Toys n Playthings by Lema Publishing

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CONTENTS Regular 5 6 9

15 ary 20 Febru No.5 4 Vol. 3

TEAM TnP

Editor Mairead Wilmot mairead@lemapublishing.co.uk

Writer Rhys Thomas rhys@lemapublishing.co.uk

Group Advertisement Manager Ryan Horwood ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk

Features 36 50 70

13 19 24

Publisher

66 68

Production Director

Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

Circulation Manager Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

TnP TV is here! – Find out about TnP’s boundary pushing new weekly TV show Simba Smoby – With pop princess Pixie Lott on board, the future is bright for Simba’s Stefﬁ Love Retail Interview – Hot off their TRA win, TnP sat down with Toy Barnhaus And the winner is… VTech – Toot-Toot brings home the gold for VTech And the winner is… Character Options – More on Character’s four TIA wins Nuremberg Toy Fair Review – If you weren’t in Germany last month, here’s what you missed Spring Fair Review – TnP reports back from the NEC

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Columnists 18 28 30 32 33 34 90

The Media Whisperer – Columnist Clive Crouch revisits a hot topic Shop Talk – John Ryan talks shops within shops The Independent and Secret Supplier – Our columnists ﬁnd little common ground this month NEW – The Entertainer’s Founder Gary Grant gives his thoughts on securing repeat business TnP Ambassadors – Our ambassadors test the toys you stock on your shelves! Business Driver – Former European head of Hasbro, John Harper on how to keep the cash ﬂowing Licensing Opinion – This month LIMA MD Kelvyn Gardner covers everything from apps and toys to cats and human nature

sales@cartamundi.co.uk +44 1268 511 522 2014 © 20 014 0 14 Disney

Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

Large Dolls and accessories - Everything kids need to play mum or dad Toy Fair Review – TnP looks at the highlights and from this year’s show Science and Nature – Calling all mini Einseins!

Special Report

Mark Naish mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

Managing Director

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Mirella Anstey mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Group Editor

11 12 14 15 16 20 22 89 80 86 91

Leader – with Mirella Anstey News – what’s the latest? Quick Coffee Break with Coiledspring Games MD, Roger Martin People News – the movers and shakers Media News – the multimedia rundown Exhibition News – the latest from the trade show scene Movie News – the latest from the silver screen Media Charts – the latest from Global Media on TV viewing ﬁgures What’s New – new products you need to get your hands on Toy Talk – the independent retailers have their say Don’t Miss… – unmissable products for all buyers and retailers Trade Talk – we give suppliers a chance to talk business Licensing News – the hottest news from the world of licensing Step Back in Time – a slice of toy history from the industry’s longest running magazine

NEW!

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LEADER

A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,195 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013

how things work out hat a smashing start to the year! sometimes isn’t it?! Everyone is cock a hoop about the Now, I make no great sales we are seeing in the first Mirella secret of the fact that six weeks or so of Anstey I enjoy and admire the year. Perhaps it’s equal parts our two anonymous consumer confidence and of for Team TnP columnists, The Independent and course really great products. we had an additional his manufacturing adversary, The Well, if this is a sign of things reason for our Secret Supplier. Quite often our rightto come, then bring it on! minded toymaker sees the retailer’s The joy Team TnP frisson. No, two perspective and offers words of experiences at London Toy Fair additional reasons wisdom that support and may assuage is unparalleled. Not only is fair actually: our fair his pain. Not this month! Goodness, fever in full swing for three jampapers - the Daily there is a full-blown ding dong, a packed days, but the excitement rumble in the toy jungle on page 30! that exudes from everyone you News - and the I am really keen to know your meet is infectious and, really, launch of our new thoughts on their stoush and where there is no better way to start broadcast platform, your allegiances and opinions lie. Get the new year. in touch and let me know – and not But for Team TnP we had an TnP TV! just on this point, but about anything additional reason for our frisson. else you want to share. This is your No, two additional reasons magazine, so feel part of it by being part if it! My actually: our fair papers - the Daily News - and the email is mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk and our phone launch of our new broadcast platform, TnP TV! number is at the We are thrilled bottom of the page. to bring you all CLICK TO VIEW All that remains for such an exciting www.vimeo.com/117483741 me to say to you all and unique way is, happy trading, and to tell you about here’s to a successful what’s happening month. in toys. I could wax lyrical about how brilliant the show is, but turn to page 13 to find our more and keep your eyes peeled online at www. toysnplaythings. co.uk to enjoy TnP TV! Now, I know so many of you enjoy reading our special regular feature, Step back in time, written by our illustrious leader and founder Malcolm Naish. Each month he trawls through his leather bound tomes of TnP DAILY DAILY past to write this brilliant page, Glowing Don’t Miss which gives us all a hint of nostalgia and plenty ism Inside: w ith m i t p O of food for thought. So this month Malcolm pride ounds b a mentioned a feature we ran with Peter Eio, then MD of LEGO in February 1985. He predicted, or perhaps foresaw, that in years to come we would be purchasing toys from our homes in front of personal computer terminals, rather than walking Pixie powe r to our local toy shop. No doubt many scoffed at e scale Off th this notion at the time, but it came to pass. Funny

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Kids TV favouri Kid brings brin a smile te Mr Tumble, the man who nation, came to every household across the to Even though London’s Toy Fair yesterday. it was his managed ﬁrst ever to bring the visit, he fair fans deliriou s with excitemto a standstill with down the ent as he Golden Bear banded Stand. Interviews so busy’ and are rare because Mr Tumble is is never off ‘so, more than the TV – but he happy When asked, to chat to Daily News. was ‘Hello, hello, Mr Tumble hello, how revealed that are you?’ excited to being surroun he was ‘in heaven’ very ded by so Speaking of favouri many toys. te toys, Mr giggled, touche Tumble toy is his Tumbled his nose and said his favouri car. te ‘I brushed my teeth when I got morning, up this got in my Tumble Car Tumble in to see Granda the shed and d I woke him ‘I am lucky. up. I also went Polly in her and cake with tea room before coming Aunt She gave me apple here. juice.’ It was but sweet a short visit but Mr Tumble, made to take time to be intervie sure which will air next week. wed on TnP TV,

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NEWS

Icy fresh cars from Disney Disney has announced exciting news for Disney Pixar Cars fans with the reveal of “Cars Ice Racers”– a brand new look and feel for one of the most successful product lines in the world. Cars Ice Racers products will have a new icy fresh look featuring original decals, with blue detailing, new blue alloys bespoke to each character and new studded tyres, for extra grip. The new look is supported by a story to be published in the spring/summer issue of Disney Pixar’s Cars magazine. A line-up of new “Cars Ice Racers” product will launch this month, starting with a range of die-cast ice-ﬁnish cars and track sets from Mattel, with RC cars, stationery, partyware, footwear and accessories set to follow. The campaign will be supported by cross-platform activity including TV spots, special magazine issues, social media, retail promotions and a new online game, (http://www. disney.co.uk/cars). Mike Stagg, VP and General Manager Retail, The Walt Disney Company UK and Ireland said: “We are

thrilled to be launching this fantastic new range of Cars Ice Racers product which promises more exciting storytelling and role play possibilities for kids who love Lightning McQueen and his friends. Disney Pixar’s Cars continues to be one of our most popular franchises and we look forward to delighting fans with this new range”. TnP’s Publisher Mark Naish presents MD Malcolm Naish with his gold disc

Our own golden boy! TnP Founder and MD, Malcolm Naish, celebrated a very special anniversary at the recent London Toy Fair. 2015 marked Malcolm’s 50th Toy Fair in a row – that’s dedication for you! Malcolm’s fantastic achievement was honoured on the Wednesday night of Toy Fair at a Fence Club event. TnP’s publisher Mark Naish surprised Malcolm by presenting him with a Gold Disc of Keep on Running by the Spencer Davis Group. The track was number one in 1966 during Malcolm’s ﬁrst year at Toy Fair.

TREND SPOTTING The US Toy Industry Association’s (TIA) trend expert Anne McConnell delves into what was trending at Toy Fair

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In today’s highly globalised marketplace, many toy companies are looking to maintain their competitive edge by expanding distribution across international borders. So to help businesses identify valuable export opportunities overseas as well as effective market entry strategies, we at the Toy Industry Association (TIA) have been steadily growing our repertoire of available global market research. After completing research reports for the Brazilian and Chinese toy markets last year, TIA again commissioned global consultancies Altios International and Kidz Global to conduct market and consumer studies in Australia and Mexico —

Having access to incisive global market research is vital for today’s toy companies. But TIA recognises the importance of providing information about opportunities both near and far

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two countries our membership expressed keen interest in. With Mexico’s proximity to the United States and Australia’s economic growth and common language, among other characteristics, these countries offer intriguing potential. Quantitative data on both the business opportunities as well as challenges that exist in each of these countries were thoroughly explored during educational sessions at the North American International Toy Fair, which took place in New York City on Saturday, February 14 through Tuesday, February 17, 2015. At the seminars, experts from Altios and Kidz Global took a close look at business and cultural findings, including market demographics and economic growth, children’s routines and play preferences,

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Crayola survey shows true colours A national doodle survey commissioned by Crayola has revealed some interesting results – not least about Team TnP, who took part! The survey, which ran through the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), focused on doodles from over 800 children in nurseries across the UK aged between 18 months to 36 months. Each doodle was analysed by a leading UK Graphologist who was able to draw out key observations on each child. Twice the number of girls chose to draw in purple than boys with 68% of all children who chose purple being girls, as opposed to only 31% of boys. “Purple can mean that someone is bossy or confident and is happy to call the shots, this quite often the case with girls at this age,” said Elaine Quigley, the Graphologist involved in the survey. Mia Roth, Senior Brand Manager for Crayola is fascinated by the findings: “Every child has a unique way of expressing themselves through creative play and these findings highlight how influential colour choice can be in defining their character in the early years.” Read the full report on the TnP website.

Team TnP get surveyed! Not ones to shy away from revealing their own true colours; Team TnP took part in Crayola’s doodle survey and were shocked by the accuracy of the results. Writer Rhys Thomas was described as a “thinker who sets a goal and takes time to ensure all information is correct” while Editor Mairead Wilmot was described as “a gatherer of information who then makes a decision as to what can be done with what has been collected.” We won’t reveal the really in-depth analysis!

cultural gift-giving occasions, brand awareness, primary retail and distribution channels, media opportunities, and more. For example, preliminary research shows that Australia has a robust market for outdoor playthings, due to the country’s climate and its citizens’ love of sports and physical activity. According to Kidz Global, Australian children spend nearly eight hours a week playing outside, compared to five hours in Mexico. More than 40% of Aussie kids choose to play with bikes, scooters and other ride-on toys when outside. Data from Altios International shows that the infant/pre-school segment is the largest toy category in Mexico, representing 28% of the local market’s total value. This stems from the high

FEBRUARY 2015

number of babies born each year. In fact, Mexico is home to 34 million children ages 0-14 — accounting for nearly 30% of the population. Having access to incisive global market research is vital for today’s toy companies. But TIA recognises the importance of providing information about opportunities both near and far. It’s critical that we keep our finger on the pulse of our own domestic market, and continue to track trends and shifts that impact toy businesses. With this in mind, in addition to presenting research on Australia and Mexico, TIA and Kidz Global hosted another Toy Fair session to explore data on the U.S. toy market, This looked at market trends and influencers, demographics, economic growth and consumer behavior.

The Entertainer is 100 strong The Entertainer welcomed 2015 by announcing the opening of its 100th store in Aylesbury, on Saturday 14 March 2015. The Entertainer reported a strong performance over the 2014 Christmas trading period with an increase in total sales of 12.2% in the ﬁve weeks leading up to 27 December, taking into account the nine new stores which were opened during 2014. The group is looking forward to celebrating the grand opening of its 100th store in style with a special trolley dash with children from a local children’s charity, PACE, who aim to transform the lives of children and young people with motor disorders, such as cerebral palsy. Gary Grant, Managing Director and Founder of The Entertainer, said: “After experiencing such solid growth across the UK, we are pleased to announce the opening of our 100th store which marks a major milestone for The Entertainer. We wish our new store manager Jennifer Allison the very best of luck in the new store, and we look forward to bringing joy and wonder to the children of Aylesbury and to continuing our expansion in 2015 onto more high streets throughout the UK.”

New hiring for Rubie’s Rubie’s Masquerade UK Ltd recently announced the appointment of Mark Whitaker as its new International Sales Account Manager. Mark Whitaker will be responsible for international markets across Poland, Czech, Romania, Benelux, Greece and Turkey. He brings with him a wealth of experience from previous roles as Senior Category Manager for toys and games at Warner Bros. and as International Marketing and Sales Manager at leading toy manufacturer, Vivid Imaginations. He will be reporting into Graham Gardiner, General Manager of Distributor Markets EMEA for Rubie’s.

NEWS Ian and Yogi take Toymaster reins The Toymaster buying group has announced a change at the top. Chairman Ciaran Fitzpatrick released a statement just before London Toy Fair revealing that Ian Edmunds will become the new Managing Director of Toymaster Ltd, and Yogi Parmar will be promoted to Operations Director. Ian, who has been the Marketing and Operations Director for the past ten years but has been with Toymaster for 16 years, takes over from Roger Dyson. Roger Dyson will take on a temporary and part time role as Vice Chairman, to assist with the transition to the new management structure. Yogi, meanwhile has been with Toymaster Ltd for over 24 years serving the group in several roles most recently as Operations Manager. “I am sure you will join with me in thanking Roger for successfully guiding the group through the last 15 years and I am sure you will all join with me in wishing Ian and Yogi every success in their new roles,” said Ciaran.

Reach for the clouds The IVS Group – who are master toy licensee for Cloubbabies - recently announced that they have appointed Outsourced Sales Solutions Ltd (OSS) as its Sales Agency Team. The move will enable the IVS Group to effectively establish itself in the sector having previously sold mainly in the event retail market. Namita Kapoor, CEO, IVS commented: “We are delighted to be working together with OSS in establishing ourselves in the consumer retail market. Having been awarded the Cloudbabies license we have worked hard to create a beautiful line of toys for younger children. Our next step is to position the range in front of the consumer and OSS will help us to achieve this.”

JUMP ON BOARD Safety testing house Bureau Veritas are organising a “Trampoline Safety Day” at the end of February. The complimentary event is taking place on Wednesday 25 February and will start from 10:30am. It will be held at Bureau Veritas’ testing laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire. Bureau Veritas say the recent publication of the EU standard EN7114 “Safety of Toys – Trampolines for Domestic Use” is now impacting retailers, manufacturers and importers of domestic trampolines. The day will be presented by Simon Stokes, Toy Technical Consultant, and will provide attendees with the opportunity to network with industry peers and to understand and witness how trampolines are assessed and tested for safety and compliance. Places are limited and those interested should send their contact details to bvsales@uk.bureauveritas.com or should call 01925 854 360. Website: www.bureauveritas.co.uk/cps.

Tobar set to drive sales for new Bburago Ferrari range Tobar has announced a new distribution deal with Bburago. The iconic brand has secured an exclusive worldwide licence deal with Ferrari for 2015 and will act as distributors for the Bburago Ferrari collection across the UK and Ireland. The exciting range for 2015 includes more than 100 different Ferrari cars. David Mordecai, CEO Tobar said:“Ferrari is an iconic brand and Bburago’s worldwide license is great news for us. Working together as their distribution partner for the UK and Ireland we can ensure that both independent and mainstream retailers can access this exciting new range and drive sales. There’s no doubt in my mind that the 2015 Bburago Ferrari collection is better than ever before.”

RIP Peter Watkin The toy trade mourned the recent passing of Peter Watkin of Watkin Toys who many will know in the toy and cycle industry. Peter Watkin was one of four shops in the Somerset area to think, “if we buy together we can get lower prices” and in those early days it worked. Senior toy buyers and shop owners will remember him and his wife. The toy trade was represented at his funeral by Mike Slocombe (current owner) and Mike Edwards.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

COFFEE BREAK Coiledspring Games’ MD Roger Martin tells TnP about Toy Fair season, their exciting product lineup and how they support their retailers

This has the X factor Esdevium Games have launched a board game based on the video game XCOM. The board game also uses an app to control key elements of the game. The app controls both the alien invasion - a key element of the game play - as well as forcing players to make fast, critical decisions in real time. “For me, XCOM appeals to fans on three different levels,” said Ben Hogg, Marketing Manager of Esdevium Games. “Firstly and above all, it is a fantastic strategic board game. Secondly, for fans of the XCOM property it is the perfect tonic, dripping in theme from the video game. And lastly, this is one of the ﬁrst board games to use a companion app as an integral part of the game play that doesn’t simply improve the overall experience, it makes it unique”.

Great Scot! While bidding goodbye to one Scottish agent, Orchard Toys have welcomed another. Dave Soutar, their agent for 15 years has retired but fellow Scot, Stephen Burns has taken up the mantel. Sales Director, Simon Prest, commented: Stephen Burns is Orchard Toys’ new Scottish agent “Stephen saw off some strong competition to secure the position as our Scottish agent. We are delighted that he’s joining us and with his knowledge of both the Toy and Gift Trades, along with his enthusiastic, personable and warm nature, we’re sure he’ll take Orchard Toys to new customers and new heights in Scotland.”

Protect your IP Protecting your IP is vital in today’s industry. Recent research from The Legal Exchange says the only way you can do this is by becoming an ‘IP Defender’. The Legal Exchange spoke with industry experts who explained why protecting IP in emerging markets is critical and the information is free to download in an eBook, which you can get by logging onto www.globalipexchange.co.uk . The issues raised will be discussed at the Global IP Exchange (9 – 11 March 2015, Munich, Germany). For more information or to request your invitation to attend the Global IP Exchange visit LINK, call +44 (0)207 368 9484 or email exchangeinfo@iqpc.com.

FEBRUARY 2015

How was Toy Fair season for Coiledspring Games? It’s been a great opportunity to showcase the new products, as well as our classic games. It’s good to get first reactions from our customers and see the potential of the new products that are on offer. It’s also fun to find out how everyone has got on over the last year and get some gossip! You had some news for retailers at Toy Fair regarding Rory’s Story Cubes – can you elaborate for us? We’re very excited to announce that 2015 will see the launch of licensed Rory’s Story Cubes: Moomin in late summer and Rory’s Story Cubes: Batman in September. The Creativity Hub are creating the sets to introduce storytelling to children and adults who perhaps wouldn’t normally see themselves as really being creative – a Trojan horse of sorts. Licensing is a back door to this – we’re only working with licenses that are known by three generations to continue encouraging storytelling across families. What ranges are you particularly excited about? We are really excited about Robot Turtles – anything that gets kids learning the basics of computer programming is turtley awesome! And another game we’re excited about is Anomia. It was featured as one of the top 5 games for 2014 by The Guardian (along with 2 other Coiledspring Games products). It’s such an accessible game, simple to learn and loads of fun. You’ve had great success with Sorgenfresser – how do you keep the brand front of mind with consumers? Sorgenfresser Worry Eaters have been a big success for us. We’ve just finished the first tranche of TV advertising with more to follow. There will also be some great related products and new characters coming through later this year which will continue to raise the profile. What initiatives does Coiledspring use to help retailers sell more? In January we select 12 hero products to focus on throughout the year, and every month there will be a PR and promotional push on each of these games. We provide marketing support across our entire range, and keep a toolbox of resources available for our retail partners. It also helps that we select great products! Sum up Coiledspring Games in three words? Confident, trusted and fun!

PEOPLE

NEWS

Sales team bolstered EPOCH making toys Limited recently announced the appointment of Caroline Wilkinson as Sales Executive. Caroline is joining the company with more than seven years of experience in sales and buying within the toy industry and will be responsible for the Northern territory. Having previously worked at A.B.Gee of Ripley, Caroline has valuable experience dealing with a range

of key accounts. She began her career there as Assistant to the Toy Buyer/Director and then eventually progressed into Key Account Management where she looked after various independent and on-line retailers.

It’s a hat-trick for Trends Trends UK has announced it has bolstered its Sales and Marketing teams with three new appointments to the company. Jon Ward joins Trends UK as a National Account Manager. Having worked in the industry for 20 years with companies such as K’nex, Hasbro and Flair, Jon brings a wealth of toy experience to his new role. His extensive knowledge will be a great addition to the Trends UK sales team. David Glicksman has been appointed a sales agent for Trends UK. Having worked in the toy industry for three decades, David is very well connected and will be representing Trends UK in the South East along with his other clients. Trends UK has also expanded its marketing team with Adam White joining the company as the Marketing Assistant. Adam previously held marketing and product development roles at RC2 and Corinthian Marketing and is looking forward to putting his knowledge to good use working on the rapidly growing Trends UK product portfolios. Graham Spark, Sales Director, Trends UK said: “We are very excited to welcome Jon Ward, David Glicksman and Adam White to the team. Trends UK is a growing company and our new colleagues will bring a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience to help us continue to build the business in 2015.”

To the power of two The Green Board Games team has been strengthened to the power of two. Amy Stock has taken up the newly created role as Sales Administrator supporting the sales team with ofﬁce and admin cover. Amy brings a wealth of experience from her time at Johnson and Johnson as well as other smaller businesses. Green Board has also added to their marketing department with the addition of new Marketing Executive, David Harms. Having worked with Vivid Imaginations for over three years, he has developed invaluable experience within the industry and will be kick-starting his marketing career at Green Board Games.

25 years to celebrate Carte Blanche’s Steve Blakemore marked a momentous occasions recently – 25 years with the same company. Steve started his career as a Sales Executive, selling Carte Blanche’s cards into independent UK stores. In 2014, he took up the role of Operations Director.

Posh Paws appoints new National Account Manager Mark Standen has joined Posh Paws in the role of National Account Manager, and will be responsible for a wide variety of national and independent accounts. Mark has more than 11 years of sales experience in the toy and gift sector, most recently as divisional sales manager at Carte Blanche. Mark has a wealth of experience with high street retailers and in particular the gift market. At Posh Paws he will focus his attention on existing national and gift retailers, as well as seek new business opportunities. Barry Groves, Managing Director said: “We’re delighted to add Mark Standen to the team. Mark brings with him extensive industry experience and his knowledge of the gift market will be a huge asset. His appointment comes at an exciting time for us.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Big changes There were changes for Team Bigjigs recently. After eight years, Colin Fletcher, agent for the North West of England, no longer represents the company. Jan Mann has similarly moved on to embrace other opportunities following three years representing the wooden toy company throughout the East of England. After working for the past three years as the Scottish Agent for Bigjigs Toys, Dave Soutar chose to retire at the end of the year. During his time with the company he has been an asset to the sales team and a great support at trade fairs.

However, at the start of the year, new recruit Andrew Dickson replaced Dave Soutar as Bigjigs’ Agent for Scotland. Andrew comes from Galt and brings with him several years of experience in the toy sector. Bigjigs Toys has also re-appointed Sharon Gardner in the newly-created role of House Account Manager. Members of the toy industry will remember Sharon from the years she spent working as Credit Controller at Bigjigs Toys. The company is delighted to be welcoming Sharon back.

Galt has a new team member Keith Thompson has joined Galt Toys as Area Sales Manager for Scotland and the North of England. Keith boasts over 33 years experience in the toy industry, in both area sales and key accounts, having held roles at Scheleich UK, MB Games and John Adams. Keith commented, “I’m delighted to be joining Galt at what is a really exciting time for the company. Starting the role at the beginning of January means I can experience Toy Fair on the Galt Toys stand and meet some new faces during the show. With a whole host of new products for 2015, I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running and meeting Galt’s customers in the North of England and Scotland over the coming weeks.”

Pastures new for Thierry After departing from his role at Asobi, Thierry Bourret has taken up a new position at Seedling USA. Thierry will act as the company’s new International Sales Agent, as part of Seedlings continued strategy to expand retail and wholesale accounts across the globe. Thierry comes with extensive experience in this sector, having founded and directed

FEBRUARY 2015

Asobi, Seedling’s sole UK and most successful global - distributor. “To say I’m excited about the prospect of joining the international sales team does not even mildly qualify how I feel,” said Thierry. “Through my work at Asobi I’ve witnessed Seedling grow, and to be part of further growth is a tremendous opportunity I really could not miss.”

Andrew steps up Already a familiar face at Peterkin UK Ltd, Andrew Moulsher has now taken up the position of Sales Director. Peterkin MD Nigel Seary made the announcement recently saying: “Andrew really ‘hit the ground running‘ when he joined Peterkin three years ago, and has continued to make a tremendous contribution to the company. His commitment, energy and enthusiasm in the role of Head of Sales and Marketing has been impressive and I am delighted that he has accepted this appointment.”

New agents for Bandai There’s a new look to the Bandai sales team, with Martin Pike and Kate Knight both joining as agents to represent the South West and North respectively. Amy Allbon, Sales Manager at Bandai said: “We are delighted to have Martin and Kate on board to support us with our brand launches this year. They are joining at a fun time with the hype surrounding Big Hero 6, and we are looking forward to beneﬁting from their toy and gift experience as we gear up for a busy summer.” Pictured: Martin Pike, Amy Allbon and Kate Knight

Epoch Making Toys Ltd Territory Manager Required - Eastern Regions About Us Epoch Making Toys Ltd is a wholly owned Sales Ofﬁce of Epoch Co Ltd which is the third largest Japanese manufacturer of toys. Its products are distributed over 50 countries via 7 sales ofﬁces and 40 distributors to make the company and its brands truly global. The company is most famous for its Sylvanian Families iconic brand in the UK.

We are looking for We are looking for an experienced Sales Executive to cover the Eastern regions and to play a vital role in continuing the growth of the company. Working alongside the Sales & National Account Manager you will be responsible for building strong relationships with our existing retail partners across the region. You will be an organised and self-starting individual. A motivated team player who can bring enthusiasm and determination, you will have the ability to work under pressure and be looking to make an immediate contribution to this busy, sales-driven business.

To apply please send CV/application to: Faye Williams, PA to Managing Director fwilliams@epochmakingtoys.com Salary - Competitive DOE

Epoch Making Toys Ltd 4 Ramsay Court, Hinchingbrooke Business Park Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 6FY

MEDIA

NEWS

Sylvanian fans ﬂock to Facebook

Hero Up with the Avengers The Walt Disney Company EMEA has revealed a multi-channel marketing campaign to support the Avengers franchise ahead of The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie release. The heavyweight Avengers Hero Up! campaign will comprise of specially created TV content, advertising across TV, digital and cinema, retail promotions, and digital support via the MarvelKids websites which launched in February 2015. The campaign, which launches in March, will drive kids to the new MarvelKids website, which offer a large number of games, content, character bios and activities grouped around the Avengers and Spider-Man. The Marvel Avengers Hero Attax Cards from Topps will also launch at retail and digitally online. The new collection will consist of unique cards featuring characters from Disney XD’s Marvel TV shows and movie cards from Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Avengers: Age of Ultron releases in the UK 24 April, 2015.

Epoch making toys’ Sylvanian Families has now attracted over 50,000 likes on its ofﬁcial Facebook page, launched just 9 months ago. Fans have proved themselves to be highly engaged, loyal, and receptive to branded content – whether they’re parents of young fans, or people born in the 80s who grew up collecting the originals. To celebrate reaching 50,000 likes and the brand’s 30th global anniversary, Epoch is now inviting Facebook fans to vote for their favourite Sylvanian Family, and one lucky voter will win all 30 families in the current range.

Dream of feline fine Fan favourite Puss in Boots is back for a new quest in DreamWorks Animation’s The Adventures of Puss in Boots, a new Netflix original TV series. The first five 22-minute episodes debuted to Netflix members in major territories across North and South America and Europe, including the UK and Ireland, on 16 January. New episodes will release throughout the coming year. The Adventures of Puss in Boots finds the world’s most famous feline fortune-hunter in the hidden city of San Lorenzo. When he accidentally breaks the invisibility spell hiding the city, he must do more than fight off an endless legion of invaders and marauders – he must become a legend.

THE FROZEN EFFECT The entertainment sector grew 2.2% in 2014 to £5.66 billion, marking two years of consecutive growth. This was largely driven by the performance of digital sales of video, video games and music, and DVD sales of Disney’s Frozen, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). The year’s big winner was Frozen, selling more than 4 million copies. This was 50% more than FIFA 15, the year’s best-selling video game, and more than double Ed Sheeran’s chart-topping album, X. Despite the rise in digital sales, ERA said physical media formats - DVD and Blu-ray movies, video games, and music CDs and vinyl - continue to be “more resilient than expected”.

ttoysnplaythings.co.uk oysnplaythings.co.uk

CLICK TO VIEW www.vimeo.com/117483700

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TnP IS HERE! The toy industry’s longest established and most loved magazine brings you a new way to enjoy all the industry’s news - TnP TV!

here’s no business like show business, and up until recently Team TnP utterly disagreed with this well worn statement, because for us there is no business like the toy business. But on the first day of London Toy Fair, Lema Publishing, the publishers of TnP, settled down to enjoy the filming of the first instalments of TnP TV. Our first interviewee was none other than pre-school (and housewives’) favourite, Mr Tumble. Group editor of Lema Publishing and Editor in Chief of TnP, Mirella Anstey, sat down to interview the lovable clown. Among the others interviewed at London Toy fair were Fiona Wright, UK Country Manager of LEGO; Mitch Levene, MD of Chicco; Kevin Jones, MD Spin Master; Chris Spalding, CEO of HTI; Christine Nicholls, Co founder and director of Golden Bear; Dr Amanda Gummer and Clive Richardson of VTech. Everyone interviewed loved the concept of TnP TV and are all looking forward to appearing on many more episodes to come! MD of Lema Publishing and Founder of the company and of TnP (and Golden Teddy winner)

FEBRUARY 2015

Malcolm Naish says of TnP TV: “It is marvellous and terriﬁcally exciting to think that my magazine that launched in 1981 has come so far that it now even has it’s own TV show! What a great testament to my team but also to the fantastic supporters and readers of TnP. Without those buyers and retailers reading us month in and month out and our great clients, this would not have been possible.” Mirella Anstey, Editor-in-Chief of TnP and presenter if TnP TV adds:” It is utterly exhilarating to be able to deliver something fresh and exciting to this fabulous industry. Our readers - retail and supplier alike - richly deserve a fun, lively and stimulating TV show, which is a superb reﬂection and extension of our magazine that will help them keep up-to-date with all the happenings in the toy industry.” TnP TV airs every week and is delivered to your inbox as well as being available on www. toysnplaythings.co.uk If you want to be part of TnP TV get in touch with Ryan Horwood now, on 01442 289 930 or at ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk

GUMMER

“

Our readers - retail and supplier alike - richly deserve a fun, lively and stimulating TV show –

Mirella Anstey, Group Editor and Editor-in-Chief of TnP

” 13

EXHIBITION

NEWS

ToyAward winners revealed Four winners were awarded a prestigious ToyAward on the opening day of Nuremberg Toy Fair, beating 601 products from 318 exhibitors to top their respective categories. The award is a special acknowledgment within the global toy industry, which gathered together for the world’s biggest toy fair in Nuremberg 28 Jan to 2 Feb.

Toymaster May show sells out Exhibitor space for the 2015 Toymaster May Show in Harrogate has sold out. In a statement, Toymaster said: “All space has been ﬁlled. Toymaster would like to take this opportunity to thank those attending for their support and we look forward to seeing you in May.” The 2015 Toymaster May Show runs from 12-14 May and will be held once again at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate.

So what do all the winners have in common? Top marks for quality, creativity, safety and educational beneﬁts. The following products topped their category’s podium this year:

Baby and Infant category (0-2 years of age) Roll Around Rattles/ Skip Hop

Pre-School category (3-5 years of age) Highwayfreak/ Scoot & Ride

School Kids category (6-10 years of age) Zoomer DINO/ Spin Master International

Teenager and Family category (11 years of age up) Hobbyzone Sport Cub SAFE/ Horizon Hobb

Inﬂux of toys at Harrogate This year’s Harrogate International Nursery Fair is set to be the most playful ever, as the show organisers report an inﬂux of pre-school toy and gift exhibitors signing up for the show. The number of new toy exhibitors makes a visit to this year’s show a must for toy retailers seeking exciting new baby toys, infant gifts and add-on ranges. As well as many returning toy companies, such as 1 Two Kids, East Coast Nurseries, Halilit and B Kids UK, new exhibitors include Casdon Toys, Golden Bear, Galt, Micro Scooters and Ryantown Toys & Gifts, among others. “Now that Christmas and the popular January and February trade shows are out of the way, it appears that suppliers of pre-school toys, gifts and related products are looking for new opportunities,” said show organiser Adrian Sneyd. “We have had bookings pouring in over the past few weeks. The show now has over 40 companies exhibiting pre-school toys and gifts, and with more than a few weeks to go until the show, this will potentially increase.” Attendance at Harrogate International Nursery Fair, which takes place from 29-31 March 2015, is free. It offers a packed line-up of events including a hugely informative Seminar Programme, Concept & Innovation Awards, the BPA’s BANTA Party & Awards Night, plus a free Monday night drinks party. Visit www.nurseryfair.com for more information.

Spielwarenmesse kicks off a year brimming with innovations The toy world knows that the widest, most creative product offering is to be seen at the Spielwarenmesse, thus the number of international buyers at this year’s trade fair rose to 58 percent. Around 72,000 trade visitors (2014: 75,088) worked their way through the innovative products presented in Nuremberg by the industry. Retailers appreciated the TrendGallery as a transnational platform for planning their ranges amid the huge variety. In Nuremberg they encountered a record-beating offering by a total of 2,857 manufacturers (2014: 2,748) from 67 countries. The next Spielwarenmesse takes place from 27 January to 1 February 2016. Since the date did not coincide with the Chinese New Year, more Asian buyers were in attendance. However, the current economic and political situation also impacted on the Spielwarenmesse. Due to the concentration in the retail trade, fewer German retailers visited the fair. Exhibitors also clearly noticed the decline in Eastern European buyers (51 percent fewer Russian trade visitors). However the number of customers was just fine, in the opinion of Manfred Holl, Managing Director, Dickie-Tamiya Modellbau GmbH & Co. KG: “All the main customers were there, even if we did note that their teams were smaller.” Spielwarenmesse fulfils its pivotal role between makers and retailers with bravura. After all, 35.1 percent (2014: 32.1 percent) of buyers attend no other fair. 78.3 percent (2014: 68.7 percent) of trade visitors rated the benefits of attending the fair as very high or high. And 78 percent (2014: 77.3 percent) were extremely happy with the overall impression of the fair. This feeling is shared by 81 percent (2014: 81.1 percent) of exhibitors. Ernst Kick, Chief Executive Officer, Spielwarenmesse eG, is particularly interested in the intention of 90 percent (2014: 90.8 percent) of exhibitors to come back again: “We are all delighted to have created a marketing platform that is positively rated by our exhibitors on a regular basis.”

toysnplaythings.co.uk

MOVIE

NEWS

Bring the dream Home DreamWorks Animation’s fantastic new flick Home will be invading cinemas in the UK from 20 March. After several recent failed attempts, an alien race, the Boov, are looking for a new place to call Home - and Earth meets their criteria perfectly. Flair have created a great range of products for SS15 and AW15, that will really engage kids with the Boov, especially the adorable Oh. Products reflect the colour changing nature of the Boov (who change colour based on their moods), as well as the musical nature of the film…Oh just loves to dance!

Home lends itself perfectly to other categories too, especially apparel and accessories, and to coincide with the DVD release in summer 2015, a range of summer and back to school products are being developed And that’s only the start… DreamWorks Animation Television are producing three seasons worth of TV content that will air from winter, so once people have fallen in love with the Boov in the movie, they’ll be able to share in their adventures on TV for a whole three years afterwards.

A REAL DISNEY BEAUTY English rose Emma Watson has been cast as Belle in the forthcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. The animation-to-liveaction retelling joins a number of other Disney movies undergoing a similar transformation, including Cinderella, set for release in March 2015, and The Jungle Book, currently slated for release in 2016. Disney announced the news midJanuary, and Watson took to Facebook to share her elation. “It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to ‘Be Our Guest’ and sing ‘Something There,’” she said. “My six year old self is on the ceiling — heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it.” No release date has yet been announced, but Bill Condon, whose most recent work includes The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Part 2, will direct.

Oscar animation noms announced Hot on the heels of a Golden Globe win for Best Animated Feature, DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 2 has been nominated for an Oscar. The animated hit will battle it out against four other movies for the title of Best Animated Feature, including Disney’s latest, Big Hero 6. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in LA on 22 February. The full list of nominees is as follows: • How To Train Your Dragon 2 – DreamWorks Animation • Big Hero 6 – Walt Disney Animation Studios • The Boxtrolls – Laika • Song Of The Sea – Cartoon Saloon • The Tale Of Princess Kaguya – Studio Ghibli

Who you gonna call? The Ghostbusters are back, but you might not recognise them. After the passing of Harold Ramis, a star of the original movies, in early 2014, a long-awaited return of the spook squad looked all but doomed. But director Paul Feig has come up with a surprise twist for the casting of a re-boot due out next year. Instead of Ramis, Murray, Aykroyd and co, the new Ghostbusters will see a brand new all-female team tackling the spectres of New York. Feig revealed the new cast on Twitter, with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and

Kate McKinnon all on board. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Feig explained that one of the reasons for the radical change was to avoid the potential negative impact a new movie could have on the memory of the originals - something that he wished to avoid as a long-time fan. So, if there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, now you who you’re gonna call when the ﬁlm releases in July 2016. 15

MEDIA

CHARTS

It’s been a rollercoaster With TV advertising playing such a huge part in the toy industry – Mike Penfold of Global Media gives us a rundown on the year that was

elcome to the Global Media Report for 2014, as mentioned in previous reports it’s been a rollercoaster year. Looking at the data for Boys 4-9 years we can see that The Cartoon Network is the market leader and is just about holding on to the same level of ratings they delivered in 2013. In terms of increases across the year, we see that Disney, Disney Junior, Pop and Channel 5 have all done well. Looking at the viewing data for Girls 4-9 years, Nickelodeon has always dominated this market and 2014 is no exception although slightly falling below last year’s delivery. We see Nickelodeon Junior, Disney, Disney Junior, Pop, Tiny Pop and Channel 5 have done very well in terms increases over 2013. The viewing data for Housewives with Children is always a contentious area when using the children’s channels to reach this market. However, Nickelodeon Junior has performed well along with Disney Junior, Pop, Tiny Pop and Good Morning Britain.

Boys 4-9 TVRs Jan - Dec 2013 vs Jan - Dec 2014 100000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

Jan-Dec 2013 Jan-Dec 2014

Jan - Dec 2013 TV Expenditure

Jan - Dec 2014 TV Expenditure

Company Name

TV Expenditure

Company Name

TV Expenditure

Hasbro (UK) Ltd Mattel UK Ltd LEGO Character Options Ltd Flair Leisure Prod Ltd John Adams Leisure Ltd MGA Ent Fisher Price Toys Ltd Drumond Park Ltd Playmobll UK Ltd

£12,958,814 £9,095,994 £7,101,814 £6,366,385 £6,166,648 £4,958,307 £4,344,487 £3,487,787 £2,315,069 £2,225,169

Hasbro (UK) Ltd Mattel UK Ltd Character Options Ltd Flair Leisure LEGO John Adams Leisure Ltd VTech Electronics Ltd Spin Master Toys Ltd Fisher Price Toys Ltd Playmobil UK Ltd

£17,557,487 £9,217,413 £7,983,143 £7,241,394 £6,923,177 £5,880,009 £3,826,087 £3,605,116 £3,324,430 £2,597,750

For more information on viewing levels please contact Mike Penfold. mike@globalmedia.me.uk Tel: 01753 889630. All graphs and information supplied by Global Media Services

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Commercial programming only conversion range all children demographic average of multiple transmissions period: 01 January - 31 December 2014

Non commercial programming only conversion range all children demographic average of multiple transmissions period: 01 January - 31 December 2014

Pos

Programmes

Stations

TVR’s

Pos

Programmes

Stations

TVR’s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Horrid Henry The Snowman My Parent Are Aliens Thomas & Friends Noddy In Toy Land Zack & Quack Mio Mao Teenage Mutant Ninja Young Justice Sheep Dog Tales Ben & Holly Wanda and the Alien Pokemon Orgins Teen Titans Go Thundermans Jelly Jam Pokemon Battle Lazytown Deadtime Stories Fiﬁ and the Flowertots

ITV1 C4 CiTVB C5 C5 C5 C5 C5 CiTVB C5 C5 C5 CiTVB CiTVB Nickelodeon C5 CiTVB C5 CiTVB C5

2.7 2.6 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

The Boy in the Dress Gangstar Granny Room on the Broom Shaun the Sheep The Incredible Adventure Peter Pan On Angel Wings Magic Hands Diddy Dick & Dom Horrible Histories Topsy and Tim Tracy Beaker’s Bob The Builder Sport Relief – Blue Peter Three Little Pigs Octonauts Special Stargazing Newsround Special My Life Born Lucky Gigglebiz

BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 BBC1 CBEEBIES CBBC CBBC CBEEBIES CBBC CBEEBIES CBBC CBEEBIES CBEEBIES CBEEBIES CBBC CBBC CBEEBIES

13.7 4.7 4.4 4 3.8 3.7 3.7 2.5 2.5 2.3 2 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5

“

NICKELODEON JUNIOR HAS PERFORMED WELL ALONG WITH DISNEY JUNIOR, POP, TINY POP AND GOOD MORNING BRITAIN

” It’s worth just looking at Good Morning Britain in more detail. Although this station is market leader it is showing a drop of 17% on last years figures and when you take into account the amount of rejigging the format of the show has gone through it is still losing viewers. It must be said the Housewives with Children viewers that watch the children’s channels are a different market that watch GMB, however it is a concern if the GMB figures fall any lower. The reported expenditure figures for the Top Ten spenders in 2014 are up by 13.4% compared to 2013. The total Toy Market is up by some 35%, looking at the TV market revenue figures shows a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2013. We have included in this report how the commercial TV stations performed against non-commercial stations and it’s very clear that the non-commercial stations wins hands down as the chart clearly shows. However Channel 5 is doing very well. In the next issue we will look at other viewing groups within the Kids market.

FEBRUARY 2015

80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

Girls 4-9 TVRs Jan - Dec 2013 vs Jan - Dec 2014

Jan-Dec 2013 Jan-Dec 2014

80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

Housewives with Children TVRs Jan - Dec 2013 vs Jan - Dec 2014

Jan-Dec 2013 Jan-Dec 2014

MEDIA

OPINION

I repeat, where is BBC One Plus One? Targeting the youth is tough – so what are the BBC up to? asks Clive Crouch

elevision’s ability to target the “youth audience” has always been a huge challenge to programme makers. The key youth age breaks cross over two of the Broadcast Audience Research Board (BARB) measurement systems; they are All Individuals 12-15 and All Adults 16-24. As a programme maker, creating a show that can capture the “Youth” market is a specialist genre and advertisers pay a relative premium price to reach those 16-24s. Programmes that grab that light viewing audience and successfully appeal to them come around less frequently than Hailey’s Comet. Last year, I wrote an article called “Where is BBC One Plus One”? This was promoted by Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director General, who announced that Britain’s most watched channel would launch a BBC Plus One channel. Now here we are ‘plus sixteen’ months later, and the question remains unanswered. Let’s leave BBC One Plus One for now and return to that elusive television viewer, the “Youth”. I had the good fortune to be in my second job, and still within that upper age break of 16-24s, while employed at London Weekend Television (LWT). In 1975, LWT dedicated their efforts to reach this “Youth” genre, led by a young Janet Street-Porter (JSP) presenting ‘The London Weekend Show’ between 197579, followed by a young Danny Baker hosting 20th Century Box between 198082. These two shows did not really trouble the scorer. Then came LWT’s Hailey’s Comet, piloted by Henry Winkler as The Fonze in Happy Days. The show rewrote audience viewing with numbers reaching new levels for viewing amongst 12-24 year olds. Since those Happy Days highs across the 1980s, only The Simpsons has created a similar following. I needed to establish the achievement of these two shows to come back to the worthiness of BBC One Plus One, and the unfortunate consequence of the six BAFTA nominated “Youth Channel” BBC3. As controller of BBC3 in just three years Zai Bennett had taken his young channel to its highest ever viewing share. This was followed by the

“

BBC’s Director General announcing that BBC3 would cease to exist as a linear channel, BBC3 had achieved a share of TV viewing of 1.48% in 2013, that put BBC3 in the top ten digital channels with a young audience whose proﬁle is also slightly up-market. After three successful years, Zai left his BAFTAs on the trophy shelf and moved on to become Director of Sky Atlantic. Now fast forward to last month and a surprise bid to buy BBC3 by two highly credible independent TV production companies, Avalon and Hat Trick, makers of “Russell Howard’s Good News” and “Have I Got News for You”. This bid will effectively privatise BBC3 and maintain it as a channel rather than just a website. The amount bid by Hat Trick and Avalon to buy BBC3 is £100m with a planned programme content spend of £100m, the BBC3 content budget was £65m in 2010/11 and forecast for BBC3 as an online only channel to be circa £30m in 2016/17. The timing of this bid ahead of the election, could not have arrived at a better time, for some. The Tory party is looking for the BBC to make savings and reduce the license fee. The thought of a part privatisation is not a position that BBC management would welcome, along with many others. Furthermore, the bid comes with an advertising revenue (yes, spot advertising on a BBC channel) with income predicted to be between £120 to £150m. This raised two further issues; ﬁrstly the principle of running commercials on a privatised BBC3 as we know it. Secondly, the other nine digital channels that share the Top 10 places are all advertiser funded. The business models of those channels would not have built in competition for advertising revenues coming from the BBC for this desirable advertising demographic. A lot to think about!

Last year, I wrote an article called Where is BBC One Plus One? Now here we are ‘plus sixteen’ months later, and the question remains unanswered

”

Remebering Tony Vickers TnP founder Malcolm Naish has asked me to mention the sad passing of Tony Vickers last December. Tony brought TV-am to the Toy Industry creating a new advertising opportunity for toy companies. Hasbro, Tyco, Tomy and Action GT were some of the ﬁrst toy companies to spend money on TV-am. Programme content deals followed the advertising money with My Little Pony and Tomy’s Get Along Gang , many others followed. Tony’s legacy is still with the Toy Industry some 30 years on. We all have a lot to thank the big man for. A Service of Thanksgiving for Tony’s “Larger than Life” takes place Marylebone later this month.

Clive Crouch www.clivecrouch.com info@clivecrouch.com mobile: 07831 670 453

toysnplaythings.co.uk1

COVER FEATURE SIMBA SMOBY

Pixie power! Simba Smoby’s Stefﬁ Love fashion doll range had a phenomenal 2014, with growth of nearly 50%. This year, Simba is putting Stefﬁ in the spotlight with a collaboration with pop star and Strictly favourite Pixie Lott

he new Steffi Love by Pixie Lott range from Simba will give girls a taste of life as a pop princess, bringing Pixie’s girly fantasies to life in the Magical Dreams range. Everything from mermaids and candy houses to magic and fairies are realised in the new doll line, all supported by a TV campaign featuring and inspired by Pixie herself. Simba Smoby’s Marketing and Licensing Manager Alex Kovacevic gives us the lowdown on what expect from Steffi and her new bestie Pixie in 2015.

Girls of summer • The range will launch in July 2015 • RRPs range from £3.99 to £14.99 Alex says: The range will launch with a huge PR, print and TV advertising campaign in July, and will be in the public’s eye line all the way through to Christmas. We have a massive array of competitions for memorabilia and concert tickets, live events with Pixie, radio, print and TV interviews and exclusive collaborations and minicampaigns. All of this alongside a heavyweight TV advertising schedule. At the same time, the popular www.stefﬁlove.co.uk will get a complete Magical Dreams makeover, with loads of Pixie related content released online throughout the autumn. As is the case with all Stefﬁ Love dolls, the product is extremely well priced to give consumers excellent value for money.RRPs will range between £3.99 and £14.99.

Superstar signing • Pixie Lott inspires the new Magical Dreams range • She will star in the supporting TV campaign Alex says: “We were looking for a way to further increase the proﬁle of the Stefﬁ Love brand, and the idea of including a well-known star in our campaign was a very appealing way of achieving that. We pitched our creative ideas and the brand to Pixie - who was really excited and enthusiastic about the campaign and things developed from there. Pixie really is the ideal person for this campaign. She’s obviously beautiful and glamourous, but also has a really strong following amongst younger girls. With her success on Strictly, she’s also

FEBRUARY 2015

The stunning Pixie Lott was unveiled as the new brand ambassador for Stefﬁ Love at London Toy Fair 2015

well-known and liked by mums and grandparents. Most importantly, she’s really involved in the concept of the campaign and very excited to be launching her own doll range!”

Dreams can come true • Range is called Magical Dreams • TVC features CGI fantasy world Alex says: “This year’s range is called ‘Magical Dreams’ and it really encompasses all the wonderful and fantastical things little girls dream of. The TV ad will see Pixie in a CGI fantasy world on a journey of discovery, with the most fabulous elements transposed into real toys in the Stefﬁ Love by Pixie Lott doll line. Pixie had a lot of creative input. The TV ad is based on her magical childlike dreams and daydreams and the dolls are taken from that world. But consumers will still be able to get their hands on our full range of over 50 Stefﬁ Love lifestyle and princess items as well.”

Fantastic four • Four brand new Pixie Lott items will form initial launch • Brand awareness at all time high Alex says: “The initial Steffi Love by Pixie Lott range will be four items, all drawn from the TV ad: Mystical Beauty Mirror, Magical Mermaids, Fairytale Princess and Enchanted Fairy. Steffi Love had an incredible year last year, with NPD reporting growth of nearly 50% across the year and over 80% in August when our TV campaign was live. At the end of the year, brand awareness amongst girls 3-7 had increased more than 30% with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Our main TVC was viewed over 100,000 times on YouTube and nearly 10,000 girls have now registered on the Steffi Love website.”

WHAT’S Brand spanking new launches from top toy companies to help you sell more! New pen is sweet ate like chocolate VIVID 01483449944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk uk

Explore the world CLEMENTONI 02032061397 www.clementoni.com Clementoni’s new range of National Geographic jigsaw puzzles launched this February. The six, 1,000-piece original jigsaw puzzles will appeal to fans of photography, exploration and the natural world. Known for its award-winning images, Clementoni will have access to millions of images from the National Geographic catalogue.

Vivid’s amazing Chocolate Pen will give kids hours of fun enabling them to write, mould and decorate in delicious liquid chocolate. The choctastic motorised pen dispenses yummy liquid chocolate which hardens into solid chocolate at room temperature (or in the fridge); which is just perfect for decorating your treats, cupcakes or even for writing your name in chocolate! Parents will be glad to know that clean-up is a breeze as the melted chocolate never touches the actual pen and the set comes with everything needed to get decorating (excluding chocolate). Coloured chocolate can be purchased online or from any retail outlet that sells cooking and bakery supplies.. The Chocolate Pen is the ﬁrst addition under the Candy Craft brand and it will TV promoted from launch this autumn/winter.

Touch the turbo! CHICCO 01623750870 www.chicco.co.uk

New for 2015, Chicco has strengthened its Turbo Touch Car range with the introduction of six new stunt-performing cars to keep budding young drivers entertained. The fast and furious Turbo Touch Stunt cars offer hours of fun as they each perform a different stunt to surprise and excite. The fun characters include Richie Road, a brightly coloured car and Donnie Manny, a classic race car with go-faster stripes, which both perform impressive wheelies. Cheeky chappies Tommy Race and Old Stevie both lift up for an exciting two wheel drive, while vintage-themed Henry McLoad and Willy Miles will show off their break turns. By pressing the rear of the vehicle it will activate the fun sound effects and the car will vibrate before speeding away to show off its impressive stunts. The Turbo Touch Crash cars are suitable for two upwards.

toysnplaythings.c toysnplaythings.co.uk co.u uk

NEW Scooby by Doo for you u LEGO 01753495000 www.lego.co.uk The LEGO Group has teamed-up with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to develop a collection of LEGO building sets inspired by Scooby-Doo. Five new building sets will bring the zaniness of classic characters including Shaggy, Scooby and the entire gang to life in LEGO form for the ﬁrst time ever, and are scheduled to hit store shelves in August. Fans will recognise all of their favorite Scooby-Doo characters and icons, including Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and the Mystery Machine, as well as all the ghosts, goblins and other villains that make Scooby-Doo adventures complete in sets such as the Mummy Museum Mystery, the Haunted Lighthouse and the Mystery Mansion.

Discover great games GIBSONS

Go wild with Great Gizmos GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543221 www.greatgzimos.co.uk

Great Gizmos latest addition to its portfolio is WWF, the leader in conservation that incorporates both game play and beautiful animal patterns into its range of games and puzzles The whole collection was unveiled at Toy Fair, including the WWF 1,000 Piece Puzzles that are designed to keep both adults and children entertained for hours. Available in an amazing eight themes such as Owls, Marine, Wild Cats, Tiger, penguins, Birds, Wolves and pandas. Each puzzle is made of thick cardboard and features striking and engaging images that everyone will love to re-create time and time again.

FEBRUARY 2015

020 8661 8866 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk Gibsons are bringing a brand new game, over 50 new designs of adult jigsaw puzzles and two new additions to the popular My World range of educational toys for young children, to retail. Sherlock Holmes the Card Game, launched this year and is already proving to be a popular addition to the Gibsons games range. Players must travel with Sherlock and Watson by hansom cab and train, seeking clues and arresting suspects while police inspectors, alibis and even thick fog will throw a spanner in the works! For the little ones, Gibsons introduce two new products to their My World range. Dino Jigosawrus is a set of 8 dino-rifﬁc puzzles ranging from a fourpiece Pteranodon to a 16-piece Diplodocus while Ships Ahoy! is a pirate themed lotto game where children must set off on a pirate adventure, collecting treasure coins by matching them to the pictures on their ship. All My World products contain hints from Play Specialist Amanda Gummer to help parents maximise the play value from each puzzle or game. What’s more they are planet friendly and made in Britain!

RETAIL

OPINION

Toy fair talk TnP spoke with lots of retailers over the course of London Toy Fair 2015. Here, they tell us what companies are a must-visit for them and give us a snapshot of their thoughts on the industry...

TnP loves to hear your views. This month we chat with retailers around the country to see what is selling well and how they are ﬁnding consumers on the ground

ALYSON CRANSTON

From left, Sue Burrows, Steve Nicholls and Richard Hyde

STEVE NICHOLLS Steve has been running New Bridge Nurseries Garden Centre, Horsham, West Sussex for 19 years. They stock a wide range of gifts and toys for all ages. Their website is managed for them and they are active on social media. What stands are a must visit? For us, no trip would be complete without a visit to the Wow Toys, Bigjigs, Marbel, and HTI stands. What’s the best thing about attending? Simply seeing all the new products. What does the industry need in 2015? Reliability of supply and a bit of faith. You need to have faith in the products to give them a chance, and I put my faith in HTI. They make what they believe kids will be excited about having.

Alyson set up her online business, The Rainy Day Box Company, in Kent three years ago. Her boxes include Bake & Make, Crafty Box and Games Box, which kids can create. She manages her own website and is very active on social media. Her boxes have already featured in The Guardian, BBC and Prima Baby. What stands are a must visit? I like the smaller independents and Skinny Sketcher is a must see for me. Our boxes are kids entertainment boxes – good old-fashioned fun. I am developing three new boxes and looking for new stuff. What is the best thing about attending? I pick up new ideas for my boxes, like science trends for science boxes. It is also great to meet up with other independents and for forging relationships. What does the industry need in 2015? We need more of a balance. I have a ﬁve-year-old and I like to keep him off the gadgets. That is why I am working on a campaign for the next generation so they have memories like us. If they are alone glued to their devices, they won’t have any memories at all. My boxes give them that.

ZARA JAVED Zara Javed set up her shop Accessories Central in Middlesex just 11 months ago. She sells toys for toddlers to teenagers and board games for adults. What stands are a must visit? LEGO and Hasbro, although this is my first visit. I saw Toy Fair on BBC News so I turned up. I didn’t make an appointment with LEGO or Hasbro but they have all being very co-operative and helpful. It’s been so much better to be here at the show than to just call up. Have you been to the Greenhouse section? Not as yet, but I definitely will be going there next as I don’t need to make an appointment. What is the best thing about attending? For me, it’s been great for confidence building. Things are just so much easier face-to-face for new independents who like me are new to this industry. It has given me a platform to develop my business. 22

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HELEN BELLENIE Helen has been running her shop in Whitstable, Kent, for ﬁve years. She has a party house at the back. A popular product is her ‘grab and go’ presents, ranging from £5 - £12, and many of her customers are children. She manages her own website and is active on social media. What stand is a must visit for you? Character Options and H. Grossman. Today I’m off to LEGO, which I’m very excited about, as I have been on their waiting list for two years.

TRACY LONG WITH MATT AND THEIR BABY IRIS Tracey and Matt have been running their shop, Live Like This, on the Isle of Wight for 10 years. It’s a design-led family boutique, ‘a John Lewis-on-sea,’ says Tracy.

Do you go to the Greenhouse section? I haven’t been yet, but I’m heading over there after my next appointment.

Do you go to the Greenhouse section? Yes, it is one of the most interesting sections for us.

What is the best thing about attending? I could never miss Toy Fair and was panicking I was not going to get here with the trafﬁc. Toy Fair always gives me lots of inspiration and it’s the perfect time for me too, as January is quiet for me. It’s also good for spotting trends: loom bands did very well for me last year, and I’m hoping to ﬁnd something equally as good for 2015.

What’s the best thing about attending? You can’t sit at home and miss Toy Fair. Retailers have got to keep their eye on the ball and ﬁnd the best products for their shops. Our customers are relying on us!

What does the industry need in 2015? Another hot summer. I make more money in the summer than Christmas as we are near the sea. We get lots of tourists and kids always need buckets, spades and outdoor toys when the sun is out. Some heavy snow would be good too as kids want sledges and we have got some good slopes in Kent.

What stand is a must visit? Sylvanian Families, Melissa & Doug and Posh Paws - Bookspeed is also really nice. Our customers want something different.

IAN WELLS Ian Wells has been the owner of Emporos in Ludlow, Shropshire for 11 years. Emporos was established 42 years ago. Emporos is a mini department shop, catering for all ages. What stands are a must visit? KidKraft. I also go for traditional toys and board games. So Esdevium Games is always a must visit. Do you go to the Greenhouse section? Yes. I found a new game – Turbo Words – on Joluet Games’ stand. What is the best thing about attending? The choice. You also get the heads up on trends and what is going to be big rather than leaving it later in the year. So it is great in the sense that you won’t miss the boat if you come to Toy Fair. What does the industry need in 2015? To make more toys in the UK. It is nice to have some toys that are British made.

CARLA HUBBARD AND ZARA FORD Cara is a Category Assistant and Zara is an Assistant Buyer at Boots. What stands are a must visit? The stars for us are Character Options, TY UK and Chicco. What is the best thing about attending? We get to see the products and all the suppliers. It’s great that we can share ideas too and share that period together all under the same roof What does the industry need in 2015? We need something bigger than Frozen!

Carla Hubbard and Zara Ford

FEBRUARY 2015

RETAIL INTERVIEW TOY BARNHAUS

Where toys have a home In 2009, Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes lost their jobs with the demise of Woolworths. But the loss of one opportunity spelled the creation of another. Now, six years later, the name Toy Barnhaus is above seven stores – here, they talk to TnP about their remarkable success story Mark and Stephen, thanks for taking the time to speak with us – tell us a little about Toy Barnhaus and how it came to be? Toy Barnhaus was formed in March 2009 by us, following the demise of Woolworths earlier that year. We had a combined 25 years’ worth of service to Woolies, and were both devastated when it went under so quickly. However, looking around our local town of Crawley, we felt there was a gap for a toy shop in the town, after the closure of Woolies and also the Disney store. After doing some research and looking at some shop units, we were able to find one in the shopping mall in Crawley, and try it on a short-term lease to see how things went. We managed to source ex-Woolworths fixtures, and also employed ex-Woolworths staff – even our shop-fitter was an ex-Woolies manager! We put our redundancy money from Woolworths in to fund the stock, 24

Stephen and Mark with their Retailer of the Year Award

“

We put our redundancy money from Woolworths in to fund the stock…

”

Toy Barnhaus on picking up the Best Multiple Store… When we first started out, we never dreamed we would get this far so quickly. It is a massive honour to receive this award, and we are absolutely delighted. It is a reflection of all the hard work that our team and ourselves have put in, and everyone in Toy Barnhaus is very proud. However, it is back to normal now, and all about making the most out of 2015!

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and got a lot of good local TV, paper and radio coverage off the back of the Woolies story. The name Toy Barnhaus is a stroke of genius – whose idea was it to mash your surnames together? When thinking of a name, we were trying to have a link to Woolworths in the name if possible, but nothing came to mind. It was Mark’s wife’s idea to mash our surnames together, creating the name (which is pronounced barn house), but looks distinctive. You now have seven retail outlets since setting up in 2009, was expansion something that came organically, or was it always your game plan? When we started, there was no initial plan to open several shops, it was just about seeing if the concept worked well with our customers. However, after the ﬁrst year, which was a great success, we had already had talks with other malls locally, and so Redhill became our second store, again staffed mostly by ex-Woolworths colleagues. We used our knowledge of Woolworths’ stores to know what towns were worth going into, and have managed to expand successfully using that knowledge. And are you always on the lookout for fresh expansion opportunities? At the moment, we are very happy with the seven outlets that we have, and are not actively looking to expand. However, if a good offer

in a good location came our way, we would always have a look! We know that all of your retail outlets are in malls, why is this? Having worked for many years in Woolworths stores on high streets, we find it a pleasure to be in malls. Obviously, you pay more for doing so, but with the increased security, greater marketing, and better shopping environment, there are lots of benefits. The key factor is increased footfall, but you have to work hard to turn this footfall into greater sales. What do Toy Barnhaus do differently to other retailers? As both of us are so hands on, we pride ourselves on being fast moving and reactive. We always get the newest products in first, and straight into our stores. We also invest a lot in our team, involving our managers heavily in the business. We took them up to Toy Fair this year, and to the awards, and they absolutely loved it. Even though we have grown rapidly, we still do a lot locally, whether it is supporting local school events, or football teams, we like to be involved in the local community. Let’s talk about product – what criteria do you set for selecting products for your stores? The most important criteria for selecting any product is - are our customers asking for it? Since we opened, we have always built our range around what our customers

What components does a toy need to make it a hit? The biggest thing we say, is that it needs great play value, not to sound too obvious. Often, the best new products have the simplest ideas behind them. A licence can help, but if the product has no real play value, it will not sell in great numbers. A lot of our bestsellers are traditional lines that have been round for years like swords, whoopee cushions, hula-hoops and bouncy balls.

“

The

most important criteria for selecting any product is - are our customers asking for it? Since we opened, we have always built our range around what our customers want

FEBRUARY 2015

”

want. We actively tell ours store managers to let us know anything they are being asked for that we have not got, and we will get it! And what about new product from less well-known companies, do you embrace start-ups? We are always looking for new products, especially anything a bit different to encourage our customers to keep visiting us. We like to be known as having different products that are not always elsewhere, as well as having the key brands that our customers are after. However, our given the tight nature of our shops, and the high footfall we have, any new line must really turn fast to justify space in our stores. In terms of best-selling toys, what has sold well for you recently? Undoubtedly our best-selling range 25

RETAIL INTERVIEW TOY BARNNHAUS

over the last few years, and we think our stores look bright, clean, professional and full of inviting products.

“ is LEGO – it seems they can do no wrong, with pretty much all ranges selling through really well. A new one for this year is Paw Patrol, which has got off to a fantastic start, and it one of the best preschool launches for several years for us. The new series of Shopkins from Flair has sold fantastically well and seems to be growing significantly over the first series. And what about licensed ranges – what are your top three licences? Without a doubt our top licence is Disney Frozen, which will be a surprise to no one. We see it still being good for this year, as the sales are still good across the dolls and other licensed products. Minecraft has been great for us also, with the action figures and LEGO sets selling especially well. In pre-school, Thomas is definitely our number one, with the collectability of the new engines and sets helping drive repeat visits from customers. Have you invested in any particular licensed ranges for this year? There are lots of great licences this year, especially with all the film releases. We are very excited about the Minions film, and have bought a wide range of products for it. Minions appeal to kids and adults, so there is a wide range of customers to sell to. Star Wars will obviously be the major licence for the latter half of the year, so we will be heavily investing in that too.

Toy Barnhaus have quite a diverse offering, like dress-up and lunchboxes, in your stores. Is it important to you to offer consumers a total package? We like to offer a wide range of products, to keep customers coming back to us. Dress-up and lunchboxes were categories we knew from our Woolworths days, and they always sold very well, although Woolies could not keep them in stock! Lunchboxes in particular are worth doing all year round, as kids tend to need a new one every few months, and not just in September. We also stock kids bottles, backpacks and umbrellas. Do you see yourselves expanding your offering even further into other related areas – licensed partywear etc? We are always on the lookout for different areas to expand into, and we have tried several areas in the past, and will continue to do so. However, it is always a judgement as to whether we can do the category well based on the space available in our stores, and also what will we take out if we do. Talk to us about in-store merchandising, how important is that to Toy Barnhaus? In-store merchandising is absolutely key to our success, and is something that we take great pride in. A lot of our staff had previous experience from Woolies, but they have certainly developed their skills

Dressup and lunchboxes were categories we knew from our Woolworths days, and they always sold very well, although Woolies could not keep them in stock!

”

How do you feel about in-store theatre and is it something you try to bring into your seven stores? In-store theatre is a great tool to use to drive customers into the store, provide a fun experience, and also be a point of difference. Being in malls, we are able to use space outside our shops on the concourse of the malls, and this is a great place to get products out and demonstrate products. We also run giant Playmobil and LEGO ﬁgure hunts around the malls, as they are a great footfall driver, and lots of fun for kids and adults. What is the best piece of retail advice you have ever received? Probably the best advice we ever received was to keep your stock clean. We learnt from our Woolworths days the perils of not marking down old stock! We do not allow items to gather dust in our stores. It is better to get something for an item, rather than waiting years to get full value for it. And ﬁnally, if you were a kid today, what toy would you nag your mum for? For Stephen, it would have to be LEGO, as he still enjoys playing with it now! For Mark, it would be a Stormtrooper dress-up with voice changer, as he could only dress up as a knight when he was a kid!

What ranges have impressed you the most over Toy Fair season? There were lots of good products at Toy Fair. The extensions to Paw Patrol looked very strong, and we are also really impressed with the new Meccano products. The new Little Live Pets from Character Options, including the turtle and the spider, both look like great products at competitive prices. Also, the new LEGO ranges for later in the year look great, especially the Scooby Doo range.

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RETAIL

OPINION

Thinking inside the (supermarket) box “Taking advantage of what’s out there is the best thing that any retailer can do and now might seem a good time to be approaching a supermarket with an appealing offer”

o here’s a thought. Why not set up a shop in somebody else’s shop? You’d save yourself a shedload of trouble – services, cleaning and somewhere to park while the store is restocked and you might even be able to use staff from the host shop’s complement – if you feel the need and can afford it. There are, of course, a few downsides. A portion of the profit that you make may be taken from you in addition to the rent you pay, depending on the nature of the deal you manage to strike. Then there’s the matter of what your toyshop-in-shop will look like. It’s one thing for a host store to agree to having an area set aside for your ranges and for this to be branded up with your colours and suchlike, but quite another for it to look as you might wish it to. At this point it’s worth saying that the most likely host for this kind of thing is a supermarket and there is considerable precedent for arrangements of this nature. From branded coffee shops to opticians, catalogue shops (aka Argos) to pharmacies, large supermarkets up and down the country have worked to put surplus space to good use by renting it out. Also worth noting are the shop-in-shops that can be found in big department stores. These are pretty strictly governed and will be expensive as the department store has opted to act as a renter of retail space, rather than a retailer proper and will therefore seek to maximise the £s per square foot at every opportunity. This is not to say that the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons won’t seek to do the same thing, however, terms may be mildly more flexible. And think of the benefits. On mid-week mornings you can sometimes count the number of people passing your shop on the fingers of one hand. Not so in a large supermarket. Even at their lowest ebb, there is still a perpetual stream of shoppers piling in on mission food shop. The fact that they may be passing your merchandise in a dedicated space will mean that the number of people looking at your offer is multiplied many times over. Familiarity breeds a measure of acceptance and once they have got used to the idea of a toyshop forming part of a hypermarket’s

universe they will probably begin to pause, take a look and may even be tempted to buy something. That’s it then, up and running. Well, yes and no. Just like in any other shop, getting shoppers through the doors is a matter of providing variety and change and visual merchandising will play just as strong a part in ensuring the success of your enterprise as it would in any high street emporium. The only point is that you happen to be trading from a somewhat different environment. The other factor is how do you persuade a supermarket that now might be the right time for them to take a punt on your offer and to devote some space to this? This is a selling operation for both parties. The supermarket will have to convince that there is an audience for your shop, ready and waiting, and you will need to provide a good case that you can come up with the goods as far as sales are concerned. But don’t supermarkets already sell toys? Well, yes some, but not all, do. It is therefore vital that what you offer is in some way different from what normally appears in the supermarket toy aisle. And what are you chances of success when you head to the offices of Megasupermarket PLC? Actually, not as bad as you might imagine. Argos, the catalogue-meets-internet proposition, has just been given space for 10 branded shop-in-shops in some large outposts of Sainsbury’s. At first glance this might not appear to be a natural fit for a retailer whose core preoccupation is selling food. But consider this. Supermarkets have had nonfood arms to their offer for years, and for years they have struggled to make them work as well as their food retail. As a toyshop owner or operator you will inevitably know a lot more about what is likely to work and what won’t than a supermarket’s in-house team that has turned its eye onto toys and playthings. So go on, give it a go. At a time when finding appropriate units for stores is tricky, this may be one avenue that is worth exploring. And what’s the worst that can happen – you are shown the door. Taking advantage of what’s out there is the best thing that any retailer can do and now might seem a good time to be approaching a supermarket with an appealing offer. Get a foot in the door and see what might be done. Easy really and who knows, it might just be the start of something new that you hadn’t thought about. Hope springs eternal in retail and this idea is no exception. Just a thought…

John Ryan is Stores Editor at Retail Week. He has worked for the magazine for more than a decade covering store design, visual merchandising and what makes things sell in-store. In a previous life he was a buyer.

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THE INDEPENDENT

OPINION

The sword is falling Our columnist is angry. But do all independent retailers feel like him this month?

ow that all of the previews, fairs and shows are concluded and I have had a chance to write my orders and get the new lines onto shelves, I have had some time to sit and reﬂect on what the toy industry looks like to me and how it affects my business. I have a question. How the hell am I supposed to run my business, when the people that I am supposedly in a business partnership with (the supplier) basically ask me to thank them for trying to turn their stock for them? With the ridiculous promotions and pricing wars that go on during our most important time of the year, all I really get for my efforts are customers complaining at my prices and an ever

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increasing thickness of dust on what were supposed to be the “hot” lines for the year. Let me explain my position on this. First, I highly doubt that if I am being charged £6.25 for a £9.99 item that is costing the supplier £3.90 to make, which in the most basic terms of business shows a discrepancy. Now, before you start throwing all the TV advertising and marketing arguments at me - please don’t forget, every TV advertised line is higher in cost than a non-TV advertised line, so in actual fact we are paying for this. And the worst part is, the retailer has a serious amount of overheads to deal with that come every month whether we like it or not, and we certainly can’t factor this into our selling price for the customer. And don’t get me started on the promotions. 2014 was the worst I have ever seen in my lengthy career within this industry. I know that suppliers will say they don’t have control over the marketplace, and that RRPs are not their responsibility, but I know how the toy industry works and in my opinion it is being consistently geared towards a higher cost price with stagnant retails, but we are being pushed more and more into this “pot” of money that is available for certain promotions and can be used when necessary for pricematching etc. What a load of rubbish. All this serves to accomplish is that bigger

retailers happen to get a pot that can actually be used to damage the market without it costing them anything do so and wreck it for everyone else. And before I go any further, I most certainly don’t want anyone to get defensive, at the end of the day the chain consists of three people; supplier, retailer and customer. With the current set up and decimation of toys on an annual basis I happen to be the guy in the middle, and as it turns out I end up being the only person that doesn’t get a good deal out of the current set up, and I refuse to sit back and allow this to continue in my business. Look at it in its most simple format. Supplier sells to retailer, costs and license fees built in, and these “pots” of money are already allowed for before we even begin the year. So they are very happy with their performance and get their payment for their hard work in capturing ranges or developing product. Customer walks into a store or sits online and gets what is essentially an item worth £60 for £40, and once again, a very happy result for them as they have got what they wanted for their kids at a great price and saved themselves some cash in the process. Retailer buys from supplier, sells to customer and makes nothing in the process, and if they are happy about this then the world has gone mad.

THE SECRET SUPPLIER Stop pointing the finger Let’s step away from the 1970s Argos catalogue, says The Secret Supplier Well it certainly sounds as though The Independent had a challenging Christmas as he points his finger at a major problem for the whole industry. How do you make a decent profit selling toys? The Independent starts by focusing on us suppliers because The Independent claims it we who are pushing up trade prices and yet holding down retail prices. In fact, the exact opposite is true! It is the retailer, who presented with a new product with a suggested retail of £12.99, says that the right price is £9.99! It is this type of retailer pressure that has helped towards retail price stagnation. Historically, the industry seems unable to move away from prices that seem more at home in the 1970s Argos catalogue! Indeed if you look at an old Argos catalogue it is surprising how many familiar products were being sold at the same price as they retail today. In fact some are even lower, despite the massive inflation that has taken place over the years, as suppliers try to keep up with higher labour costs, arduous testing requirements and currency fluctuations. The Independent implies that the suppliers are getting rich at the

expense of the retailers, but a careful analysis of suppliers proﬁtability indicates that the majority struggle to deliver decent margins. Frankly, toys are ridiculously cheap when you compare them with other specialist consumer goods. But our industry has collectively failed to convince the toy buying public that toys are worthy of higher prices. And, of course, we have the added problem that consumers, you and me, always want to buy at a discount. Indeed NPD tell us that over 40% of toys last year were sold “on promotion”. And yes, suppliers do their bit to support retail margins on price promoted products, although if they did this less frequently we would all probably make more money. The “pot” to which The Independent refers is the suppliers attempt to help retailers, but it is a limited ﬁnite amount. But the good news for The Independent is that despite it all, some retailers can be successful and make money selling toys. These are the clever people The Independent should study and take a leaf out of their book in terms of product selection and promotional strategy, then he won’t be so angry.

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New for 2015

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HIGH STREET

HIGHS

Experience this! Last month we brought you the ﬁrst instalment in our new series of articles by top toy retail entrepreneur, founder and MD of The Entertainer, Gary Grant. This month Gary tells TnP how he strives to keep customers coming back in store or online

For Gary Grant and his team at The Entertainer it is essential to keep some key differences between themselves and the competition

ith so many places to spend one’s hardearned cash, today’s consumer is more fickle than ever. Retailers the length and breadth of the country have numerous anecdotes about consumers coming in, checking out the shelves, comparing prices on their phones or tablets and then high-tailing out of the store. So how does Gary Grant compete with this ever-more competitive retailing world? “It certainly isn’t easy - it never has been – but the opportunities for consumers seem greater than ever before. So for us, it was to face the online challenge head on and invest heavily in our e-commerce business and what we could offer the consumer”. The Entertainer’s online strategy offers the consumer great ease and flexibility. It is certainly up there, if not better, than many of the big boys, when it comes to click and collect. Gary explains: “It is simple for us. If we have the item in stock at the chosen store, we will guarantee to have it ready for you to pick up in just 30 minutes. If it is in stock in another store or the distribution centre then one to three days is the maximum.” The consumer expects this level of service from huge e-retail specialists but it can come as a welcome surprise to many that their local toy shop can deliver the same terrific benefit. The reality is that there are lots of bricks and mortar outfits that have online aspects to the business but unlike Gary and his team at The Entertainer perhaps the investment or indeed the focus isn’t there. Gary agrees: “We had a very clear understanding of what we wanted to achieve and then worked to make it come about. It is essential to have a really pure vision of the end result and what you want the customer to get from it and then drive it forward. And of course, the people who come to your shop need to be told about your site so that they can utilise it and therefore you keep your customers spending with you rather than elsewhere. And ultimately, our stores are at the heart of our online operation”. But how do you maintain that repeat business when there are so many options for folks? For Gary, the answer is simple: “It always comes down to great value, great service and great in-store atmosphere. When I started the

business with one shop in Amersham nearly 34 years ago we were turning over about £32,000 and now we are in excess of £125m – that is because we are looking and listening to what the customer wants and needs in a shop – and of course responding accordingly.” But there is more to retail success than listening and acting. Many businesses suffer from a lack of investment and then wonder why the shoppers are heading past their windows to a store down the road, or heading to another website to buy. How important is that funding to improving and driving sales, in Gary’s mind? “The reality is that we do pay more money for the little extras which are not immediately noticeable but which combined make a difference to the shoppers’ experience. For example, the shelving we use in our stores are very good quality and therefore come at a price. However, we could compromise on the quality, and spend less money on the flooring, spend less money on the multi-channel systems or refits of shops and the customers would feel less satisfied and are very likely to go elsewhere? Why would we do that? Better to pay a little more money and have happy shoppers who continue to come back and tell their friends and family to shop a The Entertainer”. Gary has first-hand experience of how the expenditure can have a very positive effect on sales. Gary explains that refits at its Ipswich and Coventry branches in 2013, both of which had not been revamped for more than 10 years, had “transformed” the stores. He says: “If you look at what they looked like before and now, they look completely different”. And clearly this has driven more people into the store. So, can all retailers expect great results from adding a website and tidying-up the look of the shop? Clearly, it needs more than a superficial and cursory look around the shop, but heed The Entertainer’s clarion call to all who want to success in retail into listen, look, change, think ahead and of course, invest to fuel growth. Next month, Team TnP will bring you more analysis from Gary Grant and The Entertainer.

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TNP

AMBASSADORS

Articulating toys This month mum Sonia Dean puts her children and nieces to work for TnP! The Dean clan had the enjoyable task of testing lots of great product. Read on to ﬁnd out Mum-of-two Sonia has some quality fun time with son Frank, six, with the help of Drumond Park’s Articulate for Kids Drumond Park’s Articulate for Kids is aimed at six to 12 years but the concept is so good that mum and dad enjoyed it too. The packaging is great, a lovely simple, strong and colourful board with categories ranging from world, action, objects and nature to random. It’s fast paced and generates a lot of laughs. The aim is to get your teammate to guess the word on the card from your description, but you mustn’t say the word itself, and the other rules include that you can’t do ‘sounds like’. You then get to work around the board. There are describers and guessers and you can take turns. It’s a great concept and Frank really enjoyed playing. It got heated at one point but all in the name of fun – and lots of arm ﬂapping! Some of the words he wasn’t sure about but it was good as it opened new discussion areas. We liked it and will certainly be playing this lots in our house!

Sophia is a hit Grace Cawdell (4) played with Jumbo’s Disney Sophia The First Jigsaw Puzzle My niece Grace really loves Sophia the First so these jigsaws were a real hit. There are three in the box ranging from six to 12 pieces, all beautifully illustrated with Sophia and her friends. The quality of the product is really great and feels different to touch than your average jigsaw. The design is challenging enough to keep little ones occupied and interested and a lovely picture to ﬁnish. Very nice indeed!

FEBRUARY 2015

They’re mine! Sonia’s nieces Grace (4) and Alice (7) played with Bigjigs Mini Farm Playset and Mini Hospital Playset Although I’m 40 years, I can quite honestly say that I actually gasped when I ﬁrst set eyes on Bigjig’s Mini Farm Playset and Mini Hospital Playset and I wanted to grab them with both hands and say ‘get off, they’re mine’! However, being a dutiful auntie I knew that the ideal age for these toys is three plus rather than 40 plus so I reluctantly handed them over to my nieces, in particular four-yearold Grace. The word adorable probably doesn’t quite do them enough justice. They’re simply yummy with their solid wooden structure – beautifully designed with loving touches such as the cheery red rope handle, and the little elastic rope that hooks round a smooth wooden handle to keep the structure closed tight. You can see the thought that’s gone behind each of the characters. Both products are full to the brim and it’s nice to see a product that’s generous with its content. The Mini Farm Playset comes with 15 pieces including the farmer, farmer’s wife, horse, pig sheep, cow, duck and children – not forgetting the farmer’s barn. The quality of the toy is second to none and it’s been very well designed with warm round edges and attractive colours – all in child-friendly paint which is music to a mum’s ear. It’s also very tactile. You know at ﬁrst glance that it’s the kind of toy that, even after hours of play, will withstand

the test of time, messy play, chewing, bashing, etc – the usual mayhem of a four year old! The Mini Hospital Playset had nine pieces including a doctor, nurse, poorly bear and medical equipment. We loved the painted scene of the inside of the hospital complete with clock, desk and windows The toy arrived at exactly the right time as my niece was having to go to the hospital for a heart checkup – all clear which is great. She was very worried about going so we did some role play with the little hospital and talked about the heart monitor and the nurses and how we tucked the bear up in bed. This would be the ideal little toy for a child to take with them to hospital or even a visit to the doctor, as the carry-handle makes it easily portable, and it is small enough to take with them. Grace played for a long time with both of the toys, then the characters joined each other and created a little kingdom with them. Big sister Alice, seven, also joined in the play. The minimum age is recommended for three-plus, and I think the maximum age has no limit. I would safely say any little girl or boy would love to receive either of these sets. They are timeless classics that I can see being handed down through the family for years to come.

PICTURE: www.yhponline.com

BUSINESS

DRIVER

Let’s get this party started! Start up businesses need to keep a watchful eye on the cash ﬂow. Here John Harper gives his top tips on how to do this and still grow the company

n the space of six months in 1977, I left university, got married, bought a car and agreed to buy a house that we couldn’t really afford. As a result, the 1978-1980 period was one where we really had to “watch the pennies”. We had to be very disciplined with our spending and delay as much expenditure as possible until the end of the month when our salaries were paid. On several occasions we weren’t able to pay off our bills and it took us many months to get out of this negative cash flow. Start up businesses need a similar focus on cash flow. This was one of the biggest lessons I learnt at Hedstrom about the difference between start ups and large corporations. Hedstrom UK was venture capital backed but after about 12 months of trading they decided to end this arrangement and they withdrew all funding. As a result, we were required to borrow several million pounds from a bank. At a stroke my business focus changed totally. Instead of spending the majority of my time developing new products and selling to customers, I was now chasing receivables, reducing inventory levels and reporting our cash flow position to the bank on a regular basis. Large corporations also have cash targets to achieve. They need to keep their inventory levels and customer receivables under control. While running Hasbro Europe we were very disciplined in these areas. The difference though was that cash flow per se did not require the same focus and time as with a start up. Missing your cash flow targets in a large corporation might adversely impact your career but it doesn’t endanger the future of the business. So my advice on cash flow to the businesses I am mentoring is as follows:

Avoid the big cash commitments where ever possible. Take temporary ofﬁce space rather than commit to a lease and out source your costs where ever possible e.g. warehousing. This may cost you more but it gives you the ﬂexibility to reduce costs quickly if you fall behind the business plan.

Secure future customer listings/contracts before you hire additional people. As the business grows you need to build a team around you but they bring costs. Make sure you are conﬁdent that future revenues will be coming in to cover these costs. So, for example, make sure you have secured customer listings before you commit to additional staff to support these sales.

Keep on top of the ﬁnancials on a monthly basis and make sure your business plan is phased monthly. If you miss a month, take time to judge whether this is a short term phasing issue only or whether it means you may miss your plan. If in doubt, freeze your spending plans until the situation becomes clearer.

Always have a Plan B. Your business plan should allow for the fact that things could go wrong and that you may need an additional cash injection. Knowing in advance where you could get additional cash and the implications of this is much better than having to react after the problem has occurred. It also helps you to sleep at night! At Hedstrom when the venture capitalists withdrew the funding I didn’t have a Plan B and it was very scary. Fortunately we got alternative cash in place before it became a major issue, but having this worked out in advance would have been much better for my health!

From his beginnings at Palitoy where he launched their Video Games software business, to MD at Fisher Price in the 90s, starting up Hedstrom in 1998, to more recently, European President of Hasbro and now, as a mentor and coach to young entrepreneurs in the industry – there are few highs or lows that John hasn’t seen and been part of!

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FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

Be a doll! Large dolls and accessories is a classic category. Despite being an evergreen, this sector still innovating and bringing creativity to the fore

f you ask someone outside of the toy industry to name a random “toy” – we’d bet money on them replying “a doll”. Dolls, particularly large, nuturing dolls, are a classic category. They’ve been with us long before tech-toys and long before apps and smartphones. But don’t for a second think these are in the dark ages. Nurturing dolls have evolved and moved with the toy times while still retaining their never-ending appeal to consumers.

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Parents are encouraging little girls to be more traditional and classic due to their environment being so image driven. And this will be inﬂuential in the purchase decision and choice of toy. Nikki Jeffery,

Peterkin

Why the enduring appeal?

What is it about the sector that makes dolls so enthralling to children. Is it their size? The nurturing play aspect? “Dolls seem to have a broad ‘appeal’ life with girls,” explains Famosa’s Marketing Manager Nikki Jeffery. “They start to nurture and mimic from around 18 months and this extends through the core play age of three to five years to Famosa around eight or nine years with a more pick up and put down approach in the latter.” Nikki explains that “many factors” contribute to the appeal these dolls have, whether that is a natural nurture instinct, or copying mum with the arrival of a new baby, or even dressing ‘baby’ up in outfits. “Parents are also encouraging little girls to be more traditional and classic due to their environment being so image driven,” says Nikki. “And this will be influential in the purchase decision and choice of toy.” Jonathan Thorpe, Managing Director of John Crane, credits the appeal of imagination. “Every little girl wants a doll, and more often than not their parents are only to keen to

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oblige,” he points out. “Any doll is enduring to girls, large dolls more so as they appeal to girls looking for a doll to be their friend and have adventures with.” This is something which Marian Davis, Marketing Manager at MGA & Zapf Creation agrees with. “Dolls and accessories can appeal to a wide age range from 0-8+ and for most parents they are looking for soft and cuddly toys for babies and then dolls which stimulate a child’s imagination during the formative years. Every little girl enjoys role-playing with dolls in the same way that their own parents care for them.” Peterkin’s Sales Director Andrew Moulsher credits nurturing dolls appealing to “the in-built parental instincts of all little girls and boys, which are a key part of a childs developmental cycle - mimicking the way that parents look after babies and toddlers will always be a fundamental part of this cycle.”

What’s performance like within the category? Ultimately, sales are everyone’s modus operandi. So how is the nurturing category performing for suppliers? “We are fortunate to have the icon brands of Baby Annabell and BABY born in our portfolio at number one and two respectively in the UK market,” says Marian. “Both performed extremely well during 2014 with key items selling out. Proven sellers are the Baby Annabell Learns to Walk doll and BABY born Bathtub.” Large dolls are key for rag doll specialists Imajo, with Director Jo Crombie saying the sales of their recently introduced Bonikka range “have exceeded all of our

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WE ASKED… Famosa

Does the category benefit from licensing? “I would say the category is predominantly driven by brands, rather than licences” Andrew Moulsher, Peterkin “In the case of Imajo dolls, the whole appeal of an enduring friend would be lost if we followed licensing trends and latest films. There will be another blockbuster film every year which is perfect for the fashion doll market, but our Imajo dolls won’t be replaced by the next craze.” Jo Crombie, Imajo “No, it benefits because there is no licence to restrict the range and imagination.” Jonathan Thorpe, John Crane

expectations”. Jo explains that 2015 is looking like it is going to be a strong year with new designs added to the Bonikka line. “What’s also great news is that our classic range Anisa is selling just as well as it always has done; we’re ﬁnding our customers are buying more rather than just substituting one range for another,” adds Jo. Peterkin are also reporting growth with their dollsworld range. Andrew elaborates: “We are really pleased with the way the dollsworld brand performed in 2014. Once again, we saw sales growth in both domestic and international markets, with gains in market share. We are looking forward to more of the same in 2015.” Famosa’s Nenuco range has also impressed with Nikki explaining that larger playsets sold out in the lead up to the Christmas. “Nenuco offers something different to the market,” says Nikki. “It takes the Large Doll category outside of straight nurturing and into role play and also imaginative play.”

And what about the margins… Margins, margins, margins – the lifeblood of a retailer, so how are they with the Large Dolls category? Suppliers reassure us they are healthy. “We are dedicated in ensuring we offer good margins to our retailers,” says Famosa’s Nikki Jeffery. “We are all in business together after all. Even with our TV advertised lines where we would

FEBRUARY 2015

normally see a reduced margin we would still ensure a healthy return for our customers.” Speaking about margins on John Crane’s new Our Generation line, Jonathan Thorpe says: “A margin is only a margin when the product is sold to a consumer and we know this range sells.” Reassuringly for retailers, Jo from Imajo says: “Imajo prices all dolls with the ﬁnal retail selling price in mind. We believe that the £20 price-point is important and the vast majority of our dolls can be sold at or below this level, making the retailer a healthy margin of around 50-55%.”

A passion for fashion? There is merit in both large dolls and fashion dolls but what’s the appeal of a nurturing doll over her fashionista cousin? “Large dolls help to nurture the imagination and smart parents will recognise that traditional toys like Baby Annabell and BABY born will spark a preschooler’s nurturing and fantasy world and keep them engaged four hours,” says Zapf Creation’s Marian Davis. “Fashion dolls skew a little older - we have recognised that while nurturing play still has the strongest appeal for younger children the older children want play patterns that are more engaging and aspirational so they appeal to a different

“With the right doll and the right feature/ characteristic/play appeal, it is very possible to have a successful doll line without the backing of a popular license. As large dolls carry a more traditional play value, there is less emphasis on trend and fashion in this category meaning licensing is not as crucial.” Nikki Jeffery, Famosa “Licensing plays an important role in brand building and established brands like Baby Annabell with beautiful style guides offer a great opportunity for licensing in new categories so watch this space.” Marian Davis, Zapf Creation

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Every little girl enjoys roleplaying with dolls in the same way that their own parents care for them Marian Davis, Zapf Creation

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demographic although there is overlap at around 5 to 6 years as some girls transition into fashion dolls.” Famosa’s Nikki Jeffery adds: “With so much emphasis on keeping little girls as little girls in a world dominated by social acceptance and image, we are ﬁnding parents are encouraging a more traditional play pattern for their daughters. A large doll also allows older siblings to mimic mum when a new baby arrives, which is important for making the older child feel involved when they can easily fall into jealousy traps.”

FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS OLLS S

Creating great toys Zapf Creation 0845 0533 3 333 www.zapf-creation.co.uk creation.co.uk In spring 2015 015 Zapf Creation will see several veral new products being eing added to their extensive sive portfolio. Baby Annabell nabell will continue its s reign into spring 2015 with the addition of the new Baby aby Annabell Potty, which ch will receive heavy avy TV support. Zapf Creation ation will also be launching nching the all-new my y ﬁrst Baby Annabell bell Cuddly Sleeping eping Lamb in spring. pring. This cute and nd cuddly lamb mb is aimed at newborns and is perfect in helping little ones to nod off to sleep as the soft plush toy can sing a lullaby and light up. The my little BABY born Bathing Fun will be continuing into spring 2015. The cuddly, soft bodied doll will receive TV support, and has realistic drinking and wetting functions. Another expansion to the range is the new Baby Annabell Premium Stroller. Zapf Creation is also introducing the loveable and huggable super soft doll suitable from birth this spring. The my little BABY born First Love Nightfriends doll sings a relaxing lullaby and has a soothing nightlight, which features a cute bear once the button is pressed. BABY born Interactive is ready to party in spring 2015, as Zapf Creation introduces the new BABY born Deluxe Happy Birthday Set, which Spring 2015 will feature a new addition to will consist of an the My Model range. The My Model Hair & astonishing 15 Make-up styling head will be very compact accessories including and will come with a range of accessories. a party dress, shoes My Model is the only styling head that and tiara, as well as a offers children the chance to customize birthday cake, plates both hair and makeup, meaning that there and drinking cups. is more play value and young ones can be extra creative!

The perfect model...

J’adore Corolle DKL 01604 678 780 www.dkl.co.uk DKL is the exclusive UK distributor of Corolle, a premium range of dolls designed in France. Each doll is dressed in sophisticated and trendy clothes, and they all have a signature vanilla scent. Suitable from birth to 4 years onward, there is a different Corolle doll to be collected at every stage of infancy. The Mon Classique collection includes four softbodied dolls standing at 14 inches tall, and is ideal for children aged 3 and above. With soft bodies, sleeping eyes, realistic proportions, and clothing, these Corolle dolls have exceptional play value – they are perfect for imaginative role-play! Also available in the Mon Classique collection are bath babies and interactive dolls. Emma Drink & Wet Baby, and Paul Drink & Wet Baby drink from their bottle and entertain children in the bath. They dry quickly and they can be accessorised with a bottle, potty and paciﬁer – all of which come included with the doll. Lia Interactive is the doll who speaks 4 languages! Lia is 17 inches tall, and as well as being multi-lingual, she has several exciting features. She cries, laughs, drinks from her bottle and comes complete with 5 accessories. Another Corolle doll which children will love to collect is Lila Cherie. Lila has 4 interactive features: for example, her cheeks light up and she has an adorable babble which mimics a real baby. In addition to the outﬁts and accessories that Mon Classique dolls arrive in, there is an astounding array of extra accessories available. Little ones can buy new pyjamas for their beloved doll or even a canopy cradle! Corolle fashions are expertly made and they are completely interchangeable. The Corolle Hair Care Set is ideal for styling and maintaining the dolls’ long and voluminous hair, whilst the Umbrella Stroller is perfect for trips out. With an amazing variety of accessories for each doll, little ones will love the timeless Corolle brand. DKL support all of their brands with full marketing campaigns which include dedicated planograms, bespoke visual merchandising, and extensive social media activity.

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It’s a dollsworld PETERKIN UK LTD 0116 2543645 www.peterkin.co.uk 2014 was another great year for Peterkin’s dollsworld brand, with further growth and gains in market share, both in the UK and internationally. The Peterkin product development team have been working hard and there are some exciting new introductions for 2015. The “hero” doll of the range this year will be Talking Tilly, an 18” soft bodied, talking doll, who beneﬁts from a newly developed sound chip, with realistic baby sounds. Gently squeeze any of Talking Tilly’s limbs to hear a cute baby sound and then squeeze her tummy to hear a further 17 different sounds! With a beautifully crafted face, high quality outﬁt and excellent packaging, Talking Tilly is destined to be a hit with all aspiring young mothers in 2015! Another new introduction is Dolly Doctor – Dolly is a poorly baby, but don’t worry – she comes complete with a range of doctors accessories to help you nurse her back to full health! New accessories include a pack of fabric, re-useable nappies, as well as a brand new baby feeding set and, as always, the dolls and accessories are complemented by a high quality range of strollers, buggies, deluxe prams and wooden furniture. These new additions perfectly complement the existing items and ensure that dollsworld offers the complete nurturing dolls solution of dolls, accessories, buggies, prams and furniture.

www.ggtrade.co.uk

TOYS GIFTS and great ideas!

FEBRUARY 2015

FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

Who’s your friend? VIVID 01483449944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk My Friend Cayla, the internet-connected interactive doll from Vivid, is getting a make-over in AW15. The doll will get a cute new gilet and the app will be updated to include the ability to personalise details about Cayla and load information about the girl, too. The updated version of the app will be backward-compatible with original style Cayla dolls. Cayla will continue to beneﬁt from TV advertising throughout 2015 and will be on air from February half-term. Joining the brand is My Friend Cayla Princess, which is all about Cayla pretending to be a princess, as all little girls love to do. She has a beautiful princess party dress and tiara and the app has extra princess-themed content, including an exclusive game and photo albums.

Talk about…Our Generation! JOHN CRANE LTD 01604 774949 www.john-crane.co.uk

John Crane’s Our Generation range of dolls have landed in the UK after taking America by storm. Our Generation is unlike any that has come before. The range of dolls includes hair play and retro dolls, as well as 18 inch nonposeable regular dolls with eyes that open and close, like Holly who comes complete with a coordinating outfit. Holly wears a stylish faux fur autumnal outfit accessorised with matching shoes and tights; Abrianna, another regular doll, wears a casually colourful outfit accessorised with a sparkly hairband, shoes and tights. The range also includes a selection of deluxe dolls for example horse loving Lily Anna who comes stable ready in this riding outfit. An 18 inch poseable doll, Lily Anna comes complete with an additional party outfit with matching shoes and an assortment of accessories, as well as “Adventures at Shelby Stables” chapter book and book mark. The Our Generation range will see the introduction of four horses and three foals, all loyal companions for children and their Our Generation doll. Morgan Horse is just one that will be added to the range and is ready to hit the mountain road with the trail map included in the set. A 20 inch poseable horse Morgan comes complete with horse accessories and completion certificate as a reward for completing those trail rides. If horse riding isn’t your thing, get your Our Generation girl catwalk ready with these regular and deluxe outfits from a yoga

outfit which includes a yoga mat and yoga instruction card to the Well Red outfit which will make your doll feel like they’re living the high life. This deluxe outfit includes a pink ruffle top, taffeta skirt, long sleeve cardigan, pair of tights and glitter shoes as well as a hair clip with bow and a flower belt. All of the outfits come with an OG Outfitters catalogue so your doll can pick her wardrobe wish list. You can explore the delightfully homely world of cooking, cleaning, eating and organising with the extraordinarily detailed Gourmet Kitchen; with dozens of realistic tools, utensils and food items, this kitchen set will match even the most ambitious imagination.

Retro Cruiser On top of dolls, horses, and outﬁts there are range of vehicles from scooters to 4x4s. Watch heads turn as the Our Generation doll drives by in their Retro Cruiser everyone will want a ride! A real FM Radio plays all your favourite songs, and the lights and removable roof mean what ever the weather; day or night your OG Girl will be ready to hit the highway. The rumble seat in the back and the trailer hitch means you can take home on the road.

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Contact details: famosauk@famosa.es 01623 237 433

www.nenucofamosa.com

FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

Nenuco and Nancy are 2015 stars FAMOSA

Famosa previewed the fabulous new products from popular girls’ brand Nenuco at Toy Fair in January and based on the success of the brand in 2014, the new line extensions are extremely promising. Nenuco is the innovative doll and playset brand from Famosa, which saw ‘Sleep with me’ Cradle sets selling out across UK Retail and Happy Hiccups making it onto Christmas Lists everywhere. Key lines for 2015 will include ‘Nenuco Bubble Bath’ - a 42cm soft body doll that can be fully immersed in water where she can blow bubbles and comes with her own dolphin ﬂoat which squirts water for bathtime fun! Nenuco Bubble Bath recently made the ‘Must Have 2015 Toys’ list, released by leading parenting website Parentdish. ‘Nenuco Hugging’ is a 42cm soft bodied, cuddly doll that moves her arms, swings her head and hugs her pillow to sleep with you.

Get ready for Nancy!

Imajo 01425600600 www.imajo.co.uk

07903843241 www.famosa.es

Next from Famosa is the much-anticipated arrival of Nancy who arrives in June. Already a hit in Spain where she launched in 1968, Nancy is predicted to replicate the success she has already seen. Nancy is a 43cm tall doll who is fun, beautiful, cool and has the latest ‘must have’ fashion accessories. The Nancy line includes the fabulous ‘World Adventures’ collection which sees Nancy in iconic outﬁts with the latest accessories as she embarks on her travels. ‘Pink

From rags to riches

Sports’ sees Nancy skiing, horse riding or practising her Ballet and girls can get creative with ‘Nancy Glitter in the Sea’ and ‘Nancy Hair Braids’. Nancy is being backed by a heavyweight marketing strategy.

Imajo are all about rag dolls and their signature Anisa range has become well known, instantly recognisable for their simple and pure design. The range includes a pirate, plus special occasion dolls such as a ballerina and bridesmaids. New designs are due for 2015. Imajo saw a need for a more individual range of rag dolls to complement Anisa, so in 2013 they introduced the Bonikka brand, a range quickly expanded last year. Now the whole Imajo offer is a perfect combination of traditional style, with a little contemporary twist. Bonikka has already won awards with Honey scooping Silver in the Independent Toy Awards 2014. Imajo have great plans for Bonikka, with some new designs due to arrive later in the year. However, with the current range at 20 designs, there is already plenty to choose from. The Butterﬂy Kids are perfect for newborns and the Ritzy Girls and Willettes being the choice for older children. With such a wide choice of rag dolls, the vision of Imajo must be for every parent, grandparent, friend and relative to ﬁnd a truly special toy to become a lifelong friend.

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FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

A little love for everyone VTECH 01235546810 www.vtech.co.uk VTech made its first step into the doll market in 2014 with the introduction of Little Love Baby Talk. VTech’s new interactive doll took home a gold award at the 2014 Independent Toy Awards. The Little Love Baby Talk is the perfect way to introduce your little one to nurturing role play and encourages learning. The more you talk to this interactive doll the more phrases she will learn and repeat. The voice-activated doll comes with 100 words, sings ten melodies and speaks over 80 phrases and also features real-life sound effects like drinking and giggling. Baby Talk comes complete with a cute cuddly outfit, dummy and feeding bottle. In 2015, VTech will be expanding the Little Love range with the launch of Little Love Baby Peek-a-Boo. Also designed to encourage learning, Little Love Baby Peek-a-Boo includes a host of phrases which encourage speech as well as interactive buttons to introduce your little one to numbers, colours and body parts. With nine sing along songs, ten melodies and ten lullabies this interactive doll is set to be a firm favourite in 2015. The Little Love range has a number of accompanying accessories such as the Little Love 3- in-1 Pushchair which transforms into a stroller, high-chair and cot. This interactive pushchair is easy to use and allows your little one to explore fun food facts, hear baby care reminders and listen to fun rhyming stories. Providing over 90 fun sounds, phrases and songs the 3-in-1 pushchair enhances and encourages play as well as developing motor skills, language development and role play.

The golden girl JOHN ADAMS 01480 414361 www.johnadams.co.uk Leisure Ltd is looking forward to a golden year with Tiny Tears as John Adams Leis its 50th Anniversary. First launched in the UK in 1960s, the brand celebrates c the Tiny Tears range of dolls has been loved by little girls for generations was the ﬁrst fully functioning feeding, crying and wetting doll and wa closing eyes, moveable arms, legs and head. To celebrate her with c anniversary, John Adams has produced a special, limited edition 50th a Tears doll, all dressed up in a sparkly birthday princess dress and Tiny Te sporting a vintage curly hairstyle. Just like the traditional doll, the Tiny sportin Anniversary doll comes complete with water bottle and potty, as well as Tears Anniv keepsake commemorative certiﬁcate, printed with its own unique a special k number. n

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FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

Like mother, like daughter HTI 01253778888 www.htigroup.co.uk HTI maintains its position in the UK market with premium Silver Cross and Mamas & Papas Junior collections. Based on the contemporary models available in the ‘real life’ nursery ranges and featuring up-to-the-minute stylish fabric designs, HTI provides little girls with the ultimate large doll accessory – their very own set of wheels! The stylish collection of Mamas & Papas dolls prams and pushchairs continues to go from strength to strength for HTI. The new M&P ‘Armadillo’ dolls pushchair will be TV advertised for 2015 demonstrating the role-play fun to be had pretending to be just like mummy! The distinctive design dolls pram is inspired by the real life nursery replica with a beautifully bold and striking yellow colourway and matching shoulder bag. It features a reclining seat, removable hood and a handy under-seat shopping basket. The other lines in HTI’s Mamas & Papas 2015 range have been refreshed with the new visually vibrant ‘Bluebird’ fabric – a light, bright, pretty pink and turquoise bird pattern. The range includes replica lines such as the quirky and versatile Urbo pram which switches from pram to pushchair and the Double Decker Stroller with elevated rear seat that provides room for two of your

favourite dolls! HTI’s Silver Cross dolls prams and pushchairs junior collection for 2015 is inspired by couture fashion and runway shows. All white frames provide a stunning, clean, crisp new look, reflecting the hottest trends in the nursery market. The ‘Damson’ fabric is an eye-catching, succulently rich, deep purple colourway that is finished with smart white trims for guaranteed head-turning impact. The range provides both classic and contemporary styling, replica detailing and co-ordinating accessories. HTI also offers dolls prams and pushchairs with evergreen brands Peppa Pig, Hello Kitty, Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins and Minnie Mouse.

Pretty plush princesses POSH PAWS 01268567317 www.poshpawsinternational.co.uk Looking for something soft and cuddly for a little princess? Well Posh Paws is excited to be adding dding Anna and Elsa to their large plush doll collection. ction. The new 20 inch Anna and Elsa dolls are suitable table for children aged 1+ and features the magical al princesses wearing their iconic dresses. The Frozen princesses are added to an already very impressive line-up of Disney’s most treasured d princesses including Cinderella, which is anticipated to be a popular in 2015 with the release of the new live action movie in March. Alongside Cinderella, Posh Paws has large Aurora and Belle for Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel fans. Continuing on the success of its Sofia the First range, Posh Paws is releasing in September a large 8 inch Sofia doll. Girls will love the detail of Sofia as she wears her purple dress, crown and amulet.

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FEATURE

LARGE DOLLS

Look who’s back! TRENDS UK 01295768078 www.trendsuk.co.uk The new Cabbage Patch Kids collection from Trends UK has been expanded with new product launches that appeal to different age groups and features price points that suit different purchase opportunities. Uniquely, the full range of Cabbage Patch Kids products will be available from Trends UK. The Trends UK range will include the Cabbage Patch Kids Snugglers, Cabbage Patch 14 inch Kids and the Cabbage Patch Kids Pets/Adoptimals and the new Cabbage Patch ‘Dance With Me’ which performs lifelike dance moves when you play your favourite tunes. A beautiful selection of new Disney Frozen feature plush toys will also be available from Trends UK to coincide with the launch of Frozen Fever, the new short ﬁlm arriving in cinemas in March 2015. The new Disney Frozen 15 inch Singing Plush featuring Elsa and Anna have beautiful vinyl heads and huggable soft bodies. The lovely Elsa doll sings ‘Let It Go’ and sweet Anna sings ‘For the First Time in Forever’. Available in a try-me pack.

Head to Doc’s, it’s a hoot! FLAIR 0208 643 0320 www.flairplc.co.uk Flair’s Doc McStuffins toy collection is a firm favourite amongst pre-schoolers and continues to grow in 2015 with the addition of the new Doc specialist dolls! Doc McStuffins fans can now play with brand new themed Specialist Doc Dolls, help Dentist Doc cure Hallie’s toothache using magic tweezers. When Hootsie the owl goes crosseyed, Eye Doctor Doc gives her glasses to straighten her eyes. Each 30cm uniformed doll comes with one patient and an array of accessories to heal them back to full health. It’s time for Findo and Squibbles to get a checkup with everyone’s favourite Vet with the new Pet Vet Interactive Doc McStuffins Doll. Doc is dressed in her veterinary outfit and has her vet bag ready to reach her expert diagnoses. Use the Magnifying Glass, Brush and

Stethoscope to cure Findo and Squibbles Boo Boos. Doc talks and sings her new Pet Vet song. The perfect prescription for fun! The new Vet Bag Playset includes everything needed to tend to the animals, while the Doc McStufﬁns Pet Vet Desk and Vets n Pets Care Centre will allow children to create their own pet clinic at home, making sure all their own cuddly toy animals are kept ﬁt and healthy.

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ne u J 23rd 15 20

GOLF £95 FOR THE DAY

CLASSIC 2008 - 2015

£95

A E R Y S 7 Goring & Streatley THE PACKAGE INCLUDES • Coffee and bacon rolls on arrival • 9 hole morning Texas Scramble from 9.30 • Lunch (ham, egg and chips) • 18 hole individual Stableford and team four ball, longest drive and nearest the pin • 3 Course Presentation Dinner Email: malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

FOR THE DAY

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

The show’s just begun As the dust settles on Toy Fair 2015, TnP takes a look at the highlights and success stories from this year’s show, as the industry forges ahead into another year of forecasted growth ‘Optimism abounds’ read the Toy Fair Daily News headline on opening morning of Toy Fair 2015. But by the show’s end three days later, that optimism had evolved into something altogether more concrete: conﬁdence. Assurance from NPD that, yes, 2014 was indeed the widely forecast strong year the industry had worked towards went a long way to foster this sentiment. NPD’s data revealed that the British toy market not only defended its title as the biggest in Europe, it did it with aplomb. The market increased by 4.4% to reach £3 billion at retail in 2014, an increase of £130 million that leaves the industry sitting at its strongest point in four years, primed for further growth in 2015. But beyond that, everyone at Toy Fair was brimming with positive energy. Exhibitors were excited to showcase what many of them deemed their most exciting and boundarypushing new ranges in years. And visitors were suitably impressed with the new toys

showcased across more than 260 stands, full of stories of the products coming through from both ends of the tech-traditional spectrum. ‘Quality’ was perhaps the most used word throughout the show, with retailers happy to report the vast amount of “quality products” on offer, and exhibitors pleased with the amount of focused, “quality visitors” to their stands. From imaginative, original toys to refreshes of the popular staple ranges, that quality was evident in all the products on display. And with so many globally-renowned entertainment franchises returning to the big and small screens this year, the hall was awash with 2015’s licensing colour pallet. From Minions yellow and Frozen blue, to dinosaur-scale green and a rainbow of Lightsaber hues, the trends and top licenses for 2015 were unmistakable.

No one ever has a bad show The old trade show adage goes ‘no one ever has a bad show,’ but the degrees of success certainly vary. Happily then, exhibitors were keen to share their experiences from this year’s show, and gauging from their

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NOBODY EVER HAS A BAD TOY FAIR, BUT THIS YEAR HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARY Paul Fogerty, K’Nex UK

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reactions, 2015’s show was overwhelmingly positive. “Nobody ever has a bad Toy Fair, but this year has been extraordinary,” explained Paul Fogerty, MD, K’Nex UK. “We’ve had lots of great comments about everything on our stand. Our major brand extension, K-Force blasters, have been drawing visitors in for a hands-on demo and they have been really well received. We actually had Jason Bradbury from the Gadget Show come by wearing his big white glasses. ‘Wow these are really steampunk,’ he said, waving one of our bigger blasters about. So we have one new fan there at least!” Meanwhile, over on the Vivid stand, Marketing Manager Kerry Paternoster was busy showing retailers around, highlighting the company’s renewed emphasis on product diversity. “This year, perhaps more than any other, we have something truly exciting in every category, from I-Que, our

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The BTHA’s Majen Immink, Head of Toy Fair Operations and Sales weighs in on her first year at the helm of Toy Fair "Toy Fair 2015 was another great show for all involved, with positive feedback from both exhibitors and visitors. Exhibitors commented on the quality of visitors, many of who were pleased to have “seen all the right people”. Footfall was overall on par with last year with first day figures slightly up, including increased press attendance, which led to some fantastic personal press coverage that gave a boost to exhibitor’s profiles. Product-wise, there was once again a great mix of tech toys and traditional items, including many retro licenses coming through. The highlight for me was watching the show build to a crescendo and seeing it all finally come together on the first morning. There were some fantastic new stand designs thanks to the efforts of all the wider teams. It was particularly nice to see our brand new exhibitors, of which there were 57, having such a successful and positive first time. Toy Fair TV brought an added dimension and buzz to the fair, expanded

FEBRUARY 2015

this year to cover even more of the show ﬂoor and bring extra exposure for exhibitors and their products. The energy and anticipation around the halls was felt from opening morning right through to the closing tradition of the Barnardos trolley dash. The charity dash was so generously supported as always by our exhibitors who donated thousands of pounds worth of toys and games. Toy Fair 2015 was undoubtedly a success for the majority, but we appreciate the show can’t always be a resounding success for absolutely everyone. All feedback is hugely welcomed to ensure we take strides to improve the experience for all parties, so please do get in touch and let us know about your experiences this year."

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OUR ENTIRE RANGE HAS BEEN DISPLAYED AT ITS BEST AND THAT’S HELPED THEM REALLY SHINE. WE’VE TAKEN LOTS OF ORDERS THROUGHOUT THE SHOW Sally Carnall, Epoch making toys

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extension of the My Friend Cayla concept in tech, to our more traditional new AniMagic ranges,” she explained. “Everyone has been asking to see the new Thunderbirds range, which will launch alongside the new TV series later this year especially the jewel in the crown, Tracey Island. I think 2015 is going to be one of our best years ever; it’s a really thrilling, exciting time for us.”

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

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FROM THE WORD GO OUR STAND HAS BEEN PACKED AND IT’S BEEN REALLY BUSY ALL AROUND THE SHOW Phil Ratcliffe, Sales and Marketing Director, MV sports

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Stand and deliver

Read all about it! Toy Fair 2015 kicked off with media day, a traditionally bustling opener that this year drew 400 journalists from the world’s foremost media outlets to the show, all keen to share what they had found with the world. The BBC was out in force with both radio and TV crews for its various adult and child-facing channels heading onto stands. The national newspapers, including The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Daily Mail, the most widely read global news outlet online, were similarly keen to get the scoop on this year’s biggest launches and hidden gems. The papers picked up on the one of the biggest trends from the show: the return of retro and traditional toys and properties with a tech twist or modernising refresh. Headlines included: Old Favorites With A Tech Twist, Daily Telegraph; Drones; Back With A Clang, The Sun; and Good Grief Penfold...Toys Are Going Retro, Daily Mail. And the Ofﬁcial Toy Fair Daily News, proudly published by Toys n Playthings, returned to bring visitors and exhibitors all the news and product launches straight from the show ﬂoor. You can refresh your memory and catch up on all the happenings from this year’s Toy Fair by reading the Toy Fairs Dailies online at www.toysnplaythings.co.uk.

But as with any good show, it’s the people that ultimate make it a success. Even the best product slate and showstopping stand can fall short if the right mix of retailers and other industry professionals don’t make the trip. But from the moment doors opened each morning, until the tannoy declared the show over for another day, stands at Toy Fair 2015 were consistently bustling. “From the word go our stand has been packed and it’s been really busy all around the show,” said Phil Ratcliffe, Sales and Marketing Director at MV Sports. “We’ve had a constant stream of retailers coming by to see our latest licensed and own brand ranges, from the smallest independents to the nationals.” Toy Fair 2015 was also Phil’s first year as Chairman of the BTHA, and all the additional responsibilities that comes with the position. “I can’t say I wasn’t a little nervous to begin with,” he said. “But it was a great honour and experience co-hosting the Toy Industry Awards on

Tuesday evening, and I’m really looking forward to the year ahead.” It was a similar story on the Mookie stand: busy and with the just the right combination of independents and nationals. “There has been a lot of traffic on the stand, and heavy interest in our new Fluffimals and Story Stars ranges which is fantastic,” said Marketing Manager Gemma Lewington. “Lots of visitors have been surprised and excited by the way Pebli has developed since we first showed it last January, which has come on leaps and bounds. It has been phenomenal.” Epoch making toys pulled out all the stops to pique visitors’ interests this year, erecting a full size replica of its iconic, redroofed Sylvanian Families house as on its stand. For their efforts, the Epoch team was awarded best stand of the show by the BTHA for their creative use of an exhibition space. And for those that were wondering, TnP can confirm that the fridge was in fact a cleverly disguised entrance to the staff office – ingenious. “The stand has been heaving the entire show,” EPOCH making toys’ Sally Carnall told TnP as the final day drew to a close. “We put a lot of thought into the creativity of our stand this year, and it certainly paid off. Our entire range has been displayed at its best and that’s helped them really shine. We’ve taken lots of orders throughout the show, and had a lot of interest in our gondola displays, which give retailers an extra special way to showcase their Sylvanian Families offering in-store.” Last year’s best stand award winner, Green Board Games, returned with its American diner inspired stand, complete with milkshakes and a mini golf competition. CEO Keith Grafham, said: “Having won stand of the year in 2014 we knew we had to step up again, and wow what a show it has been – we might need a bigger stand next year. 2015 proves to be a really exciting year of continued growth.” For those on the lookout for outdoor innovation, Re:creation brought the action to the aisles.

Fresh roots "We are a proactive recruitment consultancy and this is our first exhibition at Toy Fair. Our business is growing with the toy industry, and it has been fantastic for us to talk to businesses. Without being here that would not have happened." Vertex Resourcing, Mark Tobitt "This is our first fair so Toy Fair has been scary for us – in an overwhelming positive way. We have been flattered by the interest across the board, from boutique shops to the Natural History Museum. There is a lot to absorb and assimilate, but the show has validated our company. Tell Tails are being taken seriously in front of the big boys, so all our hard work has been worth it."

innovation across the board and the return of numerous tentpole entertainment releases as the driving forces behind an exciting and successful 2015. “Thanks to product innovation and a strong line-up of movies including the next installment of Jurassic World and the latest Star Wars there will be plenty of excitement for kids big and small throughout the year,” explained NPD Group’s Toys Global Industry Analyst Frederique Tutt. “We expect the market to increase by 3%.”

Tell Tails, Michael O’Shea

The company’s Crazy Kart was a resounding success last year, and it was back this year alongside a number of new models, bringing its unique freeform movement to the whole family. Crazy Cart XL gives kids 13+ - including mum and dad – the chance to get in on the action, and for pre-schoolers, Lil Crazy is just the ticket. “We had so many bums on the seats of our Crazy Karts this year, and even more smiles,” said Outdoor Brand Manager, Katy Fletcher. “The innovation of Crazy Kart has been fantastic for us, and caught the attention of a lot of retailers at the show this year. We definitely noticed an increase in the amount of independents as well as buying directors from larger retailers coming by to check out the action.” HTI’s new UK MD Paul Bennett was in high spirits, kicking off his new role at the company in style. “I’ve only been in the job three weeks, but what better way to start than doing Toy Fair?” he said. “There has been a real buzz at the show this year about the new direction HTI is taking. We have a big new team and great new products. I am really pleased with the quality and calibre of people here. Retailer feedback has been very good.”

FEBRUARY 2015

The show must go on With another Toy Fair behind us, it’s time to say a fond farewell to 2014 and look to the twists and turns of 2015. Last year will be a hard act to follow, with its loom band craze, boost from World Cup collectables, and the Frozen phenomenon. But NPD points to the investment in product

AWARDS TIA

Simply the best New categories and new hosts gave this year’s Toy Industry Awards a fresh feel as the industry recognised the products and people that made 2014 a year remember

n a year that so many standout toys, success stories and cultural phenomena, it was always going to be The great and the good of the toy industry packed aboard the coaches and headed to the Science Museum for the crowning event of Toy Fair’s opening day, the Toy Industry Awards. Returning for a second year to the popular Science Museum venue, guests were treated to drinks – including one cocktail including a rather exotic blend of

watermelon, chilli and cardamom – and bowl food. It was a great chance for some hobnobbing and a catch up with new and familiar faces. Speaking of which, which TnP was lucky enough to talk with Jose Royce who has run Rodwins in north London for 55 years. An industry legend, Jose began her career as a lift operator in Hamleys and has attended every Toy Fair since it began in 1952. Her dedication and service to the industry was recognised later in the evening with a Golden

Toy and Supplier of the Year Awards: Toy of the Year: Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa, Jakks Paciﬁc Supplier of the Year: Character Options Craze of the Year: Loom Bands, Character Options and H. Grossman Construction Range of the Year: The LEGO Movie, LEGO Action Figure Range of the Year: Ninja Turtles Movie Figures, Flair Leisure Products Gaming Toy of the Year: Minecraft Figures, Character Options Doll of the Year: Disney Frozen Sparkle Dolls, Mattel Interactive Toy of the Year: Little Live Pets Birds, Character Options Collectable Toy of the Year: Shopkins, Flair Leisure Products Craft Toy of the Year: Sew Cool Sewing Studio, Spinmaster Pre-School Range of the Year: Toot-Toot, VTech

The jubilant Jakks Paciﬁc team were on form as they collected their Toy of the Year Award for their Snow Glow Elsa doll.

Innovative Toy of the Year: My Friend Cayla, Vivid Toy License of the Year: Frozen, Disney

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Teddy award, the ultimate symbol of recognition in the toy industry. Five Golden Teddies were given out in total, the most ever at one ceremony. The other recipients were Mark Beaman, Jeff Taylor, and two familiar Toy Fair faces, Tracey Butcher and Chris Baxter. The past 12 months will be remembered by many for a cold front sweeping across the entertainment landscape, Jakks Paciﬁc’s Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa was named Toy of the Year 2014, and Character Options took four awards in total, including Overall Supplier of the Year. Last year’s loom band fever was recognised with both Character’s and H.Grossman’s loom lines sharing the title of Craze of the Year, a new award category for 2014. Gaming Toy of the Year, a second new award introduced this year to reﬂect the industry’s continuing evolution was awarded to the range of Minecraft Figures, developed by Moose Enterprises and distributed in the UK by Character. The big winner in the retail

category was Smyths Toys, taking the awards for both Specialist Toy Retailer (over 30 Stores) and the overall Toy Retailer of the Year 2014. Meanwhile The Entertainer was saluted for its performance in digital retail channels, picking up the Online Toy Retailer of the Year for commitment to adapting to changes in consumer behaviour. Making his TIA co-hosting debut, BTHA Chairman Phil Ratcliffe said: “It was my ﬁrst year up on stage, so I can’t deny that I was pretty terriﬁed. But there were no major hitches, and I think Anna and Gavin did a brilliant job for their debut as well. I’d like to congratulate all the winners and everyone nominated on behalf of the BTHA.” It’s nice to see some growth - something we can all agree is fantastic. Looking to the year ahead I think licensed product will continue to play a big role, with Frozen and existing licenses continuing to be popular and some great movies releasing throughout the year.”

Toy Retailer of the Year winners: Overall Toy Retailer of the Year: Smyths Toys Independent Toy Retailer of the Year: Toys N Tuck Specialist Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year (up to 5 stores): Ken Black Toys & Nursery Specialist Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year (up to 30 stores): Toy Barnhaus Specialist Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year (over 30 stores): Smyths Toys General Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year: Morleys Stores Online Toy Retailer of the Year: The Entertainer

Padraig Smyth of Smyths collects the Overall Toy Retailer of the Year Award

The Craze of the Year winners, Character Options and H. Grossman

The Flair team, Verity Groom and Nic Aldridge picking up an award

Team Entertainer won for Online Toy Retailer of the Year

Vivid's Gerbi Quilter and Mary Wood pick up the Innovative Toy of Year Award for My Friend Cayla Marvin Berglas from Marvin's Magic with his Outstanding Contribution Award

FEBRUARY 2015

Mattel's Michael Hick collects the Doll of the Year Award

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

A really Yummy line-up CHARACTER OPTIONS 0161 633 9800 www.character-online.com With a number of high profile girls’ and boys’ properties and popular pre-school ranges, Character Options had a wealth of exciting ng trading opportunities on display lay at Toy Fair 2015, including some major new licenses such as The he Clangers. Character’s collaboration ration with Australian toy giant, Moose ose Enterprise will continue to strengthen engthen with new brands unveiled at Toy Fair, including new additions to the e popular Little Live Pets. Causing a flutter at this year’s show was the most intelligent and interactive new addition of them all – Clever Keet! This Parakeet arakeet won a Best New Toy Award and is set to fly off the shelves in 2015. Moose ose has also introduced a new scary choice of pet to discover – Wild Pets! These hese realistic furry giant spiders scurry along and are controlled by the touch of a hand. The world of youth electronics continues to expand with the award winning Teksta. Toy Fair unveiled a new level of electronic interactivity with a Teksta that contains a sting in its tail. Teksta Scorpion is the first pet of its kind to be controlled by an infra red remote that straps to the back of the child’s hand allowing a full 360 degrees of realistic movement. Creative play saw a whole new concept being showcased that will open up the industry even further, with the introduction of Character’s new food brand Yummy Nummies. Using pre-mixed sachets of ingredients, featuring both savoury and sweet treats, this concept is set to take the UK by storm. Character goes hand-inhand with pre-school lines and the eagerly awaited return of The Clangers was proving a hot topic of conversation. The popular stop-frame animation TV series is returning to screens soon and Character’s collection will not disappoint. At the heart of the new Clangers ‘Little Characters’ collection will be the Home Planet Playset, which is scaled for play with the other figures and vehicles, such as the Musical Boat. The Peppa Pig toy takeover continues with a stunning Holiday theme for spring. This new collection features; a Holiday Jet, Camper Van Playset, Sunshine Villa, plus many more which are all available from retailers now. The Peppa Pig Holiday Campervan generated a lot of attention in the demonstration area and had everybody wanting to take their holidays with Peppa and her family! Plus, new for autumn will be a which is inspired by children’s favourite delightful Once Upon a Time range wh fairy tales and nursery rhymes such as Red Riding Hood and Ring-a-Roses. Playsets will be given a magical touch with Cinders Coachman George with a Pumpkin Peppa and Co Coach, and a fairy tale Tea Party playset C amongst others. The hero plush Princess Rose Peppa, based on a magic play-pattern on the Ring-aRoses nursery rhyme for interactive play. Other pre-school ranges in Character’s portfolio, such as Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom and Fireman Sam continue to grow, due to strong S demand. d

Is there a doctor in the house? GIBSONS 02086618866 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk Gibsons says Toy Fair 2015 has proved to be one of their best shows yet! They have come away with a positive outlook for the rest of 2015, not to mention some new and exciting partners to work with. This year they introduced the Gibsons doctor, 7-yearold Reuben, who was showing off what he’d learned about the human body from the My Body puzzle. While Reuben was busy charming the Gibsons guests, there was strong interest in the new lines, in particular Sherlock Holmes the Card Game, which they hope will follow on with the same success as the 221b Baker Street board game. The new line of nostalgic jigsaw puzzles, the Memory Lane series, was also met with encouraging interest as the nostalgia range is often a ﬁrm favourite of many of customers.

A real super star EDUK8 WORLDWIDE LTD 01434672336 www.eduk8worldwide.com Eduk8 Worldwide say they are delighted with the reaction they received from buyers at this year’s Toy Fair to their ranges. Their Belly Bump Balls, now available in twin packs, were as popular as ever and are a fantastic way for the whole family to have fun. Also proving a huge hit was the Super Star Theatre. The Super Star Theatre is a true Mini Theatre for children to have fun. It has all the components of a real theatre – Dressing Room, Stage Door Entrance, Ticket Booth with cast photo frames and Show Time Clock and lots more.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

A licence to thrill FLAIR 0208 633 0320 www.flairplc.co.uk Toy Fair 2015 saw Flair deliver an impressive new mix of toys, high profile licenses, extended products of some of their most successful brands; all of which highlighted the excitement around the robust year ahead. The brand new licence from Mind Candy, World of Warriors, will be a key focus for this year’s boy’s portfolio with the launch of mini collectible figures, playsets, action figures and roleplay. Fans will be able to emulate the game play with the Deluxe Action Figures, with each character figure possessing a special move feature inspired from the app. A collection of role-play weapons and accessories will also be included in the summer launch. Another new property for Flair in the boy’s portfolio is Mutant Mania, which won an award for Best New Toy. The unique feature of each figure is that it comes in several detachable body parts and a ‘flexi’ spine to hold them all together. After ongoing success, this spring sees the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enter the pre-school sector with the launch of Half Shell Heroes. Toy Fair showcased the brand new cuter styling of figures, vehicles and playsets, plus exciting hero products, the Electronic Shellraiser, Super Sewer HQ and Mega Mutant Leo. In 2014, the world fell in love with the highly sought after shopping inspired characters, Shopkins. Shopkins has proven

Dino madness SCHLEICH 01279 870000 www.Schleich-s. com Schleich unveiled new items from the 2015 portfolio, showcasing brand new licensed DC Comics ﬁgures, Dragons entering the World of Knights, plus some miniature additions to the popular Dinosaur collection. The new licensed additions received an excellent response from retailers, making 2015 look set to be another promising year for the company. Visitors to Toy Fair were able to witness ﬁrst-hand the DC Comic Figures which received great feedback.

to be a major success for Flair’s girls’ portfolio, winning the ‘Best Collectable Toy of 2014’ in this year’s Toy Industry Awards. There is a brand new array of colourful characters in the Series 3 collection themed on ‘Food Fair’ and ‘Fashion Spree’. The Frozen phenomenon continues to take the world by storm and now kids can be just like Queen Elsa with the new Magic Snow Sleeve from Flair. Complementing the new Frozen range, there are also several art and craft items to get excited about including Frozen Cool Cardz. Other Frozen themed products in the art and craft portfolio include Frozen Inkoos, Shaker Maker and Fun Tiles. Flair is launching a collection of creative play Star Wars products from US Company, Uncle Milton. Kids will be able to construct their very own night-light with the Deluxe 8 Colour Light Saber Room Light – a replica of Anakin Skywalkers. WILD! Science is now a key part of Flair’s portfolio. 2015 will see the brand continuing with ﬁrm favourites such as Perfume Studio, Bath Bomb Studio, Lip Balm Studio, and Magic Nail Studio. New for AW15, Flair is introducing the gory Zombie Blood and Guts kit, and for good clean fun there’s Soap Studio Ocean Friends. Demonstrations of the Exploding Volcano Workshop and the Weird Slime Workshop from the Boys Science category attracted a few future scientists to the stand. This and lots more!

Where licences come to play POSH PAWS 01268567317 www.poshpawsinternational.co.uk Posh Paws International had a top-notch Toy Fair thanks to their great licenced range. From Frozen to Star Wars to Minions to Disney Pixar’s Inside Out – they had something for everyone. Speaking about the success of their range at the fair, Lauren Hayward, Group Brand Manager, said: “It may sound cliché but it really has been the best Toy Fair to date. This is largely down to us having some of the hottest licences for plush and backpacks in 2015. The reaction to our plush and backpacks has been overwhelming."

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2014

TWIRLYWOOS™ DHX Worldwide. © 2015 Ragdoll Productions Limited/DHX Worldwide BBC logo© 1996 and TM BBC. Something Special logo © 2004 and TM BBC. Licensed by BBC Worldwide Ltd. CBeebies™ CBeebies logo © BBC 2002.

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

Zooming onto a shelf near you VTECH 01235546810 www.vtechuk.com VTech has a fresh new product offering for retailers! After a positive show, the company are looking forward to taking on 2015. Speaking about the range’s reception at Toy Fair, Clive Richardson, Marketing Director said: “It has been a great show this year and we have had a really positive response from the visitors to the VTech stand. All the products at our stand were brand new or a refreshed version of previous ranges due to launch in 2015 so it has been a great opportunity to showcase the exciting year ahead.” A popular new product demonstrated at the VTech stand was the newest addition to the Kidizoom range, the Kidizoom Action Cam which is set to launch this Spring. It’s a new addition to the growing wearable tech category. The Action Cam has already proven to be of great interest amongst buyers as well as the media. BBC Click featured the Action Cam following Toy Fair, demonstrating where you can mount the camera and included footage ﬁlmed when skateboarding around the Fair. VTech were delighted to have been selected as an award winner for our Toot-Toot Friends Discovery House for the Pre-School category at Toy Fair. Toot-Toot Friends, set to launch in 2015, is a new addition to the popular Toot-Toot range. There are a number of interactive accessories and playsets available to go alongside the Friends so you can continue to expand your Toot-Toot collection. The Trot and Go Pony proved to be very popular with visitors at the stand, when you place Lizzie on an interactive point on her horse, the horse moves. Toy Fair always presents a great opportunity to show visitors what VTech have planned for the year ahead. They have some big plans for 2015, such as their entry into the girl’s collectable category for the ﬁrst time with the new Flipsies range.

Bringing colour to toys VIVID 01483449944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk Vivid showcased its strongest portfolio to date at London Toy Fair and certainly had a non-stop stand over the course of the three days. For AW15, not only is Vivid building on the success of My Friend Cayla with new app personalisation, a new outﬁt and a brand new SKU My Friend Cayla Princess, there are also two brand new ‘tech’ items; My Friend Freddy Bear, the cuddly interactive teddy and the very humorous and cheeky i-Que, the intelligent Robot. The highly innovative Real FX, the slotless racing system from Wow Stuff received lots of buzz at the show with buyers, journalists and media buyers trying to record their best lap times against Ben Elliot, a qualiﬁed instructor. Bubba Dubbas, the irreverent babies you don’t want to wake and Dave the Funky Monkey also caused a stir in the tech area of the stand. Thunderbirds received a huge amount of coverage with queues forming outside of the secret room to see the highly anticipated Tracy Island. With the programming starting in SS15, this is certainly one to watch! Crayola also showcased a range of pioneering products and innovation. The real show stopper was Colour Alive which amazed both buyers and the press with its ability to magically transform coloured pages into Augmented 4D Reality. An overwhelming response was also received for the Thread Wrapper, everyone delighted as their stationary and jewellery items were magically transformed with a new threaded look.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

New ranges come to Great Gizmos GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543221 www.greatgizmos.co.uk Great Gizmos unveiled three new collections at Toy Fair this year with continual additions to all brands across its extensive portfolio that had eager customers lining up on its brand new stand for 2015. Unveiled at Toy Fair, the award winning Meadow Kids collection has a variety of craft kits, bath toys and educational games that will excite kids of all ages. Kids can get arty at home with the Pencils and Stencils kit that will transform everyday cards and envelopes with the included Cupcake, Owl and Rocket stencils and colouring pencils. For fun in the tub, the Build and Play Stable is made of chunky and colourful EVA that can be assembled again and again. Also revealed at Toy Fair was another new brand Kid O; a brilliant range of vibrant plastic toys that are designed with learning in mind. Each toy is created to engage and stimulate the mind with a rich variety of shapes, colours and sizes. The Floating Whale is suitable for children 1+ and is made from sleek durable material in a bright blue and white colour. WWF also joins Great Gizmos portfolio for 2015 and features a beautiful range of games and puzzles that feature highly detailed illustrations of wildlife. The Miombo Tumble Tower is made from FSC wood from well managed forests and features patterns from Africa’s Miombo

Be smart! Smart Toys & Games 01903 885669 www.smartgames.eu Smart Toys & Games received an amazing reaction during Toy Fair to their new 2015 range. The new Smart Games multi-level logic game “Three Little Piggies” is set to have a very positive ﬁrst year. This adorable game has children intrigued by the way the piggies ﬁt inside the houses, look through the windows and escape the wolf. SmartMax, the pre-school magnetic construction system also received a fantastic reaction. The giant parts are ideal for children ages one year plus!

woodlands including a giraffe, zebra and cheetah. New for 2015 in the Plan Toys range is the fantasy land range and a fabulous array of colourful sensory and learning toys, plus a wide variety of outdoor toys, ride-ons, games and puzzles plus educational pieces that will keep little ones entertained. The ever-popular luxury plush range NICI, is set to wow retailers for 2015 with more high quality collections launching in the spring. Brand new for NICI is Jolly Candy, an addition to the Jolly Mah range of plush sheep characters. New to NICI Wonderland is Minilucas and Minisophie, a beautiful soft plush farmer and his wife, who are suitable for children from birth. There are new products for the popular My First NICI, Owl, Wild Friends, Donkey and a new Classic Bear ranges so children can continue to build on their collections. The 4M craft and science kits keep retailers and consumers coming back for more with different ranges and USP’s that allow kids and adults alike to choose exactly the right type of project. The latest fashion trends are now at girl’s ﬁngertips with the Spiral Charm Bracelets kit that lets girl’s transform everyday strings and beads into chic jewellery. Great Gizmos unveiled lots more are Toy Fair 2015, contact them to see their full range.

Shuffle keeps gathering pace Cartamundi 01268511522 www.cartamundi.co.uk After multiple launches in European territories and more imminent with Shuffle, Cartamundi’s London Toy Fair was a positive start to the year. Speaking about the fair Trudi Bishop, Head of Marketing and Licensing, said: “Cartamundi’s brand new product category that combines playing cards and digital technology saw a number of new launches hitting retail — like Shuffle Disney Frozen, Shuffle Disney Cars and Shuffle Monopoly Deal Disney Edition — or under way. Toy Fair itself was sold out well in advance, a sign perhaps of a big pick-up in the sector. It mirrors our own recent experience, with sales continuing to improve in all territories."

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A HIT for HTI HTI 01253778888 www.htigroup.co.uk Toy Fair 2015 proved to be a huge success for HTI Toys. With three exciting new TV lines for 2015, demonstrating strength in key categories of the toy market, as well as some of the biggest toy brands, and bolstered by several new appointments and structural changes to the team, HTI had a lot to talk about at Toy Fair 2015. Chris Spalding, HTI CEO, said: “The company had some major statements to make at Toy Fair this year. We showcased some of HTI’s most innovative new product developments featuring unique designs across Role-play, Vehicles, Wheeled and Dolls Prams categories as well as key lines from global partnership deals. The reaction from the buyers that we met at the show was incredibly positive.” The show is also an extremely important event to the company from a licence partnership perspective. Andrew Coplestone, HTI Licensing Director, added: “Toy Fair 2015 was a great opportunity to meet with many of HTI’s existing licensor partners, to review successes, present new product developments and also discuss new opportunities for the future. It also provides a great platform from which to forge new relationships and make new contacts in the licensing arena, in line with HTI’s strategy for continued growth by providing our customers with the biggest brands that we know will drive sales.”

The height of success FLYING GADGETS 0844 209 2626 www.flyinggadgets.com Dynamic RC toys specialist, Flying Gadgets, has declared Toy Fair 2015 its most successful to date, after using the event as the launch platform for the world’s first voice-controlled quadcopter – the Flying Gadgets X-Voice. The only drone of its kind in the world, the X-Voice uses cutting-edge voice control technology and is pre-programmed with 16 different languages. It’s able to understand accents and dialects, and is virtually indestructible thanks to the flexible caging surrounding each of the four propellers. Users can fine-tune flight using the 2.4ghz controller for added precision whilst speaking commands such as “take off”, “land”, “dancing” and “flip right/ left/back/forward” into the supplied microphone headset. Kickstarting what it calls the ‘drone wars’ of 2015, Flying Gadgets also unveiled a new entry-level six-axis gyro quad: the Flying Gadgets X-Vision. This drone boasts FPV (first person view) onboard so users can beam back live footage through its HD camera, to their Apple device attached to the 2.ghz remote control unit. The unit can also be operated using an app. The X-Voice and X-Vision go on sale in March 2015 and Flying Gadgets is expected to confirm launch retailers in early February.

A BIG success Bandai 01489790944 www.bandai.co.uk Bandai’s Toy Fair was a good one, according to Product Manager Vicki Elmer. “Toy Fair was buoyant for Bandai and we were delighted with the huge buzz created by Big Hero 6, with our inﬂatable Baymax a very popular photo opportunity for visitors.” Vicki said there was “a welcome air of positivity throughout the show venue and everyone who came to see us was particularly enthusiastic about our product offering this year.” She thanked “all of our customers and media partners for coming to support us and we are really looking forward to working with them in 2015.”

FEBRUARY 2015

REVIEW

LONDON TOY FAIR

A razor sharp offering RE:CREATION 01189736222 www.recreationltd. co.uk Strong growth and powerful performances from key brands in 2014 set the tone for an energetic Toy Fair for Re:creation this year. The company showcased a raft of new products building on 2014 success stories including adult and pre-school takes on the headline-making Razor Crazy Cart as well as new plush lines Zigamazoos and Necknapperz and the re-launch of the popular chocolate creative kit, Magic Choc Make-a-Bar Chocolate Factory. Re:creation continues to demonstrate leadership in Outdoor off the back of phenomenal success for the Razor electric portfolio last year as well as sterling results from performance launcher brand, Air Storm. Demonstrated in trademark style at Toy Fair by its inventor, Ali Kermani, the Razor Crazy Cart XL offers adults the chance to get in on the drifting action in 2015 and the youngest members of the family won’t be forgotten either with the Lil’ Crazy which has been designed to be perfect for kids 3+. At the heart of Razor’s offering, scooters were centrestage at Toy Fair with the unveil of the funky Party Pop kick scooter with its show-stopping light-up deck and the off-road electric scooter the RX200 with its chunky all-terrain styling and high-torque motor. Light-up power was the order of the day with performance launcher brand, Air Storm, as Re:creation revealed the stunning FireTek product range. FireTek Rocketz add a new dimension to outdoor play with LED power. These bungee launched rockets light up the sky as they travel up to 76 metres into the sky for an incredible display. Later this spring, these will be joined by the FireTek Zeon Bow, designed for indoor use, and the FireTek Z-Curve Bow. Re:creation’s strength in the plush arena was ﬁrmly established in 2014 with success stories Stretchkins and Bright Light Pillows. With creative play ever more popular, Re:creation showcased the re-invention of a popular concept. The Magic Choc Make-a-Bar Chocolate Factory creative kits enable kids to design and create their own chocolate bars using delicious Belgian chocolate.

That's magic DRUMOND PARK 01473322000 www.drumondpark.com Vivid Group’s new Drumond Park division showcased an impressive range of new titles for AW15, from pre-school to adult, alongside its existing portfolio of perennial favourites at London Toy Fair this year. The colourful and inviting stand proved to be extremely popular across the three days with retailers, independents and inventors alike – there was even a specialist magician on hand to demonstrate the new magical box of tricks for kids, Gee Whizz! The strength of the new games on show and creativity of the Drumond Park development team was rightfully recognised after the hilarious, new electronic game OG on the Bog received the Toy Fair 2015 Best New Toy Award in the Games & Puzzles category, which was proudly displayed on the stand. Further new games ranged from the nostalgic return of SSHH! Don’t Wake Dad! to the in-house developed and eagerly anticipated LOGO Lite which is poised to be one of the most important games launches of the year.

Playing the fair game GREEN BOARD GAMES 01494538999 www.greenboardgames.com Since unveiling their award winning “Green Board Game Diner” stand at the London Toy Fair last year, the company has attracted even more attention from buyers interested in their range. And the entire GBG team believe that The London Toy Fair 2015 has been the most successful Toy Fair to date! This year saw a huge increase both in terms of new and existing customers. This proved that the Green Board Games brand has become hugely recognised and is being substantiated by increasing demand for the ever-growing and evolving range. In order to increase footfall GBG took advantage of having GBG ﬂoor tiles positioned in prominent, carefully chosen places throughout the show; these helped bring even more attention to the GBG stand.

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All in a Twirl Golden Bear 01952 608308 www.goldenbeartoys.co.uk Golden Bear had one of its busiest ever Toy Fairs this year with its stand and new ranges received extremely well by all. Anne Wood and Steve Roberts, the creators of the new CBeebies show Twirlywoos, which promotes learning through lots of laughter and silliness, stopped by the stand for a photocall, adding an extra dose of excitement to an already busy stand. As master toy licensee, Golden Bear’s Twirlywoos range showcased the characters Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy and Chick. The range of plush will vary in size from 17cm to 35cm and some will feature familiar sounds from the show. The electronic pull-along Big Red Boat is due to set sail in A/W 2015. The Something Special range has been extended to include the Roll and Play Soft Cube, Mr Tumble Stick on Felts, chunky Mr Tumble and Friends Wooden Puzzle, Wooden Dress Up Mr Tumble, Talking Mr Tumble Soft

Plush and Textured Mr Tumble with Fun Sounds. Mr Tumble visited the stand on press day and also later took part in a Q&A session (as Justin), which created a lot of excitement on stand and at the Fair in general! Based on the new animated pre-school series which started in January, the Hey Duggee toy line will launch in A/W 2015. It will include a range of plush items including collectable characters and talking Squirrel Club plush, each with its own feature badge, plus lots more. Building on the runaway 2014 success of the In the Night Garden Ninky Nonk Musical Activity Train, the range has been extended for to include the new battery powered Ninky Nonk Track and Train Set, perfect for little hands, and much more.. Golden Bear also introduced a raft of new lines for Sooty, including a pre-school magic set designed by Sooty’s owner and member of the inner magic circle, Richard Cadell.

WowWee, that’s good!

the worldwide leader in multi-level logic games

Trends UK 01295768078 www.trendsuk.co.uk Toy Fair 2015 in London was a fantastic success for Trends UK in their new ground ﬂoor location. The company has grown its portfolio signiﬁcantly and has partnered with renowned big brands and licences like Cabbage Patch Kids for 2015. The Trends UK stand was buzzing with excitement as the company unveiled its fun new tech toys from WowWee. Press and buyers were lining up to see the impressive new MiPosaur and REV cars in action. Hacker T. Dog was on the Trends UK stand to celebrate the launch of a brand new collection of Hacker T Dog Hand Puppets. Trends UK had even more hot news at the show, showcasing the Disney Junior Sheriff Callie’s Wild West toys. Dancing and moving her mouth, Sheriff Callie Callie-oke was a true star of the show, singing the theme tune and saying well-known phrases from the TV series.

FEBRUARY 2015

SMART Toys & Games Tel: 01903 885669 uk@smart.be www.smartgames.eu www.smartmax.eu

TOY OF THE YEAR AWARDS VTECH

And the winner is… VTech VTech’s Toot-Toot range rose above all others at the TIA’s to be named PreSchool Range of the Year. Commended by the judges for its stand out performance, the Toot-Toot range continues to go from strength to strength Team VTech collecting their award

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selection of vehicles. The Toot-Toot Driver range has shown fantastic performance since its launch. Perfectly sized for little hands, the Toot-Toot Driver vehicles include different phrases, cheerful melodies, sing-along songs and sound effects. Each vehicle also comes complete with SmartPoint technology. When a Toot-Toot Driver vehicle crosses over a SmartPoint on a playset, the vehicle responds with phrases, sounds and more. Interactive SmartPoints respond differently to each vehicle and encourage imaginative play. The Toot-Toot range expanded in autumn/winter 2014 with the introduction of Toot-Toot Animals. Each Toot-Toot animal includes different phrases, animal and nature sound effects as well as the same SmartPoint technology as TootToot Drivers. In addition, all Toot-Toot Animal play sets and tracks interact with all Toot-Toot Drivers vehicles and play sets, allowing kids to build on their favourite Toot-Toot Drivers range. Toot-Toot Animals originally launched with the Safari Park and the much loved Tiger, Hippo,

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Clive Richardson, Marketing Director, VTech

Tech is thrilled to have won the Toy Industry Award for Pre-School Range of the Year for its Toot-Toot range at this year’s Toy Fair. First launched in 2011, the Toot-Toot range continues to grow, with new products set to launch throughout 2015. “We are delighted to have been awarded the Toy Industry Award for the Pre School Category for our Toot-Toot range,” said Clive Richardson, Marketing Director at VTech. “We are really proud of the range and it has been important to us to continue to expand and develop the playsets and accessories.” The Toot-Toot range ﬁrst launched in autumn/winter 2011 with the introduction of VTech’s TootToot Drivers. Since then, VTech has continued to grow the Toot-Toot Drivers range and now offers a police station, ﬁre station, construction site and train station, as well as a huge

Monkey, Elephant, Lion and Zebra. They will be joined by ﬁve new additions in 2015: a Sheep, Pig, Donkey, Cow and Horse. VTech will introduce a fun and interactive chicken coop in spring/summer 2015 with the Toot-Toot Animals Farm to follow later in the year. Encouraging motor skill development and imaginative play, Toot-Toot Animals teach singing, pretend play and sounds. Simply push the animals along and press the light-up button on their head to trigger three sing-along songs and lots of fun melodies. “It was very exciting to launch the Toot-Toot Animals collection last year and we can’t wait to introduce new and exciting characters and playsets in 2015,” added Clive. “ “We are also set to expand the range even further this year with the launch of Toot-Toot Friends which comes complete with a new range of great play sets and characters. The Toot-Toot range helps encourage ﬁne motor development in children as well as early vocabulary too. It’s great for encouraging interactive and imaginative play and we are thrilled that it remains a number one choice for parents.”

What the judges said: One company stands out in this market and in toys as a whole, with growth which many would see as exceptional, yet for them is continuous. Largely unsupported by ﬁlms or TV series, this pre-school toymaker rightly shines at the top of the tree and nothing shows it off better than our winning range. An overwhelming three out of ﬁve infant toys sold in 2014 were in the Toot-Toot range.

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For more details please contact 01235 555545 trade_sales@vtech.com

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For the Pre-School Range of the Year Award 2014

TOY OF THE YEAR AWARDS

CHARACTER OPTIONS

And the winner is… Character Options Quartet for Character

Character Options took this year’s Toy Industry Awards by storm, collecting four awards including the prestigious title of Supplier of the Year

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Craze of the Year ith standout brands The product innovation from such as Peppa Pig, suppliers such as Moose, Minecraft, Little Live Jazwares and Cra-Z-Art Pets and Teksta, has been fantastic and Character Options received an has been coupled with impressive six category strong marketing and IT GOES nominations at the BTHA Toy sales incentives. Our WITHOUT Awards. The team went home logistics team has then SAYING THAT with four awards in total, had to work hard to BOTH OUR including the overall Supplier of the demand.” RETAILER AND meet the Year award. Managing Director, He continued: “In SUPPLIER Jon Diver was delighted with the addition our design RELATIONSHIPS team has the pleasure result: “Being named Supplier of ARE ER O the Year is a great achievement for of working with LI TH F E EXTREMELY Character Options and we are all some of the The Character team T IMPORTANT TO strongest receiving one of their awards incredibly proud to be given this award by our industry peers,” he children’s licenses US, AND products inspired by video said. “It goes without saying that WITHOUT THEM available such as games, also went to Character, both our retailer and supplier IT WOULD NOT Peppa Pig, with the Jazwares produced relationships are extremely Fireman Sam and HAVE BEEN Minecraft Action Figures. important to us, and without them Scooby-Doo, which Character also won the award for POSSIBLE it would not have been possible. continue to thrive on Interactive Toy of the Year with the Jon Diver, “This year we have been able to both a domestic and international Little Live Pets Bird and Bird Cage Managing bring to the market some excellent level. All in all this demonstrates produced by Moose Enterprise. Director new brands that have achieved the massive team effort that has Character’s fourth award of the strong sales and in some instances gone into making 2014 so night was Craze of the Year. This was have been sell out successes. It’s successful for Character. What’s a shared accolade in recognition of been a true team effort from more, this has created a solid the loom band, in which Character’s O Y T O supplier right through to retail. platform for the coming year in G Cra-Z-Loom Bracelet Maker by THE which we look forward to the T Cra-Z-Art played a major part. launch of even more new brands such as The Clangers, Yummy Nummies and Ugglys Pet Shop.” OF TH The Gaming Toy of the Year, a E THE T new category for 2015 celebrating excellence in

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Suppliers have to do a lot to satisfy retailers, and tonight we have shown our appreciation to many. But maintaining and developing a wide product range and supplying it with enthusiasm, reliability and great customer relationships is what set our Supplier of the Year apart.

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What the judges said:

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FEATURE

VTech

SCIENCE & NATURE

The science of it all Exciting, experimental, educational and it gives good margins – does the Science and Nature category have it all?

ociety is changing the way we do things. Our approach to education, play and the consumption of information is different in classrooms, the playground and at home. But one thing has remained the same – the information itself. Within the toy industry, the Science and Nature sector has two-fold appeal, it is desirable to parents and educators and if the kit hits the right mark, it works for children too. Interplay’s MD Ross Ainsworth makes an interesting point, however, explaining that rather than setting out with the resolute principal to educate children, their science kits are meant to engage. “At Interplay we don’t set out to educate children; that’s for the education sector. We set out to engage kids by making the subject matter really fascinating. My idea of a good science and nature kit is one that is so engaging the principles sink into the subconscious without the kids knowing it. Education by stealth in other words… when a subject is really fascinating, learning becomes fun.” With education being their raison d’etre, Great Gizmos’ Judith Dayus explained that their company grew from a desire to give her own children products that slotted into both categories – educational but fun. “We saw the need for children to have fun and learn at the same time,” reveals Judith who cites Great Gizmos’ 4M collection

as being “very strong in this category”. Judith also cites the company’s new WWF range of games and puzzles which are packed with wildlife imagery. Bordering both markets is Thames & Kosmos with Director Joanna Drage explaining they have a variety of kits designed to appeal to everyone from educational suppliers to novelty shops. “Our packaging and manuals enable versatility,” says Joanna. “If a retail outlet would like something more educational or if a school would like something a bit less serious, there will be something in our range to fill their needs. Children will learn a lot of science - even from the most commercial kits in our range - they’re just packaged with less emphasis on the educational aspect and wrapped up in a load of fun!”

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My idea of a good science and nature kit is one that is engaging. Education by stealth in other words… when a subject is really fascinating, learning becomes fun.

Should retailers treat Science and Nature product differently?

With the emphasis placed on making learning appealing, is there an onus on the retailer to market and merchandise their Science and Nature stock differently to other toys? TnP put the question to the suppliers. “We find there is a steady year round market for science and nature toys, so I believe the best way Ross Ainsworth, to maximize this sector is to always carry a selection Interplay of good quality lines,” said Interplay’s Ross Ainsworth. “I don’t think a retailer has to merchandise science and nature differently to other toys, but I guess this depends on their individual business and their core focus.” Judith believes Science and Nature toys should be given enough space in a shop to allow children to “engage with the products and really see what they contain and are all about;

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a fun educational area with lots going on.” From her perspective, Thames & Kosmos’ Joanna says she feels the marketing and merchandising of different genres of toys should always be different, whatever the category. “Different age groups and personalities are interested in different kinds of toys, and therefore marketing should be tailored towards the strengths of each category, with Science and Nature focusing on family time, education and fun-factor and predominantly directed towards school age children.”

How sophisticated are these products? As a retailer, Science and Nature may not be your “thing” but you can still see the absolute value in these products. So it is worth understanding the nuts and bolts of the kits you stock. But how sophisticated are these kits and should we, as mere mortals, be intimidated by the content? The good thing, suppliers tell us, is that they vary to suit whomever is using them.

FEBRUARY 2015

“They can be all levels,” reassures Judith. “Some simple ones for younger kids and some more complicated for older ones. We have a smaller range of 4M pocket money items that are perfect for younger kids to start with but children do love to learn at any age. We just have to make it interesting and fun.” And Ross agrees, explaining: “Interplay first started life by developing nature study kits which is a market sector where they have great expertise. Our kits don’t need to be sophisticated – engaging in the natural world with all its wonders is the most magical aspect of our kits, we don’t need added apps, chips, character licenses or large lumps of unnecessary plastic. We just try and make sure that kids can fully immerse themselves in the subject by having top quality components, excellent and informative activity guides and great customer service.” Retailers should have ranges which cover the whole spectrum from sophisticated to silly, says Joanna. “That way there is something that appeals to everyone. Pocket money kits can focus more on slime and guts, while parents or grandparents prefer sophisticated kits, so perhaps these can afford a higher price point.”

How is the category performing? The most important thing on a retailer’s mind is how the category is performing and what margins are like. The news is good. “The category has performed very well especially for our ‘My Living World’ range which has gone from strength to strength over the past few years,” says Ross. “This year we have some great listings for the spring/summer season so I believe we will have an even better year in 2015.” He added that Interplay offer good margins and “the kits produce strong and steady year round sales.” Judith echoes this, saying Great Gizmos aim for retailers to make gift margins and the category is performing well for them with 4M “particularly good at developing new lines within the collection”. Growth is also strong

We have a smaller range of 4M pocket money items that are perfect for younger kids to start with but children do love to learn at any age. Judith Dayus, Great Gizmos

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for Thames & Kosmos. “Our sales this year outperformed our growth charts by 40%, so we are very happy with the category performance,” says Joanna. “A large proportion of our growth can be attributed to the development of our Geek and Spark ranges, which will be the main focus of Thames & Kosmos’ development for the foreseeable future.” So with the sector looking strong and growth forecasts positive, Science and Nature is a category worth investing in – and do let us know if you make a new discovery yourselves!

WE ASKED… What’s your most successful Science and Nature line? “We have a crystal growing kit that has been the best-selling kit across all of KOSMOS’ territories for the last three years! Our Geek line, which only became available in AW14, also performed exceptionally well, so perhaps the crystal kit will be knocked off the top spot in 2015!” Joanna Drage, Thames and Kosmos “We have done incredibly well with the Green Science range from 4M. Customers love the green, recyclable element, being able to learn about the environment whilst having fun and making something to play with at the same time.” Judith Dayus, Great Gizmos “One of Interplay’s most successful brands is ‘My Living World’ and Worm World, Triop World and Bug Safari are perennial top-selling lines, but my favorite of all is Ant World… It’s fantastic even though I say so myself! It was the ﬁrst product Interplay ever developed, the proﬁts from which seeded a multi-million pound business. The thing about Ant World is that is a perfect product; truly fascinating, offers fantastic play value, really engages kids with nature and is in constant demand. It has stood the test of time and over the years and won multiple awards.” Ross Ainsworth, Interplay

FEATURE

SCIENCE & NATURE

Who wants a Wild Pet? CHARACTER OPTIONS 0161 633 9800 www.character-online.com

Flower power INTERPLAY UK 01628488944 www.interplayuk.com

This year Interplay introduces to its award winning My Living World range an exciting new addition, Instant Flower Press. This amazing new device is unique to the toy market and allows ﬂowers to be pressed, dried and ready to use in a matter of seconds using a microwave oven. No more waiting months for results, with Instant Flower Press the popular art of ﬂower pressing moves into another league! At a competitive SRP, this fantastic new gadget received a great reception at Toy Fair and is bound to have massive retail appeal. Another hit at Toy Fair was Interplay’s new brand FabLab, an activity range designed to be experimental, creative but most of all fun! With fresh packaging and titles that will appeal to both boys and girls, FabLab allows kids to explore modern themes in a fun and creative way. The kits have been designed with all the attention to detail and quality you would expect from Interplay and the competitive pricing offers great value for consumers and good margins for retailers. The range launches with nine titles including Invent-a-Scent Perfume, Bath Bombs and Nail Art. To ensure demand and sell-through retailers will be supported with a fully integrated marketing campaign including heavyweight TV advertising. With further exciting kits in development, FabLab is set to become one of Interplay’s leading brands.

Summer will see the introduction of Moose and Characters’ wildest collaboration to date with Wild Pets - the new scary choice of pets for budding arachnologists. Wild Pets are realistic furry giant spiders that scurry along and can be controlled by touch. With LED lights to change the colour of their eyes plus three different modes of play; cage, adventure and attack – it’s up to the owner of the Wild Pet to take control. For some scarily, life-like fun the Single Spider Packs make the ideal wild, dangerous and exciting stand-alone arachnid pet. Or why not give the Wild Pets somewhere to live with the Spider Habitat Playset. The spider will closely be followed by a scary Scorpion after the Wild Pets launch in summer.

Microscopic fun CLEMENTONI 020 3206 1397 www.clementoni.com

Science & Play is Clementoni’s line of games dedicated to science for children from the age of six. Space Laboratory is an innovative space station designed to conduct experiments to recreate life in space and discover the wonders of botany. Once children have built the station they can perform botanical trials across two laboratories, observing how plants grow differently in a special clear gel, cotton wool or soil. Tornado and Hurricanes is an original scientiﬁc kit for children to investigate the real power of tornadoes. The Tornado Machine is 40cm high and features a fan, electric motor and speed control, allowing children to reproduce a mini version of a real tornado. With this kit they can create vortices in water and discover the eye of the tornado. The Tornado and Hurricanes set comes complete with a rich illustrated manual. My First Microscope is a high-quality microscope which is portable and easy to use. The microscope introduces detailed observation enlarging objects 300 times! My First Microscope was an Independent Toy Awards silver winner.

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FEATURE

SCIENCE & NATURE

Shine on young scientist JOHN ADAMS 01480 414361 www.johnadams.co.uk

John Adams Leisure Ltd is expanding its science collection in 2015 with the introduction of Sparkle Science – a science kit which enables kids to conduct glittering experiments whilst learning through play. Aspiring chemists can make a lava lamp, create glitter chalk, construct a glitter bath bomb as well as grow a sparkly geode and a crystal necklace. This new kit sits amongst the company’s successful science collection which includes Gross Science - the number one best-selling science toy in 2014 (NPD data) - as well as Dr Toxic’s Slime Lab and Booms Bangs Fizzes. All of the kits in the range aim to encourage kids to explore the world around them, while making science fun, with an emphasis on learning through play. Sparkle Science will be TV advertised and will be available from June.

When science, nature and creativity combine FLAIR 0208 643 0320 www.ﬂairplc.co.uk 2015 is the year in which Flair combines science, nature and creativity with the addition of WILD! Science and the brand new Uncle Milton range in celebration of the Star Wars movie release. New to the portfolio is a range of exciting products from US company, Uncle Milton which will allow kids to create their very own Star Wars epics at home. The ultimate challenge for a Jedi is to build their own Light Saber, now kids can construct their very own night light with the Deluxe 8 Colour Light Saber Room Light. A replica of Anakin Skywalkers Light Saber, it has colour changing effects, authentic sounds and an

infra-red remote control. A darkened room can also be transformed med into the night sky with th the Death Star Planetarium. um. See the Star Wars Galaxy come me to life on any ceiling or wall and learn about constellations using the fun learning guide. WILD! Science is another exciting new addition to Flair’s portfolio. All-time-favourite kits in the Girls’ Gory guts made fun! Science category allow kids to create The new, gory Zombie Blood & Guts kit is slumber party essentials; bath bombs, designed to shock friends and family with lip balms, eau de parfum and UV pickled zombie eyeballs, blood clots and zombie reactive manicures! Meanwhile, for body parts! Then for good clean fun there’s Soap explosive fun, kits from the Boys’ Science Studio Ocean Friends, which explores the science category teach kids how to make their own of suspending pigments and stage embedding to Weird! Slime creations, Hyperlauncher Rocket create the perfect soapy gift for friends and family. Balls, and exploding volcanic reactions! Flair will be The new Life Science category allows kids to care for an injecting some freshness for AW15 with brand new entire economy of their own with the fascinating Ants City and kits and a new Life Science category. Worm Farm kits. Flair will be promoting the value of learning through fun and supporting the WILD! Science range with a fully integrated marketing campaign including TV.

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GEEK

FEATURE

SCIENCE & NATURE

Flying high defying gravity GREAT GIZMOS 01327 227010 www.greatgizmos.co.uk Renowned for its educational science kits, Great Gizmos will add some out-of-this-world projects to its 4M range this year, plus other exciting kits that will appeal to every budding young scientist. Kids can learn the art of balancing with the Balancing Robot kit that allows them to create a robot acrobat who has the ability to perform gravity-defying tricks. For a project that also deﬁes gravity, the Light-Up Space Planetarium allows kids to build a cool light-up space station that will project the constellations onto any surface and also doubles up as a cool night light. The Tornado Maker that uses a recycled empty bottle to construct a battery operated mini tornado. Whilst the Doorbell Making Kit teaches kids all about electromagnetics, as a simply screw is transformed into a magnetic striker to make a handy doorbell. The 4M Combination Lock Kit is new for spring and keeps all money safe in a miniature vault that is sealed with a unique combination code. A chain is also included so it can be clipped onto belts to be taken on the go. For a kit that is electrifying, the Dynamo Circuit Board teaches children all about how electricity is generated by a dynamo and how to create a circuit. What’s more, there are lots of ideas included in this cool kit so kids can create a dynamo racer, light-up robot, helicopter and propelled vehicle whilst exploring the power of green and clean energy. Kids can become a real life palaeontologist with KidzLabz Glow Dino & Fossils; this cool kit is one of the largest kits ever created and is full of lots of activities. This fab kit lets kid’s mould and rebuild fossils and unearth all kinds of prehistoric creatures. It also lets you excavate a Glow-In-The-Dark Tyrannosaurus Rex and create your very own model to display with pride.

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Explore the kosmos THAMES & KOSMOS

01580 212000 www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk

Nature Discovery is a brand new range being launched by Thames & Kosmos in 2015, included in the range are a stereo microscope, binoculars and a Triops kit. The range, which aims to encourage young people to explore the outdoor world around them, will be available from June. A best seller in Germany for parent company Kosmos, Triops are a fun and interesting way to learn about a species that have been found in fossil records dating back to 300 million years ago! The starter kit contains everything you need to successfully hatch Triops eggs, including feed and an observation tank. Also a part of the Nature Discovery range from Thames & Kosmos is the My Discovery Telescope – a hand held, entry level ttelescope allowing young researchers to view the stars and the moon, watch wildlife or become a seagoing pirate! The telescope m has a 12x optical lens and is great for children wanting to explore h tthe outdoor world. The Stereo Microscope is a perfect microscope for the more sserious biologist wanting to ﬁnd out more and expand their knowledge about the world around them. The microscope, which k is lit from above, is great for viewing any 3D objects such as insects, plants or 3 rrocks and minerals. Thames & Kosmos will be launching several other kits la tthroughout the year.

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FEATURE

SCIENCE & NA NATURE ATURE

Have a solar adventure LEAPFROG 01895202840 www.leapfrog.com

The LeapReader Solar System Adventure Map from LeapFrog is part of the LeapReader content range; the Solar System Adventure Pack allows children to explore the solar system and discover fascinating planetary facts across a three foot fold-out map. The double-sided solar system map offers over 40 family-friendly activities, more than 240 fun audio responses and bonus interactive stickers, guaranteeing hours of educational entertainment.

Discover the human body Also look out for the LeapReader Human Body Discovery Pack. This must-have, two-sided fold-out chart and game board provides an interactive and engaging way for children to learn about the human body. The LeapReader Human Body Discovery Pack helps children explore human biology as they learn about body systems, health and nutrition with more than 300 interactive responses and 40 learning activities.

The universe is trending TRENDS UK 01295768078 www.trendsuk.co.uk

You little (sea) monkey! PETERKIN UK LTD 0116 2543645 www.peterkin.co.uk

The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys are the original instant live pet brand and have been providing a fascinating learning experience for consumers for over 40 years. Sea Monkeys Ocean Zoo, the classic aquarium with magniﬁed portals is supplied in assorted colours in a 12 piece CDU and is supplied complete with water puriﬁer, instant live eggs, growth food and a feeding spoon, while the Instant Life set is ideal for those who have their own aquarium and includes everything needed to hatch and grow a vibrant Sea Monkeys colony. These classic lines are complemented by Sea Monkeys Pirate Treasure, a great gift set that is supplied with a “glow in the dark” pirate galleon and a torchlight built into the aquarium lid so that you can check on your Sea Monkeys at night.

Trends UK is the distributor of the science toys range from Discovery Channel. In 2015, Trends UK will promote Discovery Channel hero products with TV and PR campaigns. Products on TV will include the amazing Discovery Channel Planetarium. Projecting the constellations onto the ceiling, it shows children how the stars move across the night. Trends UK has also refreshed their own range of popular science toys with a new “Science Mad” logo and branding, giving even cooler appeal to the products. Introduced at UK Toy Fair 2015, the new look received a fantastic response from retailers. Products available with the new look include the bestselling Science Mad Chemistry Lab kit. This and lots more!

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Slimy science SCIENCE4YOU 07771763818 www.science4youtoys.co.uk

Do you like things that are slimy and science? Slimy Factory – Slippery Slugs is a fun, creative science kit. The realistic lab content will allow you to explore how to create your yuky slime, me, learn about atoms, molecules, silly balls and more! The scientiﬁc and educational kit is for children aged 8 pluss and comes with 17 experiments, a coloured booklet with detailed ailed instructions and scientiﬁc information.

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gREat ideas toys and GIFTS!

FEBRUARY 2015

RETAIL

OPINION

Trade talk

TnP loves to hear your views. This month we speak to key wholesalers and suppliers to learn what’s s on their minds. We explore plore this month’s hottest topics.

In the wake of fair season, Team TnP catches up with some of the industry’s finest to discover what toys they’re excited about in Q1, and the licenses to watch in a year jam-packed with blockbuster movies SIMON NEWBERY Managing Director, Orchard Toys What products are you most excited about for the first quarter? We’re always excited about our new product launches and this year is no exception. However, our new Pizza Pizza and Frog Party games do feel like they will be particularly strong additions to the range. Both lines deliver exceptional educational value and strong visual appeal and from initial feedback at the recent toy fairs, our customers agree. How would you sum up the trade fairs? The trade shows were great for us again this year. It certainly feels like there was a strong positive vibe across the industry. Olympia is always particularly busy for us in terms of the number of customers we see and our show offer seemed to go down particularly well this year. Despite the current concerns in the Eurozone, we were also pleasantly surprised by the positive attitude of customers we met in Nuremberg. At the time of writing this, we are mid show at the NEC, but again we are ar seeing large numbers of customers who are in a very optimistic about the year ahead. How Ho have retailers reacted to the ranges and what is the feeling on the r ground? g IInitial reaction to our new lines has been great. We challenge ourselves to b maintain a consistently high standard in m terms of the products we develop and it is term therefore really satisfying when they are received the ore re positively. We all acknowledge that it is tough so positiv the retail iin th t market, but there appears to be particular sense of determination among retailers this year. Our aim is to continue to support them by producing quality products that sell through and offer good margin. Last year we had Frozen, what at film do you think will make the mostt impact on toys in 2015? It’s hard to tell, but one thing is for sure, I don’t think we will be seeing eeing the back of Frozen’s for a while. le. There are some great new films ms on the horizon, DreamWorks Aimation’s mation’s Home, looks like it could really y capture children’s imagination, n, but there are a number of old

SHUA FARLEIGH JOSHUA Managing ging Director, Flying Gadgets What products are you most excited about for the first quarter? 2015 is shaping up to be the year of the drone – in Q1 alone we’ve unveiled the world’s first voice-controlled quadcopter, the Flying Gadgets X-Voice, as well as the Flying Gadgets X-Vision: a sub-£100 quad with FPV (first person view) on board, which allows live HD footage to be transmitted back in to the users’ users Apple device attached to the remote control unit. Both were incredibly well-received at Toy Fair and Spring Fair and the Flying Gadgets X-Voice in particular really grabbed the attention of the nation’s media, with coverage appearing in a number of national newspapers and tech/gadget websites such as Gizmag and Pocket Lint. In addition, we’re excited to have the first UK stock of the brand new Inspire 1 from DJI, their most advanced unit which features a 4K camera and gimbal system. How would you sum up the trade fairs? Busy, energetic and overwhelmingly positive. Retailers love the innovation we’re bringing to the market this year and the reaction to the new products has exceeded our expectations. Our new stand design showcased all our ranges brilliantly, from drones and helicopters to the ever-popular RC boats and our growing fleet of licensed ride-on vehicles. How have retailers reacted to the ranges and what is the feeling on the ground? The reaction has been tremendously popular. Retailers know we offer the hottest new tech at the best price and that we’re truly at the forefront of innovation, so they’ve been keen to find out more about the new quads as well as our expanded range of RC ride-ons. what film Last year we had Frozen, F do you think will make the most impact impac on toys in 2015? Star Wars in I suspect su Q4 will have a massive Q iimpact – historically it always has. But I also a think we’re in for a Minionthi heavy summer with the hea release of the Minions Movie. releas

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DENNIS BLACKMORE D Managing Director, Learning Resources Ma

LAURA BULL Marketing Manager, Schleich eich What products are you most excited about for the ﬁrst quarter? er? Our DC Comics range is incredibly exciting. These ﬁgures are collector’s quality at a toy price and received a great reaction at Toy Fair. Their launch has opened up a new chapter for Schleich, which we are all excited about.

How would you sum up the trade fairs? On a global level Schleich’s main show of the year is Nuremburg, but for the UK London Toy Fair is the most important. This year’s show was great, we had a new look stand that was very open and welcoming, and it was good to see people stroll on, keen to look at the new collections. There has been a lot of changes at Schleich over the past year and Toy Fair was a great opportunity to bring it all together and look forward to a great 2015.

How have retailers reacted to the ranges and what is the feeling on the ground? The response was very positive. Our stand showed how the collections can look in store and we had some inventive and impressive POS for them to see. This year is also the year of the dinosaur which made that part of the portfolio even more popular.

What products are you most excited W about for the first quarter? ab We are really pleased with the feedback W for our new educational football game fo Top of the Tables. It’s a great To concept, using football to inject co some pace and excitement into so multiplication and the game hass m been very well received by retailers be lers and the media. The launch of thiss an game comes at a good time, ga particularly with the current pa political focus on raising standards po ds within maths and an emphasis on wi n learning times tables. How would you sum up the trade fairs? Hugely positive. It’s really rewarding ing when all the hard work and investment of everyone involved comes together and delivers. Our ‘Best of British’ Nuremberg party was without doubt a highlight for us and hopefully for everyone who joined us on the evening. Overall, London and Nuremberg both had a good vibe and it definitely feels like the optimism in the wider economy is translating into greater confidence in both our retail and education markets. How have retailers reacted to the ranges and what is the feeling on the ground? We showcased a new stand this year, focusing on our branded science properties - Primary Science, GeoSafari Junior, GeoSafari and Nancy B - and this definitely hit the mark with retailers. Last year we had Frozen, what film do you think will make the most impact on toys in 2015? Frozen was extraordinary. I think we could be looking at a retro revival, with Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens due out this year. From past experience xperience the th Star Wars franchise has always generat generated d huge interest and I suspect this will not disappoint.

Last year we had Frozen, what film do you think will make the most impact on toys in 2015? Being a Frozen fan I’m sure the film and its mini film Frozen en Fever in March will still dominate, but realistically we all know the Good Dinosaur and Jurassic World films will play y their part for the industry.

MARK HILLIER CEO, Click Distribution What products are you most excited about for the ﬁrst quarter? Our second series of Minecraft hangers, will be epic! We’ve already sold out of our ﬁrst shipment and have another huge amount in production right now. We have also had a brilliant response to our Minions ranges. How would you sum up the trade fairs? Positive and realistic, we were incredibly busy at London Toy fair and I think everyone in the Toy industry has a good deal to be upbeat about this year.

FEBRUARY 2015

How have retailers reacted to the ranges and what is the ret il h feeling on the ground? I think everyone that came onto our stand at Toy Fair went away feeling optimistic about the coming year. We have some really big launches coming up and customers have been very supportive placing pre orders. Last year we had Frozen, what ﬁlm do you think will make the most impact on toys in 2015? The Minions Movie will be huge, I also think Big Hero 6 will do well, but without a doubt the biggest movie event will be Star Wars The Force Awakens, it remains to be seen just how much product will be on the shelves for Movie launch though. May the force be with you!

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REVIEW

NUREMBERG TOY FAIR

It’s snow business The Nuremberg Toy Fair reported a huge rise in international visitors to the show. But just what exactly makes the Spielwarenmesse a show to remember?

s with most years, the majority of buyers and exhibitors have come off the back of a fairly hefty christmas and show schedule - we all certainly racked up the air miles and wore out the shoe leather too. But how valuable a show is the Nuremberg Toy Fair? Yes, without question it is the biggest toy fair in the world but how much value does it add to your business as an exhibitor or as a visitor? Trudi Bishop, Head of Marketing and Licensing at Cartamundi, gives the impressive stats some perspective: “The ofﬁcial statistics suggested

that this was the biggest Spielwarenmesse ever, with over 76,000 trade visitors from 112 countries — and it sometimes felt like they were all at or near the Cartamundi stand! Still it’s hard to argue with business RE O M and we certainly attracted D WE HA S, SAW a lot more international T visitors in general as well as NTMEN APPOI EOPLE AND more speciﬁc interest from P MORE ORE E retailers who wanted be on M FROM IES THAN W board with us.” R And other exhibitors COUNT T YEAR ALL S share similar success stories A L DID G, HTI about the show. One relative ALDIN P S IS newcomer to the show is CHR Mark Wilson, new MD at Plum: “We had a fantastic show this year and our sales teams are busy following up leads as we speak! "This show season has also been a Next year Nuremberg great opportunity for us to celebrate Toy Fair dates our 25th anniversary in outdoor Where: The Nuremberg Exhibiton Centre, toys and we enjoyed sharing this Nuremberg, Germany milestone with both our new and When: 27 Jan – 1 Feb, 2016 existing customers and suppliers.” Opens: 9am – 6pm daily And Chris Spalding, CEO of HTI Info: Visit www.spielwarenmesse.de agrees that no show season can

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really be complete without several days stalking the halls of the Messe: “We had more appointments and saw more people from more countries than we did last year - all great input ﬁgures…. Now we need to turn them in to sales!” Both head honchos are pushing their respective sales teams to follow leads and convert all those great conversations and buying signals into purchases. For one buyer, Brian Simpson of SMF Toys, the show is a crucial part of his business. “You can’t cover every supplier you deal with simply in London. We spend time in Hong Kong, London and Nuremberg, all of which are extremely valuable to our business and they make for an extremely busy January!” But is it just about seeing the UK and Ireland based companies or is it about broadening the buying horizons and looking to work with new and perhaps overseas-based suppliers? Brian is unequivocal in his view on this: “We deal with approximately 12 European suppliers

13 toysnplaythings.co.uk

REVIEW

NUREMBERG TOY FAIR

fact ﬁle •

At Nuremberg 2,857 exhibitors display what the international toy market holds in store for 2015

•

Exhibitors came from 67 countries - more than ever before!

•

Approximately 75,000 visitors streamed through the doors.

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Visitors attended from 100 countries!

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A whopping one million products were perused!

certainly should not be an event all of whom show in Nuremberg, that independents retailers feel is and most year’s we manage to pick not relevant to them. The up another one or two, all of fact that there is so much which are delivering high quality IS G choice, so many buying products with solid margins and R E B NUREM BUZZY, opportunities and so much superb packaging that make our Y R E product actually means overall product range as strong as V D STILL A T SHOW AN G that if you are looking it can be.” N N to differentiate further And for the exhibitors, the VIBRA ZING MEETI K A R M O A from your competitors, show is about strengthening AN HERE W STOP or need more margin, W bonds with existing UK buyers E C O PLA choice or inspiration, and retailers, establishing EEMS T S R E V NE the Spielwarenmesse is relationships with new domestic , P HO IS B I deﬁnitely a show that accounts and also meeting D TRU DI N U should be considered. overseas clients, old and new. M A CART So, is it worth the trek to chilly, This is why for so many, the snowy Bavaria at such a busy and Spielwarenmesse is a great ﬁve or tiring time of the year. Without so days spent out of a busy and question, yes, absolutely. As jam-packed calendar. Mark Wilson Trudi Bishop of Cartamundi says: of Plum reiterates this point: “For “Nuremberg is still a very buzzy, us the Nuremberg show is a great vibrant show and an amazing mixture of both UK and international meeting place where work never clients. It’s always great to catch seems to stop; even if you only drink up with our existing customers, but water or coffee you need to be in the the opportunity to capture the new bars after the show for gossip and international business at the show is networking.” huge. With ambitious international Make it the place for you to be growth plans in place, we were keen next year. to capitalise on this.” But this isn’t exclusively the case. Chris Spalding of HTI tells me that he sees the London Toy Fair and the Nuremberg show in very different lights: “Nuremberg is really an international show for us, having picked up the UK accounts at the UK fair. But as mentioned, our appointments were up for the international team and with plenty of new markets visiting our stand.” The fact is, the show brings together thousands of exhibitors from every continent so that it really is impossible to ignore. In fact, while so many major buyers attend, it

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FEBRUARY 2015

REVIEW

SPRING FAIR

Spring into 2015 Hall 3 of Spring Fair was packed with toy exhibitors and retailers from across the retail spectrum. TnP reports back from the show

ollowing swiftly on from retailers, was delighted to welcome London Toy Fair and buyers on the hunt for gifts and SPRING Spielwarenmesse in gadgets from across the retail FAIR ALLOWS Nuremberg, Germany, the spectrum. US TO MEET toy industry shifted its attention “Spring Fair allows us to meet to Birmingham for Spring Fair. THE MAJORITY the majority of our regular Occupying a good chunk of Hall 3, OF OUR customers and friends in the toy companies of all sizes took trade face-to-face at least once a REGULAR their latest lines to the NEC year,” said David Rawlings, Flying CUSTOMERS between 1-5 February. AND FRIENDS IN Toys MD, who looks forward to This year’s exhibitor line-up manning the stand at Spring Fair THE TRADE included a good mix of companies every year. “Demonstrations of FACE-TO-FACE of all sizes, from those focused on our ready-to-ﬂy remote control a compact and specialist offering, AT LEAST ONCE models stopped buyers from toy A YEAR to global toy powerhouses and gift shops and garden showcasing their expansive centres in the aisles. We were David Rawlings, MD, ranges. With everyone from Flying also delighted to receive visits Flying Toys Toys, Marbel and Red Herring from a number of major retailers Games to Bandai, Esdevium and sourcing men’s gifts.” HTI, there was something for Visitors to the Flying Toys Flying Toys everyone. As a multi-category show, Spring Fair draws retailers from the full length of the High Street and beyond. It’s not just toy retailers that visit the show’s 14 Halls, but buyers from garden centres, amusement parks and attractions, party and general gift retailers and more. For many exhibitors, this diversity of visitor is what attracts them to the show each year and makes it a must-attend event. One such company is RC drone and helicopter specialist Flying Toys, which, as well as toy

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Spring Fair 2016 Spring Fair will return to the NEC next year with an “exciting, super-beautiful, re-edit.” Doors will open 7-11 February, 2016.

Red Herring Games stand were among the ﬁrst to see and get hands-on with the companies latest drones and RC gadgets. “We received a brilliant response to the latest Parrot Bebop Drone, which was launched to the trade at the show, and only became available in the UK at the beginning of this year,” David told TnP. “Similarly the Parrot MiniDrones Rolling Spider and Jumping Sumo demonstrations attracted considerable attention too.” David said that the feedback from retailers was a great way to gauge interest in their latest products and see if the growing drones. “We were delighted that many of the visitors to our stand believed that drones were deﬁnitely in demand, and predicted that sales of quadcopters would prove phenomenal during 2015,” he said. For Red Herring Games, a company whose range of murder mystery and dinner party games straddles Hall 3’s two product categories perfectly, Spring Fair was a hit. “It was very successful,”

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LICENSING

NEWS

DRIVE ON THE DARK SIDE Hot Wheels and Star Wars have joined forces. From spring 2015, an exciting co-branded line of new Hot Wheels Star Wars cars that bring to life the legendary characters from the movies will be available. To celebrate the launch, a life-size replica of the Hot Wheels Darth Vader Car was available to view in Europe for the ﬁrst time at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg. The impressive transformed C5 Corvette features a high performance LS3 engine with a horsepower of 526 to the rear wheels. The car also boasts superior custom redline tyres and can reach a top speed of 160 MPH. Most importantly, the entire design of the car is inspired by Darth Vader, from the helmetderived rooﬂine, to the iconic mouthpiece grille and lightsaber side trim. A 1:64 scale version of the Darth Vader Car is currently available to buy along with several other iconic characters in the Hot Wheels Star Wars car assortment. Many more character cars will be released throughout the year. Pictured: David Allmark, Managing Director EuRoMEA Mattel and Stephan Tahy, Country Manager Germany and CEE Mattel with the Darth Vader Car and Storm Troopers

Vivid goes underground, overground, Wombling free Vivid Toy Group has signed an exclusive manufacturing and marketing deal with Wombles Copyright Holdings Ltd, for the UK, France, Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The famous Wombles characters are soon to make a major multimedia comeback, involving a feature ﬁlm, online games and a new CGI TV series commencing late 2015. A full toy range will be launched in 2016, preceded by an early production introduction in Q4 15.

“We are extremely excited to be working with Mike Batt and his company WCH Ltd on The Wombles,” said Mary Wood, Marketing Director at Vivid. “Endorsed by families who remember the original phenomenon, The Wombles has a gender-neutral appeal with instant brand recognition. As well as the nostalgia behind the brand, the re-launch will target a new generation of fans, widening the appeal”

CPLG joins forces with World of Warriors CPLG has been appointed as the licensing agent for Mind Candy’s World of Warriors. Working across continental Europe and USA, CPLG will oversee the licensing for all categories, support global partners interritory and secure new licensees. Steve Manners, Executive Vice President at CPLG said: “As soon as we saw World of Warriors and Mind Candy’s plans for an integrated property, we wanted to represent the brand.”

JAKKS SAYS HALO TO NEW LICENSE Jakks Paciﬁc have signed a deal with Microsoft Studios which will see them produce and distribute a range of toys and costumes based on the blockbuster video game franchise Halo. With global rights, Jakks will produce a range of action ﬁgures based on the Halo universe, including the forthcoming title Halo 5: Guardians, which is set

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for release on Xbox One later this year. Jakks is currently aiming to release the ﬁgures in autumn 2015. The company’s costume division, Disguise, will develop the Halo licensed costumes, dress-up items and accessories for both children and adults. They are on course to hit retail in time for Halloween this year.

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DreamWorks Home, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Kung Fu Panda © 2014 DreamWorks Animation LLC. Where’s Waldo? © 2014 Classic Media Distribution Limited. Postman Pat © 2014 Woodland Animations Ltd. Original writer John Cunliffe. Lic. RMG Plc. All Rights Reserved.

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For more information on the wide range of products being developed for all these great properties, and more, contact: adam.reed@dreamworks.com | www.dreamworksanimation.com

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KEEP ON CLANGING

AWAKEN THE LICENSEES Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm have revealed the key global licensees that will support the highly anticipated theatrical release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hasbro, LEGO, Mattel, Jakks Pacific and Rubies form this core group of licensees, and a bespoke range of products will also be available at Disney Stores globally. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most anticipated movie events of all time. Our mission is to pay homage to the excitement of Star Wars fans around the world and bring the incredible storytelling from the movie to life through our products,” said Josh Silverman, executive vice president of global licensing, Disney Consumer Products. “Our teams have designed product lines that will deliver incredible play experiences, while preserving the surprises filmmakers have in store for audiences in December.” The Star Wars: The Force Awakens product line-up will be led by best-in-class licensees with an assortment of action figures, role-play items, play sets, diecast vehicles, costumes and more. Additionally, there will be exclusive offerings at Disney Store and DisneyStore.com.

Watch out for a clanger of a new puzzle from the team at Ravensburger. The Coolabi Group recently announced that they had signed a licensing agreement with Ravensburger to develop a new range of pre-school puzzles and games, including board games, dominoes and card games based on the new Clangers series. And products are on the shelf now! Clangers is due to launch on CBeebies in spring 2015 and is a contemporary version of the iconic British television show, which ﬁrst aired on the BBC in 1969. Ravensburger now joins a wide portfolio of licensees already on board for Clangers, including: Character Options (master toy), MV Sports & Leisure Limited (wheeled toys), Penguin (books), Gemma International Ltd (greeting cards & gift wrap), Trade Mark Collections (children’s bags) and Rainbow Productions (costume characters).

Jazwares goes green Jazwares has signed as Master Toy partner for FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment’s hit preschool series Tree Fu Tom. Under the terms of the deal, Jazwares will take on the role of global manufacturer and will distribute a new range of Tree Fu Tom toys in the UK, Asia, North America, Canada and Latin America. The ﬁrst products will launch at retail in Australia this summer, and the wider product roll out will then continue in the UK and other key territories.

Make a Minion The Minions are set to be created in chocolate later this year with the May launch of a special edition Make-a-Bar Chocolate Factory from Re:creation. The company has struck a deal with Universal Pictures and CPLG to create a Minionsinspired chocolate craft kit range, enabling fans of the movie to design their own chocolate bars featuring their favourite characters. “This year is set to be huge for our Make-a-Bar Chocolate Factory range,” said Marketing Director, Jonathan Kirkley. “The Despicable Me franchise has a massive fan base and the launch of our Minions product forms a key element of the total re-launch of the Make-a-Bar Chocolate Factory brand.”

IN A TWIRL DHX Brands has appointed a strong line up of new licensees for Twirlywoos, a brand new pre-school series from Ragdoll Productions. The stop-frame animation is set to air on CBeebies in February 2015. Joining Master Toy partner Golden Bear is Ravensburger (puzzles and games), GB Eye (posters), Gemma International (greetings cards and partyware), Rainbow Productions (character costumes), Fashion UK (outerwear), and DreamTex (bedding). Golden Bear will launch the ﬁrst product in autumn/winter this year with a key focus on plush, play sets and ﬁgurines, bath toys, games and activity products.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

DON’T MISS… In our new feature we bring to the fore a selection of the hottest and newest products that will help you sell more! Buyers and retailers, get in touch with your sales contacts!

Product: Smens Scented pens Company: DKL Marketing Tel: 01604 678780 Web: www.dkl.co.uk

Product: My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Style n Groom Company HTI Tel: 01253 778888 Email: Info@htigroup.co.uk

Product: WiFi Quadcopter X-SPY Company: Revell Tel: 0845 459 0747 Web: www.revell.de/en

FEBRUARY 2015

Company: Golden Bear Product: Something Special Roll & Play Tel: 01952 608308 Web: www.goldenbeartoys.co.uk

Product: Tiny Tears 50th Anniversary doll Company: John Adams Tel: 01480 414361 Web: www.johnadams.co.uk

Product: Boris the Trunki Bus Company: Trunki Tel: 0117 954 2780 Email: sales@trunki.co.uk trunki.co.uk

Product: BrainBox Cities Company: The Green Board Game Tel: 01494 538999 Web: www.greenboardgames.com

Product: Air Storm FireTek Rockets Company: Re:creation Ltd Tel: 01189 736222 Web: www.recreationltd.co.uk

Product: My Friend Freddy Bear Company: Vivid Tel: 01483 449944 Web: www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

LICENSING OPINION KELVYN GARDNER

Who wants to play? Apps, licensing, toys, ﬁtness, playtime, cats and human nature Kelvyn covers it all this month

was thinking the other day about the whole issue of play. In everyday parlance, we tend to associate play with the young, especially the very young - children. Play is infectious among the individuals doing it, and even in those observing it. Many a parent delights in seeing their child finding joy, curiosity, stimulation and imagination in the toys that they own and the play patterns they apply to them. The whole of the toy industry, commercial entity though it most surely is, is geared to this instinct. Play is not restricted to human beings either. Most, if not all, animals, especially young animals, indulge in play, too. In their natural environments this will not be aided by anything we would recognise as a ‘toy’, though no doubt various bits of flora and sometimes fauna are occasionally bent to this cause. With domestic animals, however, play is aided and abetted by the many toys on offer for them, too. In fact, as a quick aside I’d really be very interested to know how many toy shops also stocks toys for pets. Undoubtedly, pet toys often find their way into Christmas stockings for those animals who are ‘members’ of our families. Play in animals has been extensively researched, of course. Almost always, play among

baby animals is a direct preparation for essential life skills. I’m no zoologist, nor ethologist (look it up, I had to) but, as a long-term cat owner, I’ve see this regularly. Currently I have two 18-month-old cats, owned since kittens, and have seen them play both on their own and with a variety of toys that the family has bought for them. What is well documented in cats is that their play is mostly concerned with learning to hunt, which is why their commercially-available toys are often ersatz mice, birds, fluffy things in general, often on a string or a frame. If you want to understand what kittens and young cats are up to when playing with these things, I recommend ‘Cat Sense’ by the eminent animal research scientist, John Bradshaw. Among other things, he has identified why cats seem to get bored with their toys so quickly, and what you can do about it. For humans, too, some childhood play is to do with lifelearning, and we have created many toys to match this, from baby dolls to train sets. With human children, however, play is often around impossible or unlikely future adult rolls. Your son is not likely to become the next Spider-Man, however nice his costume, nor your daughter a ‘Katniss-in-waiting’, though she may twang her Nerf bow and arrow. What humans do seem to do, though, is to continue to ‘play’ well into adulthood. I’m convinced this is why not just video games but also apparently utilitarian smartphone and tablet apps are so successful. Of course, many

apps are games, like Angry Birds or Minecraft. However, many are not games but still allow us to ‘play’. I can’t be the only one who got a ‘Fitbit’ or other type of fitness-focussed wearable technology for Christmas, surely? If you got one, then, like me, you’re probably finding the syncing of your activity, first of all with your own device’s app, and then subsequently with a general fitness app like My Fitness Pal, to be, well, fun. Exercising is not play for many, and dieting certainly isn’t, but the use of the apps to monitor this certainly looks and feels like play to me, and lightens the tone of the whole endeavour. Therefore, even if we are not overt video-gamers maybe we can satisfy some of the need to play through the most mundane of daily activity, if we can only harness the ‘fun factor’ which is what apps have the power to do. Apps and licensing are already inextricably linked. Where next, I wonder, will wearable technology take us, and what opportunities will it bring for the toy business? I’ll think about that while I log my 10,000 steps today.

LIMA the trade association for the licensing business www.licensing.org/uk email rbeaird@licensing.org

toysnplaythings.co.uk

TNP T

LOOKS S BAC BACK

Step back in time TnP MD Malcolm Naish looks back at some of the events and news stories that made the pages back in February 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2010

FEBRUARY 2010 February 10 Volume 29 Number 5

• We report that despite gloomy forecasts at the beginning of 2009, that many of the companies we spoke to at all the shows across the world were far more positive in January 2010. A three day show at Olympia seems to be just right for the current mood of the toy trade. • Simba Dickie acquire French die-cast company Majorette. • Our retail ring round seems to back up what suppliers were all telling us that toy fair at Olympia is here to stay. Much more of a buzz with virtually a 100% thumbs up for a three day show. • The Fence Club-inspired football match in Hong Kong saw the away side lose 3-0 in a closely fought match, the scoreline not really a fair reﬂection on the game. 0-0 at half time illustrates this. Perhaps some younger blood is needed to reverse the fortunes of the toy trade 11. • Ethel Austin enters administration with the immediate closure of half of their 270 strong chain. News is also announced that Liverpool department store Lewis’s will close in June.

FEBRUARY 2005 • Much of Toys ‘n’ Plaything success over the years has been partly due to that legion of PR’s who keep us up-to-date on their clients’ products, so it was appropriate that a number of the Toy of the Year award winners cited their P.R. companies for much of their products’ sales. Step forward Julia Pittilla and Michelle Norton. • Langdale Holdings – owners of Fun Junction are in liquidation, so bang goes nine toy stores. • I am sad to report the death of Joseph Cassidy, brother of Tom Cassidy, founder of Casdon. The two gentlemen were great toy trade pioneers, with Joe the designer and Tom very much the public face of the company. • Norman Walker our star columnist writing about the USA toy industry informs us that 200 Fifth Avenue is due to close and be altered into Condos. We had already decided that this was the case the year before and along with GMTV and many other Brits attend Hong Kong instead. • There is unrest at ExCeL as a growing number of both exhibitors and visitors object to the show being opened on a week-end. As they say “It came to pass’.

FEBRUARY 1995 • Power Rangers seems to be all-conquering at the beginning of 2005. Associated Toys have merged their buying group into Toymaster’s operation. • Richard King – chairman of the Character Group – celebrates his 50th birthday at Lola’s restaurant in New York. Almost 200 of us turn up with Richard presented with his very own Action Man look-a-like doll presented by Phil Green then at Woolies. • Declining retail proﬁts come in for a lot of attention. Peter Brown’s well thought out and executed speech at the Toy of the Year awards night gives everyone food for thought. There is not doubt that the ‘Independents’ feel badly let down by many of the larger Suppliers. • I suppose one could say to the Independents something like ‘Get a life’ as this is the way of the world, so good to see that some suppliers are attempting to help the small guys overcome this inequality. • A new craze seems to have made quite an impact at toy fair – Milk Cap games – evidently sweeping America and now making an impact in the U.K. These are quality discs featuring hundreds of different designs with at least six U.K. companies leading the sales charge.

FEBRUARY 1985 • In my Leader page I quote that Toys R Us will be opening up in the U.K. and warn that this new type of retailing will change the face of retail for ever. I also announce thanks to Peter Eio’s speech the month before (Peter was then the MD of Lego) that by the end of the decade we shall start to see the emergence of armchair shopping using interactive computer terminals in the home. • HOW AHEAD OF THE GAME WERE WE! • I visit the New York toy fair for the ﬁrst time. I love the atmosphere and 200 Fifth Avenue and of course the daily discourse between the Brits at Fils Bar. What an expensive week with the dollar on par with the pound. It cost me over a £100 for a few ‘I love New York’ souvenirs for my four kids! • I loved my quote from a certain Mr. Watts Wacker – Director of Marketing at Kenner in response to my question “Who is buying Kenner now that Hallmark have pulled out?” His answer “When you’re manacled down, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the Romans or the Greeks who own the boat!” • Our Financial Times columnist David Churchill reports that the British toy trade may have turned the corner, citing Bluebird’s launch onto the USM at 90p ﬁnishing on the opening day at 123p. The Department of Trade also reports that the level of retail in December was the highest since records were kept, increasing by 4% on the corresponding month in 1983. • A certain Mr. Denis Horton enters the toy trade as marketing director for Mattel taking the role over from Chris Willson-White who is promoted to HQ in California.

FEBRUARY 2015

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