From the publisher

An awful lot has happened since I wrote my previous Leader column. For starters, we have a new government, after Labour cruised to victory to bring 14 long years of Conservative rule to an end. Whatever your political persuasion, I think we can all agree that the country can now finally move forward with a clean slate and fresh optimism, and the hope that ‘new manager bounce’ will help to lift the spirits of consumers.

It’s a shame the England football team couldn’t put the icing on the cake by winning the Euros, but even the fact the team made it to the final helped boost the feelgood factor for a few weeks. Victory would have done wonders for the mood of the country, but we’ll have to wait a few more years and try again.

And even without finally seeing football come home, economically, things are already starting to look up. We have seen some positive economic data from May, when the UK economy grew faster than expected at 0.4%. The election result has been given the seal of approval by the City, with UK markets and sterling both trading up. What’s more, impending uncertainly in the US & France could now make the UK more investable.

Inflation – the scourge of consumer confidence – has held steady at 2% for two months’ running, which will potentially lead to a modest cut in the interest rate by the time you are reading this column. Of course, it’s important to keep the inflation numbers in perspective: prices are still rising, and they’re rising from a base which is 20% higher than when inflation was last at target. In the three years prior to this period of inflation, prices had risen by just 5%. So, everything still costs a lot more than it did a few years back, and pressure on consumer budgets remains –just a little less pressure than before.

At the time of writing, kids have just started their summer holidays and parents have six long weeks to keep them amused and occupied. Come rain or shine, toy stores will have something to relieve boredom and keep the kids away from screens – so let’s hope the summer holidays kickstarts trading after a subdued first half of the year. Then when kids go back to school in September, the countdown to Christmas can begin in earnest.

And the good news is that there is a lot of great new product launching in the coming weeks. You’ll see plenty of exciting new lines being showcased in the pages of Toy World and on our website, as embargoes finally begin to lift. The encouraging news is that we have numerous examples of new toys that are already selling well, even at this early stage of the year. It’s turning into quite a year for Wow! Stuff, with the news that its Real FX Disney Stitch

has sold out in many key retailers. Always a phenomenal product from the first time I saw it at the New York Toy Fair last September, it’s great to see consumers embracing an £70 toy in the middle of summer, at a time when prevailing wisdom suggests that money is tight, and high ticket items only sell in November and December when they are discounted. Early reads on Stitch emphatically suggest otherwise. Some of our other most-read online stories recently have featured new launches such as Zuru’s Mini Brands for home and garden, Character Options’ Sticki Rolls, MGA’s new Harry Potter Miniverse introductions, Spin Master’s Disney Bitzee, KAP Toys’ Hello Kitty range, Moose’s Mr Beast collaboration and many more.

This month’s category features are also packed with new lines to help freshen up retail shelves: if the first half of the year didn’t quite live up to expectations, there is growing optimism for the second half. So if you’re looking to bolster your Plush, Wooden Toy or STEM offerings, our extensive round-ups of these sectors will give you plenty of inspiration.

We also talk to AIS’s Rosie Marshall about the upcoming INDX show, preview the toy exhibitors who will be showing at Autumn Fair and bring you a wealth of thoughtprovoking opinion, analysis and observation, penned by our expert roster of contributors from across the toy community.

This August issue marks the end of our 13th year of publishing Toy World – when the September edition lands on your desk in a month’s time, it will mark the start of our 14th year in business. Thankfully, 13 didn’t prove to be unlucky for us at all - despite the many ups and downs we’ve seen in the toy market over the past 12 months, we managed to post our best-ever numbers. Huge credit to the whole Toy World team, and massive thanks to all of our loyal advertisers and readers for your continuing support.

And to kick off year 14, the September issue is going to be an absolute belter. Our second largest issue of the year, it will land just as the summer holidays draw to a close and things start to hot up in the toy market for the run-in to Christmas. There will be a big feature on Pocket Money Toys & Collectibles, plus our legendary Games & Puzzles supplement - the only dedicated standalone publication covering this category you'll find anywhere. And if that wasn't enough, we also have a huge preview of BLE, focusing on the Kids & Family brands that will be on show.

Look out for that bumper edition landing in the first week of September, but in the meantime, enjoy the summer holidays and let’s hope things are finally moving in the right direction.