News - the latest toy industry headlines

Flair GP kick-starts

Meet Messi campaign

In celebration of the return of the Messi collection to the Flair GP portfolio, the team has unveiled details of its S/S22 campaign in which one lucky fan will have the chance to win a trip to meet the football legend Lionel Messi during an allexpenses-paid trip to Paris. The contest launches in March, in conjunction with Match of the Day and KICK! Magazines, and the winner will be announced in May. Supporting the campaign will be a series of YouTube videos, including an appeal by youth footballer and YouTube star Tash Baller, as well as parental outreach - all designed to spread the word about the competition and the return of Flair’s Messi Training collection, which comprises balls and accessories to hone football skills. Plus, expect to see more digital activity, as well as pre-roll and game advertising.

Sambro celebrates

silver jubilee

Sambro is celebrating 25 years in the toy business having gone from strength to strength in terms of products, brands, and financial performance. The company, which grew its turnover by 38% in 2021 to £52 million, is confident that it will achieve similar growth targets in its silver jubilee year. This is attributed to a focus on customer relationships, product development and partnerships. Specifically, the business has benefitted from a more balanced approach to own-brand development alongside the development of licensed products. Sambro works with more than 10 brands who trust the toy developer with their IP, including Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel, Hasbro, Viacom, Bull Dog and Cosatto. The range of products under these brands includes Barbie, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Disney Princess and Care Bears. The Sambro team has also developed its own portfolio of brands with its in-house design and innovation team. These include Puzzle Palz: fun, character erasers that have sold more than 35 million units worldwide since their launch in 2019. The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) events and PR manager Rebecca Deeming looks back at Toy Fair and highlights two upcoming events for your diary

With London Toy Fair resuming last month, it almost felt like a ‘normal’ start to the calendar year. After so many months of preparation, we were delighted to be able to welcome the toy industry back to Olympia London, which is a fantastic showcase of the industry. While the show may have looked and felt a bit different due to the extra health and safety measures in place, it didn’t detract from what was a busy three days of business, and increased excitement and buzz to be meeting in person again. We’ll be taking a momentary breath before announcing plans for Toy Fair 2023.

During the show, we revealed the winners of the prestigious Toy Industry Awards 2021 alongside the Toy Retailers Association, to recognise the very best in toy retail, product, and supply. A huge congratulations to all the winners of 2021 who, in this unique year, were announced online.

The event saw Dream Toys’ Gary Grant presented with a Special Recognition Award by the Toy Retailers Association for his many years of running Dream Toys - bringing toys to the attention of the media and families in the run-up to Christmas. We hope to bring the award ceremony back to Olympia London next year.

Looking ahead, there are several government consultations expected in the coming months across the regulatory areas of toy safety, packaging waste, age-assurance, the UK designs system, exhaustion of IP rights regime, and new trade deals. The BTHA will be responding and representing the views of the UK toy industry to the government, keeping members informed on proposed changes, and offering guidance and advice when needed. Toy companies within scope should be preparing for the incoming Plastic Packaging Tax from April 1, and BTHA members can get in touch for further guidance.

And, in 2022, the toy industry’s charity the Toy Trust pledges to continue supporting small UK children’s charities again.

Following the success of this year’s Media Auction during Toy Fair there are two events for your diary which are upcoming for the Toy Trust: The Big Challenge on Saturday June 18 and London Marathon Events’ The Big Half 2022 on Sunday September 4 - there will be an exclusive number of places for runners available for the industry. Please contact Matt@btha.co.uk for more information.

Finally, last month the BTHA was pleased to accept an additional two toy companies into membership. Toy firms can join the BTHA at any time, so please contact Tracey@btha.co.uk to find out more.