Trends Column - the U.S. Toy Association focuses on next-gen creators

Orchard goes back to nature

Orchard Toys has teamed up with a Norfolk nature reserve to support the Pensthorpe Park’s prehistoric programme for the school holidays. Orchard has helped create two activity trails as part of the beasts and beaks activity throughout the 700-acre site, which tracks mammoths and looks at how dinosaurs turned into modern day birds. Those trails include the Mammoth Maths Hunt and Creature Hunt, the former based on the Orchard bestselling addition and subtraction game.

Player portraits

LEGO has enlisted a cast of 90 – all aged between one and 90 – to help mark its milestone birthday this year.

The company has got celebrity photographer Rankin to capture LEGO fans of all ages - one for each year - for a series of images showing the timeless nature of LEGO play.

Former England soccer ace Peter Crouch and model Ellie Goldstein were among those signed up, while many of the other fans were selected from the hundreds that sent in stories of what LEGO means to them. There are also other familiar faces in there, including some who have appeared in the Brickmasters TV series.

Crouch said: “LEGO play has always been in my life. From a young age I’d build football stadiums - little goals, bricks to make the lines around the edge of the pitch and mini-figures as players for the match.

“Now, as a dad of four, LEGO building is firmly back in my life and everywhere in our house. My kids love to build – it’s something they’ve all been into at one point or another. LEGO Ninjago is very popular in our house; some of the things the kids build are so intricate, it really amazes me how it captures their attention. I try to get involved but they normally send me away - I’m definitely better with my feet than my hands!”

Mum Vicky Ryan, one of the 90 portraits taken alongside her son Kaelen, added: “LEGO play is at the heart of my relationship with my son Kaelen. I loved LEGO sets as a child and passed that love onto him. We have developed an amazing LEGO town in his bedroom.’’

Spin Master shows growth

Spin Master said it was pleased with its ‘strong revenue growth’ after revealing its financial results for the three- and six-month periods to the end of June 2022, which showed revenue across its toy business grow by more than a third, helping its overall revenue soar to more than $500 million for the quarter. Its overall revenue for the three months to the end of June was up by almost 30%, boosted partly by the big increase in toy revenue, and further aided by growth in digital revenue, which was up by more than 9%, as well as its entertainment business (up 3.3%). Figures for the six-month period saw revenue grow to $930.5 million, up 31.5%, driven by toy revenue growing by 35.5% and digital growth of 28.7% compared to the same period in 2021, although entertainment revenue fell by 7%.

Spin Master’s global president and CEO Max Rangel said: “We are very pleased with our strong revenue growth this quarter across all three creative centres amid a shifting macroeconomic environment. Our Toy business continued to grow ahead of the industry with the strong performance of our diversified toy portfolio including innovative IP, evergreen franchise brands and popular licensed partnerships. Looking to the balance of the year, we remain confident in our ability to execute on our strategy of reimagining everyday play for children globally, powered by our deep expertise across toys, entertainment and digital games. We believe we are well positioned to manage through external market dynamics to deliver profitable growth and long-term shareholder value.”

The company expects toy sales to grow in the low double digits for 2022.

Toynamics puts a cork in it

Toynamics has signed a deal to exclusively distribute a range of educational toys made from sustainable Portugese cork under the Korko banner.

The range of block sets under this banner will offer different sizes, with a wider collection to be added. The cork building bricks stimulate creativity and development skills for children from the age of 18 months upwards, as well as getting a sustainable message across early.

It’s biodegradable, recyclable and carbon-negatice and as well as being durable, soft, light and non-slip is also antibacterial.

Toynamics is supporting the launch with PoS, including FSDUs and counter-top display unit, as well as shelf strips and flags, headers and wobblers. Toynamics UK & Ireland MD David Allan said: “Korko is a great addition to our brand portfolio. From Hape to DinosArt, our brands are made to encourage learning through play, and Korko does just that, we’re sure it’ll be loved by parents and children – and retailers. “As consumer demand for sustainable products continues to grow, Korko gives retailers another great toy brand to meet that demand.”

Smoby Play Zone declared a hit!

With more than 1,000 kids signing up for time slots at its branded play zone, Simba Smoby Toys UK has declared its presence at the Gloworm festival a huge success. The company’s official sponsorship of the festival, which took place in Nottinghamshire, included its own Smoby Play Zone. This and the AquaPlay Zone drew scores of young visitors. As one family who attended, the Stephensons, noted: “The whole event was great but in particular the Smoby area was somewhere we could take a break, while Charlie safely played. It was a shame we could not stay for hours, but it was only fair that more children could take a turn.”

The sponsorship is part of an ongoing campaign to raise the profile of the Smoby brand, and Mayur Pattni, UK marketing manager at Simba Smoby Toys UK, said: “It has been well reported that our awareness drive for Smoby has been tremendously successful. These family-focused activities are ideal to build on that and definitely something we will explore to expand for 2023. There is, however, much more to come for the remaining months of 2022. We have further family advertising around the Premiere League via pitch-side boards at eight games, plus a heavyweight TV campaign is scheduled for November to showcase Smoby’s workbenches, kitchens, and the all-new Barber Shop and Beauty Centre, just in time for Christmas gifting.”

Kids need more protection Jakks welcomes Q2 figures

One in four parents in the US and UK – and an even higher figure in the UK – have no internet controls protecting their children, despite growing fears over the amount of time children are spending on digital devices.

And the research, from familyfriendly marketing agency Kids Industries (KI), highlights the need to give parents more information about protecting their children online.

Gary Pope, CEO and co-founder at KI and Children’s Commissioner for Products of Change, commented: “Our data, coupled with the latest warning from the NSPCC of a ‘tsunami’ of online child abuse taking place, highlights the action needed to better support parents with information about how they can protect and support their children when online. Making sure controls are in place is hugely important – especially since many will be left to browse unsupervised across the summer break.

“Children today are known to have, on average, at least three different digital devices and start owning them from as young as four years old. Parents have a mammoth task to ensure they’re handled correctly, so it is essential they are supported in doing so.”

Parents said there were no controls, features or tools in place to help, despite the increasing presence of devices and access to online content available to children, from smart TVs to laptops, consoles and smartphones.

All this comes despite parents both knowing and realising they need to protect their kids from inappropriate content. In fact, parents using controls were more likely to be doing so to limit the time their children spend online. Jakks Pacific has welcomed its second quarter financial results for 2022 with its highest-ever sales for the quarter and biggest operating income in the company’s history.

Its net sales for the three months to the end of June 2022 were up to more than $220 million, a mammoth year-on-year increase of more than 96%. This was driven by increased sales in its toy and consumer products arm, which saw Y0Y growth of more than 82% to $148.9 million. Costumes grew by more than $71.6 million, a whopping increase of more than 132%.

Jakks Pacific CEO Stephen Berman said: “Our past quarter’s results are extremely gratifying. The teams collaborated and executed at the highest level – chasing exceptional demand for our product, and relentlessly engaging with our manufacturers, customers and vendors to set everyone up for a great back-part of the year. We’re excited to continue to delight our consumers with a tremendous offering across our toy, consumer product and Halloween ranges, both on-shelf and on-line, and in the US and internationally.

“During the quarter we continued to see solid consumer demand across most of our major toy businesses, especially with Disney’s Encanto and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Our costume business shipped over $71 million, the highest Q2 shipment level since Disguise joined Jakks in 2008. Despite the continuation of supply-chain cost pressures, we nonetheless recorded our first profitable second quarter in 10 years. We have also accelerated our importation of product to support the second half of the year and mitigate our traffic at the ports during the peak season.

“We’re pleased to share that we utilised some of the proceeds of our recent results to make an optional $10 million pay-down against our long-term debt, mitigating some of the impact rising interest rates have on our cash interest expense.”

Rose & Friends

EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing star Rose Ayling-Ellis is helping launch the first-ever Barbie with a behind-theear hearing aid.

The celebrity is heading a campaign entitled Rose, Barbie & Friends, which highlights the Fashionista range of inclusive Barbie dolls. It features a host of different models and celebrates “a broader view of beauty”.

Rose Ayling-Ellis said: “It’s so important for children to be able to see themselves represented in toys. When I was little, I would draw hearing aids onto my Barbie dolls to make them look like me, so I am thrilled that Mattel is releasing more dolls that encourage kids to embrace their differences.”