Feature
Autumn Fair
Back to business All being well, the Autumn Fair is scheduled to take place between 5th-8th September at its traditional Birmingham NEC home. It has been over 18 months since retailers and suppliers have been able to attend a trade show, so there is a mixture of hope and anticipation that this event will be able to go ahead as planned.
The show is likely to be more focused than in previous years: at the time of going to press the ‘Kids, Toy & Play section’ comprises a little under 50 companies. Nevertheless, many toy retailers have been looking forward to an opportunity to see new ranges in person, and the Autumn Fair is well-timed, especially for specialist independent retailers looking to freshen up their selections for the festive season. Over the following pages, Toy World highlights a selection of the companies which have confirmed their attendance at the show: unfortunately, we didn’t have confirmed stand numbers in time to include them within the round-up, but the majority of the toy exhibitors are likely to be found in Halls 6 and 20. Readers are advised to check with the Autumn Fair website before visiting.
Rainbow Designs
GB Eye
01329 227 300 | www.rainbowdesigns.co.uk
01142 767 454 | www.gbeye.com
Celebrating its 50th year at Autumn Fair, Rainbow Designs will be presenting its collections of much-loved classic brands including the Adventures of Paddington range and the beautiful new Always and Forever Winnie the Pooh collection. New additions to the Adventures of Paddington toy range for preschoolers this autumn are a Talking Paddington Soft Toy, with five much-loved Paddington phrases, and a Giant Paddington which is 55cm tall and wears the famous blue duffle coat and red hat. There are also two new play sets, the Rescue Set and Figure Set, that will join the existing range of the Play Bus Set, Collectible Figures and Adventures of Paddington Soft Toys. In Rainbow’s Golden Anniversary year and Winnie the Pooh’s 95th anniversary, The Home of Classic Characters introduces a beautiful new Disney Classic Pooh Always and Forever Collection of heirloom baby toys featuring soft toys, a comfort blanket and a ring rattle. Rainbow Designs’ Autumn Fair stand will also showcase the ever-popular Peter Rabbit Once Upon a Time range and the new Peter Rabbit Signature Collection which feature a range of ‘Forever’ heirloom toys, based on Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny.
GB Eye will be displaying its range at the Autumn Fair including popular lines such as Pokémon, Friends, Harry Potter, Dragon ball, DC Comics, One Piece and My Hero Academia. The company has been working hard to bring out a fantastic gifting range for the seasonal period including its ever-popular gift boxes, this year with glow in the dark features, breakfast sets, espresso sets and brand-new mirror mug and plate sets using anamorphic techniques. There are also many additions to the range from ABYstyle including t-shirts, figurines and a wide selection of caps, wallets and bags. Bringing such a wide range of products together from the biggest brands in pop culture gives retailers a simple solution to get everything they need in one place. GB Eye’s locally sourced and in-house products including frames, mugs, posters, framed photographic prints and tote bags have also been a focus and provide a secure supply chain when there are so many uncertainties over global sourcing issues. Many are printed on demand so customers can have confidence in the quality of the products and orders arriving on time, to make the most of such a key selling period. GB eye and ABYstyle products will be together on the same stand at Autumn Fair.
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