News – headlines and more from around the industry

Mattel phones home

Mattel is planning to phone home after unveiling plans to mark the 40th anniversary of global blockbuster film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Steven Spielberg’s classic feel-good sci-fi weepie was first released in 1982 and became a worldwide, recordbreaking box office hit, with its catchphrase entering the popular lexicon. The landmark birthday is being marked with a theatrical re-release for the film and an undoubted raft of press coverage, with Mattel celebrating the occasion with the launch of a character plush featuring the lovable alien in his instantly recognisable red hoodie. The 11in plush comes complete with a finger that lights up just as E.T.’s did in the much-loved film, while the creature also utters some of the alien’s favourite phrases, including, of course, the legendary ‘phone home’. Jan Jauregui, manager of product design at Mattel, said: “We went through dozens of sketches and stylizations because we wanted to make sure that we captured E.T.’s sweet, child-like innocence through the sculpt. Aside from making his proportions even cuter with a larger head and smaller body, we put a lot of emphasis on his eyes.”

WOW! Stuff gets real

Following the success of its Jurassic World real FX Baby Blue, toy company Wow! Stuff is set to launch a range of real FX toys.

The toys, which will sit in the robotic and interactive playmates sector, part of the wider Youth Electronics Supercategory, are aimed at kids as well as “adored by adults”.

The Jurassic World toy has been a bestseller across the UK, US and France and has won scores of awards within weeks of launch.

CEO Richard North said: “We’ve always been driven by innovation, and that’s how most brands originate and become leaders, often by creating the category itself. It’s actually been difficult to pigeonhole the category that Real FX plays in. Perhaps it’s even the first brand in a new developing category of realistic/feels alive toys, but for now it appears Robotic/Interactive Playmates is where it sits. Our original Real FX item was an AI (artificial intelligence) race car set that sold over $45m at wholesale in its first year, followed by the Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak. Our positioning for these products has been ‘As realistic as it can be outside of the real thing!’. For example, as a toy and in the hands of a seven-yearold, Real FX Baby Blue must feel like the most realistic dinosaur in 65 million years.

“We feel the timing is just right for a new fresh innovative entrant into a category that is growing strongly across global markets. The positioning of Real FX is very distinctive with a mission to ‘Look Real, Feel Real, Sound Real’.’’

Spin Master outpaces industry, despite revenue dip

Spin Master highlighted the challenging market conditions and other problems as the company revealed its figures for the third quarter and the year to the end of September, which showed revenue down 12.7% on the same three-month period in 2021.

The figures, the company noted, were further skewed by the inclusion of revenue from Paw Patrol: The Movie in last year’s figures.

But the company said its figures were still ahead of the wider industry and is looking ahead of the rest of the year.

Spin Master’s global president and CEO Max Rangel said: “We remain committed to our long-term growth strategy through the development of innovative toys, engaging, multiplatform entertainment content and creative, open-ended digital game experiences. While our year-to-date growth has outpaced the toy industry globally, our revenue this quarter was affected by the pull forward of toy shipments into the second quarter, and by the challenging macroeconomic factors affecting consumers. Our team is excited to bring our magical experiences to children and their families this holiday season and we firmly believe that the power of our innovative toy portfolio, diversified entertainment pipeline and suite of digital games will drive solid results.’’

Rag-time

Inside Out Toys has furthered its partnership with Sri Lankan company Tikiri by inking a deal to become UK distributor of its Bonikka range of rag dolls.

The deal takes effect from January 2023 and sees the brand joining Inside Out’s existing distributed Tikiri product.

Inside Out Toys’ owner and MD Julian Garner said: “We have been looking to add dolls to our portfolio of sustainable toys for some time, so when the opportunity arose for us to distribute Bonikka for Tikiri in the UK, we were thrilled!”