, embellishments and mannequins.

West Design Products has handmade cosmetics in the shape of five fruity Lip Balms along with Glitter Gloss. Also in the beauty category, there are Fashion Headbands and Butterfly Hair Clips.

There’s painting, decorating and paper crafting too: a Dollhouse or Fairy Friend for younger girls, or Beaded Snowflake Ornaments to festoon on the family Christmas tree.

JUNE 2011

WORLD’S APART This year World’s Apart will launch new collections for its popular girl’s licences Hello Kitty and Me To You, along with a range of new products in the longstanding girls licence Disney Princess.

Worlds Apart is confident that the addition of Me To You, and the extension of the Hello Kitty and Disney Princess lines, will appeal to both girls and parents.

The Hello Kitty Go Glow Pal won a Toy Fair Best New Toy award in the Feature Plush category. The plush Go Glow Pals provide day time play and gently glow at night, offering comfort and security to young children. Simply squeezing the hands of their Go Glow Pals will make Hello Kitty’s bow glow and the Me To You Go Glow Pal’s heart light up.

After 15 minutes the night-light automatically switches off.

Adding to the Worlds Apart Home girls portfolio are the Hello Kitty Memo Board, Book Ends and Magazine Rack.

The Flip Out Sofa available in Hello Kitty and Me to You designs is practical and fun. The inflatable sofa also unfolds and opens out into a lounger.

WOWWEE

WowWee is introducing Lite Sprites, a world of collectable characters and playsets. Lite Sprites live in Lite-topia and will be available from July, suitable for ages four and up.

Prisma is the leading Lite Sprite and has the most colours to share. She comes with a special Lite Wand to select a colours from a rainbow library or magically collect colour from any surface to transfer to the Lite Sprites, or the interactive play-set Lite-topia. The wand also includes colour games and special colour spells for the play-sets and Bleak.

Astra, Meadow and Brooke light up with seven special colours which they can transfer between themselves and Lite-topia. Bleak mischievously steals colour, but the wand holds the secret to unlock the colours of her heart. All the Sprites come with their own forest pod.

The range will include four interactive play-sets which light up with colour by themselves or by using the colour

0800 389 591 The Tween Go Glow Light is also available in both designs.

Featuring projector slides with fun images and stickers, the Go Glows provide a soft glowing night light suitable for bedtime reading and double up as a night light. The range also includes Hello Kitty and Me to You light up headboards and an easy assemble Me To You Fabric Wardrobe.

Building on the Disney Princess collection – which includes the Disney Princess Carriage Bed and a full range of girls bedroom furnishings – this year sees the arrival of the new Disney Princess Go Glow Clock Bedtime Trainer, Fabric Wardrobe and two Pop Up’s, the Disney Princess Feature Carriage Combo and Disney Princess Castle Feature Tent.

Worlds Apart also has Dream Town sets, which include the Strawberry Stables and Fudge, offering role play activity for girls.

Worlds Apart will support the Hello Kitty, Me To You and Disney Princess and Strawberry Stables ranges with PR and marketing activity.

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transfer feature of the Lite Sprites and the Lite Wand. Four Deluxe play-sets each have a special movement that triggers a colour display and comes with a range of accessories.

The Sprites will be accompanied by 16 different collectable pets. Lite Sprites will have over 1,000 TVRs from July to December. A PR programme will target both girls and mums from pre-launch right up until Christmas. There will be online activity and instore support.

Meanwhile, an assortment of eight new Aquapets are available. The collectable floating friends are available from summer with more features and greater interactivity. Aquapets respond to kids with a floating movement, chirpy sounds and melodies. There are also games to play. The more an Aquapet is played with, the livelier it becomes and the more songs it sings. Bring two or more Aquapets together and they will talk, chirp and dance with each other.

PEERS HARDY 0121 524 1439

Last year, Peers Hardy launched its Pink Cookie gift range which has an array of products aimed at teen girls.

The fashion forward brand offers a variety of trend conscious design elements.

In the sleepwear category are the Pink Cookie Dressing Gown and Cosy Fleece. The dressing gown is made from soft material and is covered in the Pink Cookie images which identify the brand. For snuggling up on the sofa, the fleece blanket has sleeves and a front pocket.

The Mug and Tin Gift Set tin doubles up as a lockable money box.

The Twin Pack of Media Cases feature the Pink Cookie branding and come in two different fabrics and for housing a mobile phone or MP3 player.

Other bedroom accessories include the Colour Changing Candle, Hot Water Bottle Cover & Mask Gift Set, the Pink Cookie Cushion, the Pink Cookie Bin and set of three storage boxes.

KIDDIMOTO

01749 871 175

Kiddimoto has a range of girls wooden balance bikes and a host of pink accessories. Kiddimotos are designed to be a child’s first bike – they don’t have pedals or brakes, letting the child control their own movements, to help develop important motor skills from an earlier age, teaching balance and co-ordination to help them to progress to a proper bicycle without the need for stabilisers.

All Kiddimoto wooden balance bikes are constructed from natural birch plywood. The range includes accessories like gloves, t-shirts and helmets and there is a personalisation option, where the child’s name and a number can be printed on a set of stickers.

PLAYMOBIL

01254 872454

Girls can enjoy luxury play in Playmobil’s new Grande Mansion. The mansion has three floors and a full staircase. The intricate exterior has plenty of windows with moveable shutters, balconies full of flowers and even a working doorbell on the lockable front door. Thanks to its slightly angled construction there’s even more room to play together and a full complement of new room sets means that there are hours of fun to be had.

There is a living room for the family, a kitchen for cooking up a culinary feast and in the children’s bedroom there are plenty of toys to play with, all of which can be tidied away on the bedroom shelves. Not forgetting the pets, there’s a basket for the cat and a bowl for the dog.

Dedicated monthly retail coverage

Retail Only News • Data • Opinion

Mothercare continues with out of town plans

Comment Page 62 Counter Insurgent straightens things up after the many bank holidays...

by Katie Roberts & Lewis Tyler

Charts

IT WAS REPORTED in The Independent on Sunday last month that property agency CB Richard Ellis had been sending a ‘confidential list’ of for-sale locations of Mothercare stores to other retailers and potential buyers.

The maternity retailer wants to cash-in on 32 failing stores immediately, with the remainder to be sold only if the price is right.

Plans had already been outlined in April to move the retail operation to shopping malls and other large ‘outof-town’ locations and Mothercare is planning to use the extra floor-space to consolidate with subsidiary brand, the Early Learning Centre – the retailer describes the combined shops as ‘parenting centres’.

Mothercare declined to comment to The Independent on Sunday on the 121-store list, but its chief executive, Ben Gordon, said in a recent trading

Page 63 Find out what’s top of the charts at Very, The Entertainer, Play.com and WH Smith...

New products Page 64 New products come in from My Travel Toys, Lego, Gibsons Games and Learning Curve...

update: “The UK trading environment however remains difficult with weaker consumer demand and lower footfall.”

It is also understood that Mike Logue, a former MD of Asda Living, is joining as UK director for Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre, leaving Gordon free to

concentrate on the growing overseas operation. It is thought that Logue’s knowledge of the supermarket sector will help Mothercare to reclaim sales in its specialist babycare and preschool sectors, where its traditional business has been hurt with grocers expanding toy and baby offerings.

Mothercare: 01923 241000

Poundstretcher snaps up Alworths THE ADMINISTRATOR of Alworths, Leonard Curtis, has sold the entire business as well as 15 of the 17 stores.

Following the demise of the variety chain back in April, the administrator continued to trade the stores for five weeks, saying it had a lot of interest in the business from the beginning, finally resulting in the sale to Poundstretcher.

Neil Bennett of Leonard Curtis said: “We are delighted that the majority of the 235 jobs across the whole company have been saved.

Hero Product Page 65 This month’s hero product is the Oginov Tumbler from Drumond Park…

“This is a particularly good result for us, for the employees of the business, the creditors of the Alworths company and for the

British High Street. We wish the staff and the customers of all these stores the very best.”

Poundstretcher: 0844 879 7047

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RETAIL ONLY

HIGHSTREET COUNTER INSURGENT Dispatches from the retail front line...

I’M SO GLAD to see the back of all those bank holidays and get back to some sort of routine. It seemed to go on forever this year.

All the time off caused problems about where to pile the internet order parcels for collection and we had them stacked everywhere, even in the toilets. The postman grumbled like hell when he saw how many he had to collect. The look he gave me when I suggested he moved his lunchbox off the front seat and pile some there was enough to tell me that wasn’t going to happen.

At least he took up my suggestion for the second round of bank holidays to get someone on an earlier round to call in and collect some of them. With three working days

in 11 the backlog is only now starting to clear.

When times are tough you try to keep costs down as much as you can and in my case, that means working all the holidays. But I’ve lost track of all the days off and lieu days my staff have had. It seems all they’ve done for two weeks is have time off while emptying my back pocket.

Don’t you just love all the phone calls you get as well from reps, telesales and cold callers, asking what you did over the bank holidays? And why do they sound so surprised when you say you worked all the way through?

So how were Easter sales?

The weather was almost too good and the roads and the High Street did seem quiet.

Judging by the smell of burnt burgers in the air, I guess food sales did okay and DIY seemed busy too, but then again, they always are at Easter.

When times are tough you try to keep costs down and in my case, that means working all the holidays.

This industry is under attack from all sides and this is best shown by a father who was in the store the other day.

He told his son he could either

have the Lego he wanted with this week’s pocket money or the Manchester United strip with the next six weeks’ pocket money. As much as it pains me

to say it, Manchester United has had a great end to the season, so I don’t need to tell you where that money was spent. That potentially equates to six weeks before that child can buy a toy again.

We have to fight for every penny at the moment and not only do toys have to offer good value for money, but increasingly they have to be cool and give the children some street cred. Now there’s a challenge.

PRICE CHECK: JUNE 2011

JUNE 2011

Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear Mattel

My Own Leaptop, white Leapfrog

Junior Activity Gym, Evergreen Little Tikes

Peppa Pig Kitchen HTI

Justin Bieber Doll – Street Vivid

£41.99

£19.99

N/A

£47.49

£15.99

£41.99

£14.97

£94.99

£39.97

£16.99

£39.40

£14.99

£99.99

£49.99

£10.49

£42.00

£20.00

£67.00

£45.00

£16.00

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RETAILCHARTS WHSmith.co.uk 1

Lego Star Wars Brickmaster

2

CHART DATE 06/05/11

The Entertainer

CHART DATE 06/05/11

Dorling Kindersley

1

Toy Story Buzz Lightyear

Large Brick Box

Lego

2

30th Anniversary Princess Cozy Coupe

3

Sylvanian Families Sister at Home Set

Flair

3

Bakugan Brawlers Game Pack

4

Timmy Time Wooden Dominoes Set

Golden Bear

4

Toy Story 3 Electric Train Set

Hornby

5

Lego Atlantis Brickmaster

Dorling Kindersley

5

Forest Growable Acorn Swing Set with QuadPod

TP Toys

6

Pirate Plank Game

Lego

6

Toy Story Woody The Sheriff

Vivid

7

Britains Ifor Williams Horse Trailer

Learning Curve

7

Moshi Monsters Moshling Collectable Figures

Vivid

8

Lego Pirate Brickmaster

Dorling Kindersley

8

Nebulus TX Scooter, blue

9

Star Wars Tri Fighter Droid

Lego

9

Hello Kitty Scooter

Tomy

10 Hexbug Nano Elevation Set

10 Thomas and Friends Wind Up Toy

Amazon

CHART DATE 06/05/11

1

Rubik’s 360

2

Nerf N-Strike Clip System Dart Pack (36 darts)

3

Bananagrams

4

Original Rubik’s Cube

5

Butterfly Garden

6

Nerf N-Strike Barricade RV-10

7

Top Trumps Moshi Monsters

8 9

John Lewis

Vivid Little Tikes Spin Master

Grossman HTI Innovation First

CHART DATE 06/05/11

John Adams

1

Genius Octagonal Surroundsafe Ten-feet Trampoline

TP Toys

Hasbro

2

Genius Octagonal Surroundsafe 14-feet Trampoline

TP Toys

Winning Moves

3

Star Wars Trade Federation Troop Carrier

John Adams

4

Mini Micro T-Bar Scooter, green

Insect Lore

5

Furreal Friends Butterscotch Pony

Hasbro

6

Extreme Stretch Dinosaurs

Winning Moves

7

Marbles Set

Rex International

20Q Version 3.0

Mattel

8

Flying Glider

Rex International

Classic Swingball

Mookie

9

Dragon Land: Great Dragon Castle

Hasbro

10 Star Wars Boba Fett’s Slave I Starship

10 Nerf N-Strike Whistler Dart Pack

Play.com

CHART DATE 06/05/11

1

Nerf N-Strike Maverick

2

Minifigures Series 4

3

Nerf Whistler Darts (Pack of 36)

4

Ozbozz My First Pink Scooter, pink

5

Star Wars Snow Trooper Battle Pack

6

Ozbozz My First Scooter, purple

7

Very.co.uk

Lego Micro Scooters Hasbro TAO

Playmobil Lego

CHART DATE 06/05/11

Hasbro

1

Mickey Mouse Playhouse Pool

Lego

2

Cosy Coupe 30th Anniversary Edition, pink

Hasbro

3

2-in-1 Swing

Grossman

4

Anchors Away Sand and Water Table

Lego

5

Fisher-Price Bounce n Spin Zebra, pink

Mattel

Grossman

6

Handy Manny’s Talking Toolbox

Mattel

Nerf N-Strike Longstrike CS-6

Hasbro

7

JLS Aston Figure

Vivid

8

Disney Tangled Rapunzel Play-set

Mattel

8

Toy Story Buzz Lightyear

Vivid

9

Star Wars Rebel Trooper Battle Pack

Lego

9

First Steps Baby Walker

VTech

10 Top Trumps Moshi Monsters

Winning Moves

10 ZhuZhu Pets Rock Star Hamsters

Disney Little Tikes Hedstrom Little TIkes

Character

JUNE 2011

64

RETAIL ONLY

PRODUCTNEWS Lego City makes a splash with Harbour THE LEGO City Harbour sets are suitable for kids aged five to 12 and fit in alongside the other Lego City Worlds available.

The Harbour itself provides the main hub for the theme, where the crane can be used to offload the cargo from the ship, place it onto the conveyor and then load it onto the truck.

The set includes a number of features such as walkie-talkies, a broom, a fishing rod and fish with fisherman, a worker, a crane driver, and chief officer Minifigures.

The Marina set includes a quad bike, a lifeguard tower, a café and a surfer shop along with accessories

for the beach: a dinghy, a surfboard, diving masks, flippers and umbrella.

Additional, smaller toys include the Speed Boat, complete with a

sailor Minifigure and lifejacket; the Fishing Boat and, finally, the Power Boat Transporter.

Lego: 01753 495000

Gibsons brings new picturesque puzzles for the summer

My Travel Toys unveils Qatch travel pillows

JUNE 2011

RUSTY THE Robot and Lulu in a Tutu are two new additions to the Lamaze Play and Grow toy range.

Created for babies and toddlers, the toys are made from brightlycoloured fabrics in a range of different textures.

Rusty the Robot offers two sides of play, its ratcheting head allows kids to mix and match his body.

There are also crinkle effects, ribbons, clanking rings, busy beads and a baby-safe discovery mirror.

The sci-fi character has bright, bold patterns and colours, to help stimulate a baby’s visual

The town is often described as the Little Venice of the Cotswolds and is one of the most popular tourist spots within the region.

Other titles within the new releases include Little Spotters, Move Along, The Summer Show and Betty’s Sweet Shop. As with all Gibsons puzzles, they are made on good quality, 100 per cent recycled board and each puzzle is made in the UK and Europe.

A family company, Gibsons Games has been producing jigsaw puzzles and games since 1919.

Gibsons is also the UK distributor for Piatnik Playing Cards.

Gibsons Games: 0208 661 8866

GIBSONS GAMES has released six new jigsaw puzzles featuring images from artists including Terry Harrison and Kevin Walsh.

Highlights in the range include a new 500-piece jigsaw, Tenby, depicting the Welsh harbour town and seaside resort. The image shows both residents and tourists on the beaches, which stretch to the north, the west, and the south of the town.

Five new 1,000-piece jigsaws have also joined the line-up. Terry Harrison has produced a number of Gibsons Games’ puzzles over the years and this latest line-up of puzzles includes the image of Bourton-on-the-Water.

WELL RECEIVED at this year’s London Toy Fair, Qatch is a novelty soft travel toy which doubles up as a pillow. The back-body of the toy is made from bamboo and organic cotton velour and the pillow has natural antibacterial properties.

Qatch is part of the My Travel Toys premium gift range, especially designed for young travellers, starting from babies, toddlers and up to younger children.

There are six designs available to choose from, including an owl, a cat,

Lamaze adds new characters

a monkey and an elephant – all designed in bright colours and

dressed in personalised jumpers.

My Travel Toys: 020 8886 6326

development, while the various textures aim to provide tactile and auditory stimulation.

Lulu in a Tutu has a wide toothy grin and a crinkly yellow tutu, which features coloured satin ribbons and a pink underside. In its left hand, the toy also has busy beads on a rattling teething ring, which is connected to the left foot.

For on-the-go play, both Lulu and Rusty feature quick-release clips for attachment to cot sides and pushchairs.

Learning Curve: 01392 281900

www.toynews-online.biz

HERO PRODUCT

65

Drumond Park Oginov Tumbler This spherical puzzler must be solved using the miracle of gravity. The Oginov Tumbler rolls onto shelves this August...

THE OGINOV Tumbler is based on a new ‘gravity/tilt’ principle.

The puzzles consist of a shiny two-piece tumbler ball into which the player puts each set of pyramid puzzles, aim to challenge spatial awareness, promote forward thinking and develop maths and numerical skills.

There are six puzzles in total, with a starter set of two puzzles – The Dots and The Tri-2, which will be released in August.

The Dots has four dot–matching solutions, while the slightly trickier Tri–2 puzzle requires players to create the perfect colour combination. Players can set their own pattern targets to suit their mood and the level of challenge they are looking for.

Invented by Dr Pantazis Houlis, the Oginov Tumbler is aimed at players aged from eight years and retails at around £9.99. The gameplay for each puzzle can be adapted to suit the player’s skill – by setting time targets, racing friends or handicapping themselves and their opponents in a variety of different ways.

A dedicated website will be launched to support the product at www.oginov.com. The site will provide hints and tips, as well as giving news and progress on the next two twin puzzle packs.

“Oginov will be TV advertised from August right up to Christmas,” says Claire McCool, marketing director at Drumond Park. “There will also be a full scale PR and promotions campaign – using traditional press, TV and radio, plus YouTube and social media together with demonstrations in high footfall areas in big cities.

There will also be widespread sampling through stunts and participation in regional roadshows throughout the country.”

Release dates: August 2011 CONTACT DETAILS: Phone: 01506 855577 Email: info@drumondpark.com

JUNE 2011

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THE PUPPET Company is looking forward to an exciting summer with new collections of wooden toys, Wilberry Soft Toys, Puppets and Marionettes.

The year started with strong sales at Spring Fair and Toy Fair, London and a successful launch into the US toy market at the New York Toy Fair. Using a Texas-based logistics and warehousing company has given the firm a strong distribution base in the heart of the US, allowing containers to be sent direct from China, Indonesia and the UK. The Puppet Company has recruited 35 toy and gift agents giving them coverage of 37 US states.

Sue Lockey, company director, comments: “The amazing reaction to our puppets has taken us by surprise. The Puppet Company brand is new to the US market and we were expecting a slow but steady growth, however the response has been fantastic.”

The company launched with a collection of eight ranges to gage the market but have already increased the offer due to demand.

The new wooden toys were first shown at Spring Fair and include both table top and floor standing puppet theatres. In addition there are two different styles of castles, which come with wooden play figures. The Puppet Company has worked with a new designer on the range and this has proved to be a very successful partnership.

The new Wilberry Wood collection has already been ordered by several of the main department store groups and looks set to be a great addition.

Autumn sees the launch of the Marionette puppet collection consisting of a selection of popular story characters and all offered in individual boxes.

Designed to be very easy to use, the Marionettes come with full instructions and an ‘untangle’ system, which really works.

The Puppet Company Unit 2-4 Cam Centre Wilbury Way, Hitchin Herts, SG4 0TW www.thepuppetcompany.com

BROOKITE LIMITED SUPPLIER/MANUFACTURER

01837 53315 BROOKITE HAS been producing quality kites and toys for well over 100 years and has been based in a rural location in Devon for the last 30 years.

Since the company began, the ethos behind product selection and manufacture has been good quality at sensible prices.

Materials have changed significantly throughout the years and Brookite prides itself on constantly updating the

ranges available, to incorporate the latest technology, design and packaging.

2011 has begun very well for the company with all the new products selling well. In the Windthings range, Union Jack Windsocks and Hot Air Balloons have sold particularly well in the first quarter. These type of products are a large part of the business and the choice grows ever larger each year.

Kites are the main product on offer at Brookite and there are always some new fun designs within the range – this year the Once Upon a Time kites feature a dragon, a unicorn and a mini monster – fun for the very young. The Pop Up range of kites are a great innovation –

the sticks are already in place and the kite pops up – similar to an umbrella mechanism – and the kite is ready for kids to fly immediately.

For later this year, there will be two new designs added to the range including a 3D Fairy and a 3D Butterfly.

Brookite also stocks the Aerobie range of flying toys and the Nerf Vortex Mega and Pocket Howlers. In the Funtrix range there is a new LED Yo-Yo and a Spinning Top.

For information on the Brookite range contact us for a trade catalogue on 01837 53315 or email info@brookite.com

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72

TOY TALK

TOY TALK

Corinthian’s final accolade, The Hoff meets Spongebob, it’s Birchwood’s birthday and Mann hangs up his trainers…

Jon SALISBURY Observations from a toy industry survivor....

LAUGHABLY, MY A Level results 30 years ago spelled CEO: C for English, E for History and an O-Level grade for Economics. CEO. Chief Executive Officer. Hardly the kind of office I achieved in my career, but one that has made a man in the toy industry the 16th highest paid CEO in corporate America.

Based on a compensation formula which adds up salary, perks, bonuses, preferential interest rates on pay set aside for later and company estimates for the value of stock options and stock awards on the day they were granted last year, Hasbro’s Brian Goldner earned $23 million in 2010, up a staggering 196 per cent on 2009.

Of course, Goldner is a professional CEO whereas there are three self-made toy CEOs in the UK who have made the grade in Nick Austin at Vivid, Richard King at Character Options and Peter Brown at Flair. Some of their companies are now PLCs but they were the ones who started them – a very different career path to Goldner who has been with Hasbro for 11 years and became the company’s president and CEO in 2008.

He signed a new contract in March 2010 that provided him with additional stock awards as an incentive for him to remain with the company until 2014. A nice set of golden handcuffs in any business.

So, the next time you find yourself having to defend yourself for choosing a career in an industry that many people see as a bit lightweight or throwaway, you’d do well to use the example of 47 year-old Goldner as the highly lucrative pinnacle of toy managerial excellence.

Goldner actually entered the toy industry via Bandai who had lured him away from a role at JWT’s entertainment division, which is where this little tale comes full circle. JWT Advertising is actually owned by WPP, the world’s biggest advertising group, whose founder and CEO is Sir Martin Sorrell who went to the same school as... me.

HOT WHEELS RACES AHEAD

CORINTHIAN’S LAST HOORAH

Mattel’s boy brand Hot Wheels is offering consumers the chance to win tickets to some of the biggest motor racing events of the summer. The brand is partnering with the prestigious Silverstone Circuits to offer tickets to the British Grand Prix in July.

In addition, consumers can also win tickets to a host of other races and motoring experiences including the MotoGP, British Touring Car Championship, Silverstone Classics car event and Monster Jam. “We know that offering consumers fantastic real life racing experiences really resonates with our audience,” says boys marketing manager, Jonathan Kirkley.

Despite going into administration in April, Corinthian Marketing has managed to throw one last punch from beyond the grave, reaching number 68 in The Sunday Times International Track 100, which was researched and compiled by Fast Track.

International sales over 2008 and 2009 grew by 63.5 per cent, compared to 2006 and 2007. Corinthian went into administration as a result partly of lost sales because of the bad weather at the end of 2010 and the subsequent cash flow problems that followed.

MANAGER OF THE MONTH

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Stuart Picton UK Marketing Manager, Spin Master What was your first job in the toy industry?

Brand manager (Europe North) for Lego.

What do you love most about working in the toy industry?

Seeing the faces of my two girls light up when dad brings back new toy samples for them to try out. And the people, of course.

What’s the best bit about your role?

Seeing the results of your work and decisions on key brands (and those of the team) manifest themselves in measurable results.

And being surrounded by toys.

And the worst?

Too many emails.

What would you do if you weren’t in your current role?

Playing golf in the Algarve (I wish).

Where do you hope your career will have taken you in five years time?

The marketing director at the number one toy company.

What does your average working day consist of?

Reviewing sales, allocating budgets, marketing planning with local and global teams and managing the team.

Use three words to describe yourself.

Passionate, strategic, self-assured.

JUNE 2011

Who would play you in (Spin Master): The Movie?

Tom Hanks

TOY TALK

73

THE HOFF HITS BLACKPOOL David Hasselhoff took time out from judging dancing dogs, child singers and Michael McIntyre wannabes on Britain’s Got Talent to open Nickelodeon Land at Blackpool Pleasure Beach recently.

The former Knight Rider and Baywatch star joined Nick presenters Jamie and Anna, as well as characters including Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer at the launch of the six-acre site, which cost £10.3m and features 12 rides and attractions inspired by the Nickelodeon brand.

The UK’s first Nick store is also on-site, selling apparel, toys and gifts, plus a Build a Bob product which lets guests create their own Spongebob from dozens of individual pieces.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO BIRCHWOOD Recruitment company Birchwood celebrated its second birthday on May 13th. “I want to take the opportunity to thank each and every client and candidate of Birchwood Recruitment for their support and loyalty over the last two years; I certainly could not have done it without the support of the trade that I really love,” said the firm’s Amanda Holder.

My Favourite Things Andrew Welch, Product Manager, Bandai

JOHN HOLMWOOD Well-known Sussex and Kent toy agent, John Holmwood passed away on his birthday aged 72 on April 18th, following a brave fight with cancer.

Holmwood joined the toy trade in 1969 as a rep for Mettoy in Sussex and Kent, before going on to become an agent for a range of companies including Gibson, Elf Toys and Fountain Toys, as well as his own range of joke and party products.

Always the professional, he gave his best service and trust.

He will be greatly missed by his wife Kathleen, children Claire and Peter and his many friends in the toy trade.

AND FINALLY...

Many congratulations go to Tomy CEO Robert Mann, who completed this year’s London Marathon in six hours, 30 minutes and 50 seconds, raising well over £6,000 for the Toy Trust in the process.

He commented: “The ‘race’ was a great experience and the crowds were fantastic. Unfortunately, at mile 14 my knee went and I was forced to hobble the remaining 12 miles. Would I do it again?

No chance – the training has nearly killed me and I have lost any friends I had by my constant demands for money.”

But, when you take into account all the extra training Mann put in after an admin error meant he couldn’t run in 2010, surely his finishing time should have been one year, six hours, 30 minutes and 50 seconds...?

JUNE 2011

Number one album: Mylo – Destroy Rock & Roll ------------------------------------------------------------Film: Lost in Translation/Beverley Hills Cop --------------------------------------------------------Website: www.pistonheads.co.uk --------------------------------------------------------Hero: Alan Partridge/Alan Sugar --------------------------------------------------------Book: George’s Marvellous Medicine – Roald Dahl.

----------------------------------------------------------TV programme: Thundercats -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Number one single when you were born: Odyssey – Use It Up And Wear It Out (had to look this one up) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Magazine: EDGE magazine -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Holiday: Australia – one day, sometime soon -------------------------------------------Pet: Not had one to date ------------------------------------------Game/toy: Super Cup Football and Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard --------------------------------------------Food: A good pepperoni take-away pizza -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Tipple: JD and coke -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Way to spend a weekend: Barbeque in the garden on a sunny day, with my wife and kids -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Piece of advice: The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

74

FEATURE PLANNER

AUGUST 2011 London 2012 Special

Plush

Construction Toys With the Olympics less than one year away, ToyNews will take a thorough look at the toy industry’s licensed London 2012 offering.

Next up we will carry a comprehensive guide on the crucial cuddly toy sector – expect to see lots of fluffy friends in our plush sector guide.

Finally, we will provide a guide to the growing construction toy category. An ever expanding list of toy firms are producing these creatively-based bricks, blocks and more.

Editorial deadline: July 1st Advertising deadline: August 15th

FORTHCOMING EVENTS TIA CALIFORNIA TOY DAY June 7th - 8th Citizen Hotel, Sacramento, CA www.toyassociation.org

TOY TRUST G.O.S.H. FUNDRAISER June 11th 2011 Rutland Water www.btha.co.uk/toytrust

LICENSING INTERNATIONAL EXPO June 14th - 16th Mandalay Bay Convention Centre, Las Vegas www.licensingexpo.com

BTHA AGM / INDUSTRY DAY June 29th Great Fosters Hotel, Egham, Surrey www.btha.co.uk

AUTUMN FAIR September 4th - 7th NEC Birmingham www.autumnfair.com

THE LICENSING AWARDS September 13th Grosvenor House Hotel www.thelicensingawards.co.uk

KIND UND JUGEND September 15th - 18th Koelnmesse, Cologne www.kindundjugend.com

CHINA TOY EXPO October 12th - 14th Shanghai New International Expo Center www.china-toy-expo.com

Got any events you would like to see added to the calendar? Email samantha.loveday@intentmedia.co.uk

www.toynews-online.biz Editorial: 01992 535646 Advertising: 01992 535647

ToyNews is published 12 times a year by Intent Media ~ Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1JA Fax: +44 (0)1992 535648 © Intent Media 2011 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners.

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