ToyNews Issue 121 September 2011

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Issue 121

PRIME TIME Hasbro’s UK chief on how 2011 is panning out so far

THE WOW FACTOR Richard North reveals his ambitious expansion plans

PRAISE THE BOARD We find out what’s big in the games and puzzles sector

HEY BIG SPENDERS The companies splashing the cash on TV ads this Christmas

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

September 2011

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Contents REGULARS

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

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

4

News

6

Exclusive NPD analysis

Lewis Tyler Staff Writer

8

Media Tracker

Lewis.Tyler@intentmedia.co.uk

10

Appointments

12

Campaign of the Month

14

TV ratings

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

LICENSING

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

20

News

22

Turner’s pre-school plans

25

Brand Licensing Europe 2011

COMPETITION 42 This month, win products from Coiled Spring worth £500

Adam Butler Design Adam.Butler@intentmedia.co.uk

Jon Salisbury Contributor jon@wotkidzwant.com

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

FEATURES 16

The Big Interview: Hasbro

29

The Big Interview: Wow Stuff

32

Toy start-ups

34

Autumn Fair Preview

RETAIL 69

News

70

Counter Insurgent

71

Dubit research

72

New Products

73

Hero Product

Follow us on

@toynewsonline

Editorial: 01992 535646 Advertising: 01992 535647

Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations

AUDITED CIRCULATION: Average Net Circulation: 6,181 July 1st 2010 to June 30th 2011. 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.

July 1st 2009 - June 30th 2010 comparisons.

You would be a fool not to visit Us at Autumn Fair Come and visit Cartamundi at Stand A58 in Hall 5 view our complete range at

www.cartamundi.com Units 8 - 17 Sandhurst, Kings Road, Charfleets Industrial Estate, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 0QY. Tel: 01268 511522, Fax: 01268 513109 or e-mail retail@cartamundi.co.uk become a fan at www.facebook.com/CartamundiUK

COMMENT STAY TUNED

ACCORDING TO several independent retailers we’ve spoken to this month, the Christmas shopping season has already begun.

Whether this is down to the summer showers driving consumers to seek comfort in the thought of the festive season, some good promotions in-store or just some savvy economic planning in certain households, the toy industry’s TV marketing campaigns – which are now swinging into action – are more important than ever.

And, everyone seems to have upped their game this year, as our sector guide this issue shows. Mattel continues to lead the way – the firm is the number one TV investor in the toy industry, with 13 per cent more advertising

Let’s hope the extra investment in TV helps pull even more consumers in-store. than its nearest competitor for the first half of 2011. And it has some big plans for the remainder of the year.

In addition, firms including VTech, LeapFrog, Wow Stuff – which is trebling its TV spend in 2011 – and Ravensburger to name just a few are significantly upping their commitment to TV. And it’s not just about the traditional ten and 20-second slots any more: sponsorship of programming blocks on major channels, competitions and online tie ins are all popular.

With the economy still fragile, let’s hope that the extra investment in TV does the job and that the steady stream of early Christmas shoppers seen by some indies continues to build.

Samantha Loveday Samantha.Loveday@intentmedia.co.uk

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NEWS

Wow Stuff plans international expansion Firm hopes to reach $250 million in US sales in three years New brand roll-out to spearhead European launch...

by Katie Roberts WOW STUFF is launching its products into international markets, beginning with the US. Air Swimmers and My Keepon will be available exclusively at Toys R Us for the launch period and all stock has already sold out.

The company has ambitious plans for growth in the US. Managing director, Richard North, told ToyNews: “In less than three years, we’d like to be at a quarter of a billion dollars in sales.

“At retail, that would be $400 million. We’re fast approaching the $100 million threshold now and eventually maybe $500 million.”

The product promotion will take on a similar format to that in the UK, with in-store demonstrators, touch screen videos and web-cams to monitor the consumer reaction to the products.

Currently, the UK team is orchestrating the US launch, and

NORTH: “We’re launching a Wow Stuff brand next year”

hopefully end up with the ‘wow’ reaction and we can say ‘yep, that’s right, that’s Wow Stuff.’

“Whereas at the moment, they’ll see a product and a brand, they’ll say ‘wow’, but they don’t necessarily know it’s from us. Now it will be synonymous.”

In less than three years, we’d like to be at a quarter of a billion dollars in sales.

Richard North, MD

Wow Stuff plans to maintain this control of the business.

North explained: “I think ultimately we will have our own offices. Or if we are part of a larger organisation in a few years’ time, then we can work within their offices

to get things into the marketplace.”

Next, Wow Stuff plans to unveil a new brand, which will spearhead the move into European territories.

North revealed: “We are launching a Wow Stuff brand next year and that’s when we will

The new brand will also allow the company to extend current ‘blockbuster’ products, such as Dave the Monkey, into bigger ranges, which will begin to roll-out in around a year’s time.

To find out more about Wow Stuff’s plans, turn to our feature on p29.

Wow Stuff: 0870 054 6000

Treasure Trove ties with Diamant Toys Activision targeting Deal will see new AMAV Fun Bricks product lines launch in the UK after investment toy retailers

by Samantha Loveday

TREASURE TROVE Toys will benefit from additional finance and organisational resource, after joining forces with Diamant Toys.

The 40 year-old toy manufacturer – best known for its AMAV brand – has invested capital into Treasure Trove to further strengthen the firm’s resource and boost future business growth.

In turn, Treasure Trove will benefit from Diamant’s success in Europe, North America and Australia among other territories.

“This is such as important development for Treasure Trove,” commented managing director, Robin Bennett. “We have a great UK team led by Liz Nield, selling leading brands like Breyer, Orb’s Sticky Mosaics, Quercetti, Safari, Didicar and Scrunch Products.

SEPTEMBER 2011

“We now have additional financial and organisational resource, plus the addition of product lines which are new to the UK.” Liz Nield added: “There is a fantastic high quality construction

range from Diamant called AMAV Fun Bricks, that will fill the vacuum left by the disappearance of

Sticklebricks from the market a little while ago.”

Head of Diamant Toys’ European operation, Edward Wagman, continued: “Throughout the last 20 years, we have had great success in Europe supplying our arts and crafts, magic and Fun Bricks construction sets to leading retailers. It is our intention to reach UK consumers by applying a similar strategy, and through TTT’s logistical and marketing facilities in the UK. Leading UK retailers may now also place direct FOB orders, as well as having domestic supply.”

Asher Diamant, CEO of Diamant Toys, added: “We are very excited at the opportunity to invest in and work with the Treasure Trove team.”

Treasure Trove: 01285 762039

VIDEO GAMES publisher Activision is looking to gain extra sales from the toy market with Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure.

The title links up video games with toys, with kids being able to take control of the collectable figures in the game.

Ian McClellan from Activision told ToyNews: “We would love for all toy stores to retail Skylanders.

This is where the talented staff that run independent stores can really make a point of difference.”

A starter pack will retail for around £59.99, with separate toys costing approximately £6.99. The property could become a long-term earner for toy retail. McClellan said: “It’s a new IP and a long-term commitment from Activision.”

Activision: 020 3060 1000

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NEWS

www.toynews-online.biz

5

Summer proves a mixed bag for indies Upbeat sales for most, but others are feeling the pinch Christmas shoppers also start early in some areas...

by Lewis Tyler THE SUMMER sales period appears to have gone well for a number of independent toy retailers – helped by licensed summer movie product and poor weather driving people in-store.

A selection of stores told ToyNews that they think sales are slightly up on last summer.

David Middleton, MD of Toy Planet in Derbyshire, said: “It’s been really good – since the kids broke up from school things have really picked up. Moshi Monsters and Pokémon have sold the best, but in general everything has done well.

Transformers and Cars have also done really well for us.”

Lisa Dyson from Present Planners tweeted: “Sales have been really good due to bad weather. I need to keep doing a rain dance.”

Christmas shopping on the High Street has started early in some indies...

Moshi Monsters and Pokémon have sold the best, but in general everything has done well.

Toy Planet, Derbyshire

Thumbs Up eyeing toy sector GIFT AND gadget specialist Thumbs Up is looking to make further inroads into traditional toy retailers.

The firm recently hired former Vivid Imaginations exec James Mayling as its new UK national accounts manager, and he has already set about using his previous experience to build up the category.

Notably, the firm has now been signed up by Toymaster as a nationwide supplier.

“One of the reasons why I joined Thumbs Up was because of its vast and eclectic product range,” Mayling

explained to ToyNews. “Although well known for its gifts and gadgets, I also saw the appeal of the range for the toy market.

“The toy market is becoming increasingly important to our customer base. It is certainly an area that we have been developing with some very exciting releases planned for 2012.”

Some of the products Thumbs Up believes fall into the toy category include its RC Helicopter range, Pinball Master and the Inflatable Roller Wheel.

Thumbs Up: 0845 466 8880

Shona Gwynne, director of Castle Trains in Warwick, agreed that sales have gone well this summer.

“We’ve been doing so well that we were able to open at a new location in Leamington Spa and sales in general gone quite well this summer.

“Nerf and Lego have sold well as have a lot of the boys toys ranges,” she continued.

However, for internet retailer Jesters.com, sales are “a lot quieter than last summer.”

Shantelle Millington, sales manager, commented: “A lot of our usual regular sellers haven’t been doing so well. We’re not 100 per cent sure why, but we think a lot of the market is moving towards Amazon and eBay.” Some consumers also appear to have started their Christmas shopping early this year.

ToyJeanius tweeted that they had “lots of early Christmas shoppers already”, while also revealing that more expensive items were performing well.

Toy Planet’s Middleton was “quietly confident” about the forthcoming crucial Christmas period, but added: “Nothing’s really shining out as being a number one seller.”

VIVID IMAGINATIONS has been signed up as the master toy partner for boy band, The Wanted. The firm will now launch a range of Collector Dolls in January 2012, after striking the deal with Bravado Merchandising. “The Wanted have become a massive teen/tween brand and are clearly here to stay,” said Emma Weber, licensing and marketing director at Vivid. “With a second album release launching later on this year and multiple arena tours planned for spring 2012, we have a great platform to launch a range of The Wanted Collector and Micro Dolls.”

Vivid Imaginations: 01483 449944

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NPD RESEARCH

Retail Sales Trends

Properties

Blockbuster films roar in to lift summer sales

Top 5 properties June 2011 1. STAR WARS 2. TOY STORY 3. LEGO CITY 4. HELLO KITTY & FRIENDS 5. NERF

Best Property Progression June 2011

Easy Set WITH DATA now available for the first two quarters of 2011, the total toy market in the UK grew by four per cent in value, but was down ten per cent in units.

The unit decline was driven by high volume of low-priced football World Cup related stickers and trading cards sold in 2010. This also impacted the average selling price, which increased from £5.12 YTD June 2010 to £5.96 YTD June 2011.

However, the rest of the toy market remains healthy with nine super categories in growth for the month of June.

Action figures grew by six per cent during the month, driven by the release of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, which propelled Transformers into the top property spot for June ahead of Ben 10.

There were four Transformers items in the top ten best selling items for

Sales (value, year to date)

YTD 2010

YTD 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011

Transformers, Cars and Moshi Monsters were big sales drivers throughout June, boosting the toy market. experienced positive growth for June, with value up 27 per cent.

This was driven by Cars, and even though the second film in the franchise didn’t hit cinemas until July, there was still strong growth with three items in the top five best sellers. Hot Wheels remained the

top vehicles property for the month.

As well as both Transformers and Cars making an impact, June also saw Moshi Monsters growth jump again. With both the trading cards and Moshling figures in the top ten best selling toys across the total toy market in June, the property has had a huge increase over the last month and is now the third largest property in dolls (behind Barbie and Sylvanian Families).

“The summer blockbuster season is here. Last year, Toy Story was a huge boost on the market and gained eight per cent of all toy sales for the month of July,” said Jez Fraser-Hook, director of NPD Group’s UK toy business. “With film licences continually playing an important part in the toy market, we will see in the next couple of months if any of this year’s film releases will be able to drive toy sales in a similar way.”

Average price

UK toy sales

Source: NPD

action figures, but the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 10cm assortment remained the top selling item. June also saw continued growth for Bakugan and Star Wars. The vehicles super category also

4%

June 10: £5.12

June 11: £5.96

A rare spell of good weather helped the pools rise from number 119 last month to number 62 in June.

Best Item Progression June 2011

Transformers 3 Plus Assortment (Hasbro) The launch of the film at cinemas helped the toy shoot up from 1,322 in May to 21 for the month of June.

06,07 TN121 NPD_final 17/08/2011 16:16 Page 2

NPD RESEARCH

www.toynews-online.biz

Retail Sales Trends UK JUNE 2011 (£ SALES - VALUE) 1

MINIFIGURES

2

KIDIZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

3

MOSHI MONSTERS MOSHLING FIGURES

4

CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT

UK JUNE 2011 (UNIT SALES - VOLUME) LEGO

1

MOSHI MONSTERS MASH UP TRADING CARD GAME

VTECH

2

MINIFIGURES

VIVID

3

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

4

MATCH ATTAX 2010/2011 PACKETS

TOPPS

5

MOSHI BLIND BAG

LEGO

6

DR WHO FIGURES

TOPPS LEGO MATTEL TOPPS

5

MOSHI MONSTERS MASH UP TRADING CARD GAME

6

STAR WARS TROOPER BATTLE PACK

7

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

BANDAI

7

HALO WARS HERO ASSORTMENT

MEGA BRANDS

8

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

8

CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

SPIN MASTER

9

MOSHI MONSTERS MOSHLING FIGURES

VIVID

10

SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12

VIVID

9

BAKUGAN STARTER PACK

10

TRANSFORMERS 3 MECH TECH DELUXE ASSORTMENT

HASBRO

UK YEAR TO DATE (£ SALES - VALUE) 1

MINIFIGURES

2

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

3

STAR WARS TROOPER BATTLE PACK

4

KIDIZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

5

NINJAGO SPINNER WAVE 1 2011

6

BEYBLADES BATTLE TOP ASSORTMENT

7

LITTLE TIKES COZY COUPE 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

8

BAKUGAN STARTER PACK

9

NERF BARRICADE MREV-10

10

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

VIVID CHARACTER GROUP

UK YEAR TO DATE (UNIT SALES - VOLUME) LEGO

1

MINIFIGURES

BANDAI

2

MATCH ATTAX 2010/2011 PACKETS

LEGO TOPPS

LEGO

3

MOSHI MONSTERS MASH UP TRADING CARD GAME

VTECH

4

HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT

MATTEL BANDAI

LEGO

5

BEN 10 ULTIMATE ALIEN 10CM ASSORTMENT

HASBRO

6

SUPER TIPS BRIGHT 12

TOPPS

VIVID

MGA

7

HALO WARS HERO ASSORTMENT

SPIN MASTER

8

PLAY-DOH SINGLE TUB

HASBRO

9

MATCHBOX 1 75 MINATURES

MATTEL

MATTEL

10

CARS CHARACTER ASSORTMENT

MATTEL

MEGA BRANDS HASBRO

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. 01932 355 580

7

08,09 TN121 stats_final 17/08/2011 17:25 Page 1

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STATS

Media tracker LICENCES VALUE % SHARE BY SUPERCATEGORY

Behind THE SCREEN

By Clive Crouch CINEMA, cinema and more cinema.

The experience of visiting the cinema has improved across all aspects; the venues, the entertainment values and the standard across all genres especially in children’s movies. Adults and children have a cinema menu that numerically often exceeds the listings on our domestic home movie channels. Both Vue and Odeon have re-invigorated ‘Saturday Morning Pictures’ extending the visit with online clubs creating more traction with children and their parents.

All of this at a time when Saturday morning activities for children out of home are supported and embraced by mum and dad, while at the same time TV offers over 20 channels of entertainment.

For me the film releases this summer have really captured my interest and attention. From Jim Carey’s Mr Popper’s Penguins to The Smurfs, the cinema distributers between them have released over 20 different titles across the six-week school holiday period. Long gone are the days when the classic Disney release could hold the screen exclusively for all six weeks.

Those big movies also gave new life to a series of TV shorts with Disney’s Buzz Lightyear and more recently from Dreamworks, with The Penguins of Madagascar. This formula would not work with every movie, of course, but it certainly makes great TV for children with broadcast partners also benefiting – the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and the late GMTV Kids which aired both shows. Toy Story 3 has taken the high ground, but its presence over a long run has been a shared one surrounded by other big kids movies.

The real impact on the big screen this year has been 3D. In 2010, 43 per cent of all cinema impacts (research term for eyeballs) were viewing 3D films.

SEPTEMBER 2011

This year’s numbers will show even further growth judging from box office figures to date. Following the success of 3D animated films such as Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, Pixar has confirmed that going forward all films in this genre will be 3D, so that says it’s here to stay.

This has been great news for the film industry and a great opportunity for advertisers. A recent research study claimed a 92 per cent recall of commercials seen in 3D format, a figure some 15 to 20 per cent better than 2D. The first impression of 3D production for advertisers, however, is that it is expensive.

A study showed that 92 per cent recall ads seen in a 3D format, some 15 to 20 per cent better than 2D. BSkyB, Orange and VW lead the way on screen, but over just a short space of time production costs are being contained to a ‘modest premium’ over the 2D process, so I am reliably informed.

Cinema has always been able to target an audience with precision.

Children’s movies across the age range are a good example of this.

The opportunity to re-evaluate the medium is now, and cinema is definitely worthy of such consideration. If nothing else it saves me writing about television, and all before cinema moves to 4D. www.clivecrouch.com info@clivecrouch.com 07831 670453

YTD JUN 2010

YTD JUN 2011

ACTION FIGURES & ACCESSORIES ARTS & CRAFTS BUILDING SETS DOLLS GAMES/PUZZLES INFANT/PRE-SCHOOL YOUTH ELECTRONICS OUTDOOR & SPORTS TOYS PLUSH VEHICLES ALL OTHER TOYS

63.2 9.9 32 33.1 22.4 21.9 29.7 7.8 34.8 21.5 40.4

64.8 9 29.1 33.3 22.9 22 40.1 7 33.7 21.7 34.3

TOTAL MARKET

24.4

23.4

Licences account for 23 per cent in value for all toys sold – down slightly from 24 per cent YTD June 2010, due to the high volume of football World Cup licensed cards and stickers sold in May and June last year. Action figures remains the most heavily licensed supercategory, with Ben 10 still the number one licence within the sector. Outdoor and sports toys has less reliance on licences and is heavily dominated by own label and exclusives.

SOURCE: NPD

MARKET VALUE YEAR TO DATE (JUNE)

2010 2011 £300M

£225M

£150M

£75M

£0

£323.1m SOURCE: NPD

£336.5m

08,09 TN121 stats_final 17/08/2011 17:26 Page 2

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 JUNE 2011 (RANKED BY VALUE)

TOP LICENCES YTD JUNE 2011 (RANKED BY VOLUME)

TOY STORY

1

MOSHI MONSTERS

2

STAR WARS

2

TOY STORY

3

BEN 10

3

STAR WARS

4

THOMAS AND FRIENDS

4

DISNEY PRINCESS

5

BEN 10

5

HELLO KITTY & FRIENDS

6

THOMAS AND FRIENDS

6

PEPPA PIG

7

PEPPA PIG

7

DISNEY PRINCESS

8

HELLO KITTY & FRIENDS

8

SYLVANIAN FAMILIES

9

DISNEY (ALL OTHER)

9

MOSHI MONSTERS

10 DR WHO

1

In units, Moshi Monsters has performed well.

Trading cards, Moshling figures and plush items all contributed to sales especially in June.

10 CARS THE MOVIE Toy Story remains the top selling licence for the first half of 2011, but Hello Kitty is swiftly moving up the value ranking with a wide of products available in many categories – from plush to arts and crafts. Cars The Movie also saw positive movement in June and with the second film release in July, the licence will surely move up the rankings further.

SOURCE: NPD

SOURCE: NPD

TOP 10 UK BOX OFFICE CHARTS

BEST SELLING CHILDREN’S BOOKS

1

2

3

4

1 RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES 2 THE SMURFS 3 HARRY POTTER: THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 4 SUPER 8 5 MR POPPER’S PENGUINS 6 HORRIBLE BOSSES 7 CARS 2 8 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER 9 HORRID HENRY: THE MOVIE 10 BRIDESMAIDS SOURCE: IMBD, WEEK ENDING AUGUST 14TH

5

1

FOX SONY WARNER BROS PARAMOUNT FOX WARNER DISNEY PARAMOUNT VERTIGO FILMS UNIVERSAL

2

3

4

1 THE GRUFFALO 2 EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM 3 THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY 4 LEGO STAR WARS HEROES ULTIMATE STICKER BOOK 5 THE HARRY POTTER GOLDEN SNITCH KIT 6 STICKER ATLAS OF THE WORLD 7 BEATRIX POTTER THE COMPLETE TALES 8 THE SELFISH CROCODILE 9 EASY LEARNING HANDWRITING PRACTICE 10 STARTING SCHOOL

5

MACMILLAN PUFFIN CHILD’S PLAY DK RUNNING PRESS USHBORNE WARNE BLOOMSBURY COLLINS PICTURE PUFFIN

SOURCE: AMAZON.CO.UK 18/08/2011 SEPTEMBER 2011

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APPOINTMENTS

INDUSTRY MOVES Vivid hires a new accounts man and welcomes Goodisson back from maternity leave with a new role, Schleich promotes one and adds another, while Mothercare hires a new chairman, plus moves at Papo, Rubies, Maps and more…

FROM LEFT: Vivid’s Alan Ingham and Michelle Goodisson; Rubie’s new product development recruit Beatrice Butler.

Alan Ingham has been named as Vivid’s new national account manager, joining from Martin Yaffe.

Meanwhile, Michelle Goodisson has returned from maternity leave into the role of marketing manager across Vivid’s toy brands.

Emma Weber, marketing and licensing director, commented: “Michelle has been with Vivid for seven years and her expertise across the pre-school and girls categories stand her in good stead for this key role within the team.”

Alan Parker has taken on the role of non-executive chairman at Mothercare.

Parker arrives from Whitbread, where he helped develop the Costa brand worldwide. He has also worked as managing director for Holiday Inn in EMEA. Ben Gordon, chief executive of Mothercare, said: “He brings with him extensive international experience in franchising and in building consumer facing brands.”

Schleich has promoted Gary Wilmot to country manager following six years at the firm, where he has worked hard to grow the

business and brand in the UK market to where it is today.

Michelle Rhodes also joined Schleich in June as national accounts manager and boasts a wealth of toy trade experience, having worked for Lego, Hasbro and Mega Brands.

Rhodes commented: “I have great respect for the Schleich values of imaginative play and high quality, and it’s certainly a privilege to be working with a premium brand that’s a leader within its toy category.”

Lorraine Sault joins Papo, with extensive experience in the independent retail market as a sales representative.

The new recruit will be responsible for both sales and customer support for the southern part of the England.

Randy Rissman has joined Leapfrog’s board of directors.

Rissman was CEO of Tiger Electronics from 1978 to 1998, before it was bought out by Hasbro.

He is currently the MD of Leo Capital Holdings, a venture capital fund that he founded in 2000.

“Randy has more than 30 years of success in children’s gaming and entertainment, and will bring

additional expertise,” said William Chiasson, Leapfrog chairman.

Beatrice Butler has joined the Rubie’s team after a five-year stint at Abscissa. The firm says her knowledge of the UK costume market is ‘unprecedented and will be a great asset to the Rubie’s team’.

Butler has experience in product line selection, forecasting, product development and Far East manufacturing. She was also integral to the success of Abscissa’s online store, with a background in marketing including promotions, viral campaigns and advertising.

At Rubie’s, the new recruit will take on the management of licensed and generic product development, working with the dedicated European design team and driving consumer and trade led marketing.

Butler said: “I’m really excited to be joining the world’s leading costume manufacturer, Rubie’s. I’m looking forward to working on the development of Rubie’s licensed lines as well as helping to expand their generic portfolio.”

Maps Toys has appointed Brian Colgan, of CS Sales & Marketing

Agencies. Colgan has been in the toy industry for over ten years and also works with Bigjigs, Minené and UKIC. He will cover all of the 32 counties in Ireland.

Will Sharman, head of sales at Maps Toys, said: “Brian came highly recommended to us and so we are delighted he will now be working on our behalf. As he is covering the whole of Ireland, we look forward to greatly increasing our distribution there and working with key retailers.”

Former IBM exec, Jennifer Ahearn has joined Sesame Workshop as VP of licensing and strategic partner relations.

Ahearn will report to SVP and general manager of global consumer products Maura Regan.

Emilie George has joined Gem Creative as a marketing and events assistant. She will play a ‘vital part’ in POS creation for the distributor, assisting designers to speed up the production of projects.

Katie Rawlings, head of marketing, said: “Emilie is a positive and enthusiastic individual. She has already demonstrated a vast skillset and hunger to achieve.”

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

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CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH

Disney Princess Magic Wand Game Jumbo Two TV ad pushes, plus a PR campaign targeting parenting, women’s, girls and online media will back the launch of Jumbo’s latest Disney Princess product…

JUMBO’S KEY product focus for autumn/winter 2011 and Christmas is the new Disney Princess Magic Wand Game. The flagship electronic game allows girls to play the part of their favourite Princess, including Cinderella, Snow White, Belle or Sleeping Beauty.

Players need to work their way round the board, using a talking wand instead of a dice, and listen to the instructions from the Fairy Godmother. The first to get to the front of the castle and gain entry using the magical wand is the winner.

Jumbo also has a range of puzzles and low price point games for Disney Princess.

“The Disney Princess Magic Wand Game is a key launch for the company and its innovative nature, using a speaking wand instead of a dice, shows our commitment to bringing innovation and imagination to the children’s game market,” said Gray Richmond, MD of Jumbo Games. “We hope kids and parents alike enjoy playing the game together this Christmas.”

SEPTEMBER 2011

RETAIL Jumbo has secured strong retail distribution for the game including Argos, Toys R Us, Smyths, Tesco, Early Learning Centre and The Entertainer among others.

TV The product launch will be accompanied by two bursts of TV advertising. The first took place between July 30th and August 14th in the UK, with the second running from October 24th to December 4th in the UK and Ireland to target the key gifting period. The TV campaign will include Five (Milkshake), CITV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Cartoonito and Disney XD. PR The Magic Wand Game will be supported by a comprehensive PR drive, pushing the product to key parenting, women’s, girls and online media.

This will include general product placement, gift guide opportunities and competitions.

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© Oxford. © 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

218604 Kreo ad 300 x 220mm.indd 1

09/08/2011 16:04

14 TN121 GMTV_final 17/08/2011 10:44 Page 1

14

AIRTIME STATISTICS

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

SHOWS ACROSS ALL TIMES JULY 11 1

SHOWS ACROSS ALL TIMES YTD JULY 11

CHANNEL

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

TVR

CBBC

PET SQUAD

2.20

%

OOOs

AIRINGS

19

190

17

1

CHANNEL

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

TVR

CBBC

NEWSROUND BULLETIN

2.40

PET SQUAD

2.20

%

OOOs

AIRINGS

20

206

36

19

188

21

2 CBBC

WHAT’S NEW SCOOBY-DOO?

1.90

19

159

4

2 CBBC

3 CBBC

NEWSROUND BULLETIN

2.30

18

198

17

3 CBBC

SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED 2.00

18

168

12

4 CBBC

SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED 2.00

18

171

11

4 CBBC

SPLATALOT

2.60

16

221

35

5 CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

1.80

17

152

6

5 CITV/ITV PHINEAS AND FERB

2.00

15

175

8

6 CBBC

1.90

17

159

2

6 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY’S MOVIE MAYHEM

1.30

15

116

1

0.30

16

24

4

7 CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

1.60

15

138

36

SADIE J

7 CITV/ITV THE HIVE 8 CBBC

SARAH JANE ALIEN FILES

1.80

15

150

4

8 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY

1.40

15

120

24

9 CBBC

WHAT’S NEW SCOOBY-DOO?

1.50

15

128

8

9 CBEEBIES LOUIE

0.50

14

44

40

10 CBBC

ARTHUR

0.90

15

79

51

10 CBBC

1.60

14

138

11

COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL SHOWS (ALL TIMES) JULY 11 CHANNEL

TVR

CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

1.80

AIRINGS

17

152

7

1

0.30

16

24

4

3 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY’S MOVIE MAYHEM

1.30

15

116

4 CITV/ITV THE HIVE

0.50

14

36

5 DISNEY

2..60

14

219

6 CITV/ITV SUITE LIFE ON DECK: TWISTER

1.00

11

7 CITV/ITV SUPERNORMAL

0.70

2 CITV/ITV THE HIVE

8 CITV

BABAR AND BADOU

POKÉMON BLACK AND WHITE

%

COMMERCIAL MULTICHANNEL SHOWS (ALL TIMES) YTD JULY 11

OOOs

1

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

WHAT’S NEW SCOOBY-DOO?

CHANNEL

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

CITV/ITV PHINEAS AND FERB

TVR

%

OOOs

AIRINGS

2.00

15

175

8

2 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY’S MOVIE MAYHEM

1.30

15

116

1

1

3 CITV/ITV SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

1.60

15

138

36

8

4 CITV/ITV HORRID HENRY

1.40

15

120

24

3

5 DISNEY

2.60

14

219

3

82

4

6 CITV/ITV BABAR AND BADOU

0.30

12

26

60

11

59

16

7 CITV/ITV THE HIVE

0.20

12

16

30

SUITE LIFE ON DECK: TWISTER

1.60

10

137

8

8 CITV/ITV HANDY MANNY

0.20

11

20

24

9 CITV/ITV TATI’S HOTEL

0.50

10

45

4

9 CITV/ITV CURIOUS GEORGE

0.40

11

38

10

10 CITV/ITV DORA THE EXPLORER

0.10

9

10

4

10 CITV/ITV

0.90

11

83

12

SOURCE: INFOSYS/BARB.

SEPTEMBER 2011

THE AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES

NOTE: THESE CHARTS ARE BASED ON AVERAGE PERFORMANCE

A revolutionary new touch screen learning tablet for children InnoTab and Software

TV Advertised AW 2011

Software cartridges with children’s favourite characters!

Each includes a wide variety of fun and educational apps including...

Toy News Sept 2011_C2.indd 1

16/08/2011 13:43

16,17 TN121 hasbro Interview_final 18/08/2011 11:02 Page 1

16

THE BIG INTERVIEW FOYE PASCOE, HASBRO

Primed for success It’s been a good summer for Hasbro, with the success of first Thor, then Transformers and Captain America at the box office helping to boost toy sales. Samantha Loveday speaks to Foye Pascoe, Country Manager, UK & Ireland, to get the lowdown on 2011 so far...

How has the UK market performed so far this year? Are we in better shape than this time last year?

Hasbro UK has experienced a 14 per cent growth (UK NPD EPOS YTD June 2011). This is due to the strong performance of the recent Transformers movie, and a number of our key brands including Play-Doh, Furreal Friends and Nerf and our key licensed properties within the boy’s category.

What is the mood like at retail now? Better or worse than last year? Is it an improving picture?

As always, Hasbro remains focused on delivering immersive brand experiences that consumers can enjoy anytime, anywhere. Economic conditions will always fluctuate, but we remain fortunate in having an incredible brand portfolio that provides strong value and can be enjoyed by all members of the family.

SEPTEMBER 2011

How much more important is online retail for you now?

Online continues to grow as an everincreasingly important aspect of both retailing and marketing communications. We believe we will continue to be at the forefront in

Not only are some key films helping deliver the Transformers and Marvel toy lines, but we are also seeing growth of our classic brands such as Play-Doh, Furreal Friends, Nerf and Supersoaker.

Economic conditions will always fluctuate, but we remain fortunate in having an incredible brand portfolio that provides strong value and can be enjoyed by all members of the family. supporting all of our retail partners that we service.

What lines have performed well for you so far this year?

We are proud that we have experienced good performance across the full range of our toys and games.

Are there any sectors in particular which have stood out? Boys must have been boosted by the new Transformers lines, for example?

The boys segment has undoubtedly been boosted by a number of key films; Transformers Dark of the Moon has had a positive impact on the

Transformers retail presence. Our alliance with Marvel has delivered strong product lines both for Captain America and Thor this year. Star Wars has had a good year and was the number one property in action figures UK (NPD EPOS YTD June 2011).

Tell us a bit more about your plans for Sesame Street. How important will the licence be for you?

16,17 TN121 hasbro Interview_final 18/08/2011 11:02 Page 2

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THE BIG INTERVIEW FOYE PASCOE, HASBRO

When are the first toy lines hitting the UK? Sesame Street is a great addition to the Playskool portfolio. The brand has years of heritage. Milkshake Sesame Street programming on Channel 5 continues to be a firm favourite with pre-school children and mums in the UK. We have some big plans for the launch of Let’s Rock Elmo this autumn including a range of launch activities in-store, press and on TV. Stay tuned for some big activity.

We will also be working with Sesame Workshop to bring Kevin Clash (who is the voice and puppeteer of Elmo) over to the UK where he will be dropping into a number of broadcasters with Elmo.

Tune in during September for a week of coverage.

Are you happy with your portfolio mix? Are there sectors that you’d still like to move into/out of, etc?

How much is made up of licences?

Hasbro is a full service provider of games and toys to the UK covering leading games, pre-school, boys and girls brands and already covers a very wide range of segments. Our great relationships with some of the industry leaders in licences has enabled us to deliver a strong licence segment covering pre-school, games and boys toys.

What else can we expect to see in the remainder of 2011 from you?

Following on from a highly publicised Jedward launch of our latest Furreal Friends, watch out for the Nerf Vortex launch. Bopit! XT will feature a whole new routine from Britain’s Got Talent runner up Stephen Hall and in September we will be launching our highly anticipated Elmo. My Little Pony is also back with a consumer on-pack offer to win a dream holiday in Lapland and great new programming on Boomerang.

Finally, KRE-O our new construction system hits the shelves in September.

There’s been a lot of talk about the toy industry and packaging recently.

How is Hasbro tackling the environmental issues surrounding toy packaging? Is it a major concern for you?

Long before the recent publicity pertaining to deforestation, Hasbro had been actively working with its paper packaging suppliers toward our goal of responsible sourcing from recognised, independent certifying bodies, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

These ongoing efforts support our 2010 announcement of a sustainable packaging initiative, when we set a goal that at least 75

per cent of paper packaging will be derived from recycled material or sources that practice sustainable forest management. By 2015, Hasbro has set a goal of 90 per cent usage of these materials and sources for all of its paperboard packaging and in-box content.

In addition, Hasbro has pledged to eliminate all wire ties from packaging beginning this year. Hasbro has instructed its paper suppliers to ensure that APP-sourced paper is not used in Hasbro packaging.

We have some big plans for the launch of Let’s Rock Elmo this autumn, including a range of activities in-store, press and on TV. Kevin Clash (Elmo’s voice) will also be coming to the UK. How important are the likes of mummy/daddy bloggers and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to Hasbro? Have you/are you planning to include them in your marketing? Is TV still king in your marketing mix?

Hasbro has strong relationships with bloggers, who deliver honest comments and have a powerful voice with mums and consumers alike. They are an important part of the overall communications mix

17

and we engage with them on a range of products and issues. They regularly comment on our Hasbro UK Facebook page and input into our brand campaigns. TV will continue to have its place in the overall mix as a vehicle for delivering high impact messages to large audiences in a short space of time.

Finally, any hot tips from your 2012 product line to watch out for?

2012 will be another great year for action films for which we have a range of boys’ toys and games.

Star Wars re-mastered Episode One will hit cinemas in February.

Battleship will preview in May, followed by the much-publicised Avengers film from Marvel later in the month.

The Amazing Spider-man will launch in July. Transformers will continue to connect with boys through Transformers Prime programming on Cartoon Network.

Within our girl’s portfolio, My Little Pony programming is currently on air on Boomerang and connecting with a whole new generation of girls.

ADVERTISING ON TELLY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HIT & MISS

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18th – 20th October 2011

19 TN121 Licensing cover_FINAL 17/08/2011 10:25 Page 1

The UK’s only dedicated monthly licensing coverage

News • Media • Opinion

Grand designs

Pre-school ambitions News

Pages 25-26

Page 22

Pages 20-21

Brand Licensing Europe returns to Olympia’s Grand Hall in October.

ToyNews finds out what’s new on the show floor...

Turner CN Enterprises is continuing to broaden its portfolio out from its traditional boys stronghold.

Graham Saltmarsh explains to ToyNews how the firm is now targeting the lucrative pre-school sector and what we can expect to see going forward...

Entertainment One and Turner reveal BLE plans, tough conditions bite at Chapman, Jakks gets Men in Black 3, RSPCA programme grows with new plush line...

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LICENSINGNEWS

Turner reveals show ambitions Firm heading to Olympia next month on a high after another year of record growth...

by Samantha Loveday TURNER CN Enterprises is heading into next month’s Brand Licensing Europe on a high, having just celebrated its fourth consecutive year of record growth.

The company is aiming to make this year its ‘biggest and most significant’ presence at BLE ever. In addition to taking one of the larger, main aisle stands, TCNE will also occupy the Gallery Suite for the second year running. The suite will be used to showcase a wide range of territory-specific presentations, which current and potential partners will be invited to.

A host of new local, pan-European and global opportunities based on the firm’s own brands and third party properties will be unveiled at the three-day show.

“As an EMEA licensing division, Brand Licensing Europe is the mustattend event in our licensing calendar,” stated Alan Fenwick, vice president of TCNE. “Over the course of the three-day event we will be celebrating the achievements of our partners who

FENWICK: “As an EMEA licensing division, BLE is the must-attend event in our licensing calendar”

eOne looks to the future at Olympia

have helped us to secure record growth for four consecutive years which is no mean feat, given the current economic conditions.

“We’ll also be using the show as a platform to talk about our most diverse portfolio of brands, spanning girls, boys, kids, pre-school and teen/adult. The show is also a forum for us to launch new content from our own studios, as well as introduce new third party acquisitions and talk

about how we can offer a bespoke service across all our platforms to potential partners.”

As well as TCNE’s boys’ brands, third party properties on show will include Zoobles, Bananas in Pyjamas, Puppy In My Pocket and Jelly Jamm.

The firm will also be showcasing new properties for the six to 12 age group, plus teen and adult brands including retro offerings and CNN. TCNE: 020 7693 1000

ENTERTAINMENT ONE will be outlining its plans for future growth at Brand Licensing Europe.

The firm will be using the show to seek new licensing and promotional partners, to develop the international potential of its portfolio and build relations with new FMCG companies.

Key brands are Peppa Pig, Ben & Holly, Humf and Twilight.

Andrew Carley (above), head of licensing, said: “The vision, hard work and determination of our retail and licensing partners, and the global eOne team have delivered quite incredible results.” eOne: 020 7907 3797

License This returns to BLE

Aurora World picks RSPCA plush

DRAGON’S DEN style challenge License This is back at Brand Licensing Europe, with entries now being accepted by the judging panel.

The challenge is open to any new creative idea with its roots in publishing, art and design, TV or digital media. The panel will review all entries before creating a shortlist of four properties.

These are then pitched to the panel in front of an audience at The Licensing Academy on Thursday October 20th.

A winner will be chosen based on originality, commercial potential and suitability for licensing into other product categories, with the prize being a fully furnished stand at 2012’s event.

THE RSPCA licensing programme continues to expand, with a new plush toy line arriving courtesy of Aurora World.

The initial collection is split into six categories – Farm animals (cow, pig, sheep, donkey); Puppies (schnauzer, spaniel, beagle, border collie); Pets (black and white cat, poodle, tabby cat, dachshund); Woodland (fox, squirrel, rabbit, deer); and Wild animals (lion, elephant, giraffe, tiger).

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with one of this country’s most respected and loved charities and a brand known and recognised everywhere,” commented Verity Groom of Aurora Marketing.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Last year’s finalists presented the following properties – Bondiband, The Land of Me and Gombby, plus the eventual winner, Animaru.

The judging panel will be chaired by Aoh!K Commercial’s Andrew Kerr, supported by Oliver Dyer, MD, Skew Studio; Eric Huang, publishing director, media and entertainment, Penguin Group; and Patricia de Wilde, licensing director, Marathon Media. www.brandlicensing.eu

“We are certain this delightful and educational range of animal plush will be a popular present throughout the Christmas period and beyond.”

RSPCA trading manager, Cathy Snow, continued: “The Aurora range is not only appealing, cuddling and beautifully designed, but actively promotes RSPCA values and underlines our commitment to all animals.”

Aurora World: 01256 374260

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LICENSINGNEWS

www.licensing.biz

21

Tough conditions bite at Chapman IN BRIEF Lynn moves on ‘Significant’ redundancies Licensing/marketing agent sought

PEPPA PIG HITS FIVE MILLION DVD MILESTONE

by Samantha Loveday

Sales of Peppa Pig DVDs have exceeded five million units, Entertainment One has revealed.

Since launching in 2005, Peppa Pig now has a total of 14 volumes available on DVD at UK retail. The releases dominated the 2010 Preschool DVD Chart, taking the top 13 positions and a 23 per cent share.

Two million DVD sales were achieved in the last 12 months alone. eOne: 020 7907 3797

CHAPMAN ENTERTAINMENT has made sweeping changes at its London office, affecting its licensing, marketing, production and finance teams, resulting in a significant number of redundancies.

While creative director Keith Chapman and finance director Andrew Haydon will remain with the company, fellow co-founder and MD, Greg Lynn will move on to explore other interests.

Valerie Fry (pictured) becomes commercial director, with responsibility for licensing and marketing. She will be supported by Clare Wiggins, head of marketing and live events, and Samantha Clapham, product development executive.

Chapman will also look to appoint a licensing and marketing agent.

Emily Whinnett will continue as director of production and will manage the final stages of filming across both Little Charley Bear and Raa Raa the Noisy Lion, ahead of delivery to CBeebies later this year and in 2012.

The finance team will continue to be led by Erin Duffy in the short

Jakks snaps up Men in Black 3 JAKKS PACIFIC has become the worldwide master toy licensee for next year’s Men in Black 3, after securing a deal with Sony Pictures Consumer Products.

The agreement covers a wide range of categories including action figures, accessories, play-sets, role-play, youth electronics, novelties, games and puzzles and Halloween costumes among others.

The company is aiming to launch the range in spring 2012, with the film – starring Will Smith and

Tommy Lee Jones – hitting cinemas on May 25th.

“We are pleased to be a part of the hugely successful Men in Black franchise and to bring to life the adventures of the famous, alien fighting government duo in the third instalment,” said Jeremy Padawer, EVP marketing at Jakks. “We are looking forward to launching a line of products that incorporate classic spy play patterns with that extra added alien ‘wow’ factor.”

Jakks Pacific: 01344 638900

term, with the support of Agnieszka Earl. Emma Way will remain as legal affairs manager, and Suzanne Rivers will continue in a wider role as office manager, also taking on other responsibilities at Chapman.

Keith Chapman said: “We are devastated to have to let go so many first class people who have contributed so much to our growth and success over the years. I can’t thank them enough for all they have done. But with soaring costs and challenging trading conditions, we’ve been forced to make these tough decisions.

“However, Charley and Raa Raa both show extremely positive early signs, and with Roary just launched into the US through Toys R Us, with a major roll-out in early 2012, the future is looking bright.”

Chapman Entertainment: 0870 403 0556

Cars revs up Disney Q3 THE CONSUMER products arm of the Walt Disney Company has reported an increase in revenues to $685m for the period ending July 2nd.

Segment operating income for the period was up 32 per cent to $155 million, driven by an increase in merchandise licensing and, in particular, the Cars franchise and Marvel properties.

Overall, the Walt Disney Company reported revenues of $10,675 million for the period (2010: $10,002m), with segment operating income standing at $2,731 million (2010: $2,537m).

DCP: 020 8222 1000

DUO SIGN FOR BABY JAKE BBC Worldwide has signed up a further two licensees for new preschool brand Baby Jake. Egmont will be developing a book publishing range, with plans to roll out in July 2012, while 2entertain is due to release the first DVD in the first half of 2012. Both companies join Vivid Imaginations, which is the UK master toy for the brand.

BBC Worldwide: 020 7612 3000

FLAIR ADDS ME TO YOU Carte Blanche Greetings has inked a deal with Flair for a new creative play range for the popular Me to You brand. Flair will produce the likes of message makers, bead sets, reusable gel stickers and headband decorating kits. Products are due to hit retail in autumn 2012, which will coincide with a collectable Tatty Teddy and My Blue Nose Friends range being released from Worlds Apart.

Flair: 020 8643 0320

HORRID HENRY ENJOYS STRONG BOX OFFICE RUN Flair’s Horrid Henry toy line has been given a boost by last month’s release of Horrid Henry: The Movie. The firm’s collection includes a Super Snooper, Yo-Yo, Make Your Own Slime and a Voice Changer. The film – which is produced by Novel Entertainment and Vertigo Films – took just under £3 million in the UK in its first week. An app is also available to download through iTunes.

Novel Entertainment: 01865 811562

ADVERTISING ON TELLY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HARD WORK

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LICENSING TURNER’S PRE-SCHOOL AMBITIONS

Tapping into toddlers From its grounding as a predominately boys-led company, Turner is beginning to grow into different sectors. Katie Roberts met up with the firm’s licensing director, Graham Saltmarsh to find out about the pre-school strategy…

GRAHAM SALTMARSH is no stranger to licensing children’s brands; he has enjoyed stints at Nelvana, Nickelodeon and now Turner. His experience and knowledge thus far, though, has been rooted firmly in boys brands.

Turner CN Enterprises is also known largely for its boy brands such as Ben 10 and Bakugan. So a move into the pre-school sector is new territory for both Saltmarsh and Turner, but there’s already a clear strategy in place.

Turner’s Cartoonito channel launched back in May 2007 and while it has been establishing itself, the firm has been learning about the

school channels around now. The ratings have just gone up and up, and also having Michael Carrington [chief content officer] on board really helps. He knows a thing or two about pre-school.”

The first Turner brand to launch on Cartoonito was Moonscoop’s Chloe’s Closet. The show follows a girl who finds different dressing up clothes in her magic closet and subsequently enjoys themed adventures, which tie in with the outfit.

Bandai is on board as master toy and although a final range has not yet been decided, early concepts suggest the line will include play-sets, role-play and dressing-up.

People seem to forget that we have one of the most popular pre-school channels around now. Cartoonito’s ratings have just gone up and up and up.

Graham Saltmarsh, Licensing Director, TCNE sector, commissioning new programming and planning licensing and merchandising programmes.

Saltmarsh explains: “We kind of had a big pre-school love in and from there came an exciting array of new pre-school programming, some of which has just launched and some of which will be launching next year and more will be launching on an ongoing basis.

“It’s really exciting for us, because everyone knows us for boys action, but people seem to forget that we do have one of the most popular pre-

Next on the schedule is Endemol’s Bananas in Pyjamas. The programme began on Milkshake and was then added to Cartoonito in July.

As yet, there is no master toy licensee on board. Endemol will appoint the partner and at the time of writing, the firm was whittling down the possible candidates.

Third is Jelly Jamm from Vodka Capital. “Jelly Jamm is based on planet Jambo, which is where all music in the universe originated from, so there is a crazy musical element to it.”

SALTMARSH: “We had a big pre-school ‘love in’ and from that came an exciting array of new programming”

Saltmarsh continues: “There’s always room for more stuff and the more we commission, the less reliant we have to be on other people’s content. We’ve got a UK-based production department now and The Amazing Adventures of Gumball was the first UK originated series. That has launched in America and is absolutely flying.”

Regardless of the brand, once the licensing programmes are launched, they are likely to be far from run of the mill, if Turner’s previous record is anything to go by.

A master toy will be put in place first, and Saltmarsh says the rough rule of thumb is to launch the toy line about a year after first transmission.

FROM LEFT: Bananas in Pyjamas, Chloe’s Closet and Jelly Jamm will kick off Turner CN Enterprises’ move into pre-school. Bandai is already on board as the master toy partner for Chloe’s Closet.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Turner also has a research team in place, to be sure that merchandise will hit the pre-school spot.

Further work with retailers helps the company determine the specifics of the licensed ranges. Saltmarsh explains: “We work continually with retailers, the whole time. They need us to make something really different and exciting for their customers, because if it is, they’ll buy it.

“And that’s where we come in with our research and all of our creative teams and say ‘right, if we are going to do this, we want it to look like this in store’. Depending on the retailer, how much space they have, how much scope they’ll give you, then you can start having fun. And when you start having fun in store, the kids will as well and then the momentum builds.”

As the UK team’s attention turns to the development of the brands, however, Turner has also now begun to launch Cartoonito across EMEA as well. Saltmarsh concludes: “We’ve been experimenting for two and a half years in the UK, so we feel that we’ve got it right now and we’re ready to expand.”

xx MCVxxx_v1_Layout 1 17/08/2011 09:52 Page 1

Š 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

1HUI$GB7R\1HZV LQGG

25,26 TN121 BLE preview_final 17/08/2011 10:56 Page 1

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LICENSINGBRAND LICENSING EUROPE 2011

25

Feeling Olympic 2010 saw a bumper exhibitor and visitor haul for Brand Licensing Europe, and organiser Advanstar is confident 2011 can measure up, if not surpass this. Samantha Loveday talks to the firm’s new European marketing manager to find out more about this year’s showcase…

INDUSTRY VIEWS ON BLE “It is essential to have a presence at BLE, particularly for a company with already successful, new or growing brands.

Presence is expected and completely necessary. The show is attended by anyone interested in the licensing industry including retailers, licensees and various other promotional and marketing lead partners. We always come away from the show with hundreds of new opportunities to follow up, both UK and international.

The main benefits are exposure, building brand awareness and new business leads to follow up. It’s also a great opportunity to update the industry on sales, strategy and up and coming plans for each property.”

Hannah Mungo, Head of UK Licensing, Entertainment One

“BRAND LICENSING Europe is known for being a show where deals are done and things actually happen,” Rachel Cowdrey, Advanstar’s new marketing manager for Europe, explains to ToyNews.

“The exhibition industry has experienced the same tough economic climate that all sectors have, but BLE continues to buck the trend by maintaining growth.”

Over the last couple of years, BLE has really hit its stride, with Advanstar earning industry wide praise for how it’s listened to what the business wants and then worked hard to deliver it.

Last year’s show saw 243 exhibitors pack into Olympia’s Grand Hall, with total visitors hitting 5,634, a 16 per cent increase on 2009. The show also recorded a rise in overseas visitor numbers, with a 37 per cent increase on 2009. Retail attendance also increased by 15 per cent.

Advanstar hasn’t rested on its laurels though – it wants the figures to be even bigger this year. “Building on the success of last year’s

campaign, the marketing and PR includes targeted emails and direct mail, dedicated telemarketing campaigns, working with overseas publications and a hosted buyers programme,” Cowdrey continues.

“We work very closely with the retail community and with overseas buyers,

Brand Licensing Europe is known for being a show where deals are done and things actually happen. and our efforts are attracting a positive representation of both in our pre-registrations for the show.”

With a later date of October 18th to 20th, at time of writing there were 234 exhibitors on the show floor for this year, with a staggering 73 of these being newcomers. These include Live Nation Merchandise, CopCorp, Clive Juster & Associates, Canimals, American Greetings

Properties, Aurora World, V&S Entertainment, Viz Media Europe, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Tiny Idols and Chupa Chups to name just a small proportion.

On top of this, confirmed participants for the Screening Suite include Sony Pictures Consumer Products, 20th Century Fox L&M, The Licensing Company, CPLG and Hasbro Entertainment & Licensing.

The Licensing Academy will also return, with Tuesday’s keynote address coming from man of the moment Michael Acton Smith. The creator of Moshi Monsters will be talking about how the brand went from zero to 50 million users and giving his insight into how to build a property for a new digital generation of children.

A further ‘big interview’ is due to be confirmed shortly for Wednesday 19th, while License This! The Next Big Thing will return on the Thursday 20th.

For visiting toy retailers a number of companies on the show floor are worth a look.

“Zodiak Rights’ business is expanding both in the UK and internationally. It’s important for us to have a presence on the show floor as it’s a great platform to talk about our properties, cover a lot of meetings with new and existing partners and gauge how the industry is doing, all in one location. BLE is a great focus point in the licensing calendar coming off the back of MIPCOM and a busy year. From our meetings with licensees, agents and retailers we get a good impression of how 2012 is shaping up, the reaction to our properties and where new opportunities are.”

Jennifer Lawlor, SVP Strategy and Planning, Consumer Products, Zodiak Rights “BLE is a key event as it allows us to meet people from across the licensing industry on our own home turf. It is also a great forum in which to catch up on the latest licensing trends and see what’s in demand. It enables us to cover a lot of ground in the space of a few days.

In recent years the show seems to have become more important with retailers as well, which makes it an excellent arena for attracting key buyers and showcasing our brands.”

Sissel Henno, Head of Brand Licensing (Europe), Sega

SEPTEMBER 2011

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LICENSINGBRAND LICENSING EUROPE 2011

These include 4Kids Entertainment, Aardman, eOne, CPLG, new cute collectable range The Feelings, Glow Europe (which will be showing off its Bumpeez brand), Ideas at Work (debuting Olly the Little White Van), V&S Entertainment (Everything’s Rosie is well worth a look), Lisle International, Hasbro and Mattel Brands Consumer Products.

“My main aim for the 2011 show is for it to assert its position as the foremost event in the European licensing industry – an event where licensing professionals come to find partners, to make deals and to review the thousands of brands that are available to licence,” Cowdrey says. “We aim to maintain the

We will work hard to keep bringing new ideas, features and visitors to the show year on year. show’s reputation as a lively forum for networking and an international showcase for the best licensed products. We want BLE to continue to be the best way for retailers to see what properties will be driving sales over the next 12-24 months.”

Cowdrey and the team at Advanstar believe it is testament to the appeal of licensing to brand owners as a powerful revenue source, and to retailers as a way to attract consumers in-store, that show continues to grow in size and stature.

“We will work as hard as we can to keep bringing new ideas, features and visitors to the show year-onyear to help it retain its freshness and genuine sense of excitement,” she concludes.

INDUSTRY VIEWS ON BLE “I think it is an event that creates momentum and focus for our business – these are two factors which really help make an opportunity to create sales and to convert interest to firm business. I think licensing has become a more crowded industry over recent years and there is a lot of fence sitting with licensees waiting to commit to properties. Being at the show gives us an opportunity to see a lot of people in a short space of time – this helps in the sales process. We spend a lot of time marketing to potential licensees and retailers beforehand to maximise our time at the show – I am not sure that you can sit back and expect business to drop onto your stand. I think a key challenge for the show is to demonstrate that it contributes to new business development – it is not just recycling existing contacts, that there are new leads delivered.”

Ian Downes, MD, Start Licensing “It’s fantastic to have a really world class event at which to showcase our brands. We’ve been exhibiting over the last five years and the show has got better and better each year. As the show has grown it has attracted an ever-greater range of potential licensees and retailers. It’s an ideal place to talk about our brands to new clients – and, of course, to see many of our existing clients.”

Charlie Donaldson, Joint MD, Rocket Licensing “BLE has become a mustattend event in our licensing calendar – it is the biggest event for our industry in EMEA, a truly international rendezvous point for business. Given the current economic climate and uncertainty, I hope that companies who have attended the show in previous years will be there and that we can secure new business opportunities. Our industry is very dynamic and has been through some changes, so it should be very interesting this year.”

Sandra Vauthier-Cellier, MD, 4Kids Entertainment

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that Brand Licensing Europe is becoming an increasingly important event, not just for the UK but it’s now beginning to be properly supported internationally with more and more overseas partners attending.

For DRi, it’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase our brands to the licensing community and the third day makes the show really worthwhile.”

Alicia Davenport, Licensing Director, DRi Licensing “As an IP company, Brand Licensing Europe is one of the key opportunities in the year where we can show off all our new brands to a collective of licensees and retailers from the UK and internationally.

Exhibiting at a show like BLE gives us invaluable face-to-face interaction with our key clients and potential customers.”

Michael Dee, Director of Content, Coolabi “It is the one place where the majority of retailers and potential merchandise licensees appear. The main benefits we get from attending are company visibility, message delivery, service offer, differentiation and positioning, new business development and lead generation.”

Simon Kay, CEO, AT New Media “It gives us a good idea of what new market trends are, in a way that the current retail market can’t really do, and helps us to know what people are (and aren’t) looking for. It’s a great place to showcase new products from our licensees and gives us a chance to show potentially interested parties what we have in mind for future product lines.”

Karen Bendy, Creative Director, Over the Moon

properties and latest key trends. It is, therefore, the ideal place to launch the new RSPCA licensing artwork to the industry. The fact that the show is in London and is timed to complement retail trade shows will obviously make it even more appealing to the retailers and manufacturers we hope to meet.

This is the first year we have taken space on a stand, so I am really looking forward to being properly part of things.”

Cathy Snow, RSPCA “With all the leading manufacturers and retailers under one roof it provides a great forum for launching new licensing programmes or showcasing progress on existing ones. We exhibit in order to meet new contacts and catch up with known ones who are not easy to meet with during the normal course of business, particularly those in Europe.”

Janet Woodward, Director, JELC “It is an excellent opportunity to find and develop leads, meet decision makers and even do deals all in one place over a three-day period.

It’s also useful for comparing notes with one’s peers about the state of the European branding and licensing business as a whole.”

Caroline Mickler, MD, Caroline Mickler Ltd “Up and coming brands, such as Hari’s World, have an opportunity to stand alongside the great and the good across the industry. BLE is a focus, a showcase and a forum of experience and expertise.”

Tristan McGee, MD, Hari’s World

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SUPPLIER FOCUS WOW STUFF

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Keepon running Five years in, Wow Stuff seems to be growing at an impressive pace.

Katie Roberts went to see MD Richard North to find out about all the latest developments…

I ARRIVED at Wow Stuff thinking that the focus of the interview with MD, Richard North would be the company’s international expansion.

On leaving the offices in Wolverhampton Science Park, it was clear that international sales were just one part of a much larger business plan that MD, Richard North and his partners hope will make Wow Stuff into a $250 million company in the US in three years.

The firm has big plans for product innovation, promotion, expansion and more, which, coupled with the determination and ‘will-do’ attitude of the team at Wow Stuff, could just make its ambitions into reality.

The dancing robot, My Keepon and the R/C inflatable clown fish and shark, Air Swimmers, will lead Wow Stuff’s assault on the American market, which has been planned for quite some time and seems to be growing rapidly.

“A year ago, one per cent of our business was international. Last year, we doubled that to two per cent.

This year we are at 50 per cent,” explains North.

“We took the decision that we would initially launch internationally in 2008, but because of the recession, we decided to pull back for a while.

wherever they may be,” he continues.

Resources are still limited in such a young company, which steered a decision to target just ten people from the list. North explains: “As much as we have always been profitable, we’ve always reinvested profit. So even at this period of growth, we’re at the point where

In less than three years, we’d like to be at $250 million in sales. We’re fast approaching the $100 million threshold now and maybe eventually, $500 million.

Then in February we said, right now is the time and we planned it go live in Nuremberg.”

During the visit to Nuremberg, Wow Stuff collected over 1,000 business cards. “So on the one hand, it was vindication again that our products are great, but it was also that they aren’t just great for UK consumers, they’re great for consumers,

we’re having to be quite selective about who we sell to, just because of financing it.

“We’ve got an infrastructure behind the scenes that is still relatively in its infancy. We do deal with the big UK retailers, but we are now working with the big international retailers too and that will put a lot of stress on resources.”

Despite only targeting one per cent of interested parties, Wow Stuff

certainly isn’t aiming small. North predicts: “In 2012, the international business will be at 75 per cent. Our UK business will also have grown next year. The mass growth we’ve got as we look to increase by 50 per cent again, is a really great position to be in. It’s just how we deliver it, it’s how we make sure that the back office can cope with delivery.”

To do this, the company is looking at expanding its Hong Kong office and will source more factories as it gears up for 2012.

My Keepon and Air Swimmers will be exclusive to Toys R Us in the US at launch and the retailer recently said it’s expecting My Keepon to be a best-selling toy this Christmas.

Going forward, Wow Stuff is looking to keep close control of the business in international markets.

North tells ToyNews: “I think ultimately we’ll have our own offices.

Or if we are part of a larger organisation in a few years’ time, then we can work within their offices to get things into the marketplace, to make it cost effective.

SEPTEMBER 2011

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SUPPLIER FOCUS WOW STUFF

“That will be the challenge at first – how we make it cost effective.

At the moment, we’re dealing directly with retailers in the UK, America and Europe, but you’ve got to be on the ground sometimes. If we had offices in those areas, we’d be able to present directly from there.”

In terms of promotion, the company has hired a US-based PR firm to deal with the influx of press enquiries. The toys have been earmarked for some of the main TV shows, and samples are being sent out thick and fast.

The marketing model of in-store demonstrators – The Demonstration Academy – videos and web-cams used in the UK will also be deployed throughout other territories and so far, it’s working.

North says: “If somebody had asked us 12 months ago what kind of business we are, we’d have said we create wow factor toys and we bring them to life in-store and sell them to UK retailers. That would have been it. Now we say we create wow factor toys, we bring them to life in-store and we sell them around the world.”

Consequently, Wow Stuff has big sales forecasts. North outlines: “In less than three years, we’d like to be at a quarter of a billion dollars in sales. At retail, that would be $400 million. We’re fast approaching the $100 million threshold now and eventually maybe $500 million.”

Next is a plan to extend some of the products into ranges. North says: “We’ve had blockbuster hits, so how do you take that and make a brand out of it? How do you take Dave the Monkey, nearly 300,000 pieces, and make that into a range? Consumers like what it stands for, what it represents and they want to buy more. We’ve been working on it for 12 months and that comes out next year – all the extensions to the brands. Keepon, for example, will be a whole range of stuff.”

When packaging Dave, Wow Stuff started to wonder if there was scope for Davinia etc, so an umbrella name was set up and Wow Pets and Cheeky Pets were registered as trademarks.

The next big step for the company, and to help with further international expansion, will be to launch the Wow Stuff brand. North unveils: “We’re launching a Wow Stuff brand. So we are actually going to have our own SEPTEMBER 2011

Wow Stuff’s signage nods to the team’s creativity. The meeting room is called The Creche and North’s office is labelled The Head Honcho. The buck stops here...

brand. It’s called Wow Stuff.

Trademark has been applied for in most countries along with the internet names.

“That launches next year and that’s when we will hopefully end up with the ‘wow’ reaction and we can say ‘yep, that’s right, that’s Wow Stuff.’ Whereas at the moment, they’ll see a product and a brand, they’ll say ‘wow’, but they don’t necessarily know it’s from us. Now it will be synonymous.”

on the licensing side don’t resonate in Europe or in America. The products do and quite often people will say, I like your products, but I don’t get the brand.

“Wow as a name is so ubiquitous.

Stuff symbolises the broad approach and categories we can go into, but there are common values. It’s a very focused brand. You’ll see when it comes out, it has values and they stay

We’re launching a social media platform. It’s a consumer platform called wowtown.com – it’s like the YouTube of the toy market.

The new brand will also help with international sales. North explains: “It will go out first internationally, before it comes out in the UK. So it will go out in America, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and a few other European countries.

“That will spearhead our move into Europe, because certain brands that we carry

consistent. The product can be quite different, but the common factor is wow and the packaging will bring that together as the family identity with the POS and videos.”

So international expansion, huge increases in turnover and a new brand launch – it’s busy times at Wow towers, but that’s not it. North has yet another development up his sleeve.

“We’re launching a social media platform,” North tells ToyNews. “It’s a consumer platform, not a trade platform. It’s called wowtown.com. I think the closest site and the one everyone kept saying when they saw it is YouTube – it’s like the YouTube of the toy market.”

The new site will launch on October 1st, is aimed at kids and adults in the UK and America and will be promoted with a ‘five million leaflet blast’.

And North’s final revelation: “Something really big will come out of that [wowtown.com], that’s never been done in the industry.

“A new way to market will come out of it that’s really clever and really interesting.”

The plans, had we heard them at inception stage a year ago, may have seemed a little ambitious, but the fact is they’re happening. The genuine passion and enthusiasm of the team is likely to ensure that most, if not all, of their plans will be a success.

And what’s next? “In terms of growth and where we are going, I think we are on the bottom three rungs of the ladder. If the ladder was about 15 rungs, we’re only on three, so there’s loads to come.”

Watch this space.

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SPOTLIGHT ON GETTING STARTED

New kids on the block At any one time, there is likely to be a number of start-up companies entering the toy industry.

Katie Roberts chatted to a few of these ‘first-timers’ to find out about their experiences so far…

THE TOY INDUSTRY is generally fairly robust in times of economic downturn, and perhaps for that reason, many of the suppliers within it are longstanding, established firms.

The creativity and openness of the industry, however, can also lend itself well to innovative, entrepreneurial, emerging companies.

There are currently many new firms offering toys to the retailers, as can be seen at many trade fairs, particularly in the Greenhouse area at Toy Fair, which allows smaller, younger companies to meet with buyers and build their contacts.

And meeting buyers can be one of the biggest challenges when cracking the market. Terry Howe is the founder of Blackbird Games, a two year-old firm, which offers themed party games. He explains: “One of the main challenges is [obtaining] the names and contact details of retail buyers – they are more secretive than MI5.”

So it seems persistence is necessary for start-ups. David Sinclair came up with the idea for Globee, balls with illustrated 2D maps on them, in 2008.

He tells ToyNews: “Our first retail stockist was John Lewis. I literally kept on phoning and phoning and phoning.

Eventually the buyer said he would give me 15 minutes on such and such a date. In the end, I was with him for nearly an hour.”

Once contact has been made with a buyer, many new firms come up against the minefield that is buying/selling etiquette, formalities and hidden rules.

Kym Yorke recently launched a knotted, one-metre tall doll called Notalie. She says: “The main challenges have been finance, IP protection and finding a production facility you can trust.”

Clare Reid, who thought up Scoobits scooter accessories three years ago, came up against similar obstacles: “The main challenge is getting to know how purchasing is done, understanding pricing models and timings of orders. I still don’t really understand when products are SEPTEMBER 2011

Main pic: Scoobits Clockwise from top: Globee, Notalie and Qatch...

bought, chosen, published and launched with the bigger players.”

Like in Reid’s case, a large number of start-ups are founded by parents, which can mean a difficult task of striking a work/life balance. Inma Garcia runs Qatch, a travel toy firm.

She offers: “The real challenge is juggling work life with being a mother to my children.”

Howe adds: “It’s a great feeling to know that it is still possible to create, design and produce products in the UK. We love the variety and vibrancy of the industry. We also love meeting like minds who feel as we do that social play is important without being too precious about it.”

One of the main challenges is obtaining the names and contact details of retail buyers - they are more secretive than MI5.

Terry Howe, Founder, Blackbird Games However, this can also be the plus side. Reid enthuses: “The benefits of working in toys is I get to work with my own children. They get involved in designing, reviewing and testing the product. We have a lot of fun coming up with ideas.”

And there are many other benefits.

Hajni Hayler, founder of Kiddiebikes, offers: “It’s reassuring to know that the UK toy industry is one of the most resilient, even in difficult times.”

Now these firms have broken into the industry, a key objective will be to raise their profile. When finances are restricted though, marketing needs to be looked at a little more creatively.

Penny Parry, who runs Peekaboo Pets, supplier of ‘sock dolls’, tells ToyNews: “I was given advice once that if you only have £10 left in your back pocket, you should spend it on marketing and advertising. I use blogs, social media, magazines and

newspapers to market my brand. I also try to exhibit at lots of different trade and retail fairs.”

So what would be their top tips?

Garcia’s advice: “Believe in your product and carry out market research to identify a need.”

Yorke offers: “Don’t give up. It is very tough and it takes lots of time to get things going, so my best bit of advice would be to take time to carefully select your team and make sure the supply chain is in place.”

Howe says: “Be realistic about the timescale it will take before you can draw an income from the business.

Keep your overheads as low as possible without cutting corners.”

Hayler: “Provide a great service to customers, be persistent and enjoy every small success.”

Sinclair’s words of wisdom: “Keep knocking on the door of retailers to let you show them your products.”

Parry: “You have to believe in what you are selling and understand how children play and how their minds work.” Finally Reid offers: “Talk to lots of people and take their advice.”

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EVENT PREVIEW AUTUMN FAIR

Autumn wonderland Autumn Fair is fast becoming a key date for the calendar, with a growing number of toy companies exhibiting and an increased focus on our industry during the show. Katie Roberts found out about this year’s plans…

THE ANNUAL Autumn Fair at the NEC, Birmingham, is renowned for being one of the biggest shows of the year. The exhibition covers a total of nine sectors and is dubbed by organisers, EMAP, as the ‘first opportunity of the season to view and secure new product launches and preview for spring 2012’.

Traditionally the number of toy exhibitors appearing at the show was a little on the small side, but over the last few years, the toy area of the event has been growing at quite a pace. And this year some 140 suppliers will make up the toy and gadget sector, including ten new companies for 2011.

Saint comments: “Both our UK and overseas marketing spend has increased over the last three years.

Our various overseas agents are reporting increased interest from suppliers looking to expand into both the UK toy and gift markets.”

Alongside toys and gadgets and within hall five, a new hobby and craft sector will also be introduced this year, in a 500 sqm area. The new sector is designed to further ‘maximise cross-over buying opportunities’.

Expanding the toy and gadget section this year is the toy demo area, which was debuted earlier in the year at sister show, Spring Fair.

The demonstration area also incorporates companies exhibiting in our new section - hobby and craft - which will provide added interest for both toy and gift buyers alike.

Greg Saint, Event Director, Autumn Fair Greg Saint, event director, believes there are a number of reasons behind the growth: “Many toy suppliers either have traditionally had ranges that lend themselves to the wider gift market or increasingly, other suppliers are developing product ranges that are attractive to both the toy and gift retailer. Also at Autumn Fair, many of those buyers that attend do so to specifically place orders for goods to be delivered immediately, giving suppliers an immediate return on their investment.”

New exhibitors include Happy Secrets, Adventures of Robob and Melrose Kids, joining long-standing exhibitors like Paul Lamond Games, Esdevium Games, The In Thing, Cartamundi and Hippychick among others. Also new this year are a number of international exhibitors, such as Handelhaus Legler, Kidkraft and Daydream Kids.

The expanding overseas presence is something the organisers have been working to encourage.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Saint tells ToyNews: “Following the successful launch of the toy demonstration area at Spring Fair 2011, we decided to build the content further for Autumn Fair.

There are more individual companies demonstrating than at Spring Fair, with our headline sponsor Bladez Toyz, demonstrating daily.

“The demonstration area also incorporates companies exhibiting in our new section, hobby and craft, which will provide added interest for both toy and gift buyers alike.”

So there is no doubt that extra investment and importance is being placed on the toy area of Autumn Fair, but what other benefits will toy retailers find at the NEC? “The toy retailer has both the opportunity to buy new products available now, as well as in some supplier instances preview products that will be available into next year,” explains Saint. “They will also be able to cross-over to other product sectors of the fair, to source the non-

toy product they also stock in their business which complements their main product offerings.”

Autumn Fair takes place from Sunday September 4th to Wednesday

September 7th, 2011 at the NEC, Birmingham. Volume hall opens one day early.

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39 TN121 NPD Cover_final 17/08/2011 10:45 Page 1

SECTOR GUIDE GAMES AND PUZZLES

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Praise the board Although most of its sales come during the Christmas period, the clever use of licences, the revamping of old favourites and some new players boosting the sector, all make games and puzzles well worth a look all year round.

Here, NPD talks us through the numbers, followed by our guide to what the main firms are currently offering…

FOR THE full year 2010, the games and puzzles category was worth £227 million (source: NPD Consumer Panel). While the total toys category is weighted towards the final quarter of the year, which accounts for 49 per cent of total value sold throughout 2010, the games and puzzles category is even more reliant on the Christmas period and accounts for 62 per cent of total value.

Games and puzzles remains a popular category, accounting for eight per cent of total spend on toys.

The category also has an older age group than other toy sectors, with 24 per cent of all sales made for recipients aged 18+ and 20 per cent for ages ten to 17. Two to five years account for another 24 per cent of sales, indicating the need for a wide range of products to appeal to different age groups.

For YTD June 2011 games is dominated by two categories – children’s games and family games.

Children’s games has seen some

excitement over the last two years with Lego Games entering the market, taking the number one property spot and remaining there.

However, traditional favourites such as Guess Who?, Twister and Connect 4 from Hasbro are the top selling items. Family games, meanwhile, is dominated by classics such as Monopoly and Scrabble.

However, the fastest growing area of games is pre-school, which is being driven by licences. Peppa Pig is the top property, although Fireman Sam, Dora the Explorer and The Gruffalo are also adding to the sales.

Within the puzzles market, adult puzzles are driving growth. Wasgij and Me to You are both growing and driving sales.

Children’s puzzles remains buoyant, with Entertainment One’s Peppa Pig now the number one property across total puzzles.

The games and puzzles category is one of the most enduring areas of toys, with long running traditional games remaining popular. However, some innovative and excitement could re-invigorate the category and ensure a wide selection of games and puzzles are available for consumers.

The games and puzzles category accounts for eight per cent of the total spend on toys.

Total Toys vs Games & Puzzles Value Sales % by Month for 2010 Source: NPD EPOS Panel, 2010

SEPTEMBER 2011

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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES

MATTEL Mattel’s expanding games portfolio includes new launches and fresh takes on favourite brands, backed with extensive marketing programmes.

Following its sell-out success in 2010, Scrabble Trickster will again be a focus with the launch of a limited edition featuring trick cards created by the British public.

Chosen from thousands of submissions, the new tricks take the rule-breaking fun one step further bringing a new level of unpredictable play. Scrabble Original continues its strong form, while Cars 2 My First Scrabble aims to help children make their first words inspired by the characters from the film.

New titles are also set to join the portfolio in autumn. With over 50 million downloads across the world, the Angry Birds app is a global phenomenon.

The new Angry Birds Knock On Wood will bring the bird-flinging fun to life in a skill-and-action table-top game. Players pick a mission card and build the structure shown before attempting to destroy it by using a slingshot to launch a bird at the tower.

Another addition to Mattel’s growing kids’ games portfolio is Red Rover, the new memory-matching game for preschoolers. Featuring an electronic

01628 500000 An extensive multi-platform marketing campaign, which includes heavyweight TV advertising running from early September right up to Christmas, an interactive online and social media programme across several key brands and high-impact PR support, will support the whole games portfolio.

talking dog, Red Rover helps children learn about colours, numbers, shapes and letters as they try to collect bones from around the room.

The UK’s number one card game Uno (NPD Data 2010 & YTD 2011) celebrates its 40th anniversary in style with the launch of a new-look Uno Extreme.

The action is fast-paced and unpredictable as players race to get rid of all their cards. Players must watch out for the Uno dispenser, which can fire up to eight cards at a time.

The world’s leading drawing game of ‘quick sketches and crazy guesses’ continues its success with Pictionary Family, complete with two sets of clue cards of differing levels so both adults and kids can play together.

Loopz features gesture technology and is a game of lights, music and memory.

It recognises hand movements and comes with seven skill and action modes to test fast reactions, with knock-out rounds for up to four players.

HASBRO For the younger gamers, Hasbro introduces Play-Doh Smashed Potatoes for ages five and up. Race the potatoes to escape the Mash Machines – the Scissor Slicer, French Fryer, Crinkle Cutter and Chip Chopper. The object of the game is to help your Play-Doh spud make it home to the farm in one piece.

Family Game Night also gets a boost of energy with a series of new actionpacked games. Get ready for more fourin-a-row fun with Connect 4: Launchers for kids over five. The updated edition sees players aiming, launching and connecting their way to victory in this active twist on the classic game. Instead of dropping checkers into a grid, players must launch them frantically into a horizontal grid to make that winning four-in-a-row.

Meanwhile, Shark Chase is being relaunched for kids. Players roll the dice

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020 8569 1234 looking for their colours while the motorised shark chomps and chases the fish around the game board. Each player must try to out-swim the shark and their friends to be the last surviving fish.

After celebrating 75 years of Monopoly in 2010, the brand continues to evolve with two new launches.

Monopoly: Cars 2 Lightning McQueen Racetrack is aimed at a younger audience, and brings the characters from Disney/Pixar’s Cars movies to life with fast-paced gameplay on a new round racetrack game board. Instead of rolling the dice, players send Lightning McQueen racing around the track to determine how many spaces to move.

The Cars 2 theme continues with Cars 2 Operation, where players must fix secret spy agent Mater, and Cars 2 Frustation, which features Mater as the Pop-O-Matic die-rolling bubble.

Launching early autumn, the updated Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition will feature all new London properties. The board looks to reflect the changing nature of the capital, its property prices and most fashionable districts.

The Game of Life takes on new features in The Game of Life: Adventures Edition, for kids aged eight and above.

The board game takes players on adventures both far, away and close to home. The choice to climb the Himalayas or to adopt a pet are two examples of the adventures that await in the new edition. A new, rotating board can change the game with a simple twist of the spinner so just as life changes, so does the board.

Electronic games are back too as Hasbro introduces Simon Flash and BopIt! XT. The electronic memory skill game of Simon was popular in the ‘80s and has been brought back in Flash form in Simon Flash. The fast, intuitive play of the Hasbro Flash line continues with the new edition as players swap and switch the four electronic, coloured tiles to match the Simon colour sequence order called out by the game. Simon Flash features four games that are designed to challenge games of memory and logic, extending beyond the traditional Simon memory game.

Meanwhile, Bop-It! XT has six commands including Bop it, Spin it, Flick it, Pull it, Twist it and Shake it. The game features play modes including Single Player, Pass It and Party, and four levels of play for ranging abilities.

Hasbro completes its 2011 Games line-up with the return of Scattergories and Taboo in the Adult Games portfolio.

In Scattergories, players try to match categories using words that start with the same letter. Taboo, the game of forbidden words, has been refreshed for 2011 with new cards, a game changing die and a new Taboo buzzer sound.

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IMAGINATION GAMES

After a flying start to the year with Top Gear and Doctor Who ranges, plus Play That Tune (nominated for a Licensing Award) and Beat the Parents, Imagination Games is looking forward to the second half of 2011 with a number of new hero games launching in the children, family and adult categories.

Ka’lide harnesses the power of magnets in a battle to score the most points per round. As the magnets are flicked into the scoring zone they will interact and the scores can disappear or multiply. Three rounds of magnet fun per game keep the action fast and energetic.

Get It Wrong to Win turns logic on its head – under intense time pressure players must answer incorrectly to win – which seems deceptively easy.

ESDEVIUM Esdevium Games will this month launch the board game version of the popular ITV1 Saturday night dating show, Take Me Out. The top-rated show has been developed into a gaming experience suitable for both adults and families, and Esdevium is the exclusive distributor for the game.

Complete with an electronic unit that features real sounds from the show, including Paddy McGuinness’ catchphrases and the ‘poom-poom’ of a single lady’s light being turned off.

Take Me Out’s launch will be aided by the highly anticipated return of the TV show, which will hit screens for its third series, towards the end of 2011.

In addition, Esdevium also has exclusive rights to the Nostalgia Editions of classic games titles Monopoly, Cluedo

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Following success in Europe last year Am I.... Napoleon brings electronics, in the form of the ‘guessmo’, to the family game table. In this team game the wearer of the guessmo must work out who they are using either words or mime.

Ruckus delivers four minutes of card game frenzy in each round, collecting the sets to advance up the board. Wild dice will help players get there quicker. The game is designed to be quick and easy and get the whole family together.

All the new games and existing products will have strong PR and blogging presence for 2011. They will also feature a QR code on the front of pack, allowing consumers to scan the code and see a video on their phones, at the point of sale.

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and Risk. The games have featured prominently at press events such as Hamley’s Christmas in June and were named as a top toy by The Telegraph at London Toy Fair.

GIBSONS GAMES Gibsons has launched its biggest ever mid-year range, including seven new jigsaw puzzles from artists Trevor Mitchell and Kevin Walsh, while the Christmas Limited Edition puzzle depicts a festive village scene by bestselling artist Marcello Corti.

Other highlights include the Mike Jupp spectacular I Love Spring. Also new for September is a 1,000-piece licensed puzzle based on the ITV series Downton Abbey.

On the games front, Gibsons new family game Mission Earth is about young Earth Heroes who have travelled through time and space to see what Earth will look like in the future, unless we act now. The mission is to make their way back to Earth by completing questions, actions and challenges to prevent impending environmental disaster. Mission Earth is manufactured in the UK with the playing surface created from the box.

New for Christmas, Pass the Pud is a beat-the-burp team game with a ‘jingling’ Christmas pudding.

Players’ nerves are tested to the limits as they answer questions from five mouth-watering categories, passing the pud back and forth to avoid the dreaded burp. For victory, players must think on their feet and avoid getting caught with the pudding and collect the most sixpences.

GREEN BOARD GAMES Green Board Games is launching three Horrible Histories BrainBoxes. The new titles are BrainBox Vile Villains, BrainBox Awesome Ancients and BrainBox Rotten Romans. All games will feature clear Horrible Histories branding.

Horrible Histories books have sold over 20 million copies worldwide and the brand has become a multi-award winning TV series. Following this success, a spin-off quiz show, Horrible Histories Gory Games hosted by Stephen Fry, is set to boost the brand’s awareness further.

Other new BrainBoxes include Reminisce – can you remember when Bob the Builder was the Christmas number one single? Or in which year Princess Diana got married or divorced?

Meanwhile, 20 More is an expansion pack for the number one title BrainBox World, as well as the first in the BrainBox On The Go titles.

Visitors to the firm’s stand at Autumn Fair will have a chance to play the 2011 Spiel des Jahres winner: Qwirkle. The company believes that the game, which is a bestseller in the USA and Germany, will be in great demand.

Other new products on show for the first time will include Wummy (a word game based on rummy); Befuzzled, a family game where players have to perform actions based on abstract symbols; and Triplica, which is a set building game.

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Also new is the Pass the Bomb card game which requires quick wit and thinking to find a word that begins with the letter on the card and matches the theme. It is a good example of how tongue-tied panic can clear the mind instantly.

Gibsons classic card games have also been refreshed and repackaged.

Old favourites such as Cribbage, Poker and Bridge have been given two distinctive new treatments. The green boxes have been updated but retain their classic look, while the Expressions range comes in classic rich colours, and feature apt quotes from the games themselves.

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PAUL LAMOND Paul Lamond has added a number of new games and puzzles to its portfolio.

Joining the multiaward winning preschool educational range Chimp and Zee, are two new games, Dodge the Dino and Who’s the Princess.

In the children’s range, a new ScoobyDoo Mall Game accompanies two new Glow in the Dark puzzles, and joining Hot Potato, Jumping Monkeys and Chairs in the skill and action range are Humpty Dumpty’s Wall Game and Meerkat Mayhem.

In addition to the perennial favourites Perudo, Make Your Own Opoly, Who’s in the Bag? and The Last Word, 2011 sees the launch of QI Board Game, Just a Minute and Fatal Attraction.

To complement the existing range of 1,000-piece puzzles there are three Art Deco puzzles, plus three whimsical One Hundred and One puzzles.

RAVENSBURGER

Joining the Ravensburger stable of preschool licences is Octonauts, launching with a Giant Floor Puzzle and a 3-in-Box. The 3-in-Box contains three jigsaw puzzles cut into 25, 36 and 49 pieces respectively.

The 24-piece Giant Floor Puzzle measures 70 x 50 cm and includes a Look & Find Fact Sheet, packed with interesting facts about the creatures featured in the jigsaw.

For Cars 2, Ravensburger has a range of 12 products including games, craft, jigsaw puzzles and puzzleball.

The Cars 2 World Grand Prix Game is suitable for children aged five and up, and features a gear-change dicemechanism. The range is completed with a Giant Picture Card Game and

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DKL Wonderworld’s Wooden Games are suitable from three years and over, offer puzzle play and are made from high quality sustainable wood.

The Transport 3D Domino game brings a 3D perspective to the traditional game of Dominoes, by matching the front and rears of the little wooden cars on road map pieces. The two in one game can also be played as a puzzle and encourages problem solving.

Wonderworld Eco Town Game is part of the Eco Series, a collection of toys and games which promote learning about the environment. Eco Town is a dice game in which a town can be created with houses, trees, bicycle, recycle bin and a rain water tank. The town on each playing board can be joined together in

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many different ways for creative play, and with its eye-catching colours, Eco Town is a fun introduction to energy saving.

Recycling Memo is another dice game which uses coloured sorting trucks to help children recognise different household waste materials and how they can be re-used and recycled.

Wonderworld is a range of wooden toys, made from sustainable rubber wood, with packaging made from over 70 per cent recycled material.

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Following the success of the new animated series of the classic Looney Tunes, Paul Lamond is launching a 24piece puzzle and a 4-in-1 puzzle. There are also three 1,000-piece puzzles based on the classic magazine Viz.

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memory. Also new is Cars 2 Xoomy, a portable illustrating machine.

New characters are featured on all products including the collectable 54piece and the 108-piece puzzleball.

Meanwhile, for girls there are the two new 3-in-Box and Giant Floor Puzzle Minnie Mouse jigsaws.

A success last year, the Jolly Octopus game is supported by a heavyweight TV campaign of over 600 TVRs, which will run from October through to December. Jolly Octopus is the laugh-out-loud game for children aged four and up, where up to five players take turns to remove the colourful crabs without touching Jolly’s tentacles. If touched, Jolly will stop spinning and start giggling.

Jumbo Games has added Country Companions to its portfolio, after success in the adult licensed category with brands such as Coronation Street, Carry On and Shoot.

For Country Companions, a 1,000piece puzzle has been released through the Falcon range with further products due to launch in 2012.

Jumbo has also enhanced its preschool roster with Everything’s Rosie, offering a 15-piece shaped floor puzzle, 35-piece puzzle assortment and a Lotto cardboard game with further products to follow next year.

Jumbo has also secured games and puzzle licences with Disney Junior’s BAFTA nominated pre-school series,

Jungle Junction and new CBeebies show Raa Raa the Noisy Lion, with a range of products hitting stores from next year.

The new licences join the likes of Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, Disney Cars, Disney Princess and Fireman Sam among others.

Jumbo is now positioned at number two in the pre-school games market where the total market is buoyant and growing by 24 per cent year-on-year.

Key products in this category include the new Fireman Sam Spin and Rescue Game with voice and sound effects and flagship electronic game, Disney Princess Magic Wand Game, where players need to reach the enchanted castle to win.

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MEGA BRANDS

A new puzzle concept combining traditional puzzling with a patented 3D system, Mega Puzzles 3D Breakthrough features cartoon character, super hero and generic designs.

Children first put together the twodimensional jigsaw puzzle background, and then use specially-designed clips to construct the cardboard pieces into 3D components, creating images that fit into the overall puzzle artwork.

Suitable for six years old and up, the range includes 100+, 250+ and 300+ piece 3D puzzles. The level one puzzles are made up of approximately 100 pieces

RMS INTERNATIONAL Grafix is further expanding its puzzle range, with several new products being unveiled throughout the year.

The puzzles use concepts that are specifically designed to capture the imagination, using bright colours, illustrations and photography. The designs are focused around encouraging problem solving, imaginative play and hand/eye coordination. Grafix encourages play and learning and has a series of educational puzzles such as telling the time, spelling and sums. For autumn/winter 2011 and spring/summer 2012, Grafix will be releasing a range of motion moving lenticular puzzles with moving characters and 3D puzzles with 3D glasses. The idea behind the concept is to challenge the traditional 2D puzzle and make the product more interactive. The freestanding puzzle pieces and 3D glasses aim to set this brand apart in the games and puzzles sector.

The Grafix puzzle collection offers items in different sizes

SEPTEMBER 2011

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and feature Spider-Man, Marvel Heroes, Princess Heart and Spongebob Squarepants.

Level two is for ages eight and up, while level three is for ages 12 and up.

Children and adults can choose from an array of themes and 3D worlds for the intermediate or more advanced puzzler.

The level two sets include a Hot Air Balloon puzzle set, Cars 2, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and involve a greater number of folding techniques.

Presenting more of a challenge, the level three puzzles feature a wolf and Spider-Man designs.

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COILEDSPRING

Coiledspring will be launching a wide range of new products this autumn.

Prominent among the new releases are the 4-in-1 John Deere and Playmobil Keepsake Tins. Four jigsaws are presented in a tin box with a carry handle. The packaging is designed to stand out on shelf, and provide good storage for the jigsaws or other toys.

CARTAMUNDI

Also new are a dozen new jigsaws from Schmidt Spiele, including new adult puzzles from Colin Thompson and John Deere children’s games.

Rory’s Story Cubes continue to be popular. The pocket-sized creative story generators are now available in Original or Actions, while new edition Voyages is previewing at Autumn Fair.

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Cartamundi, together with Puzzler, has created four family card games: Match Play, Red Herring, Sangarma and Select Five. The games have been specially developed to test general knowledge and can be played by just two players or in teams.

A wide range of subjects is covered in the new games, which cover general knowledge and quick thinking.

JOHN CRANE

ranging from small ten-piece puzzles through to giant floor puzzles. Grafix products are suitable for three years and up, and the unique and impactful packaging emphasises the individuality and quality of the products.

Grafix puzzles are selling in various High Street retailers and supermarkets such as Tesco, Primark, The Works and The Entertainer, one of Grafix’s largest customers.

Stuart Grant from The Entertainer states that “Grafix puzzles offer great prices and are fast selling”.

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Tidlo by John Crane aims to puzzle and perplex little ones. All of the ‘My First’ puzzles from Tidlo have big chunky pieces designed to suit little fingers.

The My First Jigsaws come in four designs and each has four large pieces to fit into the tray. The picture inside the tray does not match the finished puzzle to ‘perplex’ kids.

Alternatively, My First Shape Matching Insects and My First Shape Matching Farmyard opt for a more bold and colourful approach. The handbagshaped puzzle board comes complete with carry handle and all the pieces have handy cords attaching them to the game, so kids can take it anywhere without losing anything.

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The new My First Peg Puzzle Pirate Ship is aimed at little boys, while its sister puzzle, My First Peg Puzzle Princess Castle is a vision in pink to appeal to all little princess wannabes.

Free point of sale is available with orders to help retailers actively merchandise the Tidlo section in-store.

The packaging features an at-a-glance age range symbol and category, plus developmental icons to boost confidence in the product’s play and learning value.

6 years of continuous growth.

Top brands.

Great gameplay for every occasion.

Game On

...and On

Check out the Kalide video through our new QR code ...and On

www.imaginationgames.co.uk Imagination Games just keeps on getting bigger and better with new innovations, new titles and a whole range of games that sell.

If you want to ďŹ nd out more call David Snow on 0776 4466573 for further information.

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LEAPFROG

New software for the Tag reading device includes the Tag World Map game. The interactive map of the world allows children to participate in treasure hunts and racing games as they locate countries and learn about other cultures.

The Tag reader is suitable for children aged four to eight years.

The Count and Scan Shopper is an interactive educational toy that helps children discover the world of role-play, counting, colours and food.

Suitable for children aged 24 months and up, it has a series of educational sing-along-songs and phrases to encourage children to interact and engage with their shopping buddy, allowing them to learn through play.

The new Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket aims to build children’s social skills through pretend picnic play. The picnic basket is robust and features a range of bright shapes and colours, as well as over 30 audio responses. The set contains 14 individual picnic play pieces, designed to help children build their motor skills as they sort, match, stack, empty and fill.

UNIVERSITY GAMES Quiz show Pointless, presented by Alexander Armstrong, has moved from BBC Two to BBC One. University Games’ board game takes the signature elements from the TV show, with the aim of the game to get the lowest score by giving the least obvious answer.

The TV viewing figures for the show have surged to 2.7 million a day and this increased prominence has already benefitted sales of the board game.

To celebrate 21 years since the original launch of The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game, University Games has re-branded, re-packaged and re-launched the game. It has remained a consistent top seller since 1990 and is not only for racing fans.

Brand-new on shelf is 5 Second Rule, winner of Best New Game at Toy Fair 2011. The fast-paced game requires players to name three items within five seconds.

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The Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket is suitable for ages six months and above. It also allows parents to connect to LeapFrog’s Learning Path portal for additional learning insights, along with ideas for expanding development as children’s capabilities grow.

Samantha Harris, Leapfrog marketing manager, comments: “Developing innovative, new products that inspire a love of learning is our primary focus at Leapfrog. With our ground-breaking range of games, reading aids and learning toys, we strive to stimulate children’s imaginations through adventure, games and play to encourage children to expand their learning experiences.”

BRAINSTORM

Brainstorm’s range of Natural History Museum licensed products have been developed to reflect the inspirational approach to science, which is promoted by the Museum.

What is the national animal of Sweden or the world’s largest lizard?

Check out the clues and race around the world with the Natural History

LEGO

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The twisted timer, the risk of the Danger Zones and the Switch and Pass On cards, add to the frenzied style of play. To support the launch, there will be a comprehensive pre-Christmas TV ad campaign aimed at boosting sales and raising awareness.

With Lego Games players can be master of the gameplay – build the game, play it, then change the format using the pieces and buildable dice to create a new challenge.

The unique dice is built using different coloured tiles to adapt to each game, with a title to suit each skill level, family member and budget, designed to test strategy, logic and luck.

Get friends and family together, and find out who will beat the many challenges and become Lego Champion with players building the track as they race for the finish. The multi-challenge family game is for three to eight players.

Ninjago: The Board Game links in with the Ninjago play theme. The evil Skeleton General and his warriors have invaded the Ninja fortress. The mission is to team up to battle the warriors, find the golden weapons and defeat the chief. A team game of ninja combat and rope swinging for two to four players, the race is on to stop the General gaining the ultimate power.

Meanwhile, in Lego Adventure Games, the Heroica series features four different buildable games with numerous missions, bringing a video game style of

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Museum Animal Detective, an animal spotting game. The package includes a 50cm inflatable globe with 270 animal illustrations, plus 68 clue cards packed with animal information.

Each player can choose a different skill level meaning that players of all ages can play together.

01753 495 000 play into the world of board games.

Castle Fortaan – the centrepiece of the Heroica universe and action – has fallen to the Goblin King and his army of monsters. The Goblin horde must be conquered to defeat the King. In Draida Bay, the Goblin army has seized control, cutting off supplies to the region.

Take a stand against the Goblins to defeat the powerful Goblin General and take his Crystal of Deflection.

Hidden in the ruins of Waldurk Forest, the Dark Druid is restoring his strength. Use skill and power to find your way past his lurking monsters. In the Caverns of Nathuz, the Golem Lord has discovered an ancient artefact and is using it to create his own army of monsters. All four sets can be joined together.

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ORCHARD TOYS Giant Road Jigsaw is not just a puzzle, but an activity too. The 20 pieces of the jigsaw are designed so that they fit with any other piece, to make many different curving roadways on which boys and girls can play with their toy cars and trucks. The busy urban scene features illustrations that can be joined up with any other piece in the set. There are roadworks and roadworkers, cars, scooters and bikes, people walking dogs, a school crossing patrol and even a fox loitering around a rubbish bin. The jigsaw puzzle, aimed at children aged three years and up, seeks to challenge children’s construction and observation skills.

It comes in a giant carry case.

Also in a carry case is the second jigsaw, Shopping Trolley,

VIVID IMAGINATIONS New to Vivid’s pre-school jigsaw collection is the Little Charley Bear range including 3 in a Box and 10 in a Box versions.

Also launching this autumn/winter is the Everything’s Rosie line. Piece together the three jigsaws to reveal Rosie and her friends. Also available is a set of ten jigsaws, ranging from six to 12 pieces and with ten different designs from the show. When finished they can be connected to create one giant floor puzzle.

Vivid’s pre-school puzzle range also includes Timmy Time and Roary the Racing Car 4 in a box varieties. Another new addition is the 300-piece Justin Bieber puzzle, which allows Bieber fans to create their own poster.

There are four new additions to Vivid Games in 2011. In the Little Charley Bear Guess & Spin Game, players must spin Charley to pick a card and then simply act out the action on the card for opponents to guess.

Get it right to win the card and the player with the most cards wins the game.

With the Everything’s Rosie Rock ‘n’ Rollin’ Rosie Game, each player takes turns to stack goodies into Rosie’s hands. The player who makes them spill over loses.

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01953 859525 which is designed for children aged between three and six years old. The scene has lots of familiar household items to find and learn about in the shopping trolley.

Finally, Monster Bingo is two games in one. For younger players, the discs of varing colours and shapes are matched to the coloured monsters on their gameboards. For older players, a dice with shapes and another with colours are thrown to determine the monster on their game board to be covered. Green slime tiles are used to cover the monsters and the first player with a complete line of slime tiles is the winner. Designed for children of three years and over.

01483 449944 Find the mystery moshling with the Moshi Monster game Where’s Moshi?

Players must find their opponent’s mystery moshling to win the game.

Last of the new launches is the Justin Bieber: Always Be Mine Game.

Girls get to perform dares to win special kisses to give to Justin.

Also available are Timmy’s Pop Up, Fifi’s Stack a Cake and Roary’s Pitstop Panic games.

JOHN ADAMS Caption it! is a quick-fire multiplayer board game. Each player chooses one of seven captions to best match a photo and the judge then chooses the funniest caption and that player wins a point. Suitable for ages eight and above, Caption it! will be supported with TV advertising.

Based on the ITV game show, The Cube game features a selection of the TV programme’s signature challenges.

A fourth series of the show is scheduled to air later in the year.

In Doggie Doo, players feed the dog a meal, roll the dice and take the dog for a walk. Then simply pump the lead and when the daschund poops, scoop the poop. The first player to scoop three lots of poop wins the game.

Doggie Doo is suitable for ages four years and above.

Mr Creepy Practical Jokes is the successor to Mr Creepy Magic. The pranks include walking cockroaches, severed fingers and creepy ants and maggots. Suitable for children aged seven and up.

The company has increased its New Scotland Yard offering for 2011, following a successful 2010 licensing programme, in partnership with The Metropolitan Police. Building on the success of its New Scotland Yard Forensics Kit, this year has seen the launch of two brand new kits, Forensic Impressions and Forensic Finger prints.

Having secured the Rubik’s licence for 2011, John Adams is launching new products under the banner, to appeal to lovers of retro and new consumers

ANTICIPATION GAMES Anticipation Games is launching Rapport, a new board game to be played by up to four couples.

Rapport has been developed as a fun, non-taxing, revelatory game in which players are given challenges on how well they know their partner. During the course of the game all players get to participate in the exchange in a ‘spirit of gentle, relaxed revelation’.

The game has a twist at the end whereby the winner is invited to choose an everyday reward, from a selection collected during the game, from their partner, ranging from a walk in the forest to a candlelit dinner for two to a session of mountain biking.

MD and inventor, Paul Evans, says: “We find that even the losing couples will follow through on a treat from their Rewards selection and this way the pleasure of the game lasts for days.”

Rapport has been developed by a team of design, production and marketing professionals at Fabriform

01604 774949 alike. Existing products, like the Classic cube, will get a makeover, with fresh new environmentally friendly packaging and impactful design for more on-shelf presence.

Look out too for Rubik’s Race, a fastpaced, head-to-head challenge and Rubik’s 360, an innovative extension to the puzzle range.

All Rubik’s products will be supported by approximately 2,000 TVRs with tagging to drive retailer footfall, plus an integrated PR and marketing campaign.

Tetris Link is a reworked version of the popular classic Tetris video game.

The table-top game is a strategic contest of linking and blocking.

Building on the success of this established formula, players score points each time they link three or more pieces together.

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Neken, a Hampshire manufacturer. The box has images and graphics designed to stand out in a retail display. The design follows through onto the bright, sturdy board and the 670 challenge cards divided into four categories.

“We have kept to our initial aim of controlling standards and costs by keeping production and development in the UK,” Evans continues.

in f Heroica o n io g e r ins Build each t the gobl a e f e d o t t the ques eate ions or cr s is m t e s y · Pla rules your own the sa me! r e v e is e m · No ga · Age 7+ ing ed market t a r g e t in Strong TV, Press, s s o r c a n campaig ial media PR and soc res” e “Adventu in l n o g in es New Excit gaming sit n o d e r u t game fea September & t s u g u A ut througho

©2011 The LEGO Group.

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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES

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LE TOY VAN

The Noah’s Shape Sorter ark comes with seven distinctive pairs of animals to enter ‘two by two’.

Suitable for children aged three and up, each animal piece will correspond with the cut out shapes on either side of the ark, which can help encourage shape recognition skills.

Finished in bright blue, orange and natural rubber wood grain with ocean

MUMBO JUMBO TOYS

The Crocodile Creek range includes a large selection of puzzles, from small travel pouch puzzles to shaped box floor puzzles and shaped box stacking tower puzzles. There are plenty of unique designs to choose from, suitable for up to ten year olds.

Janod started life in the Jura Mountains in France. It has specialised in wooden toys for over 40 years.

Janod fosters education through play and produces a wide range of role-play scenario toys in an array of colours.

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and rain motifs, with a sliding hull door, a ramp, a carry handle and removable roof pieces to allow easy access. There is even a space for Noah and his wife, who fit in the shapes on the upper deck.

All Le Toy Van painted wooden toys are designed in the UK and ethically manufactured in Indonesia using responsibly sourced materials.

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The collection includes scooters, rocking horses, pull along toys, wooden instruments, dolls houses and, of course, a large selection of puzzles including a giant magnetic wall map puzzle and the hat box puzzles.

Signature toys include the Wooden Maxi Cooker, Magnetic Rocket, Portable Market Stall, the Magneticbooks and the Caramel Rocking Horse.

Janod has celebrity fans such as Elton John, whose son Zachary owns the Janod Magnetic Rocket.

DRUMOND PARK

Among the new titles going into retailers now is Dino Bite, the monster action game for kids aged four and up. Children compete to save coloured Dino-babies from right under the gaze of a jawsnapping T-Rex. The first stage of the Oginov Tumbler brain teaser is relatively easy to solve, but the puzzle then progresses to a further five levels of challenge. The first two puzzles, The Dots and The Colours, come in the Oginov Starter Pack. To master the puzzle, you flip and tilt the pocket-sized moon-sphere tumbler ball containing five pyramid-shaped pieces.

Gravity makes them ‘fall’ into place.

Rapidough, for ages eight and up, is a team game of modelling charades. It has been completely revitalised and updated – so now the family can join in the fun, with hundreds of simple everyday objects to sculpt.

Drumond Park’s Gross Magic and Horrid Practical Jokes have been in the

HTI HTi introduced the iball3 – an interactive memory game – at Toy Fair.

Since then, the iball3 has been voted Best Toy of 2011 by Five’s The Gadget Show, along with coverage on Daybreak and BBC Breakfast News.

The game was listed as one of 2011’s top ten toys for Christmas by Hamleys and has appeared in lists of the six best games throughout the UK media.

The iball3 is a clear ball with an electronic display inside, six lights and sound features. For children and adults of all ages, the game is made to fascinate and infuriate. All players have to do is work out the light sequences and turn the six lights all the same colour within a certain time. Each of the six lights has a choice of three colours initially. The ‘randomiser’ inside the iball3 creates literally over a million permutations and every 90 seconds the sequences change.

There are two levels of play. Once level one is solved the gameplay gets harder with four colours to master.

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UK’s magic toy charts for several years now – so the company’s designers felt it was about time to bring out a couple of new titles to complement the twosome.

For tricksters of all ages, the sparkling and witty Box of Shocks is a collection of pranks and tricks for playing on friends and family.

Think squirting ‘crazy’ ketchup all over their clothes, showing them how you break your finger backwards, leaving a coiled snake, ready to spring, in a crisp tin and ramming a pen through your hand.

Drumond Park has signed up kids’ TV magician and Britain’s Got More Talent presenter Stephen Mulhern, to produce Stephen Mulhern’s Magic Set. This is a selection of Mulhern’s cleverest tricks, and a few new ones.

Also in the pipeline for Christmas is His and Hers, which follows the same successful picture and recognition formula as Drumond Park’s bestselling board game, Logo.

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Once you have completed the task, the iball3 displays a unique i-code, which allows players to open up all the interactive aspects of the puzzle, and track their progress against other players through www.iball3.com. iball 3 will be supported with a hefty PR campaign throughout the fourth quarter and social media.

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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES

MAPS TOYS The award winning Bloco is a 3D construction puzzle aimed at both boys and girls. The Bloco Toy collection uses high-density foam designed into unique and colourful shapes. Each piece can be linked together and rotated to any angle using the Bloco connectors.

Fix together brightly coloured Bloco pieces to create lions and tigers in the Wild Cats box, a large set containing 335 pieces. The jungle-themed Savanna in Pyjamas Set contains 350 pieces and allows children to build giraffes, zebras, cheetahs and more.

There are lots of themed sets to master including Scorpions and Insects,

ASOBI

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HABA

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the multi-award winning Lizards and Chameleons, Horses and Unicorns, as well as two unique Dinosaur boxes.

The smaller Primates sets feature gorillas and chimpanzees, at a lower price point to give children a taster of this unique puzzle toy.

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Haba has puzzles to introduce tiny tots to finding and placing correct pieces with colourful designs. For intermediates, the larger Discovery Puzzles include themes like a Knight’s Castle, Farm Animals and a Construction site. The larger, more intricate puzzles have motifs around the edge, which are repeated in the puzzle to create a visual challenge. The puzzles also come with a small story for reading aloud with mum or dad.

Haba’s bring-along games are compact activities to amuse kids on the go. In Hit the Throttle, each player draws an assignment card without

PROFESSOR PUZZLE

allowing the others to see it – this card shows two coloured racing cars and the player tries to drive these over the target line. As players are allowed to move any of the six cars, no one knows which cars their opponents are actually trying to race past the target.

The Orchard is a family game which comes in various versions, from a card game which is made for travelling up to the largest version which is a floor game. However, the objective remains the same and players are challenged to gather the ripe crunchy fruit such as cherries, juicy apples and plums before the raven can snatch them.

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Professor Puzzle is launching Popular Playthings into the UK. The new range looks to take the initiative in the competitive market sector with superior gameplay, charming themes and lots of colour and detail on the plastic pieces. The firm is also hopeful that the strong packaging can also help it stand out in the sector.

The products are also competitively priced.

PEERS HARDY

Go Green, a new gardening-themed board game that has just been added to UK toy wholesaler Asobi’s portfolio, has been given the Royal seal of approval.

The family game is about gardening and self-sufficiency. Players move their wheelbarrows around the board collecting fruit, vegetables, pigs and chickens for their gardens and allotments. Go Green has proven a hit with Prince Charles and has also been given the thumbs up by TV’s homegrown self-sufficiency expert, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, as well as The Guardian newspaper.

And, despite the inclusion of the resident chickens, Vegetarian Living has even featured the game.

SEPTEMBER 2011

“This fun, but educational game covers so many topical issues and teaches children about important roles and values that they may not come across on a day to day basis. Hopefully it will encourage the next generation of green fingered gardeners and maybe even get them off Farmville for a while,” says Thierry Bourret, director of Asobi.

It’s not as easy as just planting a few lettuces though.

Players need to protect their chickens from foxes and sell produce at the local market for a profit, The Natural Selection cards are thought provoking and educational, while multiple choice questions are rewarded with hay bales for correct answers.

The new Maze Racer, which won The Best Toy award in the Games and Puzzles section at Toy Fair, is an electronic ball bearing game where players can race against others to finish the puzzle. The aim is to get the ball bearing around the maze in a set sequence and in record time; the clock starts ticking when the button is pressed. Suitable for both adults and children.

Continuing into 2011 is the AddictABalls. The large AddictABall features 138 stages – starting at stage one, the ball must follow the maze without dropping off the puzzle.

Designed to be frustrating, there are parts of the maze that are hidden from view. The small or travel size AddictABall features 100 stages, but is

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equally as hard because every little hand movement is greatly magnified, as everything is on such a small and intricate scale.

Peers Hardy also offers an array of Desktop Games which include Desktop Football, Pool, Hockey and Table Tennis.

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PAUL LAMOND GAMES LIMITED 31 Newington Green, Islington, London N16 9PU Telephone 020 7254 0100 Facsimile 020 7254 3400 Web: www.paul-lamond.com

VIS Puzzles ToyNews advert.indd 1

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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES

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RAINBOW DESIGNS

There is an array of licensed character wooden games and puzzles available from Rainbow Designs.

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is brought to life in the Wooden Peg Puzzle and the Wooden Dominoes, which are packaged in a wooden presentation box.

The My First Paddington collection of bright and colourful toys feature the Wooden Picture Blocks, Wooden Dominoes and Wooden Peg Puzzle. They were all created to encourage number recognition and star Paddington Bear.

The Gruffalo also features in Rainbow Designs’ puzzles and games offering in the form of the Wooden Peg Puzzle and the Wooden Dominoes Set. Both of the products feature all the woodland characters from the bestselling storybook.

HALILIT

Halilit has Edushape, puzzles which float on the bath water and stick to tiles or the side of the bath.

The jar of Funny Mix contains pairs of wet and stick foam animals, while Floating Pairs is a floating memory game. There are three sets in the range.

The Deep-Sea Fishing Set has an easy to hold fishing rod with a worm attached for catching colourful sea creatures. The Fish n Fun set helps children to recognise the variety of different sea creatures as they catch them with the fishing rod. The Fish n Spell helps

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New to the World of Beatrix Potter Classic collection is the Wooden Peg Puzzle, an illustrated toy featuring individual pegs numbered from one to eight. Also new to the line is the Beatrix Potter Wooden Dominoes, which are illustrated with the Beatrix Potter characters and packaged in a wooden presentation box.

Elmer is a pre-schooler’s favourite patchwork elephant and Rainbow’s collection includes a Wooden Dominoes Set and a Wooden Peg Puzzle – all brightly coloured and featuring eyecatching Elmer imagery.

The bright and colourful Stripy Horse range features a Wooden Peg Puzzle and the colours of the rainbow as individual pegs, while Rainbow’s Spot collection features a Wooden Dominoes Set and a Wooden Peg Puzzle.

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language and spelling skills as words are made with the floating letters. All the bath time games are suitable from the age of three, apart from the Deep-Sea Fishing Set which is recommended from the age of two.

For toddlers who are into puzzles, Edushape has two different chunky foam puzzle sets that stick to any smooth flat surface when wet, and come with their own net storage bag. Each set contains an eight-piece and a 15-piece puzzle and the themes are Jungle and Park, and Sea Life and Traffic.

UNDERGROUND TOYS Suitable for teenagers and adults, the Glee CD Board Game challenges fans’ knowledge of the hit series and comes complete with CD, game board, character cards, timer, pawns and Glee Hand ‘L’ Logo Card Holder.

It is a game of strategy and skill – players advance toward the finish spot (the ever approaching ‘Sectionals’) on the board by tactically approaching questions specific to the McKinley High School characters in order to determine who is the biggest ‘Gleek’ and establish who has the greatest Glee IQ. Each team selects a Glee Guesser who then decides to compete in either a character card challenge or a CD challenge. Players compete in either a character card challenge, by guessing who a character is and what they’ve done, or a CD challenge, by singing and dancing.

If the Glee guesser either completes the Character Card Challenge or the CD Challenge he/she will be able to move ahead on the board.

INTERPLAY The 4D Cityscape Jigsaw Puzzle range currently includes London and New York and guides the puzzler through history, allowing them to re-create each city in chronological order producing an accurate replica of each defining era.

Discover London and New York City’s past, present and future with the world’s first jigsaw puzzle to delve into the fourth dimension – time.

IMC

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Teams alternate guessing and clue-giving until one team reaches the finish space. Glee fans can showcase their theatrical skill and impress team members as they battle to reach the finish, following directions from the CD, performing songs and dance routines just like the New Directions Glee Club in the show.

01628 488944 With each puzzle including over 700 pieces and more than 70 iconic buildings, they both boast impressive detailing which will allow puzzlers to bring each city to life like never before.

The London set starts with the streets of 1078, prior to the devastating fire of London in 1666 and builds to the future skyline of 2015 as each building is added: Tower Bridge, the Millennium Dome, the Gherkin and the forthcoming Shard tower.

New York City begins in 1812 with the iconic City Hall and journeys through the years with famous buildings such as Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building and finally finishes in 2013 with the symbolic new World Trade Centre.

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Bum Face is a table-top board game designed to test a player’s ability to save their own bum.

It is a four-player action game, where people have to hit their opponent’s face to knock them out of the ring, and save their own bums by hitting it to prolong the continuation of the game.

IMC’s Bum Face Game offers kids a genuinely unique boxing experience, which has two levels of difficulty to add replay value.

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SECTOR GUIDE GAMES & PUZZLES

MARBEL George Luck has been designing and making wooden puzzles for over 30 years. Its imaginative designs have won numerous Good Toy and design awards and have been widely acclaimed for being both fun and educational.

The Rainbow range is an introductory puzzle, designed for children between the ages of two and four. The puzzle includes seven different shaped pieces and is sized at 15cm x 15cm. The colourful puzzles can help develop hand-to-eye coordination.

The more advanced puzzles come with multiple layers, such as the Snail and Friends. Winner of the Good Toy Award in 2003, the puzzle features two

EDUCATIONAL LEARNING

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Designed for ages 12 months and up, the Matching Animal & Number Jigsaw, 123 Puzzle and Number Matching Puzzle are bright, colourful and come with detailed illustrations. The sturdy puzzles aim to offer a fun introduction into number learning.

Bigjigs’ new Lion-themed clock puzzle has 12 numbered chunky puzzle pieces that frame a colourful lion illustration, which holds two chunky clock hands. The puzzle works in two ways; firstly the numbered puzzle pieces are matched to the corresponding numbers on the base board and link together to show children the number positions on a clock. Secondly, once the puzzle has been completed, the chunky clock hands can be moved around the face

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layers, adding depth to the puzzle, designed to help children to develop logical thinking processes.

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Educational Learning has re-packaged its Wildcat and Dinohistoria card games.

Previously sold as a double-pack, the family games are now available separately.

For two to six players, adults or children, these games have a combination of features and benefits helping to improve learning in key areas, assisting with parts of the National Curriculum – numeracy, literacy and several others – bringing education to the fore and supporting social interactions.

Anglia Ruskin University evaluated Wildcat by testing the game at a local primary school with children aged between six and seven. It found that the cards’ use of different, bold colours and facts helped hold the children’s focus.

Dinohistoria was subsequently added to the line-up – the game features pictures licensed from the Natural History Museum of familiar dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Iguanodon, Stegosaurus.

Both games consist of over educational 50 cards.

Wildcat is suitable for children aged over five, while Dinohistoria is suited for kids over seven.

BIGJIGS

GREAT GIZMOS

Great Gizmos’ Fairy range is designed by the author and illustrator Shirley Barber. It includes a selection of games and detailed jigsaw puzzles which all aim to capture the magic and wonder of the fairy kingdom.

To kick off the line, there are four boxed 100-piece puzzles with magical fairy and woodland themes, which depict Shirley Barber’s famous illustrations.

In addition, the same designs are available as 50-piece puzzles in handy sized boxes.

FIESTA CRAFTS

01303 250400 to simulate different times for learning. This pre-school learning aid is designed for children aged three years and above.

The firm has also re-designed its range of Chunky puzzles, which are a ‘first puzzle’ test for chidren aged one year and up. Four new designs have also been added: Space, Fairy, Pirate and Castle. The packaging has also had a revamp, incorporating a windowbox design.

Each of the 11 designs of chunky puzzle includes a number of coloured lift-out pieces that match to a coloured base in the puzzle.

The element of colour has been introduced to encourage children to not just match shapes, but also match corresponding colours.

Fish N Spell is a two-player speed fishing game that aims to promote literacy and co-ordination skills.

Made from real wood and fabric, Fish N Spell is a colourful and action-packed game that requires skill, speed and a steady hand. First, one of 100 word cards is chosen and the correct letters must be caught to spell the word using the magnetic rod.

All the Fish N Spell game cards are printed in English, Spanish, Italian and French, providing additional educational appeal and a fun way for children to learn simple words in four languages –

The smaller pieces are suited for younger puzzlers or for travel.

For something with more pace than puzzles, there is a whole host of games as well, all featuring Shirley Barber images.

Girls can also enjoy a variety of classic card games. There are Fairies Pairs, Go Fish and Snap that are all also available, each in a pink tin case.

Also in the Shirley Barber games collection is Fairies Lacing Cards, Fairies Match the Picture and Fairies Number Match.

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an important factor with languages being part of the Key Stage 2 Curriculum.

The game has three different ways to play for added replay value.

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SECTOR GUIDE CHRISTMAS TV

Coming up during the break As the crucial fourth quarter draws ever closer, ToyNews takes a look at which products will be supported with TV campaigns in the run up to the key Christmas selling period…

MATTEL Already the number one TV investor in the toy industry, with 13 per cent more advertising than its nearest competitor for the first half of 2011, Mattel will continue to reach consumers through TV campaigns. In addition, this autumn will see Mattel implement break-frame sponsorship programmes with major TV channels.

Barbie will benefit from constant on-air presence. For the first time, a large-scale brand TV ad campaign has been created to reinforce Barbie’s status as a fashion icon. The brand spots will run until December.

Autumn/winter entertainment property Barbie A Princess Charm School will be supported by a TV ad campaign supporting three Barbie A Princess Charm School items including the lead transformation doll Barbie Princess Charm School Blair, Pop Up Canopy Carriage and Royal Bed & Bath Play-set.

A further six key products will be featured during the run up to Christmas including the water-feature Barbie Puppy Water Park as well as the Barbie & Tawny Horse, where Tawny can really walk, trot and prance. Also featuring on TV will be Barbie Colour n Wash Salon, World of Barbie Sisters, Barbie Design Printables and Barbie’s California Dream House.

The growth of Mattel’s latest IP Monster High has continued in 2011 with the launch of a Monster High fan club and advertising campaign on Stardoll.

Continuing this growth of the brand, the doll collection and Lagoona Hydration Station will be supported by a TV drive through to October.

Popular mini doll brand Polly Pocket will see increased TV support. TV advertising will run from September through October featuring the Polly Pocket Pollyworld House and Polly Pocket Stunt N Style Jet, and then in October through to December the focus will be on feature-rich play-set Polly Pocket Race to the Concert. The brand will also be supported by integrated placement of new Polly Pocket content with children’s online broadcast media.

The Mattel Disney Princess collection will be supported by three key TV campaigns featuring Disney Tangled Sing and Glow Rapunzel, and the new Disney Princess Tea Party Palace Playset and an additional 30-second World

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of Disney Princess ad featuring Disney Princess Ultimate Dream Castle, 2 in 1 Ballgown Surprise Dolls and Cinderella’s Horse and Carriage.

Large doll brand My Baby will also see increased activity with campaigns running through November and December to support My Very Real Baby.

Tipped by Tesco to be the hottest toy this Christmas, Fijit will be supported by TV and sponsorship running in September and October. Girl Tech favourite, Password Journal, will appear on screens during a heavyweight TV ad campaign to the end of November.

Fisher-Price will roll out major campaigns, too. Infant lines receiving TV support include the Amazing Animals Sing and Go Choo Choo, the Bounce ‘n’ Spin Zebra and new collection, Topzy Tumblers.

In Pre-school, evergreen collection Little People welcomes Zoo Talkers. TV driver Animal Sounds Zoo comes with four habitats for children to explore. The Little People Stand ‘n’ Play Rampway also remains a major TV focus. The Imaginext range will receive two TV campaigns including the Mega T Rex, from the Dino range, and the Batcave, part of the new DC superfriends collection.

Thomas & Friends has major TV support with four TV drivers across the Take-n-Play, Trackmaster and Pre-school collections. Key items include the Trackmaster Tidmouth Sheds Play-set and the Take-n-Play Diesel Works, tying in to the Day of the Diesels DVD release. The pre-school focus will be on

Follow Me Thomas and the Tidmouth Sheds Play-set.

TV driver for Fisher-Price’s new Octonauts line is the Octopod Play-set, with two Octonaut figures and two sea creatures.

Dance Star Mickey goes from strength to strength.

With a viral campaign already started, TV and sponsorship support will begin in October and run through to Christmas. The new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Space Rocket also receives TV support.

Other licensed properties to receive TV support include Dora the Explorer and Handy Manny.

Hot Wheels TV campaigns support leading products including Hot Wheels Wall Tracks. Other TV drivers include the Hot Wheels Sky Jump Track Set complete with fire pit launcher, high-speed booster, three 360-degree loops and a sheer vertical jump. Plus, there’s TV support for the gravity-defying Hot Wheels Rev Ups Revolution Stunt Park and the Hot Wheels Colour Shifters Piranha Peril track set The leading boys’ vehicle brand (NPD YTD 2011) will also see support with a year-long TV sponsorship programme with Cartoon Network. In addition to daily TV spots on the Team Hot Wheels virtual racing championship, the brand will also benefit from a series of magazine-style shows.

Matchbox Big Rig Buddies are back with a new addition, Smokey the Fire Truck, supported by TV advertising running up to Christmas.

Receiving heavyweight TV support throughout autumn are several Cars 2 products including the Secret Spy Attack Finn McMissile.

WWE’s FlexForce and Rumblers ranges will also be backed in the autumn. Plus there’s support for key items across Toy Story, Green Lantern, Batman and Generator Rex. Continuing its commitment to kids’ games with TV backing for Whac a Mole, Mattel will also push electronic memory-matching game Red Rover.

Plus there’s support for Scrabble Trickster, Pictionary and Uno Extreme.

LEGO

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Lego UK has developed an integrated sponsorship and advertising package to hit key periods in the retail calendar.

Lego City Harbour and Police play themes continue to be supported across October and November with over 500 TVRs targeting kids and mums, focusing on the hero items: Lego City Harbour, Marina and Harbour sets, City Police Station and Police Mobile Unit.

Throughout early November, Lego Star Wars Sebulba Podracers and the Republic Frigate will be rotating feature items around 200 TVRs, alongside Lego Games which will be supported with around 600 TVRs from October around the new Heroica Games range, Ninjago Game and campaign designed to support family item Creationary.

Lego Ninjago will be supported with over 700+ TVRs targeting kids and focusing on hero sets the Skull Truck, Fire Temple, Sensei Wu and Lord Garmadon. Targeted at six to nine year-old boys, the TV campaign around Hero Factory kicks off around the end of the summer holiday and continues to run as part of an integrated marketing and promotional campaign to launch the new buildable hero and villain character introductions: the Rocka, Witch Doctor, Rocka XL and Scorpio sets.

The Lego Technic Super Car will showcase on around 300+ TVRs over the October half-term week. With an in-season launch, Lego Alien Conquest will be supported by over 800 TVRs focused around the Alien Mothership and the Earth Defence HQ. Finally, a huge movie year for the Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter franchises sees hero products for each brand supported with TV advertising.

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SECTOR GUIDE CHRISTMAS TV

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HASBRO Some of the key highlights of Hasbro’s autumn/winter campaign will include Furreal, Sesame Street, Games and Transformers.

Cookie My Playful Pup is the newest, softest, most huggable dog to join the FurReal Friends family.

Children can interact with the pintsized golden retriever through voice recognition technology – the pup will respond when spoken to by moving her head, blinking and barking. Cookie will also respond to touch – simply pet on the sensors located on her head and cheeks and Cookie will make happy puppy sounds.

Additionally, Cookie My Playful Pup will track her squeaky toy with her eyes and head as it’s moved in front of her.

Dressed in a concert style t-shirt, Let’s Rock Elmo takes the stage singing and making music.

Elmo comes with his very own microphone and two instruments – a tambourine and a drum set. Preschoolers can choose what Elmo plays, and he recognises which instrument he is given. Kids can also play along on

020 8569 1234 Elmo’s instruments, while other let’s rock instruments are sold separately.

Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition is all about flash, not cash, in this modern version of Monopoly. Wave goodbye to bills and say hello to a new Monopoly bank card – scooping up property with a swipe of plastic. The board features all new property locations, with Kensington Palace Gardens replacing Mayfair in the iconic dark blue space reflecting the real life shift in the capital’s property prices.

Modernised tokens and higher property values – you now get $2 million for passing go.

The follow up to Bop-It! is an active, think-fast on-your-feet game with six commands including Bop it, Spin it, Flick it, Pull it, Twist it and the new Shake it.

The game features play modes including Single Player, Pass It, One-on-One and Party, plus four levels of play for ranging abilities.

A headphone jack is also included in the Bop-It! XT unit to allow kids to fine tune their skills quietly, or hook up to speakers for group play.

INTERPLAY Interplay is preparing for a successful festive season with extensive marketing campaigns in Q4.

The new myStyle craft range will be top priority this quarter, following on from its launch in the autumn. The craft kits enable girls to create endless individual designs from customised deluxe charm bracelets to hand painted Japanese friendship dolls.

Moving on, and Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime drives into battle with his weapon trailer. The trailer now converts into Mech Suit that powers up Optimus Prime.

The toy comes in ‘try me’ packaging with lights and sounds. Optimus Prime has several ports to armour up with MechTech weapons from other characters.

Arriving from a galaxy far, far away in summer 2011 are the new Ultimate FX Lightsabers. The toy features a progressive light-up blade with vibrant LED lighting. Available in Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader models.

Meanwhile, the first fully automatic, clip fed disc blaster in the Nerf Vortex line, the Vortex Nitron blaster features a removable clip that can hold up to 20 discs, an Electronic Targeting Scope accessory, and a front handle to help steady your shots. The Tactical Rail System compatible with most Vortex and Nerf N-Strike Mission Kit accessories (each sold separately).

01628 488944 Ensuring total brand awareness for the core range, Interplay has produced a series of infomercials to be watched online, while ads will be shown on key channels throughout autumn/winter.

There will also be TV campaigns to support the Wild Science range extension, including the new cosmetic kits, Pampering Boutique, Moisturising Laboratory and Face Mask Laboratory,

while still focusing on its all-time favourites Perfume Laboratory, Bath Bomb Factory and Luxury Soap Science.

Similarly, Wild Science for boys will benefit from additional TV support, helping to drive sales for the range including Hyperlauncher Rocket Ball Factory and Weird Slime Laboratory.

TV supported brands will also benefit from print and online campaigns.

TOMY Pre-school range, Play to Learn, will once again be showcased, with bestsellers Pic ‘n’ Pop and electronic colour-mixing toy Mr Colour Maker both set for TV spots. The two products were largely responsible for the eight per cent year-on-year growth of the preschool brand for 2011 so far.

This year sees the debut of a new TV ad for pre-school arts and crafts brand Aquadoodle. There is a heavyweight autumn TV campaign with an anticipated 1,100 TVRs. This season also sees the launch of the R/C GX Buggy, a new high performance remote controlled car.

Combining high speed, high jumps, quick response and a professional spec 2.4ghz signal, GX Buggy is being supported by a strong TV campaign, running from July through to November, including sponsorship in association with Disney XD. Another strong brand this season is Harry Potter. Tomy is supporting the best selling Monster Book of Monsters Keep Safe Box both with advertising on TV and in cinemas. It is anticipated that

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over two million people will go and see the film, with the ad in both 2D and 3D. Tomica, the road and rail toy range launched last year, is supported by TV ads for the new Metro City Set. Tomy’s newly expanded girls range has already proved successful in 2011, with Teacup Piggies and Pinypon securing

mass distribution across the lines.

Tomy has high hopes for Pinypon, the brand new miniature dolls range which hit the shelves this summer.

A total of four different adverts will drive brand awareness and communicate the depth of the range as the school holidays begin, while the campaign will continue all the way up to Christmas.

Covering both its die-cast and interactive ranges, Tomy will be supporting its Chuggington portfolio with over 2,000 TVRs in 2011. The autumn/winter campaign running over the key holiday periods focuses on hero range items: Chugger Championship Deluxe Set and Steam Around Old Town set. The TV advertising programme is an 11-week campaign that will air across terrestrial and satellite.

Offering immediate impact (for both the Die-Cast and Interactive ranges) and support to retail, the extensive TV ad drive sees a continued investment into the brand by the company, which recently acquired RC2/Learning Curve.

It will feature a mix of ten-second and 20-second ads to highlight the new play-sets.

A new destination for three to six year olds, the Chuggington Die-Cast and Interactive ranges have been developed to deliver action-packed train play, while reflecting the key destinations and core developmental messages of the CGI series.

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GOLDEN BEAR Golden Bear has launched its TV campaign with brand new commercials for Driver Dan’s Story Train, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and My 1st JCB. The launch of Driver Dan’s Story Train range is being supported by an extensive TV campaign throughout autumn/winter 2011 and carries on into 2012. The 30-second commercial showcases Driver Dan’s Story Train, which reads aloud one of three stories.

Also featured is Talking Driver Dan – the feature plush toy has seven character phrases which are activated by giving Driver Dan a squeeze.

After the success of the campaign for Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom in 2010, a new ad will be broadcasting showing the additions to the range, featuring the Magic Wand. The award winning Magical Castle Play-set and Gaston’s Cave continues to be shown as part of the consumer campaign.

MV SPORTS

01952 608308 The My 1st JCB has also got a new look. The 30-second commercial shows all of the My 1st JCB Talkers including new member of the team, Dan Dozer.

Doug Dumptruck is also starring in the ad as a new RC vehicle.

Following the initial summer bursts, the advertising schedule will continue airing across terrestrial and digital channels throughout autumn/winter.

Jumbo’s key Christmas product is the new Disney Princess Magic Wand Game. The flagship electronic game allows girls to play the part of their favourite Disney princess, including Cinderella, Snow White, Belle and Sleeping Beauty.

Players need to work their way around the board, using a talking wand instead of a dice, and listen to the instructions from the fairy godmother. The first to get to the front of the castle and gain entry using the magical wand will be the winner.

The product was advertised in July in the UK and will be advertised again, in the in UK and Ireland, from October 24th

SEPTEMBER 2011

A new TV advertising campaign from Meccano will aim to build consumer demand as new models transform and race across the screen during the Christmas buying period.

The 20-second advert showcases Meccano’s latest new releases from its popular Space Chaos, Turbo, Multi Models and Xtreme collections. Models appear against a variety of backdrops, reflecting the diverse environments in which Meccano models can be ‘imagineered’ – from the dry desert sands to slick race tracks and the depths of deep space.

Sue Barratt, country manager, Meccano UK, says: “We’ve packed into 20 seconds the very essence of Meccano and the excitement it offers, showing a selection of the fantastic new models that will be on the Christmas

WOWWEE

0121 748 8000

MV is excited to unveil a new patentapplied for scooter this autumn, based on the BAFTA award winning and pre-school show Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom.

The new Ben and Holly Magical Light & Sound Tri-Scooter has a magic wand which remotely activates the tri-scooter’s flashing lights, music and sounds from the show. The scooter features a selection of seven phrases, as well as the theme tune.

Listen out for favourites such as “I’m Princess Holly” and “Can’t catch me”, to name a few. The colour printed anti-slip footplate incorporates flashing lights on each side.

JUMBO GAMES

MECCANO

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to December 4th. The TV campaign take place on Channel 5’s Milkshake, CITV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Cartoonito and Disney XD. Jumbo has secured strong retail distribution for the game, including the Argos, Toys R Us, Smyths, Tesco, Early Learning Centre, The Entertainer and many more.

The Lite Sprites will be supported this Christmas with a marketing campaign across UK and Ireland. The multi platform campaign will promote Lite Sprites and build collectability within the innovative world of Lite-Topia, a place where girls can capture, transfer and share colour and light.

Lite Sprites will be on air through October, November and December delivering 500 TVRs in this period alone. Three commercials will be rotated on air including a new advert starring the Tree of Lite, which will position it as a perfect Christmas purchase. A progressive PR programme targeting lifestyle press, gift guides and mummy bloggers will also support Lite Sprites for Christmas.

Light Strike will blast its way on screens with a marketing campaign that launches in October and runs through to Christmas. The interactive gaming system brings video games into the real world, and is featured in a commercial delivering over 500 TVRs. For October there is a promotion with Cartoon Network based around an interactive transmedia series: Light Strike Arean. The campaign will run on both TV and online, creating an environment to engage with the target audience and build sales for Light Strike.

Plus Light Strike will

01844 278 888 wish list of boys, girls and parents the length and breadth of the UK. “The special effects in the advert highlight the incredible value for money that Meccano offers. Parts explode out of one model to reveal how it can make further models using the same component parts. We also show added value play features including remote control powering our Turbo RC and RC Pro models around the race track.”

Meccano’s preChristmas TV advertising campaign starts in October and runs throughout November and into early December with 300 TVRs. Adverts will run on GMTV, GMTV Kids, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, CITV and Bin Weevils.

01295 711 588 be supported by a strong digital marketing programme featuring an interactive website with a demo module that shows boys the wealth of levels, strategies and skill levels achievable. Also included is a strong PR programme and in-store demo opportunities.

The new Paper Jamz Pro series, featuring the Pro Microphone and the Paper Jamz Pro Guitar, will be promoted with a 500 ratings campaign running from October to December.

Packed with the latest cutting-edge technology, the Paper Jamz Pro Series can be customised with new songs to suit all musical tastes and will feature in two distinct commercials.

Appealing to both girls and boys, the Pro Microphone will be promoted with a TV creative starring the next teenage sensation, Lexi Saint George, with her debut single and video Dancing to the Rhythm.

The Pro Microphone will also be featured in a highly targeted video on demand campaign running at the end of November.

Strong PR activity will promote the Pro Microphone and Paper Jamz Pro Guitar to teen press, gadget and online press, lifestyle press, influential bloggers and gift guides.

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BANDAI Bandai’s autumn TV advertising campaigns target a wide range of audiences this year, highlighting the broadness of its portfolio.

For the youngest viewer, there will be two Noddy in Toyland spots for the Noddy Takes to the Air airport playset and the Fix n Go Monster Truck. Noddy is making a return to the pre-school market and will be advertised on the most popular preschool channels through September and October.

Power Rangers Samurai will also benefit from new TV spots, which kicked off in July and will run throughout the rest of the year. In total, there are six new TV ads covering the following products: 10cm

RE:CREATION Re:creation will be TV advertising its three key rideon lines from the Razor brand – the PowerWing, RipRider 360 and the new Razor e-Spark. From October half-term and running through to December, the campaign will generate in excess of 750 TVRs on the top children’s TV channels. This closely follows the summer campaign featuring the national Razor Global Domination Tour, which achieved over 2,000 TVRs. The tried and tested TV creative for the PowerWing and RipRider 360 delivered

JOHN ADAMS John Adams’ campaigns will see a mix of new and existing creative, running from September to December across both satellite and terrestrial channels.

Nine of the 12 new craft lines will be supported. This includes the Disney Princess Snow Globe Maker, which will be joined by the new Disney Princess 3D Projector.

In addition to this, Button Bracelets, Fab Felt Jewellery Maker, Magic Gift Wrapper, Chocolate Lolly Maker and

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08456 028782 Both the Bridal Collection and Evening Gown Set will be featured in new spots which focus on the concept and play pattern and then go into detail on the contents.

In addition, a brand new advert to introduce the Harumika Mannequin will also benefit from significant airtime in the run up to the festive season.

Bandai has also filmed a new commercial for its badgemaking machine Badge It, to bring it more up to date.

It shows how tweens can use modern technology to help them get pictures for their badges and how they can decorate their belongings to get a new look.

Action Figures, 16cm Switch Morphin Figures, Disc Cycles and Figure, Zord Vehicles and Figure, Samurai Morpher and Spin Sword, Samurai Megazord, Samurai Clawzord.

From August onward, there are three new TV ads for Bandai’s autumn/winter 2011 Ben 10 range.

Fresh 10cm and 15cm figures, new key Ben 10 roleplay item – the Revolution Ultimatrix – and new vehicle products, the Complete Rustbucket 3 and Alien Crash Vehicles will be showcased.

Moving on to girls, and fans of the Harumika property will notice new ads for three of the key set introductions for this autumn.

0118 973 6222 significant demand in 2010 resulting in substantial sales uplift in the run up to last Christmas. With the arrival of the eSpark, based on the electric scooter, Re:creation plans to build on this category in 2011. The Razor brand will also be backed by a fully integrated marketing campaign including PR and print advertising.

In addition, Re:creation’s pocket money toys category will be aiming to lead the way in stocking fillers and collectable gifts. Featuring the new Ickee Stickeez, Space Putty, Space Putty Aliens, Armeez and Jumpz, the range will be TV advertised from now until Christmas.

Delivering around 1,200 TVRs, pocket money toys will be advertised on the most popular children’s TV channels, including Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, as well as on GMTV to target parents.

01480 414 361 Golden Coin Maker will all receive the TV treatment in the run-up to Christmas.

Other products benefiting from TV coverage will include Tender Tiny Tears; Classic Tiny Tears; Girls World; Rubik’s 3x3 Cube; Rubik’s Race and Rubik’s 360; HotWires snap–together electronics kit; the Gross Science set; Mr Creepy Practical Jokes and Mr Creepy Magic; Litterbugs, Dream Phone; Total Action Football; Doggie Doo and Caption It.

VTECH VTech will have a total of nine different TV ads – up from five in 2010. Advertising will focus on new launches including the InnoTab and the Kidizoom Twist. This year’s record ATL investment will reach over 5,000 children aged between four to six TVRs and over 4,000 housewife TVRs. VTech estimates that between August and November, the average UK child aged between four and six will see a VTech TV commercial on average 46 times, while mums will see a VTech TV commercial on average 42 times.

The InnoTab campaign will reach an estimated 85 per cent of all adults with young children. The launch will also feature video on demand preroll advertising, in-store POS and digital spend to increase the reach of the message.

01235 555545 Pre-Christmas advertising will also support the new Kidizoom Twist with 800 TVRs targeted at children between August to December. The next generation Kidizoom has a rotating ‘self-portrait’ lens that allows children to view pictures and film on the LCD screen as they shoot.

Kidiminiz are a collection of six interactive pets which sing, dance and tell jokes to each other, as well as doubling up as a 24-hour alarm clock.

The new additions to the VTech Baby portfolio, including the new VTech TootToot Drivers range and the VTech 3-in-1 Zebra Scooter, will also benefit from extensive TV advertising.

Clive Richardson, marketing director at VTech, comments: “Last Christmas, VTech lead the NPD top selling toys list with three of its products in the top ten.

“We’re confident the combined effect of our exciting product innovations and highest ever investment into TV advertising for both new and existing products will deliver another successful Christmas for VTech.”

This year’s TV advertising will also be supported by a further five themed ad breaks which will include all the TV advertised products, as well as 30-second sponsorship spots on Pop Girl TV for the Kidiminiz range.

SEPTEMBER 2011

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Giant Road Jigsaw is another great new activity from

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LEAPFROG LeapFrog is doubling its preChristmas media spend for 2011, creating a campaign with over 4,000 TVRs. LeapFrog adverts will run across terrestrial and satellite channels. Additionally it will be creating bespoke adverts for Nick Jnr and Turner as well as sponsoring Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel. The campaign reach will be further extended with an online campaign exceeding 80 million impressions.

The new LeapPad Explorer will be the main focus. The personalised learning tablet is designed for ages four and up, mixing the latest technology with an enhanced educational curriculum, using characters to aid children’s learning and development.

The new device mirrors popular adult handhelds.

The LeapPad Explorer is available with over 100 learning games, book apps and videos. It comes with a suite of creativity tools featuring a built-in camera,

WORLDS APART After adding several new products to the Go Glow range this year, Worlds Apart will be running heavyweight ads for the new ergonomically designed Disney Princess Go Glow Clock Bedtime Trainer and Disney Princess Go Glow Light across core target audience TV channels, via a mixture of generic and retailer tagging.

Extending its advertising across the girls market, Worlds Apart will also be running ads for its popular Hello Kitty Go Glow Pal on channels Pop, Pop Girl and Nickelodeon. The company will also be supporting its Dream Town Strawberry Stables set.

Working closely with Disney, Worlds Apart will be launching a number of sponsorship activities for the Winnie the Pooh Interactive Friend this autumn/winter, running on Disney’s TV Channels and its digital platforms. TV advertising will be aired on the Disney Channel focusing on the key target audience of mums with children up to three years.

01895 201520 video recorder, microphone, art and photo studios.

Also new for 2011, and included in LeapFrog’s advertising campaign, is the Scout and Friends Baby Walker, created by LeapFrog following the success of the My Pal Scout range. It features textured rubber wheels and has a sturdy frame designed to give extra support to babies. The walker also introduces babies to letters, numbers, colours and shapes.

The ad campaign will also feature popular reading devices Tag and Tag Junior.

Both allow children to hear their favourite characters speak individual words on the page spoken aloud. Designed to emphasise LeapFrog’s ‘Learn to Read’ message, the ads will also showcase the library of over 25 interactive books and maps available, including the new Tag World Map, an interactive map of the world that allows children to learn about other cultures.

0800 389 591 The 30-second ads will be jointly sponsored by Worlds Apart and Argos. Worlds Apart has also confirmed an online digital campaign with Mumsnet and dedicated Winnie The Pooh Interactive Friend microsite.

Cross-sell inserts will also be placed into 150,000 Winnie the Pooh film DVDs. Other pieces from the new Winne the Pooh range, including the Go Glow Clock Bedtime Trainer and Go Glow Light, will also be advertised.

The company aims to build on the success of the Cars 2 items and has secured sponsorship on Nick Jr this autumn/winter to highlight its new collection.

2,000 TVRs will be running on Nick Jr. In the months running up to Christmas, the ads will run eight times a day every day, focusing on the bedtime slot.

This will be coupled with a Nick Jr web campaign and competition, as well as a landing page on the Worlds Apart website.

VIVID Klip Kitz Cars 2 continues on TV into Q4, as does the interactive toy line for Toy Story. The US hit Hunter R/C also kicks off five weeks of TV advertising support from October half-term after an intro campaign in August. Moshi Monsters continues with TV support throughout Q3 and Q4, with new campaigns for Mosh n Chat and the Moshling Treehouse Play-set. Vivid predicts these items will achieve over 120,000 unit sales in the UK and Ireland.

Vivid’s new girls interactive plush line Flufflings, will begin an eight-week campaign from to mid-November.

Animagic will be supported with a heavyweight tenweek campaign with new lines Benji, Sunny, Fluffy and her cat-buddy Cassy all featured until the end of November.

Darcey Bussell’s Magic Ballerina role-play set will also receive five weeks of TV support.

MEGA BRANDS Building on the success of the summer launch, Mega Brands will be focusing its TV advertising on its Need for Speed range aimed at boys aged six and up. Based on the video game series, the new buildable toys offer a diverse line of exotic sports cars featuring three different scales of vehicles: Action Scale, Custom Scale and Collector Scale.

The ten-week TV drive includes 625 TVRs in the UK and Ireland, via a mixture of generic and retailer tagging.

The 20-second adverts will be shown across the coretarget audience TV channels including Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, CN TOO, Boomerang, Jetix, CITV, Kix!, Disney XD, POP and RTE 2.

The Need for Speed campaign will also include TV and online sponsorship of the kids TV show Kick Buttowski on Disney XD in September.

The firm will be running 140 TVRs featuring a 30-second competition spot and tensecond sponsorship bumper.

The company will also be running an extensive month long pre-Christmas advertising

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01483 449944 Tying in with the Q4 movie launch, the Happy Feet 2 TV ads will feature the interactive toy line and begin during the October half-term.

Pre-school TV support for Little Charley Bear and Everything’s Rosie kicked in from August. Sweet Dreams Rosie and Raggles, Twooter and RingaRosie will be the three TV lines featured from Everything’s Rosie. Let’s Pretend Charley, Up,Up and Away and Goodnight Charley Bear are the lines included for Little Charley Bear. Timmy Time’s new TV line for Q4, meanwhile, is Picnic Timmy.

Crayola will be further backed by nine campaigns, with Disney Princess and Cars 2 Story Studio both featured.

Catwalk Creations, Beginnings 4 in 1 Desk, Doodle Daisy, 3 in 1 Picture Magic, Doodle Penguin, Magic Light Brush, Glow Dome and Creations Lumi Lock are all supported.

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campaign from mid October to launch its 3D Breakthrough puzzle range to the children and family market. Featuring cartoon character, super hero and generic designs, Mega Puzzles 3D Breakthrough Puzzles provide a new and unique puzzling experience for the whole family.

Suitable for ages six and up, the range includes 100300+ piece 3D puzzles.

The 20-second ads will be running in the UK and Ireland with 450 TVRs including a mix of generic and retail tagging.

Targeting the core audience of children aged over six, together with parents, the adverts will be aired on Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, CN TOO, Boomerang, CITV, Kix!, GMTV, Disney XD, ITV 2, Sky Family Movies, RTE2 and INick.

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SPIN MASTER Five new TV creatives reflecting the launch and features of the new Brawlers are the highlight of the Bakugan campaign for this autumn, and runs alongside a TV sponsorship campaign on CITV from September. Consumer sales of Bakugan are up 20 per cent YTD (+47 per cent, NPD June 2011) reflecting the fourth year of continual growth for the established brand.

Zoobles Mama’s and Zooblings launched at the end of the July, along with the Nursery Play-set and several other new feature items. The total range will feature in a number of new colourful creatives to drive sales in the run up to Christmas.

A three-month launch drive for the Fab Effex Variety Pack and the Bizu range with major girls’ magazine titles started in August, followed by TV from September.

WOW STUFF Following success with last year’s TV advertised Dave, the Funky Shoulder Monkey, Wow Stuff will be trebling its TV spend in 2011.

First to hit the TV channels in August was Air Swimmers the world’s first five-foot long, inflatable, radio controlled flying Shark and Clown Fish, recently featured on David Letterman’s popular US talk show.

Awarded Popular Science magazine’s prestigious ‘Best of Show award, the original Keepon robot is a YouTube superstar with over six million views,

MGA TV advertising for the 26-strong Lalaloopsy doll range will run from September through to the end of October. Silly Hair Lalaloopsy has wacky, wild hair that bends to allow the child to curl, twist and straighten. The doll comes with accessories and her pet has a matching bendable tail. TV advertising is running from now to December.

The Mini Lalaloopsy product range has also expanded, adding new characters. Two new play-sets are also available including Bea’s School Bus with an exclusive doll, and a Mini Lalaloopsy Treehouse. A TV ad campaign for Mini Lalaloopsy, Mini Lalaloopsy Treehouse and Bea’s School Bus is running from now to December.

There will also be several new TV advertised Bratz lines including the Bratz Masquerade dolls, which will benefit from ads from September until December.

Bratz On The Mic will also be pushed through TV advertising up until December. The new dolls allow girls to sing along to two songs using an auto-tune microphone. The microphone features special effects that can transform the

SEPTEMBER 2011

01628 535 000 Moon Sand Bake Shop will be the focus of the brand’s autumn TV campaign. The Bake Shop is set to deliver over 800 TVRs, while Magic Zoo will feature in one of two Moon Dough creatives, all of which will run from September to December.

The popular Vectron Wave and Sharpshooter are the main features for the Autumn Air Hogs campaign and will deliver over 1,500 TVRs in the period up to Christmas.

Finally, Tech Deck Skate & Go Park, the transportable fingerboard park, lets kids customise and personalise their own skatepark and will be featured in a heavyweight TV campaign from September. It will also feature in a sponsorship programme on CITV from October. Sales of Tech Deck are up 17 per cent in June (NPD).

0870 054 6000 and recently starred on US breakfast show The Today Programme. Keepon was also named as one of Hamley’s top ten ‘finest’ toys for Christmas 2011.

Last Christmas Dave sold nearly 300,000 units in less than ten weeks. This first foray into TV advertising was an eyeopener for Wow Stuff, which has increased spend by 50 per cent for both Air Swimmers and My Keepon, “so we can ensure they are on the Christmas ‘must-have’ lists of kids up and down the country,” says Richard North, MD of Wow Stuff.

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FLAIR Flair’s boys, girls and creative play portfolios will be highly visible in Q3 and Q4 as the company’s preChristmas TV schedule rolls out.

Highlights of the season for the boys will be newcomers, Lazer Stunt Chasers and Morbs. Lazer Stunt Chasers will launch with over 1,000 TVRs to the target audience of boys aged four to nine, showing off the stunts and speed capabilities.

Also advertised will be the new boys craze collectable Morbs. The morphing battling orbs will benefit from a fully integrated marketing campaign, which is lead by a TV schedule delivering over 750 TVRs. Also for boys, handheld robot brand, Zibits will see over 600 TVRs delivered via a promotion on Disney XD. For three full months kids will see the Zibits in action through TVCs, PR and online activity.

Several boys’ brands will also benefit from TVCs on Cartoon Network’s popular website from mid September through to Christmas; ensuring other brands such as Geomag, Gummi X and Real Steel are equally supported.

The number one girls’ collectable, Sylvanian Families will benefit from its largest ever campaign, with over 3,000 TVRs and more products being supported than ever before. This will ensure an autumn full of the Wonderful World of Sylvania lead by the new High Fields Farm range.

Last year’s runaway success feature plush toy, Toffee the Pony, is being joined by Milky the Bunny.

Both will be included in a campaign of 1,000 TVRs. The brand is extremely responsive to TV and a favourite on YouTube.

RAVENSBURGER

voice, and it also comes with a funky speaker. Also available in the range is the Bratz On the Mic Tour Bus. The Bratz All Glammed Up range will continue to be supported by TV advertising.

The popular Moxie Girlz range has several new segments including the equestrian range, Moxie Girlz Horse Riding Club and Moxie Girlz Magic Hair Colour Streak Studio dolls. TV ads until November will support both ranges.

The creative Moxie Girlz Arttitude 3D will also be supported from October to November.

Rescue Pals Train and Play Puppy will be backed until November.

Spinning into 2011 following good sales last year is the Jolly Octopus game.

Supported by a TV campaign of over 600 TVRs running from October through to December, Jolly Octopus is a game designed to get children aged four and up laughing out loud. Five players take turns to remove the colourful crabs without touching Jolly’s tentacles. If alerted, Jolly will stop spinning and start giggling.

With continued growth across the range, Puzzleball will be supported with one of the biggest TV campaigns in the industry, running from October through to December. Since its launch in 2005, Puzzleball has grown into a popular product with piece counts and designs to suit all ages and desires.

The World 540piece Puzzleball continues to be the best selling item and will be followed by a new

0208 643 0320 In My Pocket joined Flair’s girls’ portfolio earlier this year and kicking off this new era is a TV campaign for Puppy in My Pocket Adventures in Pocketville, with over 600 TVRs aimed at girls aged four to nine planned, complementing the new TV series on Boomerang.

In addition, another new brand, Snuggle Pets, will have 500 TVRs which will be headlined by the Storytime Bear, a bedtime companion for younger children.

This year Gelarti, Fuzzoodles and Charmies were added to the line-up, all of which will have their own TVCs, while classic brands such as Aquabeads and Zubber will have heavyweight campaigns with over 1,200 TVRs. Disney’s Jungle Junction is also a brand new launch this autumn and the new Jungle Junction Play-set and School Bus will have their own campaign aimed at the pre-school audience. This will be further supported by a parental press campaign.

01869 363800 introduction for 2011: the 180-piece Children’s World Map. The new piece count has proven a success and other piece counts include the collectable 54piece, featuring designs such as Disney Princess, Cars 2 and a new illustrated I Love London design.

The heart shaped Puzzleball features Hello Kitty or Me to You designs.

New for this season are Phineas & Ferb, Disney Cars 2 and a refreshed Hello Kitty 108-piece puzzleball.

The new 270-piece count features new designs including a colourful underwater ocean scene from SpongeBob Squarepants, and an I Love London design, which depicts the capital’s recognisable landmarks. With unique hinged puzzle pieces, the Hello Kitty 240-piece puzzle pyramid has also been introduced.

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ZAPF CREATIONS Zapf Creation is gearing up for the festive season and the promotion of ten of its dolls with targeted TV campaigns.

The key products that will be supported include Baby Annabell, whose new life-like functions and natural baby movements enable her to react to a child’s voice with laughing, babbling and crying sounds. The doll is dressed in a romper outfit with coordinated hat and has a cuddly sheep toy.

A rocking carriage for Baby Annabell transforms into a stroller and plays nursery music when pushed or rocked. A TV campaign for Baby Annabell and her rocking carriage is airing until December.

My first Baby Annabell Time-toSleep doll, which when she is very tired, will stir and make baby sounds until she falls asleep and has sweet dreams, will benefit from TV from October through to November.

New to the range is Baby Annabell Care For Me, a special bathable doll, whose unique material feels more like the real soft skin of a baby.

Place her in tepid water and she will feel warm to touch, and when massaged she responds by shivering. TV ads will be aired until December.

The interactive Baby born Clapping Hands doll sings pata-cake while clapping her hands and when accompanied, sings faster or slower accordingly. TV ads will run from August to December.

DRUMOND PARK Newcomers Dino Bite, Box of Shocks and the Oginov Tumbler Puzzle will all be backed. They join perennial favourites Magic Tooth Fairy, Gross Magic and Horrid Practical Jokes alongside more recent releases Bubble Buster, Pig Goes Pop and Pumpaloons on a five-month TV advertising schedule which runs to December. A substantial portion of the spend will be on CITV, supported by a big schedule of spots on Channel 5’s Milkshake, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney XD, Pop and Boomerang.

This year a third title in the company’s successful Logo series of picture and

0845 0533 333 Children can feed the Baby born Magic Feeding doll with her own ice cream cone before wiping clean her messy face.

The waterproof doll drinks, wets and cries real tears with no batteries needed. TV will run from September to December.

The remote controlled Baby born Adventure Quad bike will have TV advertising running through to November.

Under the Chou Chou range there are two products that will be fully supported.

The Chou Chou Magic Pacifier doll comes with an electronic pacifier which tells you what the doll needs. TV commercials will be aired up until November.

Meanwhile, the fully mechanical Chou Chou Rock A Bye doll yawns and falls asleep when gently rocked and giggles and sits-up when she is awake. She also makes sucking sounds when she is fed or given her dummy. The TV campaign kicked off in August and will run until December.

The music loving Dancing Danni doll responds to the rhythm of the music by dancing, moving her knees, waist and body in time to tunes. TV commercials will be aired until December.

Finally, the last of the ten products which will be supported by TV advertising in the lead up to Christmas, running from August to November, is the new preschool doll Patchy Dolly.

01506 855577 knowledge-based board games featuring everyday icons has been added to the roster. The risqué His and Hers is heading into the shops now.

It makes its TV debut with both Logo and the Best of British on the box from October onwards.

The newly revamped Rapidough will also feature on TV schedules, as will Articulate Your Life, the ‘lifestyle-orientated’ sequel to long-term chart-topper Articulate.

Stations to be utilised for the family and adult TV campaigns include ITV2, Sky 1, 2, 3 and 4, Sky Movies, UK Gold, Film 4 and Dave.

JAKKS PACIFIC Jakks has committed to TV support leading up Christmas with an extensive roll out of TV sponsorship and PR, complementing a diverse plan of consumer communication.

In Real Construction the New Action Play-sets, Drills, Nail Guns and Expansion packs will be promoted, while the Real Construction Deluxe is TV supported.

B.I.G Hand, which provides added articulation in role-play, is also getting support. The giant hand is worn for an extendable reach, a better catch or to frighten siblings.

Disney Princess has an extensive range of role-play toys including dress up accessories, cooking, cleaning, shopping and fantasy play. The line will be backed with two autumn/winter TV advertised lines: the Magic Rise Oven and the Deluxe Cash Register.

Club Penguin will enjoy TV and PR support including sponsorship and advertising for the Air Hockey Play-set, including the Puffles, Penguins and twoinch Mix n Match Plastic Figures.

HORNBY Hornby Hobbies’ Team GB Velodrome Cycling Set is being supported by an extensive TV advertising campaign shot inside the London 2012 Velodrome, the home of all London 2012 Track Cycling events.

Targeting has been optimised to focus on the Cycling Set’s primary audience, boys and girls aged seven to 12 years, and will first air with a burst of activity throughout the back-toschool period between September 10th-25th. The ad will then be aired from October 17th to December 4th.

The advert will be screened through a broad mix of channels including CITV, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Too, Boomerang, POP, PopGirl, Disney XD and KiX. Scalextric has teamed-up with Disney-Pixar to create the Scalextric Start race set featuring characters from Cars 2. The race set, along with the Micro Scalextric, will be backed with ads starting from October and leading up to Christmas. TV sponsorship will feature a

67

01344 638900 R/C Fast Wheels, the 1:64 scale die cast cars, will benefit from 350 TVRs. The new Max Force brand of toy shooters safely deliver distance and accuracy at up to 100 feet, firing wet paper pellets that allow kids to see what they have hit.

Max Force will receive huge TV support with extensive PR to drive this range into autumn/winter and beyond.

Spy Net’s surveillance packed SpyNetHQ.com has had nearly 200,000 unique visitors, where users are downloading missions and uploading their evidence captured. Autumn/winter 2011 sees the release of the Stealth Recording Glasses. A secret camera embedded in the bridge of the sunglasses will record wherever the wearer looks. Up to 20 minutes of footage can be recorded and uploaded to a personal hub on SpyNetHQ.com. Three lines are TV advertised for the 2nd half: the Video Spy Watch, the Night Vision Binoculars and the Stealth Recording Glasses.

01843 233500

competition offering children the chance to design their dream circuit, as well as ads on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

The Hornby Trains products will be supported by an extensive TV ad campaign.

Hornby will be showcasing the Venice-Simplon Orient Express Digital Train Set. The high-end set is priced at £359.75.

The Railmaster will be fully supported on TV in the lead up to Christmas. The introductory Hornby RailRoad range offers a selection of individual locomotives including the Tornado, rolling stock and accessories, train and wagon packs. The Blue Rapier Train Set features both power and dummy cars featuring headlights, while the Hornby Thomas & Friends range includes a selection of locomotives, coaches, wagons and buildings.

SEPTEMBER 2011

28 TN118_TN iPhone Ad_final

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Dedicated monthly retail coverage

Retail Only News • Data • Opinion

Hobbycraft shows strength

Comment

Sales for the full-year rose 12.8 per cent, while profits were also up 18 per cent...

Page 70

by Katie Roberts

Counter Insurgent has discovered YouTube. He may never be the same...

HOBBYCRAFT HAS posted an increase in turnover for its full-year to £95.2 million, from £84.4 million in the previous year.

The results for the 52 weeks to February 20th 2011 marked its first full year under the ownership of Bridgepoint. During the period, four new Hobbycraft stores were opened, bringing the total to 51.

The appointment of a new CEO, Catriona Marshall, was also made during the year and the company implemented a new three-phase operational improvement plan.

Marshall said: “The company’s performance over the past year has been encouraging and reflects the growing popularity of arts and crafts in the UK. The business is undergoing a lot of change, as we look to appeal to new customer groups.

“We are still only part way through implementing our plan with a new management team in place which has

The roll-out of the new store concept is the first part of the three-year business plan...

Research Page 71 A new monthly column from Dubit Talk of the Playground...

the relevant skill set and experience to drive profitable growth.”

Hobbycraft is focusing on building relationships within the local community of each store through outreach programmes and social media. The firm says that the sales increase during the year was due in part to the effect of ‘more schools being proactive in making and crafting, with a variety of projects’.

The retailer is now inviting school groups into stores to help them with projects and to teach new craft skills.

Toymaster adds new members

by Lewis Tyler

THE TOYMASTER buying group has welcomed further new members to its roster.

Irish retailer O’Sullivans Toys and The Toy Shop, which is based in Renfrewshire, Scotland have both joined the group, along with Fun Galaxy Ashbourne t/a Toys@Fun Galaxy. Castle Trains, Warwick, Toy Town in Corby and Ruddocks of Lincoln are also now on board.

In addition, Conways Toymaster has opened up a new branch in Carlisle, in a store previously owned by E Atkinson.

HAMLEYS WILL capitalise on the growing demand for toys in the Middle East with the addition of three new stores in the territory.

Steve McShane, Hamleys’ manager in the Middle East, said: “The opportunity to open in these markets in good locations allows us to further grow the Hamleys brand.”

The Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia shops will be opened with Retail Arabia Company.

In the retailer’s full-year results, international sales grew 28 per cent versus a 14.5 per cent growth for its domestic business.

Since the year-end, Hobbycraft has opened two new format stores, bringing the total number of stores to 53, with a number of new openings or refurbishments underway.

The first phase of the three-year business plan is underway, with the roll-out of the new store concept, which was launched in Orpington, Kent. Key changes include a more contemporary design, brighter ambience, improved signage, increased space and more participative activities.

Hobbycraft: 01202 596100

New products Page 72 New offerings from Ernest the Bear, Spin Master, RMS, Magic Box International and Notalie...

Hamleys to expand in Middle East

Hero Product Page 73 VTech’s InnoTab is this month’s Hero Product...

Outside of the UK and Ireland, Hamleys has three concession stores in Denmark, as well as two full-size shops in India. In the Middle East, it has two stores in Dubai and one in Jordan. The new additions will take the retailer’s store portfolio to 19.

Hamleys: 0871 704 1977

70 TN121 High Street_FINAL 17/08/2011 10:17 Page 1

70

RETAIL ONLY

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

ISN’T YouTube great? I never realised just how much crap there was on there until I took a little interest as toy companies were using it to advertise product.

I never realised I could watch my football team’s latest goal within minutes of it been scored, or that I could learn how to cook, or how to paint a wall or make ice cream – it is all on there.

Manufacturers seem to be getting to grips with it now, some in the shape of the TV advert and some as a product demonstration like we would get at Toy Fair. It is a great way to reach the kids and to show off just how good a toy can be.

There are many benefits of this. A product that I voiced my concern over earlier in the year was Lite Sprites from WowWee, and how the public are going to

see what we see. It is very difficult to get over the features on a box or a 30-second advert, but a one-minute demo on YouTube does the trick. The latest one is a video of a Hasbro Nerf Vortex gun firing a disc an incredible distance – try getting that over on a box.

viewer just like the modern day Cillit Bang adverts which burst onto our screens and has you looking at the kids and shouting to them to turn the volume down.

Watching a couple, let’s just say that the advertising

Manufacturers are getting to grips with YouTube. It’s a great way to reach the kids and show how good a toy can be.

However, the real fun is looking up old toy adverts; the hair, the fashion and best of all the toy itself, you forget just how much good – and the not so good – we have sold over the years. You forget how some of the early ads were obviously aimed at the hard of hearing.

The voiceover was barked at the

laws were not quite as tight then as now and all manner of claims were made. Board games would unite a family around the table to play in a wholesome manner and with no sulky child, but congratulations to the winner at the end.

I hear more and more of social media and the use of

TWEETPICKS

YouTube and need for retailers to get involved. Some retailers already do and the Americans are into it big time, but once you get anyone and everyone having a go it dilutes the impact that the ‘official’ manufacturer’s version can have. Search for Nerf, for instance, and the official Nerf Channel is well down the pecking order. Twitter is another where the official channels get smothered. But it is simple to do and if it helps sell toys then I’m up for it.

I ended up watching a slightly odd bloke talking about toys, reviews, good and bad and a section dedicated to knock-offs, and he was just as entertaining to watch as the toys. However, it is also a great time waster – before I knew it an hour had passed, I missed the cricket highlights and the cup of tea I had promised my wife was cold.

Take a look, even for a laugh. I have since found some stopmotion Lego animation, put together by adults; some of it is quite brilliant.

Disturbing, but brilliant.

Follow ToyNews on Twitter - @toynewsonline

We read retailer tweets so you don’t have to… @WoodenToyShopUK Just had an email from a very satisfied customer with two very happy children.

Always welcome, especially on Mondays!

@ThePresentClub Dragons' Den on in just over half an hour, no need to hide behind a cushion tonight! :)

@Tinderboxtoys Should we have a facebook shop? #decisionsdecisions #saleschapisbuggingme!

@Toyjeanius New delivery of toys today... do I start adding them to the site or do I sit back, relax and pop the HUGE bubble wrap it came in? lol

@TheRedToyBox We have heard many customers are already Christmas shopping? Have you started yet?

@Cuthberts_Toys Completing a business rates appeal. Some St Albans shops pay more than Central London (Oxford St) per sq ft. Appeal online, it takes 20 mins.

@titoys We are in the process of implementing a Treasure Island Toys Facebook shop! With a five per cent discount on everything for those who 'Like' our page.

@Funandgamesshop Hurray the sun is shining, maybe sell some paddling pools this weekend. Optimistic I know! Maxi and micro scooters selling as well as ever.

@CloggiesToys You know you are not earning enough when you walk into the local Aldi and see that they are looking for managers earning up to 45k!

@Halesworthtoys Very busy morning. Now taking a quick break before re-stocking this afternoon. Top 3: Moshi Monsters, Hot Wheels cars and large Lego sets.

@wheniwasakid Toys R Us are going to start selling the Kindle #yoursupposedtobeatoyshop #rememberwhatplayingis

SEPTEMBER 2011

@JackJillsToys We will soon be running a 'little models' competition to be the face on our website for a while. Keep an eye on our fb page for details. :)

@SpotsGuy #playmobil minifigures are in - but probably not for long if the demand for Lego minifigures is anything to go by. @TheBeanstalk Second customer this week shopping for Christmas. It is obviously going to be a very early festive season this year.

71 TN121 Retail Charts_final 18/08/2011 11:08 Page 1

RETAIL ONLY

www.toynews-online.biz

71

The talk of the playground In the first article in our new Dubit column, the research firm looks at what licensed toys from this summer’s movies were popular with children aged seven to 11 over the school holidays…

OUR RESEARCH shows that although children are still enjoying playing with toys from their favourite films, a box office smash doesn’t always result in a hit toy. However, the children most likely to opt for film merchandise are seven year olds.

Of the children that played with Cars branded toys, the most engaged were seven year olds and 11 year olds (28 per cent and 18 per cent respectively).

The most popular licensed toys with young children (seven to eight year olds) were Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean (42 per cent), followed by Kung Fu Panda (40 per cent).

Harry Potter topped our chart, helped by being popular among all age groups, with seven year olds being the least engaged.

As the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was the final film in the ten-year series, it could be a little late for this age group to become fans of the franchise.

Despite Transformers: Dark of the Moon being rated 12A, the toys were chosen by seven year olds more than any other age group in the sample.

This indicates that many seven year olds saw the film with parents or simply found the idea of a transforming toy appealing, regardless of the associated film.

The comic book category, which includes Thor, Green Lantern and XMen, was the least popular in our survey. These brands had relatively poor box office takings and were more popular with the higher age brackets, so these two factors could explain the lack of popularity amongst younger children.

Of the nine films surveyed, five were from franchises that were new or only up to their first sequel. From these, particular credit can go to Cars 2, Tangled and Kung Fu Panda 2, which managed to compete with the more established franchises.

With 52 per cent of children stating that they haven’t played with any licensed movie toys this summer, it would seem that these brands aren’t necessarily a guaranteed money-maker for the toy industry. This is especially true with the older children who, it could be suggested, are more attracted to the video game equivalents.

WHAT IS YOUR AGE? Count

Percent

7 years old (1)

70

19.83%

8 Years old (2)

60

17.00%

9 years old (3)

69

19.55%

10 years old (4)

92

26.06%

11 years old (5)

62

17.56%

Total

353

Invalid (missing) Average value

1 3.05

17.56%

19.83%

17.00%

26.06%

19.55%

WHAT TOYS DID YOU PLAY WITH OVER THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS FROM THESE MOVIES? Harry Potter

19.12%

Transformers

14.74%

Pirates of the Caribbean

14.34%

Cars 2

13.94%

Kung Fu Panda

13.55%

Tangled

10.76%

X-Men

6.37%

Green Lantern

4.38%

Thor

1.99%

None of the above

62.19%

19.12% 14.74% 62.19%

14.34%

13.94%

13.55% 6.37% 10.76% 1.99% 4.38%

Dubit is a specialist youth research and marketing agency that helps brands to understand young people’s motivations and behaviours. Phone: 0113 394 7920 Email – research@dubitlimited.com

RETAILCHARTS Amazon

CHART DATE 17/08/11

CHART DATE 17/08/11

Play.com

1

Peppa Pig Sit n Bounce

Mookie

1

Minifigures Series 5

2

Aquadoodle Classic Drawing Toy

Tomy

2

Character Building Doctor Who Micro-Figures

3

Cars 2 Classic Mater

Lego

3

Science Museum Balloon Copter

4

Bananagrams Game

Winning Moves

4

Radiator Springs Lightning McQueen

Lego

5

Harry Potter: The Forbidden Forrest

Lego

5

Star Wars Snow Trooper Battle Pack

Lego

Very.co.uk 1

CHART DATE 17/08/11

John Lewis

Lego Character TKC

CHART DATE 17/08/11

VTech

1

Maxi Micro Scooter Purple

Micro Scooters

Bounce n Spin Zebra, Pink

Fisher-Price

2

Maxi Micro Scooter Black

Micro Scooters

Chatimals Hamster

Peers Hardy

3

Mini Micro T-Bar Scooter Blue

Micro Scooters

Crayola

4

Mini Micro T-Bar Scooter Pink

Micro Scooters

Vivid

5

Stick n Glow Stars

Discovery Tree

2 3 4

Twistables Case

5

Toy Story Lots-o-Huggin Bear

Tobar

SEPTEMBER 2011

72 TN121 new Products_final 17/08/2011 17:40 Page 1

72

RETAIL ONLY

PRODUCTNEWS

Chatteroos join Zoobles SPIN MASTER is adding Chatteroos to its girls’ collectable range, Zoobles.

Chatteroos talk and have different personalities, sounds and faces to match their mood. There are nine different Zoobles Chatteroos, which can make a happy face, a sleepy face, frown and more.

The collectables will come in ‘try me’ packaging to encourage girls to interact with the toys in-store.

There are now over 250 Zoobles from nine different worlds including the new additions Rocktopia, Jungleopolis and Arctania.

Chatteroos will be integrated into the Zoobles TV advertising campaign, which has been running since launch. Another Zoobles launch – Mama and Zooblings – will also be included in the TV advertising this autumn.

Spin Master: 01628 535000

Magic Box reveals Heroic plans HEROES – LEGEND of the Battle Disks is the new collectable from Magic Box International, the creator of Gogos Crazy Bones.

It combines Figurines, Battle Disks and Stickers in fast action gameplay. Heroes is set in the world of Aernia, where four heroes are able to use Dragon Stones to summon creatures into battle. Each Hero has nine creatures to summon, making a collection of 40 figurines, 40 Battle Disks and 40 stickers.

In the basic game mode, players compete using Disk Shooters to fire Battle Disks against their opponents. A number of different games are available.

Each packet of Heroes – Legend of the Battle Disks includes one figurine, one Battle Disk, one MiniShooter, three stickers and a checklist. Packets will retail at around £1.99.

An 11 item Starter Pack will be available at launch.

SEPTEMBER 2011

RMS builds Grafix with new craft products

COMING THIS autumn, Grafix has developed its Make Your Own craft range, with new additions for boys and girls aged from three years.

The star product is Build a Car, a seven-piece cardboard car that assembles by folding and inserting the sections together. Each piece is pre-drawn and can be coloured in individually. Ten coloured crayons are included in the box.

Once complete, the car is big enough for a small child to fit inside and has added features like a steering wheel and wing mirrors.

Grafix products are designed with child development in mind. The colourful packaging demonstrates the product and comes with a carry handle for easy transportation.

Grafix offers a variety of different price points across all ranges. Prices are competitive and new products are being added regularly.

Throughout 2011 Grafix has introduced new products such as Make Your Own Alphabet Jewellery and Make Your Own Zoo Animals.

RMS International: 0161 727 8182

Ernest the Bear signs UK deal for Turbospoke

It includes two figurines, two Battle Disks, one AdvancedShooter, one Mini-Shooter, three Stickers, one Battle Map and one Total Guide. The Starter Pack will retail at £4.99.

The launch will be supported by a TV campaign aimed at the core target audience. This will be complemented by extensive free product sampling.

Magic Box Int: 01403 251286

USING ACOUSTIC science, the Turbospoke makes regular bicycles emit a motorbike-like ‘vroom’ sound.

A re-imagining of the classic cardsin-the-spokes idea, Turbospoke requires no batteries and fits with 95 per cent of cycles.

Tomax Limited has appointed Ernest the Bear Toys as the exclusive UK and Ireland distributor for Turbospoke.

Mike Fitzgerald from Ernest the Bear said: “Almost every child in the UK has a bike, so there is a ready market for this simple, innovative

product. The interest already in Turbospoke has been phenomenal and we look forward to rolling out our marketing campaign for Q4.”

Turbospoke will be sold in a carrycase for a strong in-store presence.

The package contains a universal fitting clamp, a toolkit for fitting in under five minutes, a realistic satin silver exhaust pipe with motorcycle style tip, 15 customising stickers and three variable Motocards to make six different engine sounds.

Ernest the Bear: 08456 808075

73 TN121 Hero Product_FINAL 17/08/2011 10:22 Page 1

HERO PRODUCT

www.toynews-online.biz

73

VTech InnoTab With key PR already in place for its new tablet, VTech is confident of grabbing a good share of the Christmas market with InnoTab…

Release date: September 3rd CONTACT DETAILS: Phone: 01235 555545 www.facebook.com/Vtechtoysuk

THIS MONTH sees VTech launch the InnoTab, a multi-media educational tablet for four to nine year olds, which combines educational games, creative activities, animated reading and a collection of applications.

It features a five-inch colour touch screen LCD, a G sensor for game control and stylus pen, as well as a SD card slot (to expand memory) and a headphone jack.

The touch screen encourages children to explore various games and features such as: art studio, which offers painting and drawing applications; learning games; and animated ebooks which mean stories are brought to life through interactive images and narration.

Kids can also maintain their multi-media lives with InnoTab’s integrated MP3 player, as well as view videos with the Video Player.

Other integrated applications include a calculator, calendar, notepad, clock and friends address book. Additional content can be gained with software cartridges featuring key characters. These include an animated e-book, three learning games and two creative activities.

InnoTab can be further expanded by downloading additional games and learning apps online at VTech’s Learning Lodge, where over 100 titles will be available.

One free download available with purchase is the interactive globe, which teaches capitals,

languages and geography. InnoTab is also Kidizoom friendly, meaning children who already own a Kidizoom camera or video camera can upload their photos to InnoTab, where images can be viewed and customised with stamps and borders.

A high profile PR campaign has already kicked off to raise awareness of InnoTab in the run up to the Christmas period.

A large TV and video on demand pre-roll campaign starts from September in the build up to October half-term and Christmas, where the InnoTab campaign will reach 93 per cent of mums with young children. An average mum will see the advert ten times.

SEPTEMBER 2011

74 TN121 Marketplace Cover_final 17/08/2011 17:43 Page 1

The place for business

RATES:

1/4 page: Annual charge £1,395 (minimum twelve months booking) Get your company featured: Emily.Briggs@intentmedia.co.uk T: 01992 535 647

Advertisers

LOGIBLOCS

Character Costumes & P.O.S.

01727 763700

Rainbow Productions

0208 254 5300

Suppliers/Manufacturers Brookite

01837 53315

Cambridge Brainbox

01279 821 333

Esdevium Games

01420 593 593

Flying Toys

01702 295 110

Fun Collectables

01844 273 719

Ideal Software

01767 689 720

Jumbo Games

01707 289 289

Logiblocs

01727 763 700

Maps Toys

01483 776 006

Millhouse

01526 351 919

Plastics for Games

01728 745 300

The Puppet Company

01462 446 040

Revell

01442 250 130

Thumbs Up

0845 466 8880

Wow Toys

020 7471 0980

Toy Suppliers Cartamundi

01268 511 522

Richard Edward

0208 311 8888

SUPPLIER/MANUFACTURER

AT THE HEART of Logiblocs is automation and interactivity - buzz words for the younger generation.

Indeed, when Logiblocs were launched the press dubbed the product as “Lego with Attitude”.

It is 15 years since the launch of Logiblocs in the Harrods Toy Kingdom. The brand is now well known and the product, designed in the UK, has also found favour abroad, particularly France. Parents in France get involved in encouraging the development of their kids perhaps a bit more than in the UK and they recognise the value of a high-tech yet creative product such as Logiblocs.

It is true to say that over the years more Logiblocs have been sold outside the UK than within. In recent years, sales in the UK have been respectable with a loyal following of supportive traders who continue to repeat purchase from year-to-year.

The key to this consistent performance has been the longevity of the concept. Managing director Tony de Rivaz says: “It is the simplicity of the product which has

meant technical advances have never made the product out of date.”

Recently, Logiblocs has reduced the size of the kits to be more green while retaining identical content and functionality. This will help with merchandising in smaller shops and, of course, for mail order situations.

Several new functions are in the

pipeline and new kits are being created in time for Toy Fair.

Currently, the existing range of five Logiblocs kits, together with the range of six LogiMen, are all back in stock after selling out on some lines last Christmas.

For more details, call: 01727 763700

CARTAMUNDI TOY SUPPLIER

01268 511 522 CARTAMUNDI IS the largest global manufacturer of playing cards and cards for games.

The company was established in 1970 and since then it has continued to manufacture and supply quality playing cards to all of its customers, both large and small. Those customers include the general public right through to casinos, private labels, cards for games and the premium and promotional markets.

A former Entrepreneur of the Year, the group achieved sales of €147.5 million in 2010, with a workforce of 1,200 and factories and sales offices all over the world. With its experience and specialist knowledge, Cartamundi is able to continuously develop innovative playing cards.

The firm has a strong new retail range for 2011, with licences and products being introduced throughout the year

including Disney Cars 2, Phineas and Ferb, The Beatles Yellow Submarine and a whole new Poker range: Diamond for the

premium end of the market and Joker for the entry price point.

There is also the Puzzler Family of card games, plus

more to be announced soon.

For further information, call: 01268 511 522 www.cartamundi.co.uk

75-79 TN121 Marketplace_final 17/08/2011 10:50 Page 1

Marketplace

www.toynews-online.biz | Advertising: +44 (0)1992 535 647 Character Costumes & P.O.S.

Suppliers/Manufacturers

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Marketplace

www.toynews-online.biz | Advertising: +44 (0)1992 535 647 Suppliers/Manufacturers

Suppliers/Manufacturers

Suppliers/Manufacturers

ADVERTISING THAT WORKS! To advertise here please contact

Emily Briggs: +44 (0)1992 535647 Emily.Briggs@intentmedia.co.uk

75-79 TN121 Marketplace_final 17/08/2011 10:51 Page 4

Marketplace Suppliers/Manufacturers

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Marketplace

www.toynews-online.biz | Advertising: +44 (0)1992 535 647 Toy Suppliers

Suppliers/Manufacturers

Deal with the Global Leader view view our complete rang range e at

www.cartamundi.com www w.car . tamundi.com Units 8 - 17 Sandhurst, Kings Road, Chareets Industrial Estate, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 0QY. Tel: 01268 511522, Fax: 01268 513109 or e-mail retail@cartamundi.co.uk

www.facebook.com/CartamundiUK

Toy Suppliers

Toy Suppliers

Board Games

Trading Cards

Entire Concepts

Collectors Cards

Card Games

Where ideas become reality!

Make Cartamundi part of your Winning Team ..... Call our Games Consultant NOW! view our complete range at

www.cartamundi.com Units 8 - 17 Sandhurst, Kings Road, Chareets Industrial Estate, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 0QY. Tel: 01268 511522, Fax: 01268 513109 or e-mail retail@cartamundi.co.uk

www.facebook.com/CartamundiUK

80,81 TN121 ToyTalk_FINAL 18/08/2011 15:40 Page 1

80

TOY TALK

TOY TALK

This month, Worlds Apart takes on the Three Peaks Challenge, while we prefer to chill out at Camp Bestival...

Jon SALISBURY Observations from a toy industry survivor....

IS IT MATTEL’S turn to become the financial sector’s darling once again? It has long been the world’s biggest toy company but Hasbro has been getting all the plaudits in recent times.

Now, US analysts have been pouring scorn on Hasbro’s latest financials which, on face value, seemed to be full of nothing but good news with revenue climbing 23 per cent and earnings soaring nearly 45 per cent – and yet Hasbro’s share price fell three per cent the next morning. Why? Looking more closely at the numbers, most of the upswing in revenue was attributable to a positive $35.8 million foreign exchange impact and analysts have noted that the bottom line is even more deceptive. For example, Hasbro has been buying back large amounts of stock recently that inflated profitability on a per-share basis. In this instance, net income itself only climbed by 33 per cent and not the reported 45 per cent once earnings get divided by the fewer shares outstanding, and even that boost is an illusion because of positive tax adjustment and smaller onetime expense items.

The truth is that, after meeting and mostly beating Wall Street's quarterly profit targets over the last four years, Hasbro has now posted successive misses to start 2011.

It looks like Mattel has reclaimed the girls market as its domain with a 12 per cent increase in Barbie sales and 13 per cent for American Girl. The latest financials at Mattel easily beat analysts’ estimates and the tide once again seems to be changing, this time in favour of the West Coast toy company.

The rivalry between Hasbro and Mattel really is a roller coaster ride with each scoring a victory before the other retaliates. In recent times it has been Hasbro that has won most of the praise but, after a long time recommending Hasbro ahead of Mattel in their quarterly reports, Mattel is once again Wall Street’s favourite toy company.

VTech unveiled its new touch screen learning system, InnoTab, at a special event at London’s Covent Garden Hotel. Something for the Weekend’s gadget girl, Ella Williamson (pictured right) hosted a 20-minute presentation demonstrating the key benefits and functions of the product, before the gathered press and children were able to trial it for themselves. Two toy experts – seven year-old Harmonie and nine year-old Bili (above) – were also on hand to help out the grown up members of the press.

MANAGER OF THE MONTH

A team of 14 hardy souls from Worlds Apart have completed the Three Peaks Challenge. The team was aiming to raise £5,000 for the CHICKS charity (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids), by climbing the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales – completing a total of 3,407 metres climbing, over 23 miles of walking and 400 miles of driving over a day and a half.

MD Neil Shinner said: “We are extremely proud of the team for completing the challenge and congratulate them on the fantastic spirit in which they did it. Any more support from within the industry would be much appreciated as we move ever closer to our target of £5,000 for this amazing charity.”

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

David Christopher Licensing Director Consumer Products, 2waytraffic What was your first job in the toy industry?

My first time working with the toy industry was when I joined Celador Licensing.

The first toy or game I worked on/or was involved with was a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? board game with Upstarts.

What do you love most about working in the industry?

There are lots of characters and that makes doing business a little more fun than many of the industries we licence to.

The industry is full of creativity and innovation – you just need to walk around a games company’s office or go to Toy Fair to see what a lively place it is to work.

SEPTEMBER 2011

What would you do if you weren't in your current role?

I would love to be a travel photographer or scriptwriter.

What's the best bit about your role?

It’s still a great feeling when you have worked hard on an idea with a company and then you are out shopping and see it on the shelf at retail, or even better someone buying it. That and the nice big celebratory lunch that goes with it.

And the worst?

As industries like toys often have long lead times and retail sell ins, it can be a shame when you have a short-term opportunity that you really believe would be a hit, that just can’t be made/sold in time.

Where do you hope your career will take you in five years’ time?

I hope that I will have had a big positive impact on the brands I’m working on. I’d like to think it would be possible that I would be able to take them to the point where they are stronger on the shelf than on air. Also by then I should have at least two helicopters, a book published and my own Island in the Maldives.

Use three words to describe yourself.

Creative, diplomatic, enthusiastic.

Who would play you in 2waytraffic: The Movie?

I’ve been told to say my apparent lookalike Jimmy Carr.

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TOY TALK

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TOY FIRMS A HIT DURING FESTIVAL SEASON

My Favourite Things Barry Hughes, Commercial Director, Golden Bear

A range of toy companies were present at the recent Camp Bestival.

The family friendly festival, held at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, boasted a line-up of bands and performers to please both kids and parents.

Camp Bestival attracts over 30,000 people, and when you let thousands of kids loose in a field, you’re going to need something to keep them entertained, and circus toy firm Firetoys and dress-up specialist Smiffy’s were on hand to supply the goods.

As part of the entertainment line-up, The Gruffalo and ZingZillas were seen mixing it up with the likes of Blondie and Primal Scream.

Also present was Saban Brands’ Paul Frank, hosting face painting and screenprinting activities inside a paddling pool equipped play-area.

To see a full write-up of the festival, with comment from Firetoys, Smiffy’s, Coiledspring and BBC Worldwide, visit the features section on www.toynewsonline.biz.

Number one album: Isn’t Anything by My Bloody Valentine.

Film: Pulp Fiction.

Website: BBC Sport.

Hero: John Peel and more recently Northern Ireland’s modern day major winners – Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke.

Book: The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.

TV programme: Take It Like A Fan or Match of the Day. Number one single when you were born: Back Home by England World Cup Squad.

Magazine: The Gooner.

Holiday: Anywhere in Italy.

Game/toy: A football based game called Logacta when I was a kid.

Tipple: Guinness, Bushmills and then chocolate milk as a recovery drink in the morning.

Way to spend a weekend: An Arsenal match and quality time with family.

Piece of advice: From my dad: “When driving, assume everyone else on the road is an eejit.”

SEPTEMBER 2011

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FEATURE PLANNER

NOVEMBER 2011 Spring/Summer 2012 Previews Pre-school Wheeled Toys In our November issue we will look into the future to see what’s going to be hot for spring/summer 2012.

As the pre-school category continues to grow, ToyNews will bring you another breakdown of what’s new and popular in this lucrative sector.

Finally, our wheeled toys feature will look at the latest ride-ons, bikes, skateboards, scooters and more.

Editorial deadline: September 23rd Advertising deadline: October 7th

FORTHCOMING EVENTS THE LICENSING AWARDS September 13th Grosvenor House Hotel www.thelicensingawards.co.uk

CHINA TOY EXPO October 12th - 14th Shanghai New Int. Expo Center www.china-toy-expo.com

KIND UND JUGEND September 15th to 18th Koelnmesse, Cologne www.kindundjugend.com

ABC KIDS EXPO September 23rd to 26th Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville www.theabcshow.com

DALLAS FALL TOY PREVIEW October 4th to 6th Dallas Market Centre, Texas www.toyassociation.org

BRAND LICENSING EUROPE October 18th - 20th Grand Hall, Olympia, London www.brandlicensing.eu

TOYZERIA November 24th - 27th Istanbul World Trade Centre www.toyzeria.com

HONG KONG TOYS AND GAMES FAIR January 9th - 12th 2012 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre www.hktdc.com

Got an event 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.

ISSN: 1740-3308

Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations

Circulation & Subscriptions AUDITED CIRCULATION Average Net Circulation: 6,181 July 1st 2010 to June 30th 2011.

SUBSCRIPTIONS UK: £50 Europe: £60 Rest of World: £90 The international cost applies per subscription and covers airmail dispatch of 12 issues

Up-to-the minute news direct to your iPhone Search for Toy News on the App Store or use your QR scanner >

Free App available now from iTunes SEPTEMBER 2011

To order your subscription via Visa, MasterCard, Amex Switch or Delta contact toy.subscriptions@c-cms.com or call 01580 883 848. Alternatively visit our website www.toynews-online.biz Subscriptions Manager - Lindsay Banham Lindsay.Banham@intentmedia.co.uk

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