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The Toy Fair’s ONLY officiall d daily aily paper
Pie in the sky Hasbro crowned winners at toy awards
Monday, M Mo nday nd ayy, January Jan 25, 2016
side:
• Interv ie Playmo ws with Wye vale an bil d • Indep endent retailer • Best New To s ys anno reveal all unced
Alan Simpson awards a happy team Hasbro with the much-coveted prize
Spicing up toy fair It’s the award that everyone one in the toy industry wants to win. n. Forget the Oscars, ignore the Baftas, s, as for the Golden Globes… last night’s ht’s awards are the only game in town. wn. The awards are the culmination lmination of a year’s hard work by the e toy industry and this year saw Hasbro o smiling all over their Pie Face as they ey lifted the night’s top award. The cream of the industry stry gathered for the awards presentation tion at Olympia. Two dozen gongs were handed out over the course of the evening g including two much-coveted Golden Teddy eddy Awards, plus a special Toy Personality Of The Year was announced for Mattel’s Paul Dean. The full list of awards and winners can be found on page three. The nightt opened with the award for Independent Toy Retailer of the Year, which went to Julie Bennington and Jason Mahy of Aladdin’s Cave from Guernsey. They said: “We’re over the moon, thrilled; it’s absolutely brilliant.”
Retailer of the Year was Overall Toy R Smyths Toys, who also won the category for sspecialist retailer with stores. Speaking to the Daily over 30 stores News, owner Padraig Smyth said: “We P have a great st store team and operations team, everyone works really hard. It’s a combination of everyone at Smyths, a real team effort.” effort for Department In the new category ca Store Toy Department WJ Daniel & Co Depar came out on top while Argos took the General Multiples Retailers title, with Toy Barnhaus Barnha winning the Specialist Multiples Up To 30 stores, Mult while Toytown Seaford took wh the title for up to five stores. Owner Ginette McGee, who Ow collected the award with col the rest of her team, said: “I’m ssurprised, honoured and delighted.” delighted The Toy Of The Year was awarded to Pie Face Game from Hasbro with BTHA Chairman Phil Ratcliffe introducing it by saying that when something is a hit everyone wants to copy it, adding: “But our award is to the original!” Continued on Page 2
Eagle-eyed celeb spotters were lucky enough to catch Spice Girl Mel C at Toy Fair yesterday. Melanie was supporting pal Toy Fair TV’s Gavin Inskip. Speaking exclusively to the Daily News, Melanie said: “As a parent it’s nice to see so many educational toys out there and things we can do together. The girls like Sylvanian Families, Shopkins - and they love Marvin’s Magic. We’re having an excellent day.”
Top 10 for 2015 Collectables and a certain snow princess helped spur the UK toy trade to further growth in 2015. According to NPD’s top 10 best sellers for 2015 in sterling, LEGO Minifigures, Flair’s Shopkins 2 pack and LEGO’s Disney Frozen Elsa Sparkling Ice Castle topped the charts as the year’s three hottest toys. LEGO - LEGO Minifigures Flair - Shopkins 2 Pack LEGO - Disney Frozen Elsa Sparkling Ice Castle Hasbro - Pie Face Game Mookie Toys - Smart Trike 4 in 1 Trike Assorted Jakks Pacific - Disney Frozen Sing Along with Elsa GP Flair - Shopkins Pack of 12 Hasbro - Nerf N Strike Elite Modulus Blaster Mattel - Hot Wheels Basic Car Assorted LEGO - Star Wars Millenium Falcon