Toy World Magazine February 2022

February 2022 Volume 11 Issue 6

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The Team...

CONTENTS February 2022 Volume 11 Issue 6

John Baulch

40 Company Profile: Toikido

44 Feature: Spring Fair Preview

Publisher and Managing Editor john@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 408 07932 651 207

Mark Austin

Sales Director mark@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 405 07710 532 952

Anita Baulch

Circulation and Financial Director anita@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 406

News

Regulars

Features

05 10 18 22 26

24 30 32 34 37 64

40 44 68 70 74 82

From the Publisher News Industry Moves Marketing World Licensing World

Generation Media NPD Letter from America Viewpoint Talking Shop Fresh

Company Profile: Toikido Feature: Spring Fair Preview Company Profile: Diamant Company Profile: Konami Feature: Eco friendly/sustainable toys Q&A: Mattel

Contributors The NPD Group | Mark Buschhaus | Stephen Barnes Asha Bhalsod | Rick Derr | Jonathan Chambers

Rachael Simpson-Jones

70 Company Profile: Konami

74

Feature: Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Editor rachael@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 406

Sam Giltrow

Assistant Editor sam@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 406

Alakat Published by

Mark Crowford

Design and Production Manager markc@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 405

www.toyworldmag.co.uk @toyworldmag @baulchtweet

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I from the publisher

John Baulch - @Baulchtweet

t has been an eventful start to the New Year, to say the least. After weeks of mounting speculation, we finally saw the cancellation of the Nuremberg and New York Toy Fairs, in both cases less than a week after the respective organisers had issued statements claiming that the events were definitely still going ahead. There had been rumblings about both shows since the turn of the year, with reports of key exhibitors pulling out and major buyers cancelling appointments. Both show organisers did all they could to give the shows a fighting chance of going ahead, but in the end, time and the virus conditions in Germany and the USA were against them.

It must be immensely frustrating and disappointing to have had to cancel the shows for a second year in a row – I really feel for the organisers, just as I feel for the HKTDC which stages the Hong Kong Toy Fair. However, these cancellations were very much down to ‘events beyond their control’.

Here in the UK, our government has adopted a rather different approach to Covid, preferring to ‘ride it out’ and live alongside the virus. That strategy understandably has its vocal critics at times, and I appreciate that it may not be ideal for every individual, but there is no doubt that it is infinitely more business friendly. The government has repeatedly made it clear that there are no impending lockdowns, international travel restrictions have been eased significantly and mass events are still taking place (football matches have seen 60k crowds turning up across the winter, while bars, restaurants and nightclubs have remained fully open). As a result, it has largely been down to individuals and companies as to how they choose to operate, and businesses can at least plan with some degree of confidence.

As a result of the UK government’s policy, coupled with a welcome fall in Covid cases, the London Toy Fair was thankfully able to go ahead this past week, and next week sees the Spring Fair taking place in Birmingham. This issue includes a preview of the Kids, Toys & Play area of the show: a focused sector for sure, but with the cancellation of trips to Hong Kong, Nuremberg and New York, a valuable additional opportunity for retailers to see new ranges and source potential new suppliers.

This edition was sent to press before the London Toy Fair, so I’m afraid you will have to wait until next month for our review of the show and a rundown of all the key news and developments that happened at Olympia.

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All I can say is that writing this column a week before the event, it feels like it is going to be an amazing show: there is palpable excitement about the opportunity to meet up with industry friends and colleagues again after so long, while the cancellation of the international trade fairs seems likely to lead to an influx of visitors from the European and wider global market, keen to see new launches and meet with suppliers and retailers in the flesh.

It will have been a different show for sure; suppliers have had to be mindful of the stands becoming overcrowded, so pre-arranged appointments were more important than ever. And with everyone being asked to wear masks, it might just have been a little trickier to gauge reactions to new lines than usual. Hopefully there will have been a lot of smiling going on behind those masks.

In the meantime, in addition to our Spring Fair preview section, this issue also includes an extensive look at the sustainability efforts being made by an increasing number of toy companies. Our special Green Feature rounds-up a host of new products, packaging solutions and business initiatives that toy suppliers and retailers are launching to ensure that the toy community delivers a more sustainable future for both the industry and its consumers. There is no doubt that adopting eco-friendly principles is something that all businesses need to address, and once again it feels like the toy community is at the forefront of the movement.

Away from the shows, there has been a steady progression of major news stories breaking over the past few weeks. We have brought all of these stories together in this issue, with multiple comings and goings at some of the largest toy companies and retailers, including MGA, Toys R Us, Ravensburger and many more. If you want to keep up to date with all the latest news and developments as they happen in real time, head on over to our website and register to receive our email news alerts – Toy World always aims to have its finger on the pulse and be first with the news, so we can help you to stay one step ahead of the game.

However, we firmly believe that some articles are best presented in print form, and always will be. So, grab a brew (and a pack of pack of biscuits if you’re feeling peckish), hunker down and enjoy the wealth of information that the Toy World team has curated for you this month.

TOY LINE

COMING THIS SUMMER

For orders, please contact Omer Dekel, PMI’s VP International Sales Mail: omer@pmi.co.il | Mobile: +972-52-4614444 For more information, visit www.pmi.co.il

News Sainsbury’s results reveal steep drop in Argos sales, including toys Although Sainsbury’s has raised its full-year profit guidance to “at least” £720m before tax, up from £660m thanks to sales of food and drink, sales of toys and tech at Argos saw a huge decrease, its results show.

The retailer delivered strong Christmas results and growing market share, despite a fall in sales during the peak Christmas trading period.

In a statement, the company said that cost inflation had been offset by savings, driven by the closure of 420 Argos branches. This helped strengthen profits, along with better-than-expected grocery sales. The company said: “Our expectations for full year profits are ahead of previous guidance, with investment in the customer proposition and higher operating cost inflation offset by structural cost savings and stronger than expected grocery volumes, driven in part by increased in-home grocery consumption.”

However, overall like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and the effect of new shops opening, fell by 4.5% in the three months to 8th January, and general merchandise, which includes homeware, toys and other goods from Argos, fell by 16% year-on-year.

The group said this was down to comparisons with a “strong performance” during lockdown the previous Christmas, as well as a company decision to offer fewer discounts. The retailer revealed that global supply chain issues had also affected the availability of certain products.

Argos sales were more than 9% down in the company’s wider third quarter compared to the same period last year while the supermarket chain’s general merchandise performance was 20% lower.

Smyths bolsters European business with €175m injection Irish toy retail giant Smyths has injected €175m into its successful European business after the German, Austrian and Swiss entity posted 2020 pre-tax profits of €10.97m as sales rose 4% to €475.35m.

This performance makes Smyths Toys EU HQ Unlimited Co the most profitable area of the business – and Smyths is now seeking further growth with the capital investment.

Overall, the retailer enjoyed record sales of €1.465b in 2020, with the European business alone accounting for 42% of Smyth’s €26m in pre-tax profits. There are 114 stores spread across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 88 of which are in Germany.

There are 113 stores in the UK and a further 21 in ROI, bringing the total portfolio to 248 stores manned by some 6,000 staff.

The €175m capital injection, which brings the retailer’s total authorised capital to €176m (Smyths only had €1m previously) means it will be able to continue its European expansion. Company directors confirmed that Smyths Toys outlets in Austria and Switzerland were ‘performing strongly’ after their reopening in 2021.

distributor of leading brands

sales@toynamics.co.uk | +44 116 478 5230

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News Diane Lee named director of Buying for Toys R Us UK Diane Lee has been appointed director of Buying for Toys R Us UK. Diane has over 30 years’ experience in merchandising and buying, having previously worked at Toys R Us UK, Hamleys, Early Learning Centre and Mothercare. In her new role, Diane will manage and direct buying and product strategy within Toys R Us and Babies R Us. Her arrival comes as Toys R Us ANZ Limited and WHP Global, the parent company of Toys R Us and Babies R Us, continue with their plans to bring digital and physical retail commerce for Toys R Us and Babies R Us back to the UK. Online sales will commence over the coming months, initially from existing operations in Australia, while the company works to establish local teams, offices and logistics facilities this year and into 2023.

Diane’s appointment is not the first senior hire to be made: Mike Coogan joined the retailer in the role of Marketing and eCommerce director in December.

Istanbul Toy Fair to offer meeting hub for toy companies across Europe and Asia Istanbul International Toy Fair will be held at the Tüyap Fair and Congress Center for four days between March 17th-20th 2022 with the support of the OYDER (Association of Toyers). 2022 marks the fourth iteration of the show, which spans a huge range of categories including toys, baby products, costumes, model railways, sports equipment, bikes and scooters, and much more.

The show aims to bring the toy industry under one roof to exchange information about new technologies and trends. Located in Istanbul, known as Europe and Asia's crossroads, the exhibition is ideally situated and offers easy access to companies from all over the world. Istanbul is also a popular tourist destination and attracts visitors with its architecture, museums, restaurants and bazaars, meaning exhibitors looking to sell their products to companies from neighbouring countries will also be able to make the most of their time in Turkey’s largest city.

The fair helps companies communicate directly with their target audiences and facilitates networking opportunities for businesses from across the globe, including Dolu, Can Ali Toys, Istanbul Toys, Lolliboni and more. Visitors can browse handily grouped categories designed to help them find exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily.

The attractively priced Tüyap Palas hotel, located right next to the toy fair, is the ideal place to stay with 630 rooms offering lake and sea views. This 5-star destination is the largest and most prestigious of the Istanbul hotels in the Büyükçekmece district and is popular with those looking to combine work and rest: leisure amenities include a fitness centre, a sauna, a resting pool, a jacuzzi, a steam bath and the indulgent Sedir Spa. Readers can register to attend the Istanbul International Toy Fair at the fair’s website: www. istanbuloyuncakfuari.com/en. With a 70% increase in the number of visitors and an 18% increase in the number of countries being represented, early registration is advised.

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Bachmann Europe to distribute Günther outdoor toys Bachmann Europe has announced its appointment as a UK & Ireland distributor for the Günther range of outdoor toys.

For over 65 years, Günther has been developing and producing ‘Anything that Flies!’ including classic children’s kites, dynamic stunt kites, model aircraft, gliders and a variety of airborne toys.

Many of the products are made in the company’s factory in Germany, where they are manufactured to the highest of standards. The brand ethos is to encourage families away from screens and get back to the great outdoors, believing there can be ‘no better way of enjoying nature than playing with model aircraft, kites and sailing boats made

by Günther’.

A highlight of the range is a variety of colourful licensed children’s kites which feature characters from Disney and popular children’s cartoons, such as Paw Patrol and PJ Masks. The kites are made from robust PE foil and are very easy for young children to fly, even in the lightest of winds. There is also a range of fun and vibrant glider toys, from chuck gliders to rubber-band powered options, while for budding sailors there’s a selection of small sailboats that are both capsize-proof and seaworthy, thanks to a weighted keel and wellbalanced rigging.

Bachmann will be showcasing the range at Spring Fair 6th – 9th February (Stand 5G24-H25).

News Tim Hall to step down as Ravensburger MD Tim Hall, managing director of Ravensburger for over two decades, has announced that he is to step down from the role. Speaking to Toy World, Tim explained that the decision has been made for personal reasons and that the company is in ‘excellent health’.

He said: “I have decided to step down from my role as managing director of Ravensburger during the second quarter of 2022, after more than 20 years in the role. The decision is a purely personal one, but I have been fully supported by the super management team of the parent company. I have been very fortunate to have worked alongside such a talented and hard-working team in Bicester. In particular, over the last two years, they have worked tirelessly across all areas of the business to meet the sustained increase in demand for our products and I am extremely grateful for all their efforts and support. I am also grateful for all the support I have received from our customers, licensors, international colleagues and other partners. We have very ambitious plans for the next three years and I look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength.”

Tim added: “We are currently recruiting for my successor and then there will be a suitable handover period. I am delighted to say that I will not be leaving Ravensburger but will become part of the team looking after international licensing. I will therefore be able to keep in touch with all my Ravensburger colleagues and all our partners at retail and in the licensing community.”

Toymaster confirms details of 2022 May Show The Toymaster buying group has officially sent out the invite to its 2022 May Show, which makes its highly anticipated return this year after being forced to sit out 2021 due to Covid.

Running from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th May (with a set-up day on the 16th), the 2022 Toymaster May Show – the biggest trade show for Independent Toy Retailers in the UK and Ireland- will take place at its ‘second home’, the Double Tree by Hilton Majestic Hotel in Harrogate.

In addition to Toymaster Members, the group will once again be opening the show to all independent toy retailers, giving exhibiting suppliers even more opportunities to promote their ranges at this key time of year.

The invite, sent out by Yogi Parmar, reads: “We are all looking forward to the May Show, which is an important event in the toy trade calendar, where our Members can spend quality time with you, our Suppliers, to plan ahead for this year’s peak selling season. If you haven’t been able to attend the show previously and require more information, there is a whole raft of information on the Suppliers section of our website. I look forward to seeing you all in person at what I am sure will be another successful May Show.”

For independent retailers, membership of Toymaster offers a host of benefits, from access to its branded and themed window programme to its standout central invoicing system. Contact the team to find out more.

Agents assemble! New sales team for Rachel Lowe A new sales team at Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles is in the process of being put together and will be headed up by Lee Crocker, who has recently been appointed as UK & International sales manager for the company.

Starting with immediate effect, Keely Large of KAL Sales will manage the following territories: Norfolk, Suffolk, Beds, Bucks, Hearts, Essex, Northants, Cambridgeshire, W. Midlands, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Oxfordshire, S. Wales, S. West, London & South East England.

Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles has been looking for further representation in the North of England, Scotland, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, North West, North Wales, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, and is in the process of appointing representation for Ireland.

Rachel commented: “Toymaster, AIS and the independents are an important retail channel for Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles and the introduction of regional puzzles and games in 2022 will deliver further growth within this sector.”

Along with its new releases for 2022, Rachel Lowe Games & Puzzles has a raft of licences that include Call the Midwife, Beano, Laurel & Hardy, Elf on the Shelf, Friday Night Dinner, Mr Bean and more.

The company has signed an extension with Elf on the Shelf to produce board games and puzzles, agreed distribution rights for the UK & Eire for the Apple TV Wolf Walkers games and puzzles, plus a design, manufacture and distribution agreement with a new IP called “eejits” to produce a board game, puzzles and battle cards called “Bahoocie”.

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News Obituary: Margaret Goldie

BTHA Golden Teddy presented to Tomy’s Alan Thompson Alan Thompson has been awarded a prestigious Golden Teddy, in recognition of his dedication and service to the toy industry, upon his retirement as a sales agent.

A true veteran of the toy trade, Alan is celebrating 50 years in the industry.

He joined Tomy as a sales agent in 1983 following a career including roles at both Mattel and Ravensburger.

Kingsley Matthews, UK sales director at Tomy, commented: “Alan Thompson is a true man of character and integrity – he is dependable, honest and credible – and he is fully deserving of his Golden Teddy award. He is known in the industry for his enthusiasm for the ranges he sells and his relentless servicing of his retailers, and we shall certainly miss having him as a member of our team.”

Andrew McCormick, who is taking over Alan’s role in Ireland, added: “Alan certainly leaves some very big shoes to fill. His knowledge of the trade and the example he sets in his work ethic and customer service is second to none, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all he has taught me.”

Kingsley added: “We’d like to again extend our thanks to Alan for his incredible 39 years of hard work here at Tomy.”

Toy World is sad to report the passing of popular independent retailer Margaret Goldie. When she retired back in 2007, Margaret summed up her career by saying: “You can’t wish to be in a better trade than the toy trade.”

Margaret opened her first shop in Holbrooks, Coventry in 1972 and opened further shops in the Westmead Centre, Allesley Park, and the first floor of Intershop, in Bull Yard.

Margaret subsequently opened a shop in the Lower Precinct in 1982, closing her first two shops at the same time. The Lower Precinct and Intershop branches closed in 1989 and 2000, respectively, and she moved to City Arcade.

On her retirement, Margaret told the Coventry Telegraph: “My most treasured toy is a six-foot Rupert Bear given to me to celebrate 25 years in the toy trade.”

She also said that said her job was very rewarding for the happiness it has brought Coventry children over the years: “It’s lovely, you just imagine Christmas Day when they’re opening their toys.”

Well-known Midlands agent John Nicholas told Toy World: “Margaret was an excellent buyer of toys, backing her judgement with some large orders. Her window displays won her many prizes, including an Austin Mini for her Care Bears window.

In 2002, she was sponsored by John Hales of Golden Bear to be awarded a Golden Teddy for her contribution to the toy industry, which she was thrilled to bits with.”

John added: “During the 1990s, she used to invite reps and agents along with a few retailer friends to her flat near Earls Court during the Toy Fair. You were always proud to be asked. A super lady who loved life, may she rest in peace.”

Magic Box opens UK office as growth plans progress The company’s ambitious global growth plans progress as the Magic Box team settles into its new UK & Ireland office.

Located at ‘Gatwick House’, it is the company's first office in the UK. Natasha Moore Marlon Groves UK managing director, Nicola Bergot, has shared details of the team who join her in the new look UK company. “As we make our transition from a purely collectibles company to a toy company, we have brought in an experienced and talented team from the toy Industry,” she commented.

“With a proven history of creating trends and inventing new concepts - GoGo Crazy Bones, Zomlings, the first Spice Girls photo album, and the highly success SuperThings – Magic Box believes in the power of great product and great people, and I am delighted with these new appointments."

Suzie Howes is appointed head of Marketing. Suzie has Denise Carr Suzie Howes held several senior marketing roles in the industry; having recently worked for Epoch as head of Marketing, her career has also involved senior roles at Winning Moves, Rainbow Designs, and Vivid Imaginations. Suzie said: “I am thrilled to be joining Magic Box at such an exciting time. 2022 will see the launch of some great new toy brands, all supported by extensive trade and consumer marketing campaigns.”

Denise Carr joins the team in the role of senior national account manager. Denise has had a successful career in nursery, toys and gifts, working in both sales and retail. Marlon Groves will be handling the company’s existing news trade business in the role of national account controller (press and wholesale). Meanwhile, Natasha Moore joins as Customer Services & UK Office coordinator and the company continues to be supported by industry expert Foye Pascoe, who is acting in an advisory capacity.

Nicola added: I am confident that the new team will be a powerful force in enabling us to work closely with our retail and supplier partners and build success together. This is an exciting time for the company – new products, new people and a new office to support the company’s ambition of becoming a major player in the UK toy trade.”

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For International distribution please contact AMAV/Diamant toys Ltd at: sales@diamanttoys.com

Industry Moves MGA Entertainment names Michelle Lilley as new marketing director Michelle Lilley has been promoted to marketing director UK and Ireland for MGA Entertainment UK, having previously been the head of marketing for Little Tikes. The role took effect from January 2022.

In her new post, Michelle will lead all UK brand marketing teams, which includes celebrated brands such as L.O.L. Surprise!, Little Tikes, Rainbow High and Na! Na! Na! Surprise. The company says her primary objective will be to focus on building core business strategies and leading the charge to turn these strategies into compelling product lines, launches and business-building communications.

Michelle’s passion for the industry began over 20 years ago, when she worked for three years in a Toymaster store, balancing the role with her studies. Since then, her experience has been rooted in consumer goods marketing, and the new role follows her time at Little Tikes, where she rose through the ranks from marketing manager to head of Marketing, leading the team to deliver bold and strategic campaigns for over eight years.

Michelle said: “I am thrilled to take on such an exciting opportunity. I began working at MGA in 2013, leading on marketing for Little Tikes. I’m very excited to take this next step in my career at MGA and continue working with an incredible team on some of the UK’s leading toy brands.”

MGA and Zapf part ways with Neil Bandtock MGA Entertainment and Zapf Creation have announced that Neil Bandtock has resigned to seek new opportunities, following 15 months as the managing director for UK & Ireland. The company said it was thankful to Neil for his hard work over the past year, undertaken during extremely challenging circumstances for the industry, and wishes him well in his future endeavours.

Marcel Deveny, VP Sales and Marketing EMEA, will cover the role in the interim period with the support of the UK management team. He stated: “I am really looking forward to leading and supporting the MGA Entertainment and Zapf teams across the UK and Ireland, working in close collaboration with our retail partners to drive the full potential of our brands.”

As the company heads into what it calls ‘an exciting and ground-breaking new year’, plans are underway to break NPD records for market-leading brands including L.O.L. Surprise!, Baby born and Baby Annabell, Rainbow High, and the No. 1 outdoor brand, Little Tikes. MGA stated: “With massive product innovation across the board and a host of new brands ready to disrupt the market later this year, 2022 is set to be the biggest and most exciting year to date.”

Kidicraft expands sales team to support long-term growth Kidicraft is kickstarting 2022 with the addition of seven new sales agents, taking the Bob Duxbury Craig Kidd David Neale Steve Davies team to 11 in total.

The company has welcomed Bob Duxbury, sales agent for the North East; Craig Kidd, business development manager; Steve Davies, sales agent for Wales; Trish Easter, sales agent for the South West, and Sarah Hobbs, sales agent for the Midlands. Working alongside Craig Kidd will be David Neale, and Sarah Hobbs will be joined by Victoria Wilkinson to strengthen those areas further.

Bob Duxbury was first introduced to the sales industry by his father who worked for Rosebud Mattel when Mattel first came to the UK, and brings a wealth of puzzle knowledge with him having worked for Gibsons for 31 years.

Craig Kidd will be focusing on Kidicraft’s key account customers and working closely with David Neale. Craig has worked in the industry for over two years, while David Neale is now into his fourth year within the toy industry.

Steve Davies brings with him over 25 years of experience within the gift, Trish Easter Sarah Hobbs Victoria Wilkinson toy and greetings industry, while Trish Easter has spent 16 years working in the gift industry.

Sarah Hobbs and Victoria Wilkinson are lifelong friends and have worked together in the gift industry for many years covering the Midlands. They feel that Kidicraft’s portfolio is the perfect addition for their customers and are looking forward to showcasing the company’s range of jigsaw puzzles.

The new agents are joining Kidicraft at an exciting time with new product launches from Star Wars, Marvel and Discovery, plus a worldwide licence agreement with Hornby.

2022 is expected to be another year of expansion for Kidicraft and the new additions to the sales team are set to support this growth.

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Industry Moves Amscan adds to product and marketing teams Party product supplier Amscan International has expanded its product and marketing teams with three new hires.

The Milton Keynes based company has a turnover of £200m and employs 2,500 people worldwide, following the purchase of German foil balloon printing technology business Luftballon-Markt last August and UK party brand Ginger Ray in October.

Following her recent graduation in Product Design, Beth Tippite has joined the creative design team as both product and marketing designer; Sam Ingle has joined as Party Product Executive, with his previous experience allowing him to focus on product from a 360-degree vantage point, and Mike Hurst has joined the Educational Marketing team as Training and Education Executive. Along with Sam Ingle Mike Hurst Beth Tippite Chris Horne and Jacob Megram, he forms part of the expert Balloon Education team, holding seminars and training both virtually and in person.

Jen Wilson, head of Product, Design and Marketing at Amscan, said: “We are really excited to be able to welcome the new members of the team and expand the Amscan family further. They are already proving to enhance an already fantastic team and we’re really excited for the future of our category.”

New year appointments at Halilit Halilit kicked off 2022 with the addition of two new members of staff to its rapidly growing team. Following the recruitment of Adam Wale as eCommerce manager a few months ago, Marjo Cako has joined the company as logistics and demand planner, whilst Damien Leahy bolsters the sales team as key account manager.

Halilit says the new roles have been created at a time of growth for the pre-school specialist. Amy Wildman, Marjo Cako Damien Leahy Adam Wale Halilit sales manager, commented: “Despite the challenges of the past couple of years Halilit has experienced a fantastic trading period, in part due to the variety of our customers, the acquisition of Dodo puzzles, and also the excellent reputation our brands have among consumers. We’re thrilled to have such talent joining us, to help with our ambitious growth plans over the next few years.”

The new starters joined Halilit as the company was set to unveil its refreshed branding, and whilst development of a new trade ordering platform, which will allow retailers to log in, see what’s new and hot and to place reorders, is also underway.

Amy added: “Alongside revitalising our online access for trade customers, Adam will be ensuring that our customers with their own web presence have access to the very best optimised content, whilst Marjo brings a wealth of experience in planning and analysis, skills that have become all the more critical amidst longer shipping and lead times.

Damien joins us with a fantastic reputation within the industry and is looking forward to getting in touch with his customers to see how he can help grow brands such as Halilit music and Taf Toys.”

Funrise marks European expansion with new appointments Funrise International has appointed two new general managers for Europe and expanded its international team to support its international growth strategy.

Annie Sullivan has become general manager, UK, Northern Europe & MEA, effective from December and will now be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the UK/Ireland region as well as the EMEA territory. She had spent the past five years at Funrise as commercial director EMEA and, in her new role, will expand her leadership across the whole of Northern Europe and continue to develop the MEA business along with the support of her team.

“During Annie’s time at Funrise, she has been able to grow the EMEA business exponentially with various licensed and IP brands within our portfolio. I’m confident she and her team will continue to build the business even further and grow our company’s distribution,” said Martin Good, senior vice president, International.

Sebastien Cardi stepped into the newly created role of general manager, Southern Europe on 1st January and is now responsible for the entirety of Southern Europe. Since joining Funrise in 2017, he has worked to grow the business and achieve distribution for Funrise’s products across all retailers within the French market.

Martin added: “Sebastien's proven leadership skills in tackling the very tough but growing French business will see his responsibilities expand across the whole of Southern Europe.”

Benn Bramwell Annie Sullivan To help support the company’s international growth, Benn Bramwell has joined the Funrise team as marketing manager UK & EMEA. He will work closely with the Global Brand Team and be responsible for implementing marketing strategies across all functions, including linear, digital and social media planning, as well as trade marketing, PR and the eCommerce business.

Annie Sullivan said: “We are very excited to welcome Benn to the Funrise team to help drive our global brand strategies and grow our business in Europe even further.”

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Marketing World Mattel launches #TaptoRebox to recover and reuse old toys To help parents declutter after Christmas and live more sustainably, Mattel has launched #TaptoRebox with Mattel PlayBack; a toy takeback programme for Barbie, Matchbox and Mega that will enable families to extend the life of their Mattel toys once they have finished playing with them.

The new programme is designed to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys, and supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.

Mattel is also teaming up with professional declutterer and life coach Kate Ibbotson, founder of organisational service A Tidy Mind to provide decluttering, donating and recycling tips to UK parents.

Kate Ibbotson offered this advice: “Encourage children to donate toys which they don’t use or have outgrown to charity – or use the Mattel Playback scheme. I have found that children are passionate about donating and recycling their toys and doing so can develop their sense of empathy and social responsibility.”

“At Mattel, we are committed to managing the environmental impact of our products,” added Pamela Gill-Alabaster, global head of Sustainability. “The Mattel PlayBack programme helps parents and caregivers ensure that materials stay in play, and out of landfill, with the aim to repurpose these materials as recycled content in new products. It is one important step we’re taking to address the growing global waste challenge.”

To participate in the Mattel #TaptoRebox PlayBack programme, consumers can visit Mattel.com/PlayBack, print a free shipping label, then pack and mail their outgrown Mattel toys back to Mattel.

Toys will be sorted and separated by material type and responsibly processed and recycled. For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content, Mattel will either downcycle those materials or convert them from waste to energy. Other brands are to be added to the scheme in the future.

The #TapToRebox campaign will also be launched in other European countries, with influencers and parents signing up to the scheme in the UK, Germany and France.

The Entertainer supports Afghanistan Appeal with Christian Aid The Entertainer teamed up with Christian Aid to support its Afghanistan Appeal in January, pledging £1 to the charity for every colouring sheet submitted in store or on its Facebook page, using the hashtag #TheEntertainerAppeal.

From 6th to 23rd January, the retailer invited families to pick up colouring sheets from their local store or download from online, as a way of showing support for the appeal. The sheets include child-friendly information about the ongoing efforts in Afghanistan to support displaced families, with donations helping to provide families across Afghanistan with emergency food, shelter and blankets.

As well as raising thousands of pounds for the charity, the campaign also enabled families across the UK to learn more about the current landscape in Afghanistan..

The Afghanistan Appeal will support Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charities already on the ground, which are scaling up their operations to reach the people most in need. With this support, they and their local partners are working together to provide emergency food and nutrition support for children, support healthcare facilities, provide winter kits to help displaced families stay warm, supply clean drinking water and protect women and girls.

The Entertainer’s founder and executive chairman, Gary Grant, kicked off the appeal with a donation of £25,000 through The Grant Foundation.

Customers were also invited to show their support by making a donation at caid.org.uk/entertainer.

Playtime PR takes on entire comms remit for Epoch The new year has heralded a new agency for Epoch making toys, with the company announcing it has handed its entire communications remit to Playtime PR. The agency, which specialises in working with playful brands, now handle sall B2B and consumer PR, media relations, social media strategy and management, and influencer outreach across Epoch making toys’ portfolio of brands: Sylvanian Families, Aquabeads and Epoch Games, which features Super Mario Games.

John Briggs, commercial director at Epoch making toys, commented: “We are delighted to partner with Playtime PR as we move into an ambitious marketing year for all our brands. It was important to us to find an agency that could support our plans across multiple disciplines and platforms in 2022, and we were impressed with the team’s infectious enthusiasm and creative ideas. We’re excited to have the team on board and look forward to working on a wealth of exciting activations with them in the year ahead.”

Lesley Singleton, Playtime’s founder & CEO, added: “What a phenomenal start to the New Year! Epoch is home to a mighty portfolio of superb toy brands, and we are frankly honoured to be able to bring our campaign ideas to life for them.”

Epoch thanked Highlight PR and Norton PR for their historical work and dedication to EMT’s brands.

Toy World 22

Opinion

Assessing media strategies

This month, Jonathan examines the challenges of planning 2022 marketing activity and looks at how they can be overcome.

A

new year provides marketers the opportunity to review 2021’s winners and losers, taking forward key learnings to inform media strategy in 2022 and beyond.

But in the age of ever-changing digital opportunity, simply relying on historic data will never be enough as new channels emerge. There will always be the ever-evolving conundrum – what is the optimal media mix when talking to children’s audiences?

We have used this column previously to highlight the rise of gaming as a legitimate platform for advertising budgets and talked at length about the eventual potential of the Metaverse for children’s advertisers (whatever format(s) that ends up encompassing in the short and long term). However, video platforms look set to continue to their domination of children’s attention, and by extension media budgets, for the year ahead.

Unique insights provided by Giraffe Insights allow us to not only track historic trends in terms of viewing behaviours, but plot projections for 2022 and beyond which then power the data driven decisions made by Optimus Plan, a core component of Optimus AI - our new suite of planning, buying and reporting tools.

Using this data, it is clear to see how viewing behaviour across the major platforms has developed over the past five years, culminating in SVOD platforms (Netflix, Disney+, etc.) dominating the landscape from a pure viewing perspective. However, when isolating to commercial channels, YouTube and Linear TV continue to fight for dominance (although it must be said that less than half of children’s TV viewing now takes place on children’s channels), and we continue to monitor TikTok’s progression amongst children’s audiences in preparation for it eating into the share of all parties, as it has done with youth and adult audiences. As things stand, in terms of the total time spent viewing video content

by 4-9 year olds, TikTok only accounts for 1%.

This figure is of course skewed by the fact TikTok content is much shorter than its competitors. To provide some context, YouTube accounts for 15% of total video time, but 23% of total occasions (and as much as 60% when total clip count is considered).

Even armed with this insight however, marketers need more information to make planning decisions, and this is exactly what

Optimus AI delivers. Platform consumption data is fundamental, but isn’t necessarily indicative of sales success. A deeper analysis of ad recall and purchase influence is required. Based upon the latest wave of the Giraffe Insights’ Little Voices study (November 2021), YouTube adverts (28% of 4-9 year olds) are more likely to be cited than adverts on kids TV channels (23%) when asked “Where do they get inspiration for products they want?”. By this measure, TikTok (13%) again looks to lag behind its competitors, but when you

Toy World 24

Jonathan Chambers Director of AV Investment, Generation Media.

Tel: 0207 307 7906 Jonathan.Chambers@generationmedia.co.uk consider that only 1% of video time is spent on the platform, it demonstrates plenty of commercial promise. And, of course, this can all change very rapidly.

The chart below plots how TV and YouTube have evolved over the course of 2021 against this measure, with YouTube’s effectiveness increasing in line with overall advertising spend. It’s easy to project a future where TikTok follows suit in terms of its effectiveness, once issues regarding advertising to children are resolved (much like in the early years of YouTube advertising).

Finally, let’s also not forget cost, a huge factor in determining the most effective deployment of media budgets. Taking children aged 4-9 audience as an example, YouTube may now compete with TV for ad spend and provide a marginally higher influence on purchasing, but during H1 TV still remains the most cost-effective choice, with each impression costing 92% less than on YouTube. By the time Q4 hits however, this trend is reversed with YouTube being as much as 40% less than the cost of TV (dependent on targeting, content quality and brand safety parameters). As such, each campaign needs to be assessed on its own unique merits and variables to ensure that significant factors such as this (and myriad more) are accounted for.

Planning 2022 marketing activity is going to be challenging for a whole host of external and environmental considerations - the ongoing distribution and pandemic related issues are not going anywhere yet. Don’t let a lack of action-oriented data pose further complications.

If you are interested to find out more, feel free to get in touch for a free consultation to discover how Optimus AI can enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns in 2022 and beyond.

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Licensing World Rubies’ Fireman Sam licence is ready for action after extension Rubies has announced the continuation of its successful partnership with Mattel, which has seen an extension of the popular Fireman Sam licence. The company says the new deal reflects the strong relationship built up over the years between Rubies and Mattel, as it looks to expand its dress-up portfolio across EMEA. With over 30 years of heritage, the Fireman Sam series currently airs in over 100 countries. Rubies will continue to manufacture and distribute its current costume styles alongside the addition of exciting new designs to the range for 2022.

Tracey Devine-Tyley, head of Portfolio and Licensing, commented: “Our partnership with Mattel and its subsidiaries, responsible for the creation and continued success of the Fireman Sam brand over the years, is set to grow exponentially following this extension. The Rescue Team has been educating young children for over 30 years on the importance of teamwork and safety and we are proud of the values it upholds; they align with our own company morals, which we wish to share and impart to our youngest audience, children. We are happy to be able to continue to provide youngsters with dress-up that encourages them to act in the heroic and ambitious way that the rescue team of Pontypandy does. Part of our company mission is to inspire children to be the best they can be with our costumes and we are delighted to be able to continue doing this.”

Helen Genia, head of UK Licensing and Hardlines EMEA Mattel Consumer Products, added: “Fireman Sam is an important piece of British pop culture and a much-loved character across toys, books, fashion, nightwear and dressup. We are thrilled to expand the licence with Rubies to offer children more role-play opportunities and bring to life the characters and world of Pontypandy through fantastic new dress-up looks, allowing children to play out heroic adventures.”

The Fireman Sam show is available to watch in the UK on Cartoonito, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Milkshake (Channel 5) and Virgin Media, as well as networks across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Toikido teams up with PMI for Gang Beasts master toy line After landing the global master deal with award-winning studio Boneloaf, Toikido has partnered with PMI to bring Gang Beasts to life on shelf.

For London-based entertainment company Toikido, Gang Beasts is the second major gaming IP. Continuing with its aim to deliver innovation and revolution to the toy industry, plans are already in place to repeat a hit master toy line with PMI and replicate the huge success of Among Us. Gang Beasts is a multiplayer game with fun, flexible characters battling in absurdly hazardous environments, with the odd shark thrown in for good measure. The game’s characters have fans young and old in hysterics as they grab, push, pull and shove their enemies in environments including scaffolds, flaming incinerator pits, Ferris wheels and trucks.

Toikido’s Darran Garnham commented: “The Boneloaf team is amazing. They are passionate and involved in every step of product planning and development, and I’m very excited to bring product to market for current Gang Beats fans – and drive new ones into the franchise. PMI has been a great Toikido partner to date, and the initial discussions on Gang Beasts have been fantastic.”

Founded in the 90s, PMI has a long and impressive track record of producing successful, trending lines of high volume, high value collectibles, stationery, games, toys and other pocket money items at accessible prices. The company’s success strategy is based on skilfully creating new lines of engaging, top-quality products for a growing number of licensing partners bearing the world’s most loved brands in the entertainment industry.

Omer Dekel, VP Sales at PMI, added: “We are seeing how friends and family love to share the silliness and fun of Gang Beasts and, with Toikido, we are planning on delivering a full line of toy products that will be just as much fun for the game’s fans. PMI has earned a solid reputation for great quality products, which are authentic to the brands and the games’ characters, in a broad range of lines for both kids and adults”.

Product will be available this summer.

Great Gizmos details Disney additions to its best-selling STEAM range Great Gizmos’ licensed Disney range offers kids a raft of innovative and engaging STEAM products based on beloved properties from the studio including classic animations and modern-day marvels.

Thanks to the partnership, kids can discover the wonders of robotics and anatomy with the Avengers Motorised Robot Hand or construct an impressive spider, which scuttles up and down its string as its legs move from side to side, with the Spider Man Spider Robot. Alternatively, they can rebuild a 100-yearold optical toy capable of demonstrating the working principle of modern animations with the Disney Animation Praxinoscope.

Frozen fans can unleash their artistic abilities by designing and colouring the Frozen Colour In Mug or painting and decorating the beautiful Frozen Mirror Chest. This fantastic kit comes with everything needed to create a stunning keepsake perfect for storing trinkets. Kids can also design their own Princess Chest, available in Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast designs.

Those wanting to learn more about space can do so with the help of Buzz Lightyear, as they explore the solar system and watch the planets move around the sun, powered by the sun itself or a backup battery, with the Toy Story Solar Hybrid Power System. The Toy Story Pump Rocket, meanwhile, launches micro rockets up to 20 feet in the air.

Numerous other Disney licensed lines are also available. To find out more, email sales@greatgizmos.co.uk or visit www.ggtrade.co.uk.

Toy World 26

FROM THE PRODUCERS OF OCTONAUTS

ON AIR SPRING 2022 CONSUMER PRODUCTS LAUNCH FROM 2023 FOR LICENSING ENQUIRES: CONTACT@SILVERGATEMEDIA.COM

Licensing World PMI to launch Brawl Stars toy line this summer A new line of Brawl Stars toys will be launched this summer by gaming-sector toy manufacturer and distributor PMI, following a deal with Supercell, makers of the highly popular Brawl Stars brand, and Line Friends, a global consumer products licensing partner for the brand.

First launched in 2018, the Brawl Stars mobile game has become a global hit with 300m downloads in over 164 countries. It is a multiplayer online battle-arena and third-person hero shooter game with multiple game modes and features distinctive characters.

PMI will release a multi-territory, highly detailed Brawl Stars toy line that will include collectibles, action figures, plush, stampers and more. The deal was brokered by licensing agency WildBrain CPLG on behalf of Line Friends, and by Big Picture Licensing representing PMI. The range will launch in EMEA as well as North America, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore and will be a key addition to the brand’s existing licensing programme which covers apparel, accessories, health and beauty, home, party, promotions, stationery and back-to-school.

Boaz Dekel, CEO and chairman at PMI, commented: “Supercell’s Brawl Stars is a great fit for our IP portfolio of today’s hottest brands, aligning perfectly with our marketing and growth strategies and to our commitment to professionalism, uncompromising quality and authenticity in all our toy lines.”

Maarten Weck, EVP & managing director at WildBrain CPLG, added: “There continues to be significant growth and demand for consumer products based on gaming IP all around the world. We’re very excited to welcome PMI on board as a strategic toy partner for Brawl Stars and with the game’s extensive international fan base, we anticipate strong consumer products traction in 2022 across all key markets.”

On behalf of Line Friends, WildBrain CPLG represents Brawl Stars across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Iberia, Benelux, Nordics, CEE, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

newsanalysis Hornby tie-up joins latest Kidicraft licensing deals Kidicraft is looking forward to a bumper new year, with an expanding team and a raft of new product on the back of new licensing agreements with Marvel, Star Wars and Hornby. Owner and director Roy Greenwood tells us more.

T

he Hornby worldwide deal – the latest to be inked – will see the company produce a range of jigsaw puzzles using Hornby’s original artwork across four of its key brands, with stock available in the UK from

August.

"Kidicraft is thrilled to have secured a worldwide licence agreement with Hornby. The initial ranges will comprise of 25 jigsaw puzzles across the Hornby, Airfix, Corgi and Scalextric brands,” explained Roy. “There will also be a special edition 3000pc jigsaw puzzle of the Airfix Spitfire which will contain an actual Spitfire Model.”

Kidicraft launched over 30 new product designs this January, featuring both Premium and Prime 3D Jigsaw Puzzles. New ranges for 2022 include Star Wars, Marvel, Discovery Space and Discovery Monuments.

The new Star Wars Prime 3D 500pc puzzle range features iconic Star Wars characters, while the new range of Marvel 500pc Prime 3D jigsaw puzzles features a whole host of Marvel characters including Hulk, Thanos, Spider-Man and Black Widow. Kidicraft will be continually releasing extensions to this range throughout 2022, including additional twin box sets and 300pc Prime 3D puzzles, along with other lines including a new licensed range with Animal Club International this autumn, featuring traditional puzzle styles for pre-school upwards.

“It’s a huge start to the year, and with the new Hornby agreement, it’s only going

to get bigger,” said Roy. “It’s projected that our growth for 2022 is going to be 100% up on last year, which was up 51% on the 2020 figure.”

He added: “We were very pleased with our performance in 2021. Obviously, there were a lot of challenges to do with costs, logistics and the uncertainty of Covid. It was a case of having to be adaptable and reacting quickly to any changes. We bulk purchased a lot of puzzles during the summer and had multiple containers lining up – at one point, five arrived in 48 hours, which is about 90,000 puzzles. With the larger building that we moved into last year, the warehouse is now starting to look on the full side - but it’s great, because we have the availability for retailers when they need it.”

Plans to bring some production in-house have been put on hold due to the current need for bulk storage, but it is anticipated that the machinery for this will be in place next year. “One of the benefits of producing the products in the UK means that we can deliver it into Europe without the extra duty charges on it,” explained Roy. The company is also expanding its team, kicking off 2022 with seven new sales agents, which takes the team to 11 in total, and plans to recruit internally too.

Kidicraft is also investing heavily in IT to aid workflow and increase efficiency.

“We’ve got a very focused path that I want to take the business on, and I’m pleased to say that each year, it is going further in the right direction,” said Roy. “We’re anticipating a big year this year with Star Wars and Marvel, and the Hornby launch later in the year, and I’m working on developments in the background too, such as new licences and other new products. I believe there are niches in the market that are currently being missed, which could prove very lucrative.”

Toy World 28

Minions medieval mayhem Chess Set Includes 32 oversized pieces measuring 2.5 to 3.75 inches. Playing board is 18.5 x 18.5 inches.

Comes in collector box for storage.

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NPD Insight

To monitor what’s happening in the ever-changing toy market, NPD collects point-of-sale information from all major toy retailers. This information, combined with our analysts’ industry perspectives, delivers a comprehensive view of what’s selling and where. We also field over 12m consumer surveys annually to help industry leaders understand why consumers shop where they shop and why they buy what they buy.

For more information visit www.npd.com. Follow NPD on Twitter @npdgroup.

Looking good

for 2022

This month, Melissa looks at recent notable changes in the toy market, how 2021 ended up and how the market looks for 2022.

I

n the last two years the world has changed rapidly as Covid-19 has impacted how we live, work and play together. Since 2019, the UK toy market has also changed and is now worth £3.2b with 327m units sold. Overall, in 2021 the UK market was down -3% in value for the full year, but up +2% versus 2019. This means we kept 35% of the value gained in 2020 during multiple lockdowns with both adults and children turning to toys and play to occupy their time. So how else has the market changed?

Melissa Symonds

double-digits versus 2019. Explorative & Other Toys has also increased strongly, +10%, mostly driven by the category’s 2021 performance; Panini Euro Championship Stickers enjoyed strong sales the ago Only four Supercategories are down vs. over two years summer, while fidget toys/push poppers were popular supercategory accounting for 14% of all toy sales in Value Share % Growth 2021 vs. 19 % Change across the whole twelve months. the last year. Action Figures and Accessories enjoyed Infant/Toddler/Preschool Toys -12% 15.9% a better 2021, flat vs. 2020, but still down -8% vs.

Recovering Building quickly 2020, Sets from the challenges of15.3% 19% 13.8%up +7% Vehicles and Plush Dolls are both above 2019 sales, -11% 2019, with Role Play & Dress Up declining. In Youth & Sports Toys 12.8% 8% the Robotic & Interactive Playmates Electronics, and +3%Outdoor respectively.

In Vehicles, Hot Wheels and Games/Puzzles 12.2% 16% decline has driven the category down -15% over the last Monster Jam were the strongest drivers of growth.

Explorative & Other Toys 6.8% 10% two years and is the smallest supercategory with just Action Figures Acc In addition, Arts & &Crafts retained 5.9%56% of gains in -8% & Crafts 2% of total 7% toy sales.

2020, finishingArts 2021 +5% above 5.2% 2019 with Play-Doh,

Supercategory Performance vs.19

Director UK Toys, EuroToys NPD

Looking back over the last two years shows an interesting picture, with seven out of eleven Plush 5.2% 3% Kinetic Sand andVehicles Crayola all improving on their 2019 supercategories having a higher value than in 2019.

Over the last two years the licensed toy market has 4.8% 7% performance.

Youth Electronics Building Sets has the strongest growth, up +19% and 2.1% increased in importance and grown +16% vs. 2019, -15% now accounting for 15% accounting for 28% of the Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | UK | YTD Dec-21 of the toy market, up market – or more than £1 1 The NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential from 13% share in 2019. in every £4 spent on toys This growth has been – matching the licensed driven by combination share highs we had in Only four Supercategories are down vs. two years ago of strong licences such as 2015, the year when Star Wars, Harry Potter Disney Frozen and Star Value Share % Growth 2021 vs. 19 % Change and Marvel Universe in Wars were the top two addition to appealing properties in the market.

Infant/Toddler/Preschool Toys -12% 15.9% to Kidults (12+) through Returning to more Building Sets 15.3% 19% Creator Expert, Lego recent times, Q4 2021 Dolls 13.8% -11% Ideas and Lego Technic performance was not Outdoor & Sports Toys 12.8% 8% ranges. Games & Puzzles as strong as the first Games/Puzzles 12.2% is the second fastest 16% three quarters of the growing category in the Explorative & Other Toys 6.8% 10% year. However, the final last two years, up +16% Action Figures & Acc 5.9% -8% weeks prior to Christmas or an additional +£36m, Arts & Crafts 5.2% were stronger with 7% now representing 12% week 52 (finishing on Plush 5.2% 3% of sales. The category Christmas Day) up +35% Vehicles 4.8% 7% retained 85% of the 2020 in value - the strongest Youth Electronics 2.1% -15% gains in 2021, with the week 52 performance in increase particularly Europe. This growth has Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | UK | YTD Dec-21 strong with Strategic continued into the first Trading Card games like Pokémon and Family Board However, not all categories have grown, with the couple of weeks of 2022, with the UK up +9% vs. 21 and Document classification: Client/Third Party Confidential 1 TheMonopoly.

NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential & Action Games like Pictionary and largest supercategory, Infant/Toddler and Pre-school up +20% vs. 2019. Seven out of eleven Supercategories In addition, Adult Puzzles, including those from Toys, down -12% vs. 2019. This has been driven by are up double-digits compared to 2021, which is a Ravensburger and Jumbo, are up compared with prethe Infant/Toddler segment, where we may be seeing strong start to the year. This bodes well for 2022, with Covid sales. the results of lower birth rates in the UK over the last numerous new launches and innovations planned

Supercategory Performance vs.19 Document classification: Client/Third Party Confidential

Outdoor & Sports Toys is up +8% vs. 2019 despite being heavily reliant on the ever-changing British weather, as many families turned to their gardens for entertainment. In particular, Playground Equipment, Pools, Sports Activities and Bubble Toys are all up

two years, as young couples decided to put off having families during the pandemic period. Dolls is also down -11% vs. 2019, driven by a decline in Playset Dolls, even as Fashion Dolls has grown +56% in the last two years. However, Dolls is now the third largest

Toy World 30

in addition to big movies such as Jurassic World 3, Minions 2 and multiple DC and Marvel superhero films, which all have the potential to drive market growth for the rest of the year.

Item Progression:

Item description

Manufacturer

Nov 2021 Rank #

Dec 2021 Rank #

Articulate Tomy/ Drumond Park 479 27 Traditionally, Games items are strong performers in December, with 38% of annual sales in the month (compared to 24% for total toys). Several Games leapt up the rankings, with Articulate moving up 452 positions to the No.27 best-seller for the month. Narrowly missing out on the Fastest Item Progression title was The Logo Game (2nd Edition), which moved from No.185 in November to No.9 in December. However, Pictionary Air was the No.2 best-selling item for December, with Monopoly Classic at No.7. This means three of the top 10 items for the month were games.

Fastest Growingproperties Properties value Fastest growing by by value

These 10 properties have added over £80m to the UK toy market in 2021 These 10 properties have added over £80m to the UK toy market in 2021

Although the total toy market declined slightly in 2021, there were a number of properties that had strong performances throughout the year. In total over 400 properties grew in 2021, with the top ten gaining properties adding over £80m to the UK toy market. Pokémon had a very strong year, finishing 2021 as the fastest These 10 properties have added over £80m to the UK toy market in 2021 gaining property in the UK market with the Strategic Trading Cards growing every Sales Gained £M single month.

The Euro Championship Football tournament in the summer helped the World Soccer licence become the second fastest growing property, with Panini Collectible Stickers the key driver of sales. Kidults, or toys purchased for those over the age of 12, also had an impact on the toy market in 2021, with Lego Creator Expert the third fastest growing range, including products such as the Ghostbusters Ecto 1 and Botantical Collection Flower Bouquet aimed at a higher age group.

Licences had another year of growth in 2021, growing +3% with film related properties like Marvel Universe and Star Wars adding to sales. For Marvel, the Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD December 2021 vs. 20 fourth fastest growing property in the year, the late release of Spider-Man No Way Source: The NPD Group Service | YTD December 2021 vs. 20 The NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential 1 | Retail Tracking Home in addition to the strong Avengers offerings throughout the year all added Document classification: Client/Third Party Confidential Thesuccess.

NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary andfrom confidential up to Star Wars benefited ranges based on The Mandalorian, which now accounts for a third of total Star Wars 1 property sales.

Doll properties also had a strong year, with Rainbow High doubling sales in the last year and Barbie experiencing the third year in a row of growth; now x2.5 larger than it was in 2018. In December, the best-selling item for the month was the Barbie Dreamhouse. 5 Surprise Mini Brand collectibles was the key driver to the 5 Surprise property in the last year.

Minecraft also enjoyed a second year of growth, with both the Building Sets and Action Figures growing adding over £6m sales to the property in 2021.

Sales Gained £M

Fastest growing properties by value

Document classification: Client/Third Party Confidential

Opinion Sustainable toys a conundrum…

After 20 years working at A.C. Nielsen/D&B Research Company, Rick opened the first Learning Express Toys franchise in the Chicago area in 1996, and then became a sub-franchiser, opening nine more stores. Although leaving the corporate environment behind, he has combined his expertise in data and numbers with a passion for the toy retail space. This month, Rick confesses that he finds selling green or sustainable toys a real conundrum.

Letter from America

Below, I set out my problems concerning green toys, and hope that I can solve them. But first, let’s start with a round up of some simple highlights of 2021 and quick forecast for Q1 2022.

2021 Final Stats!

Dollar Sales January thru December vs. 2020

Sales +145%

Average Ticket Sale $46.75

Margins +2.24 points

Foot Traffic +158%

Ending Inventory +38%

At Learning Express, we have achieved record sales driven by above average foot traffic and our highest ever average ticket prices. Due to the key drivers of fidget toys and Squishmallows, margins also went up, and we ended the year with inventory levels in line with pre-covid years.

For Q1 2022, we expect to see January and February sales beating 2021 inflated levels, followed by a slowing as we enter the spring and start to compare against previous record levels. Overall, Q1 will be considered strong but with a late Easter (April 17th), there will be some slowing in growth.

According to Allied Market Research, which I contacted for this article, the worldwide green or sustainable toys market was valued at $18,939.1m in 2020, and is estimated to reach $59,643.9m by 2030, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5% from 2021 to 2030. Their research definition is as follows: “A sustainable toy is recyclable and ecofriendly in nature, that is manufactured using biodegradable materials such as cotton, wool, water-based inks and paints, wood, soy inks and bamboo. Sustainable toys have tight quality control procedures, remain transparent about their process, and use only quality recycled materials to ensure their toys are safe for little ones. Toxic chemicals, metals, glue, and conventional paints are strictly prohibited to be used in green toys. Manufactures must replace plastic with recycled material.”

The sustainable toys market is growing at considerable CAGR, owing to an increase in public consciousness regarding environmental impact and climate changes, an increase in the adoption of organic and sustainable materials and the effects of the pandemic, according to Vinay Gandhi, global strategic partner at Allied Market Research.

Learning Express Toys has tried to sell different ‘green’ products over the last 5-10 years, as well as testing different merchandising sets in store, and while sales are OK, they simply have not matched the rate we see with other competitive (mostly non-green) items.

This frustrates me because when we ask our customer base, or undertake a survey, everyone votes for and says they will purchase green toys. At point of sale, however, they usually opt for a lesser priced item.

But we are not giving up; I believe in the cause and feel we must all do more to make our products sustainable, as well as deal with all the packaging that comes with product deliveries. There is so much waste with boxes packed in boxes (sometimes several layers) that ultimately gets trashed. Last year as we experienced our greatest sales year, but our worst year of product-related waste.

It’s sad, so I am now working with a small entrepreneurial group (an incubator programme of students at our local High School) to explore and look at ways to reduce packaging in shipping. We aim to find packing materials that are biodegradable and flexible yet strong, so that packaging may be reduced and more easily recycled than traditional cardboard. Wish us luck.

I am hopeful that, working with the major players operating in this market (which include Lego, Hasbro, Goliath Games and Clementoni), we will be able to find the right balance of business profitability and common-sense regarding our planet. To me, the toy industry can lead the way, and show customers it’s not just about price, but rather a more sustainable future.

Richard can be reached on LinkedIn or by email at LE45@sbcglobal.net.

Toy World 32

Viewpoint Asha Bhalsod Asha has 10 years eCommerce account management experience, including at Amazon and managing the Amazon/eCommerce businesses at Tomy UK and Melissa & Doug. She now runs Etopia Consultancy, to help brands create their eCommerce strategy and grow their Amazon business, and can be contacted on

asha@etopiaconsultancy.co.uk for guidance with trading on Amazon.

Amazon burning question: inhouse or agency?

S

eller, Vendor or hybrid - Amazon is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it!

Those that love Amazon and understand how to service the beast have an ‘Amazon Mindset’. They understand that taking an Amazon-first approach when creating an eCommerce strategy will result in saving time and money - and more importantly, an increase in sales.

Those that have an Amazon Mindset recognise the importance of having a multi-skilled internal or external team to manage Amazon. They also understand that investing in the correct software will be worth its weight in gold. ​Furthermore, there is an intrinsic acceptance that not being in control of stock levels can damage your earlier investments and penalties may apply. Those that hate Amazon allude to pricing challenges, calling Amazon out for driving their retail pricing low – but is it just Amazon’s pricing policy that makes it the most visible culprit? ​It’s clear to me that the leaders who understand the fundamentals of managing Amazon and create sales, marketing and operating strategies to support the platform have that Amazon Mindset. Amazon should not be your only retail partner: you should definitely not put all your eggs in the ‘Amazon basket’. However, don’t underestimate the power of this huge sales account, serving as an enormous marketing platform where over 60% of product searches commence ahead of Google. ​ Amazon account manager jobs are often advertised as National Account Manager (NAM), but with all due respect, NAMs for Amazon simply

do not exist. NAM skills for managing bricks and mortar customers aren’t transferable; the Account Manager needs to skilfully manage and apply an algorithm, as Vendor Managers are not buyers selecting your range. ​T here are so many cross-functional skills required to manage Amazon and the idea that one individual is skilled at managing everything related to Amazon is a myth. They will need support through analytics, marketing, content creation, sales and operations/logistics.

If budget allows the hire of an internal team, this will deliver significant results. Building your own team means they will garner specialist knowledge on how to manage Amazon. Whether that is through understanding your internal forecasting systems or learning to understand your seasonal products, an internal team will create a wealth of knowledge that can be applied to the day-to-day running of your Amazon business. ​ Many companies believe that agency costs are higher than hiring a dedicated person to manage Amazon. As someone that runs an agency, I’m sceptical that a single individual can be equally adept at running highly efficient PPC campaigns, writing Amazon-optimised copy for product listings, staying on top of programme-and-policy developments and overseeing inventory forecasts. That same person is often expected to be highly skilled in strategic growth-focused areas, manage customer service, resolve cases, respond to product reviews and scan products for unauthorised sellers and counterfeiters. ​ Once you have evaluated the skills and competencies needed in your Amazon team, it will become apparent that 2-3 people can cover these functions. If your business is new to Amazon, can you justify this cost without knowing what potential sales Amazon could deliver?​ Also, who will be managing these people, who will have to link up with different departments, as Amazon touches every part of your organisation. ​ Consider too costs such as healthcare benefits and the expense of hiring.

Besides the costs of hiring, salaries and managing the team, there will be staff turnover. ​ A small internal team of Amazon experts exposes companies to significant ‘key person risk’ - with four weeks’ notice, they may struggle to maintain momentum on Amazon while the position is filled. ​A n agency, meanwhile, will have a pipeline of qualified candidates to take the reins when any position becomes vacant. ​I n today’s climate, Amazon skills are in high demand. With the channel growing rapidly, the market is under-skilled, and salaries have increased accordingly, rising by an incredible 30%-50% from pre-Covid to today. Candidates need to be snapped up quickly, as counter-offers are common. ​A s Amazon continues to grow the number of Sellers and Vendors on its platform, it is also trying to automate as much as possible. Brands which previously had a person at Amazon to help have found them replaced by a chatbot or product video. Amazon has introduced new direct support

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models such as Amazon Vendor Services, which is a paid programme. As Amazon moves to a handsoff approach, your internal team will have limited or no interaction with a human. This makes managing this marketplace on a day-to-day basis challenging. ​ ​A major benefit of working with an agency is that it will often have a direct relationship with different Amazon teams. Individual companies selling on Amazon are unlikely to get this direct line into Amazon (without paying for it separately). ​ Because Amazon constantly changes its policies, staying on top of new programmes can be tough. There are different policies in different marketplaces and the internal team needs to stay abreast of changes on a global basis. ​T here may also be a period of trial and error, as the team ascertains the correct tactic for the business, while an agency with multiple clients can share the knowledge of quick wins. My team shares new discoveries on an ongoing basis.

Hiring an agency simply saves time compared to in-house hiring (3-6 months) and training, while an Amazon agency is fully trained and set up to start work on your account straight away. We have clients coming to us with ongoing Amazon problems which they haven’t been able to be resolve for months, and as we have a team of experts that are troubleshooting daily, we can resolve these issues instantly.

It’s rare for an agency to encounter a problem they have never seen before because of the experience of working with various clients.

Any problem you are dealing with has probably already been faced and solved. A good team can even forecast Amazon’s next move and prepare your Amazon store accordingly. With crosscategory experiences, they will know how to best plan for your business and will have tested new programmes on previous clients.

An agency can help upskill your existing inhouse team to understand best practices, as well as assess the correct strategy for growth. A fresh pair of external eyes can supply valuable advice that may be easier for senior management to digest than getting the same information from internal resources.​ It’s not always a question of either-or; an Amazon agency shouldn’t necessarily be used to replace your existing eCommerce team. Rather, an agency can complement and support your team with specific Amazon marketplace knowledge and expertise. In our experience, the best agencyclient relationships are when clients see an Amazon agency as an extension of their in-house team, working in parallel to achieve their goals.​ Since launching in 2019, Etopia has offered consultancy support to existing Amazon teams and also provided end-to-end Amazon Account Management for those that don’t have the internal resources. If you are in a transition period or trying to find the right skilled person or team, we can assist with the recruitment process, while running your day-to-day Amazon business.

Alternatively, we love to engage with any brand to assess how we can get the best out of Amazon together.

Talking Shop

A flying start This month, indie retailers tell Sam Giltrow how the Christmas and New Year selling periods went and look ahead to the new products coming in for 2022.

Tony Duffy - Duffy’s Toyworld, Dunleer, Co Louth

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e’ve had a fantastic Christmas, and some of this was thanks to publicity we had, which brought more customers to the shop. We appeared in The Irish Times and featured on a TV chat show talking about toys, as well as on a programme which went out on RTE a couple of days before Christmas called The Toy Shop, which featured family businesses. These all showed the benefits of going into an independent toyshop and the high level of customer service we can provide.

range of sensory toys which is very popular, and we also offer a wide selection of wooden toys. These sell well because they last, and because the public is becoming more environmentally aware. Our entire range has been selected with imagination, creativity and development in mind.

The Toy Shop programme featured 16 toyshops from around Ireland, but we had a large share of the airtime, due to our way of doing things differently here: we don’t sell any electronic or battery-operated toys. We used to sell items of this type, including battery operated ride-ons, and I have no problem with them at all. But we decided we needed to have a point of difference to the many larger retailers near us, so we decided to go down this route a few years ago. We also wanted to focus on developmental skills, toys which encourage children to play and use their imaginations rather than just pressing buttons.

This Christmas, the usual big sellers such as Playmobil, Lego and Schleich all did very well, as expected, and our farm toys always perform well, due to our location in a rural area. We stock a wide range from Bruder – nearly 300 SKUs in total – including tractors, animals and agricultural machinery.

This strategy has proved to be very successful; customers like us because we sell a lot of different products compared to other shops. We stock a huge

Due to Covid, we decided to launch a new website last year and we now sell throughout Ireland. The store is still as popular as ever though; we even have people travelling 300 miles to visit us, as they see it as a day out.

I think this year will be a good one, as we had a very successful year in 2021 and I am expecting sales to increase again for 2022. I haven’t had much chance yet to see what new product is coming out, but I have been going through our figures to see what sold well last year and what didn’t. We were very successful with a lot of the stock we carried, so we obviously chose well and had a good product mix. I don’t want to start changing it too much, but it’s always interesting to see

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what’s new.

I think that 2022 will bring challenges and an ongoing one for us is Brexit. I have just had a meeting with our MEP, for a television report on how Brexit is affecting small businesses in Ireland and Europe in general. We have found trading very difficult as it has brought about a lot of red tape, and I am now having to pay a lot of duties, tariff charges and customs clearance, most of which we didn’t have before.

For example, we recently had an invoice from a UK company for £650 - they wanted €75 to clear it, and then there was the duty on top of that, so prices were up about 22% for that one consignment.

However, I am very happy with how the shop is currently performing and pleased that the decision to have a point of difference to other toyshops is paying off. Despite turning 76 this year, I have no plans to retire. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself and I am so passionate about the toy trade. My father, John, started the business in 1938 and I took it over when he died suddenly when I was aged just 19, so I have been running the shop now for 57 years.

When I see young children come into our 10,000 sq ft shop and say ‘wow!’ when they see everything we have on offer, it makes my day. It’s just so lovely to see.

Talking Shop Paul Wohl - Argosy Toys, Westcliff-on-Sea

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022 is going to be a big year for the shop as we celebrate its 75th anniversary, me being behind the counter for 35 years and it’s also my 50th birthday. The shop has come a long way since its humble beginnings when it was started by Sylvia Redmayne in her living room, just after the war in 1947.

After it became a proper shop, and a few owners later, my parents bought it in 1987 and so began my association with the business. I started working right away, helping out after school and weekends, and here we are now, 35 years later.

I bought the shop myself when my parents retired in 2004. Initially I thought I’d carry it on for a little while longer but was never really expecting it to still be here now. Although there have been many changes over the years, it still remains a big, old house packed full of Lego and other toys. We don’t see ourselves as an old-fashioned, traditional toy shop, as we carry a lot of new products from the likes of Hasbro and MGA Entertainment, but along with all the latest, on-trend toys, we stock all the old favourites.

Business over Christmas was fantastic. We were very busy - and this wasn’t just in the immediate run-up, as we also enjoyed a terrific October, November and December. Customers told us they preferred to visit smaller shops that weren’t jam-packed with people. In terms of what we were selling, we had a fantastic run on Sylvanian Families and Geomag, particularly the Magicube. VTech also did well for us, as did Schleich and Playmobil, so there was a really good mixture of traditional and up to date lines.

every day with how busy it has been. We all know that the cost of living has gone up, and it will get even higher with petrol prices and electricity prices increasing – and there’s probably more to come. We will just have to buy carefully this year.

will be more than happy. I think many families will continue to stay local rather than going on big holidays – some of our customers are saying they don’t want to book them because of lingering uncertainty and the constantly changing rules.

I am confident we will have another buoyant year in the shop. December did feel like being on the edge of a cliff, waiting and wondering if the government would tell us to close, but no restrictions have been brought in which makes us feel more confident we will be able to remain open.

We have good local support for the shop, and I’m sure this will continue. To be honest, I didn’t really think customers would continue to use us so much now, but they are. Lots of them are grandparents who want to see what they are looking at and be able to ask questions rather than buying online, and I hope this will follow with the next generation.

The biggest seller for us last year was Pokémon, and this was on both cards and toys. As it was the 25th anniversary last year, I wondered if it would continue but since Christmas sales have still been amazing.

Anniversaries always mark a big surge for Pokémon but this one has been even better than expected.

I don’t yet foresee any trends for 2022, apart from Pokémon which is still going to be huge. Obviously, Lego will continue to do well too; it is such a tour de force now in terms of sales – we literally can’t get enough of it most of the time. I can’t see any particular crazes around the corner. Yo-yos looked like they were gaining popularity again at the end of last year, but didn’t really take off in the end.

Sales in general have been very strong since we re-opened after Christmas, and I have been surprised

If trade for 2022 is anything like last year and it’s a nice, steady year of selling all the old favourites, I

We will be marking our 75th anniversary when it falls around the Easter holidays. We will be celebrating as much as we can, given the circumstances. In the past, we would have events to pull people in such as instore Punch and Judy shows that were really popular, but obviously that can’t happen at the moment, because it wouldn’t be safe to cram crowds into the store. However, we can run some outside events and we will certainly be organising giveaways and promotions in honour of the occasion.

Bhav Patel - Toy Galaxy: Watford, Barnet Ealing, Hatfield and Witney

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e opened our fifth shop in Watford in November, and it has gone really well considering the limitations we had in regard to time, stock, logistics and staffing. It all happened very quickly, and I still can’t believe we managed to get up and running in just five or six days,

but the process was very rewarding. I would like to thank the Toymaster team for its incredible help and support – they helped with every aspect, and it really did make all the difference in getting everything done in such a tight timeframe.

It is our fifth shop – we opened the first in High

Barnet in 2006, and also have branches in Ealing, Hatfield and Witney – and though we don’t currently have plans to open any more, if another opportunity arises such as it did with the Watford store, we have the ability to action it. In this particular case it was a beneficial move, and everything slotted into place.

It’s probably one of the closest shopping centres to where I live, so I know it well, and this meant I also knew it would be a competitive location with other toy retailers within the vicinity. When I first looked at the unit, which was the former Disney Store, it just had the right feel with a good layout. My direct neighbour in the shopping centre is Lego, so I knew the store would attract good footfall.

Christmas was very strong for the new Watford store, and I was impressed with the footfall that was there from the day we opened. All our existing stores performed very well too. Naturally these stores were going to be up on 2020, when they were forced to close, but looking at our projected figures, they have performed even better than expected.

We don’t sell Lego in the Watford store because it was one of the conditions of us taking the unit; the Lego store is right next door. Not having our best-selling brand there has made it interesting.

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indie viewpoint Over Christmas, sales of Lego have been up for the business overall, as expected, but they have been closely followed by Asmodee’s Pokémon lines. In recent years, Pokémon has consistently been extremely popular, but nothing has ever tracked so closely to Lego sales before; it has been unbelievable. The stock we get sells out incredibly quickly, so last year we managed our purchasing with this in mind. When customers see such an extensive range, it’s very good for awareness and also for building up loyalty and traffic.

Over Christmas, sales on Barbie also increased by more than 25% over the previous year and Hot Wheels performed very well. Within the categories of dolls and vehicles, these two brands always sell well for us. As expected, board games were a big driver for sales, particularly those from Hasbro, Mattel and Asmodee, and our arts and crafts range performed better in Q4 than it did the previous year. That could be down to the fact that during the first year of Covid and the lockdown, people had stocked up on activities and were overloaded, so they didn’t sell quite as well for Christmas 2020.

Spending in general last year balanced out between people who were hesitant to go into shops and those who found themselves working from home instead of commuting and having the desire to visit the High Street as a break from being stuck in the house all week.

I think there is still an issue over consumer confidence, and maskwearing and the increased number of Covid cases could still make some people hesitant about going out. The real challenge for us right now is the number of our staff contracting Covid - we are stretched in terms of our numbers across the stores, drivers and warehouse staff.

I am feeling confident about 2022 though; 2021 was considerably better than the year before, and there are now signs of things becoming a lot more normal. Also, as much as it was feared towards the end of last year that we would go back into another lockdown, I don’t think it’s sustainable or workable anymore, so now there is a much more positive outlook for retailers such as myself.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the new product that comes out this year. It’s going to be a big year for movie releases and that is where I do see some positivity in terms of brands. There are some big Marvel movies coming out, along with Jurassic World and many others, and that will give us a lot of strong, new product ranges based around these licences.

Overall, I am just excited that we will, hopefully, have a normal year where we can remain open.

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes Toy Barnhaus

Feeling good

A

s we are in a new year, we can look forward with cautious optimism to a more stable year ahead (although nothing is guaranteed!). 2021 ended well for us, and we can look back on the Christmas period feeling pleased. Trade was strong in September, October and November, and then levelled out a bit in December. But, overall, we were up on our 2019 figures, which is very pleasing indeed. Although December was understandably quieter, there was a very late rush on 23rd and 24th December, when we took far more money than we would ever take during a pandemic. Despite the rise of the new variant, we guess that the people who leave their shopping to the last minute are not too worried about such things.The period immediately after Christmas also saw strong footfall and sales, with lots of kids spending their money and vouchers.

We were closed on Boxing Day for the first time, but this didn’t affect sales and our colleagues really appreciated it, plus it was nice for both of us to enjoy two days off over Christmas.

So far in January, trade has held up well, although now the kids have gone back to school, it feels much quieter. We are still trading up on 2020 though, so are happy.

As there is currently little threat of another lockdown, we are hopeful going forward.

People seem to have become accustomed to dealing with the new variant, and it is not having a big impact on footfall. As ever in January, the new Lego launches are proving a huge draw and are driving excellent footfall into our stores. The new Minifigures, Minecraft and Superheroes seem to be the standouts so far. We are starting to get more stock of Squishmallows from Jazwares too, and it is flying out. If we can keep the range in stock, it will be a strong sales driver for this year; there is so much demand out there and new designs being brought out regularly will really help to drive repeat visits.

By the time you read this, we will have hopefully been to Toy Fair, and about to head off to Spring Fair. After two years without being at any shows, it will be great to see products in the flesh, as well as catch up with people in the toy trade we have not seen since early 2020. Spring Fair will be less hectic than Toy Fair but is a good chance to catch up with suppliers we did not see in London and pick up more of the non-toy suppliers that we buy from.

Green/sustainable toys are a massively growing sector, and it is something that is on a lot of our customers’ mind, especially after all the publicity surrounding the COP26 conference in Glasgow last year. Toys may be a small part of global trade, but all sectors need to do their part to help. We don’t really have a massive selection of eco toys, but a lot of the major manufacturers are moving in this direction, so it is an area that is growing organically. We will be focusing on increasing our offering of more sustainable products over the coming years and will be keen to see what is out there from suppliers that is new and more sustainable.

Toy World 39

Company Profile

Smashing it!

When Darran Garnham founded Toikido 15 months ago, he promised that own-IPs would follow soon after. True to his word, the first proudly adorns the front cover of this month’s issue – and it’s truly smashing. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to Darran to find out more about Piñata Smashlings and how the Toikido team is ensuring it hits all the right notes with kids.

T

he Piñata Smashlings concept is simple enough; colourful piñatas battle it out to collect Smashlings – the little collectible characters that magically live inside them - in a fun physics-based game that promises many hours of entertainment. It’s Toikido all over. This, don’t forget, is the company that currently holds the master toy licence for Innersloth’s Among Us, Boneloaf’s Gang Beasts and the Netflix animation Back to the Outback, produces toys and merchandise for Herotainment’s NFT property Smighties. In addition, collectibles run through its team’s veins – Jeffrey Hall (CPO) has worked at leading

game studios in both the UK and in Germany, Neil Porter (head of Creative) possesses a deep knowledge of the collectibles space, and Lucy Pearce (head of Product Development), a recent hire, brings her experience working on Cartoon Network content including Adventure Time and Rick & Morty. These people know what makes an IP tick and are coming at Piñata Smashlings from all angles.

Key toy partners are already on board for Piñata Smashlings (keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the big reveal), an animation agreement is in the works, and Toikido is also in discussions for gaming content to appear on Roblox and the Sandbox metaverse.

Nine hugely colourful and characterful Piñatas have been created that tap into current animal trends and perennial childhood favourites, including a unicorn, lemur, panda, duck, kangaroo, sloth and more, plus hundreds of Smashlings, designed in a popular and popping vector art style. The sheer number of Smashlings available, some 500 or so, gives Toikido the ability to release them in waves in true collectible style. The property is also multi-cultural, and while some of the Piñata characters are stereotypically suited to a particular geographical region (the kangaroo and panda, for example, will likely prove popular in Australia and China respectively), others hold universal – or should that be unicornal – appeal.

“We wanted to make Piñata Smashlings as fun as possible, so we’ve created some great animations of the Piñatas breaking open and the Smashlings

Toy World 40

spilling out, and there’s also an official song too,” says Darran. “Content will roll out throughout the year and products will launch in Q1. Anecdotally, we’ve shown the property to kids in focus groups, as well as our own kids and their friends, and immediately they’ve made it clear which Piñata character they want. My gut says that’s a very good sign. KidsKnowBest is on board for the marketing of Piñata Smashlings, which will include TV advertising and social media coverage on platforms such as TikTok. My vision is to get Smashlings mascot characters – provided by Rainbow Productions, the same as those on parade at BLE and Toy Fair - on the street and causing mischief, capturing the attention of kids and inspiring them to discover the game.”

Those reading this will no doubt already be convinced of Piñata Smashlings’ toy potential: anyone who’s ever walloped a pinata at a party has undertaken a unique form of unboxing, which we know remains integral to the success of the collectibles category. Kids will be able to smash open their chosen character to discover the Smashlings lurking within, then rebuild it and smash it open again. Darran says the theatrical way in which the Piñatas break open will also prove popular among fans of unboxing videos, yet another draw of this IP. The collectible toys category remains crowded, competitive and largely dominated by one major player – no prizes here for guessing who I’m alluding to - so it’s a bold move for Toikido to focus on this category with the toys based on first ever own-IP. Piñata Smashlings

really will have to carve out its own particular niche if it wants to hold its own against the bigger brands in the marketplace. I asked Darran what’s going to set this property apart in toy stores.

“There’s a definitive DNA within the collectibles space, in terms of the way they’re rolled out, the widespread use of rares/super rares, unboxing and so on, and our team’s experience mean we can leverage all these elements to their fullest potential,” he explains. “At the same time (and without meaning to diminish in any way, shape or form the extraordinary and well-deserved successes of the some of the biggest collectibles out there), the collectible vehicle itself – the capsule, the box, whatever it may be – is sometimes not all that exciting in and of itself. With the Piñata Smashlings toy line, each capsule containing the Smashlings themselves will actually be shaped like one of the Piñata characters from the game. As a dad of three myself, I’ve seen firsthand an awful lot of collectibles come and go and it’s made me even more determined to add an extra layer of play value. I want other parents to see what we’ve created and immediately know that the box or capsule or packet isn’t going to end up in the footwell of the car or floor of the playroom. Kids will want to keep all the elements because they’re an integral part of the play pattern.”

Anyone excited for the launch of Piñata Smashlings will be equally excited to hear that the property is only the first of three own-IPs currently in development over at Toikido – and Darran says the two others in the works are already being courted by animation studios. The juicy details are still largely under wraps, but Darran promises that one of them is 100% unique and ‘possibly a little too whacky’. Given the gaming properties the studio already counts within its portfolio, in all their crewmate-assassinating, gelatinous-wrestling, piñata-whacking absurdity, this is saying something.

Own-IP No.3, I’m assured, is located far more towards the traditional end of the spectrum. One of Toikido’s focuses is on looking at what’s already out there and identifying room for improvement - not because any toy category is tired or lacking, but because the company wants to become just as successful as those that have helped make the industry what it is today. That said, the company adopts very much a digital-native slant and is particularly interested in opportunities that will resonate on social media and gaming platforms including TikTok, YouTube and Twitch. “That’s where

we are now as an industry and a company, and where my own kids are too,” Darran says.

This is reflected by the fact that Darran is currently in talks with five major YouTube influencers with a view to turning their online characters into super-rare chase Smashlings giving Toikido access to an audience of some 150m followers.

From the very beginning, Darran promised that Toikido would do things differently, rip up the rule book and bring passion to everything it touched. So far, the company has been as good as its word, but says the best is yet to come. While I’ve been sworn to secrecy on some of what was discussed for this piece, Darran was keen to share that truly huge things are on the horizon in areas of staggering growth. I don’t mean to tease, but once again it’s a case of stay tuned. It’s worth it.

“When I set up Toikido, I did say I wanted to do things differently, and this big development is it,” Darran tells me. “It’s the missing piece. Piñata Smashlings will be along for the ride too, which is amazing. I can’t wait to be able to tell everyone more about all this cloak and

Toy World 41

daggers stuff - when I’m finally allowed to.”

Away from Piñata Smashlings and the things-wecan’t-talk-about, Darran also touches upon the huge, continued success of Among Us, Toikido’s first master toy partnership. Testament to the speed at which the company operates, the licensing deal was signed on 18th December 2020 and product was on-shelf just six months later. Now, Toikido’s Among Us toys are sold in over 100 countries across the globe. This is a team that does not hang around. Referring to Toikido’s ‘secret sauce’, Darran says one of his team’s greatest strengths is its ability to take assets that are light on the ground and run with them, transforming them into a full range covering a variety of categories. The Gang Beasts game, for example, now boasts a proper style guide, a packaging guide - everything you’d expect from a proper, grown-up IP - and the toy range, which launches later this year, looks phenomenal as a result. Darran clearly relishes the process of fleshing out these kinds of properties and adding value to the studio behind them.

That’s why, in only 15 months, he’s well on his way to making Toikido the partner of choice for breakthrough brands, as well as a creator of them in its own right. He also likes knowing that he’s supporting British studios, which we joked is like his own version of ‘shop local’: Boneloaf, creator of Gang Beasts, has its offices in Sheffield. Toikido was also recently made a Patron of the National Videogame Museum, likewise located in Sheffield.

“I’m very lucky to do what I’m doing and to work with the team I’ve got,” he says. “You’re nothing without your team, and I have such gratitude for each and every one of Toikido’s employees. I’m so impressed with how everyone has worked during the pandemic. Believe it or not, next week will be the first time we’ve all sat in the same room together. Is that not bonkers? But everyone has been dedicated and adaptable. If you trust your team then you can adopt a flexible culture. And in turn, that’s what leads to imaginative, exciting and unique IPs like Piñata Smashlings. I’m honestly just delighted we can all be on this adventure together and really, really can’t wait to see what the next 18 months has in store.”

Readers can check out Toikido on social media: search @toikido1 on Twitter or visit www.instagram. com/toikidotoys/.

YuGiOhCardEU www.yugioh-card.com/uk

AVAILABLE MARCH 2022 ©2020 Studio Dice/SHUEISHA, TV TOKYO, KONAMI

*Date subject to change

Feature

In with the new

Spring Fair is aiming to be back with a bang this February after the pandemic caused last year’s show to be moved to a virtual event.

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unning from the 6th-9th February at NEC Birmingham, the line-up of exhibitors includes a selection of toy and gift companies, as well as fashion and homewares, all keen to showcase what they have to offer throughout 2022 and beyond.

“Over the last seven years that I have worked in the Kids, Toys & Play sector, I am always excited to see the newness that every long-standing exhibitor brings from new product lines launches and new ranges. Not forgetting the excitement from all the first-time exhibitors who have so many fabulous new products,” said Bhavika Pattni, key account manager for show organiser, Hyve Group. “This year is even more thrilling as it is the first Spring Fair in over two years and I just cannot wait to see the buzz on the floor, especially after the success of Autumn Fair.”

As with Autumn Fair, which took place at NEC Birmingham in September, strict Covid health and

safety regulations will be in place to ensure the fair can run as smoothly and safely as possible. These include the requirement to show a valid Covid-19 pass or a negative result to a lateral flow test taken within 48 hours, as well as the need for all attendees to wear a face covering during the show.

Once inside, toy retailers will be keen to head to Hall 5, where a focus on Kids, Toys & Play means visitors will be able to see the latest product launches from companies including Kidicraft, Rubies, Casdon, Rainbow Designs, Smart Toys & Games, Orange Tree Toys, Wilton Bradley, Amscan, The Source Wholesale, Toynamics, Rex London, The Noble Collection, Bachmann Europe, Bertoy, Brainstorm, Keel Toys, University Games and Gibsons.

“Across our exhibitor profile, we have seen the growth in many new game companies, pre-school toys, children’s books and even outdoor play,” added Bhavika.

Toy World 44

As sustainability and ethics continue to gain momentum among buyers, with 82% of visitors stating their interest in sustainable and ethical brands, there will also be a strong focus on the topics with initiatives such as the Sustainability Trail highlighting sustainable brands and the work they are doing.

Spring Fair’s manifesto for 2022 is Empowering Change, and this sets the agenda for the show’s Inspiring Retail Stage. A full schedule of live content from experts in their field will provide exclusive insights, trend reports, keynote conversations and panel discussions on the key topics facing retail. Each of the four days of the show will cover a dedicated theme correlated to the Empowering Change manifesto.

Topics will include: Sunday 6th February - Future of retail is collaborative; Monday 7th February Sustainability and Innovation now; Tuesday 8th February - Changing mindsets: being comfortable with the unknown in order to thrive; Wednesday 9th February - The way we do things.

Feature

Jurassic Park collectible figures (The Noble Collection)

“Retail is changing, and it’s changing in all areas of businesses,” said Suzanne Ellingham, head of Content, Hyve Group. “This year’s Inspiring Retail Stage theme of empowering change will feature inspiring and innovative retailers who are changing their business with a positive impact. From the drive towards sustainability and transparency, how retailers are

evolving customer experience, consumers shopping everywhere, on every channel, and how to make that work for independent retailers who are time poor.

Industry leaders, trend forecasters and a range of retailers will be sharing their stories with the Spring Fair audience in the hopes that sharing these ideas will give retailers the confidence to change and may even spark a few ideas.”

New for Spring Fair 2022 will be Curated Meetings which offer a platform for bespoke time efficient business meetings between buyers and brands. First trialled at Autumn Fair in September, the initiative is being scaled up for Spring Fair with even more space and meetings across more sectors. Leading retailers signed up for Curated Meetings include John Lewis & Partners.

Buyers are able to pre-schedule the new brands they want to meet with, see the products up close and talk directly to business decision makers. They will also be able to enjoy a £250 travel expense subsidy and attend presentations on the Inspiring Retail Stage.

Meetings will take place in the private Curated Meetings Lounge, with complimentary food and drink.

For further information on Curated Meetings and Spring Fair in general and to register for the event, visit www.springfair.com. The full list of exhibitors can be found in the Exhibitor section, while there is also a handy Spring Fair App to help navigate the fair.

Exhibitor List Toy, Kids & Play Sector Antony Nunn Agencies Art Wow Asmodee Aurora World Bachmann Europe Bakedin Berg Toys Bertoy - Vekemans BVBA Bigjigs Toys Blade & Rose Blue Sky Studios Bounce Sales and Marketing Brainstorm Brown Watson The Carat Shop Character Kingdom Child's Play Click Europe Coiledspring Games Deluxebase Diamond Comic Distributors Eco Rascals Funtime Gifts

Gibsons Hamac Trading Company Henbrandt House of Marbles Insect Lore Inside Out Toys Intelex Group (UK) Jex Shoes John Adams Leisure Juratoys UK K-Play International Kandy Toys Keel Toys Keycraft Kidicraft Lanka Kade Map Marketing Mood Bears Moulin Roty (UK) Muddleit Orange Tree Toys Paper Engine Peers Hardy (UK)

Peterkin UK Ryantown Toys & Gifts Smart Toys & Games Smiles Mah Spinning Poodle Games Splat Planet Thames & Kosmos UK The House of Puzzles The Noble Collection The Playwrite Group The Source Wholesale TKC Games Trafalgar Group Trading Tree Toys Ty UK University Games and Paul Lamond Games Usborne Publishing Whitehouse Leisure International William Lamb Group Willsow

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Arendelle Castle 3D puzzle (University Games)

SEE YOU AT SPRING FAIR

Hall 5 Stand 5L20-M2 1

Toynamics UK & Ireland • 10 Nursery Court, Kibworth Business Park, Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire LE8 0EX • UK tel. 0116 478 5230 • email. sales@toynamics.co.uk • www.toynamics.co.uk

Wilton Bradley 01626 835 400 | www.wiltonbradley.com Hall 5, Stand 5F20-G21 / Hall 4, Stand 4G26 Wheeled toys have long been a specialism at Wilton Bradley, which has many years of experience in developing premium products.

The new BMW Z4 Roadster makes a powerful statement, featuring all the details of the full-scale powerhouse: kidney grille, sculptured bonnet and unmistakeable working front lights.

With a slow start function, 3-speed drive and reverse gear, little ones can practise their driving in the ultimate driving machine. For the youngest of drivers, an included carry handle stowed under the car head, training wheels under the rear bumper and a remote control allow parents to take control.

The Xootz BMW Z4 Roadster features an MP3 player with AUX input, plus a rechargeable 12V battery beneath the bonnet. Designed for use both indoors or outdoors, the classy vehicle will make light work of carpet, garden terrain or smooth tarmac thanks to its front wheel suspension.

Wilton Bradley will also present the latest addition to its popular Playhouse brand, Water Wall, which the company believes is a must-have for households with imaginative toddlers. Teaching kids about gravity, angles and water flow, the interactive wall offers limitless play combinations to enjoy as a different outcome is created every time they move the pieces. The included range of modular accessories means kids can have fun creating their own water flows and seeing their problem-solving skills come to life as they pour water from the top.

Made from high quality, sustainably sourced wood which will stand up to years of robust play, Water Wall also blends perfectly into the garden and is designed to be kept outdoors all year round. However, this weather resistant product can be used both outdoors and indoors thanks to the included bucket, which safely catches the water when it reaches the bottom.

Water Wall is approximately 120cm x 80cm x 30cm and comes packaged in a sturdy brown box with a colour poster depicting the product. The unique design and concept are currently under Design Registration and are Patent Pending.

Wilton Bradley has been creating a real buzz around its new Xootz wheeled toy range. The range delivers the full package with superb specification and features, competitive pricing and highly rated consumer reviews, and visitors will be able to admire the new Venom Go Kart and the Comet Electric Go Kart, as well as new additions in the licensed Electric Ride-Ons category.

The Venom Go Cart is a new development based on the award-winning Viper Go-Kart. With its front ‘pincer’ mouldings giving the go cart a distinctive look, the ride features a tough steel frame, ERVA tyres and forward, reverse and freewheel (coasting) gears. Catering for a range of sizes from 5 to 10 year-olds, two adjustable seat positions mean the go cart is suitable for riders up to 50Kgs.

The Noble Collection 020 7580 4442 | www.noblecollection.co.uk Hall 5, Stand J10-K11 Over the past 17 years, The Noble Collection, under licence primarily from Warner Brothers, has become established as a premiere brand for quality licensed merchandise. The company’s flagship range of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts collectibles has gone from strength to strength alongside perennial licences for Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, DC, Jumanji and others.

Noble’s dedicated UK team, based in London’s Covent Garden, offers bespoke supply solutions for any size of retail operation.

Bendyfigs releases continue to roll out in 2022, with four highly posable figures from Gremlins and four from the movie classic, The Wizard of Oz. A new and exciting partnership between The Noble Collection and DreamWorks will also see the release of Bendyfigs from Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.

Pennywise the clown, released in late 2021, is the first in a range of modern horror Bendyfigs that will shortly expand to include characters from such classic movies as the Exorcist, Saw and Chucky (aged 17+).

New figures from the DC comics and movie universe also continue throughout the year, with many fresh hero and villain figures, plus five from the popular animated series Teen Titans Go!, hitting shelves in the coming months.

The Noble Collection’s Jurassic Park dinosaur PVC chess set proved very popular during the second half of 2021. The product will shortly be joined by three impressive, licensed dinosaur figures - a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Dilophosaurus and a pair of Velociraptors - presented in dioramas within display cases. These collectors’ items are similar in appearance to the very popular Magical Creatures range from the Wizarding World franchise.

Also available in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, the range of highly detailed yet affordable PVC chess sets will soon welcome the Minions Medieval Mayhem PVC chess set. More exciting products stemming from The Noble Collection’s licensing partnerships will be announced throughout the year.

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Toynamics UK & Ireland 0116 478 5230 | www.toynamics.co.uk sales@toynamics.co.uk Hall 5, Stand L20-M21 Toynamics will be showcasing the breadth of its Hape range across categories including baby toys, music, educational, walkers, puzzles, railway, kitchen, outdoor toys, arts & crafts and more.

The Learning & Lights Piano is a 25-key electric piano with lightup keys for children to follow as they learn how to play. The piano features 15 demo tunes and a smart play function; any key a child hits will produce the correct note, so children can pretend to play along. A record and playback function also lets children hear what they've played. The electric piano can be used plugged into the mains or with batteries and reverts to rest mode when not in use.

The Hape City Train Bucket Set joins the Hape family of stylish wooden railway products. Like the best-selling Bucket Builder Set, the City Train packaging is part of the toy, printed with a city scape and a rocky lid cover that both become part of the scenery, plus it’s embossed with railway tracks so trains can travel over it. The clever packaging also doubles as a handy storage box. The set contains 48 pieces, with lots of accessories including track pieces, bridge, station, trees, taxi, signs, conductor, passenger and three train cars.

New Hape balance bikes will also be on show. The Hape My First Balance Bikes are suitable from 12 months and over. The three-wheeled adjustable bikes feature quick assembly with no tools required, a lightweight aluminium frame, slide proof tyres that make little noise and don’t scratch floors and are available in a choice of colours: light pink, light green and light blue. Ideal for children aged three years and above, the four Hape Explorer Balance Bikes are great for developing balance and sense of direction and encouraging muscle coordination and development.

The Hape Rock & Slide House features eight separate play areas including a kitchen/diner, bathroom and bedroom, each containing sound effects. With a host of furniture and accessories, the house also includes two play figures. The interactive sound effects are triggered by standing the figures on the LED floor lights.

Skip Hop’s Explore & More Pop N Play is a new 4-stage activity walker that grows with the child, from seated play to cruising, walking and role-play. Arts and crafts brand Nebulous Stars introduces the Best Friends Bracelets jewellery craft set, new bamboo wind chimes and additions to its range of stationery products including a diamond pen assortment.

As the new exclusive distributor for Timio, Toynamics is showing the range of screen free interactive and educational audio players as well as the new Timio foldable kids’ headphones. After a successful first year distributing DinosArt, Toynamics will also be debuting its expanded range of dinosaur themed stationery and creative activities, including 3D prehistoric figures to paint and dinosaur character colouring pens.

Toynamics will be showcasing the best-selling hand puppets from educational play brand Beleduc, as well as announcing new puzzles including body puzzle girl and body puzzle boy, both expected to be top sellers. On show for Nanoblock, the world’s smallest micro-sized building block, will be best-selling Pokémon and new Sonic the Hedgehog licensed creations.

Orange Tree Toys 01242 244500 | www.orangetreetoys.com Hall 5, Stand C14-D15 2022 is expected to be another exciting year for Orange Tree Toys as it moves into the next chapter in its story, introducing some new ranges and having reviewed and redesigned all of its packaging. All plastic has been removed, making it 100% recyclable, and by the end of 2022, all its toys will be produced using FSC-certified wood.

The aim of Orange Tree Toys has always been to provide long-lasting childhood classics, keeping them bold, bright and stimulating for all ages from birth. Products from the new Spring Garden range and additions to the Peter Rabbit collection encourage children to embrace the great outdoors with the new addition of role play toys, including a table top allotment, a wooden flower cart and a Peter Rabbit wheelbarrow. The company is also introducing some great toys for older children, including a variety of wooden board games such as tic tac toe, ludo, dominoes and hoopla, plus a wooden flower press.

For younger children, Orange Tree Toys is introducing numbered stacking wooden cubes in both the Peter Rabbit and Emergency range, which will include a selection of buildings such as a fire station, fire engine and police station, along with the vehicles to match. To complete the nursery, Orange Tree Toys is also bringing back its popular wooden mobile in both Spring Garden and Peter Rabbit designs, and there will also be a new set of bookends.

Further new additions in 2022, will be Peter Rabbit and Emergency Services Road Tracks, as well as an extended musical selection which will introduce a piano and ukulele, creating an opportunity to get children into music at an early stage of their development.

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500pc Prime 3D Puzzle Available in 9 Designs

500pc Prime 3D Puzzle Available in 9 Designs

500pc Prime 3D Puzzle Available in 9 Designs

COME AND SEE U

Spring Fair

6th - 9th Feb 2022 Birmingham NEC

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(Stand G14 - H15 , Hall 5)

Rex London 020 8746 1700 | www.rexlondontrade.com |

Bertoy 07748 150 906

info@rexlondon.com Hall 4, Stand G60-H61

www.bertoy.com philip@bertoy.co.uk Hall 5, Stand M29 Visitors to Spring Fair 2022 will be able to discover Bertoy’s latest ranges, spanning puzzles to pocket money items, all of which will offer retailers new options at attractive price points.

Crocodile Creek’s Playballs have long been a steady and reliable product within the Bertoy portfolio. For 2022, this popular range welcomes two fun new designs: Rocket and Ladybug.

The Crocodile Creek brand also continues to impress within the Puzzles category. This year will see the launch of new titles within this perennially popular brand, including novelties such as the new 10-piece Wooden Puzzles. With sturdy, chunky pieces, each puzzle is carefully crafted to ensure it’s the perfect fit for even the smallest of toddlers.

Within the 48-piece puzzle assortment, the Above & Below range has proven to be a strong year-round seller. New to this category is the 48-piece Opposites puzzles, which helps kids to understand the concept of opposites (large and small, up and down etc.), making it an educational and fun addition to the playroom. Crocodile Creek’s 72-piece puzzles, meanwhile, welcome a refresh to the packaging, with the classic shaped box replaced by a completely new round box.

Ideal for those who like a challenge, the new 144-piece Impossible Puzzles range includes eye-catching puzzles which come in a special, irregular shaped box with tangible shelf appeal.

Mudpuppy sales remain high after an impressive 10 new categories were added to the brand’s existing line-up. Perfect for the youngest toddlers, the new 25-piece floor puzzle offers a real treat. The puzzles include six special shaped pieces made to be easy for small hands to grasp and position. Older children can look forward to new themes joining Mudpuppy’s 500-piece Family Puzzles range. The 500-piece Love in the Wild puzzle is suitable for children aged eight and up.

The Iwako eraser brand welcomes two new blister packs, Bugs Hunt and Birds, while the new Kimekeshi assortment box will be a surefire hit among serious Iwako collectors. The box contains 35 packs spanning seven characters (five packs per character), all hidden in blind packaging. An extremely rare glow in the dark character will drive repeat purchase.

Finally, Hummingbird has expanded its piece count to not only feature 1,000-piece puzzles, but also 1,500-piece puzzles. These amazing and beautiful items not only make for a great puzzle challenge but can also serve as a fabulous piece of artwork when finished.

Rex London has expanded upon its STEM toys offering with a collection of make-your-own kits which harness the power of hydraulics and energy to inspire and challenge the scientists and engineers of the future.

Two of the new kits introduce children to the scientific principles of hydraulics. The first allows kids to assemble a model robot grabber arm that uses hydraulic power to open and close the hand, while the second invites them to construct a model front loader truck that utilises hydraulics to raise and lower the digger scoop.

A further two kits provide children with a basic introduction to elastic potential energy: a rubber band powered plane and a model racing car that makes use of a pull-wire spring motor. Finally, the motorised dinosaur kit contains everything needed to build a model dinosaur that makes use of a battery powered motor for movement.

Brainstorm 01200 445 113 | www.brainstormltd.co.uk Hall 5, Stand 5M20 The Eugy range has been a phenomenal success for Brainstorm and the extensive range of craft models will be showcased in full at Spring Fair. Spanning several categories, the range is set to be a popular collection for the diverse range of buyers who attend the show.

Eugy is distributed exclusively in the UK by Brainstorm and was created in New Zealand by Dodoland. The eco-friendly craft collectible allows children to create their own 3D models using 100% sustainable, biodegradable card each printed with natural eco-friendly inks.

The models are assembled using a simple numerical sequence, which is easy for children to do, creating a cute and sturdy animal or creature that they can collect and display.

New for 2022 are Hedgehog, Rhino, Bumblebee, Chameleon, Unicorn Sky, Raptor, Crocodile and Kangaroo.

As well as being eco-friendly, the Eugy range is highly collectible at an impulse price point and can also sit within arts and crafts and STEM collections. The existing range features 40 different Eugy models including Panda, Elephant, Parrot, Sloth and Narwhal. New SKUs are launched in phases throughout the year and more models will be launched during 2022 supported by marketing and PR campaigns.

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Bachmann Europe 07739 200 153 | www.bachmann.co.uk | sales@toyway.co.uk Hall 5, Stand G24-H25 Bachmann Europe has announced its appointment as a UK & Ireland distributor for the Günther range of outdoor toys and will be showcasing the range at this year’s Spring Fair.

For over 65 years, Günther has been developing and producing ‘Anything that Flies!’ including classic children’s kites, dynamic stunt kites, model aircraft, gliders and a variety of airborne toys. Many of the products are made in the company’s factory in Germany, where they are manufactured to the highest of standards. The brand ethos is to encourage families away from screens and get back to the great outdoors, believing there can be ‘no better way of enjoying nature than playing with model aircraft, kites and sailing boats made by Günther’.

A highlight of the range is a variety of colourful licensed children’s kites which feature characters from Disney and popular children’s cartoons such as Paw Patrol and PJ Masks. The kites are made from robust PE foil and are very easy for young children to fly, even in the lightest of winds. There is also a range of fun and vibrant glider toys, from chuck gliders to rubber-band powered options, made of durable materials and suitable to use all year long.

For budding sailors, there’s a selection of small sailboats that are both capsize-proof and seaworthy, thanks to a weighted keel and well-balanced rigging.

Gibsons 020 8661 8866 | www.gibsonsgames.co.uk | sales@gibsonsgames.co.uk Hall 5, Stand B10-C1 Gibsons is expanding its White Logo Collection of design-led jigsaw puzzles with 10 new titles.

Wanderlust is the latest offering from Josie Shenoy. From Park Güell to Broadway, this 1,000-piece montage puzzle whisks puzzlers away to glorious cities around the world. Purrfect Plants is a new design with a retro feel. Packed with colour and pattern, this 1,000-piece puzzle has been painted by the talented artist and creator of OMG Kitty, Kitty Bardsley. The White Logo Collection is perfect for the new wave of puzzlers looking for more contemporary designs rather than traditional puzzle scenes.

Gibsons will also be adding to its Little Gibsons range of fun and quirky children’s puzzles. Three new designs will be available to view at Spring Fair. Among them is the Unusual Alphabet 24XXL-piece puzzle. This giant floor puzzle will teach little ones the alphabet in no time with the help of a lovable lion, puzzling pig and optimistic otter. Each piece is approximately 14x19cm, making them perfect for little hands to easily pick up. The bold colours make this puzzle a fun exercise in colour recognition too.

Finally, Gibsons will present a wide variety of traditional jigsaw puzzles at the show, all of which are ready to order. Life of the Allotment, Janice Daughters’ latest design, is bursting with juicy berries, fresh vegetables and fragrant herbs. Dominic Davison’s idyllic scene of the Riverside Inn, meanwhile, shows visitors relaxing in the sun with a drink in hand as they watch a barge travel down the river.

The Source Wholesale 01306 646 885 | www.thesourcewholesale.co.uk sales@thesourcewholesale.co.uk / Internationalenquiries@thesourcewholesale.co.uk Stand 5H30 – J31 The Source Wholesale is excited to be showcasing new brands as well as new products for 2022 at Spring Fair. As well as new products in its existing brands, RED5, #Winning and Ingenious, the company will be launching the Xtrem Bots range for 2022.

The robotics range is designed to enhance STEM skills, from a very early age to adolescence. The fun, friendly and easy-to-use robots, allow children to delve into the basics of programming and fine tune their skills in an accessible way. The four main categories are: My First Programmable Robot, Build & Play, Program & Play and Build, Code & Play.

With spring/summer just around the corner, The Source Wholesale also has an extensive line up of products to offer from its Petron leisure range brand, from archery and dart products to super bounce and water balls from Sohi providing hours of outdoor fun, whether in the park, at the beach or in the pool.

The company, which will be exhibiting at multiple shows in 2022 both in the UK and abroad, has also been busy updating and improving its website which is now live, with an interactive showroom, an easy access flipbook catalogue and an instant online ordering portal. The sales team is happy to book in one-to-one meetings in person or take customers through the virtual showroom.

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sales@wiltonbradley.co.uk

www.wiltonbradley.co.uk

Kidicraft 01282 505988 | www.kidicraft.com

| sales@kidicraft.com

Hall 5, Stand G14-H15 Kidicraft launched over 30 new product designs in January across both its Premium and Prime 3D puzzle ranges. New lines for 2022 include Star Wars, Marvel, Discovery Space and Discovery Monuments.

The success and popularity of DC Comics has resulted in a new range of Marvel 500-piece Prime 3D jigsaw puzzles. There is something to suit every Marvel fan: well-known superheroes include Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Wolverine, Ant-Man, The Wasp, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, She-Hulk, Vision, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Ghost Rider, Blade, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, The Punisher and Deadpool. Kidicraft will be continually releasing extensions to this range throughout 2022, including additional twin box sets and 300-piece Prime 3D puzzles.

A new Star Wars range brings the force of Prime 3D to puzzles. Fans of George Lucas’s epic franchise can now create the galaxy’s most memorable Star Wars scenes with an impressive 500-piece puzzle range featuring the most iconic Star Wars characters of all time, from the Mandalorian to Grogu. The Prime 3D puzzles are 61x46 cm and are suitable for ages six and over.

The Harry Potter 3D Puzzles collection continues to be one of the company’s most successful ranges. Three new puzzles, two featuring Voldemort and Harry Potter, launched in September 2021 from the 500-piece 61x46cm collection. The Slytherin group puzzle features Professor Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoy. Featuring the new Prime 3D lens, these puzzles have sharp 3D imagery with superb clarity that really stands out.

Kidicraft’s Kevin Walsh Nostalgia range is being extended yet again. Five new designs include Baker in The Village, Cotswold Village, Station Buffet, To The Rescue and Westminster. These 1,000-piece puzzles are 70x50cm in size and take the range to 33 designs in total.

The company’s Christmas themed range of 1,000-piece puzzles launched in August 2021, including the festive designs Nearly Home, Christmas Post and Skating By The Church. Three additional Christmas designs launch in August 2022.

These 70cmx50cm puzzles form part of the broader Kevin Walsh Nostalgia range.

Kidicraft's new Discovery range of 150-piece Prime 3D puzzles and 1,000-piece Prime initially offers three designs in each range, with more to follow this year. From Big Ben to The Eiffel Tower, the Discovery Monuments of the World 1,000-piece 70x50cm puzzle range also features the world’s largest amphitheatre, the Colosseum. Equally impressive is the 150-piece Prime 3D Discovery Space range. A Mars rover features on one of the latest puzzles, while another depicts an astronaut flying in outer space. These puzzles are 46 x 31cm and are suitable for ages five and over.

The Kidicraft 3D floor display can hold a selection of puzzles with various planograms available. This display is supplied with a 3D header for maximum retail impact and comes free with a Super 3D puzzle order of over £300.

The company also offers Harry Potter, DC Comic, Marvel and Star Wars 3D Floor Displays and a Kidicraft Jigsaw Puzzle Floor Display.

These come free with an order of 48 puzzles.

John Adams 01480 414361 | www.johnadams.co.uk | Stand 5K24-L25 John Adams Leisure will be at Spring Fair 2022 with a range of new products across all key categories.

A new licensed Peppa Pig Magicolour set lets kids colour in, using the special sheets and pens provided, before loading the colouring sheets into the Magicolour unit to see the Peppa pictures magically come to life. Meanwhile kids will be also able to create their very own Horrid Henry stories using the new official Bookeez book making studio.

The ever-popular Blopens range has also been extended with new sets at all key price points, while the Cutie Stix range gets additional sets with the Cutie Compact assortment and Crystal Jewellery Set, which allow kids to create sparkly, glow-in-the-dark jewellery pieces.

Joining the Aqua Gelz range is the Starfish Lagoon play set which makes 37 Aqua Gelz creations and opens up to create a 140cm 3D water playpark including pop-up roller coaster, and the Glowz limited edition set includes everything needed to create 36 glow-in-the-dark Aqua Gelz Creations.

Based on the hit property CoComelon, three new sets are joining the award-winning Fun Bricks range, and also new for 2022 is the Fun Bricks Tub which includes 100 bricks and characters.

Tiny Tears is back with a relaunch for 2022 and a new range which delivers at all key retail price points and there’s a new collectible line of interactive plush, Feisty Pets, which go from cute to ferociously fun with a squeeze of the toy’s head.

Following the success in 2021 at DreamToys with Gassy Gus, Ideal Games continues to grow in strength and volume with four new action games: Race Across the World, SpinParty, a remake of Don’t Panic and Don’t Panic Junior.

Rubik’s has lots of new additions to complement the core range including the Rubik’s Apprentice, designed as an introduction to the cubing range, and Rubik’s Phantom which has thermochromic technology and looks black until the tiles are touched and temporarily reveal colour. There’s also a range of new Rubik’s games including Rummikub.

The Scrabble range has new additions including a large print version and a special Glass Edition Scrabble.

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www.wiltonbradley.co.uk

sales@wiltonbradley.co.uk

01626 835400

SUSTAINABLY SOURCED WOOD

WATERFUN ACCESSORIES

EDUCATIONAL & CREATIVE

PLUG & PLAY MODULAR PIECES

Ty 02393 876 600 | Sales@tyuk.co.uk Hall 5, Stand 5K10-L11 Ty Squish-a-Boos are the newest addition to the Ty family, which already includes the world-famous Beanie Babies and Beanie Boos.

Squish-a-boos are the soft, huggable friend a child can take with them wherever they go. Made from colourful, cosy fabric, Squish-a-Boos are available in a larger size of many of the favourite Beanie Boos plush characters. These large Beanie Boo squishy plushies have enormous glittery eyes and adorable smiles.

Ty Squish-a-Boos are perfect for children’s naptimes or as squishy bedtime pillow animals, and each Squish-a-Boo has colourful, soft fabric and includes the official Ty Heart with name, birthday, and poem.

These collectible soft toys are suitable from birth.

The Squish-a-Boos collection will be on display at Spring Fair alongside the rest of the Ty range.

University Games 020 7254 0100 | www.university-games.co.uk

Rainbow Designs 01329 227 300 | www.rainbowdesigns.co.uk

Hall 4, Stand E24-F25 and E30-F31

Hall 3, Stand M10-N11

Showcasing at Spring Fair in all their fully assembled glory will be University Games’ best-selling 3D puzzle range. This line now features over 40 impressive 3D puzzles from properties including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, National Geographic and many of the Premiership’s renowned football stadiums.

Joining the line-up for 2022, with 20 new 3D Puzzles, are Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Marvel and Disney. These hugely detailed 3D puzzle models of some of the most iconic ships, buildings and characters in movie history offer incredible collectability. Featuring high levels of detail and realistic features, the range includes the Millennium Falcon, a huge 80x40 cm Imperial Star Destroyer, Star Wars’ R2-D2 and BB8, Marvel’s Stark Towers and an enchanting 45x50 cm Arendelle Castle.

The ever-popular Subbuteo brand celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

With both the World Cup and Women’s World Cup tournaments scheduled for 2022 it is going to be big year for football. The Subbuteo range sports both the Official England and Official England Lionesses Main Games alongside the Original Main Game, as well as a host of teams and accessories including the new VAR Set. There are also new product launches set for the anniversary year, all supported by a a multilayer heavyweight media campaign running throughout the second half of 2022.

One of the exciting new brands joining the University Games’ children’s range this year is Tom Gates, based on the 18-strong, award-winning book series and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates on Sky Kids. The new games and puzzles range is aimed at children aged 6-12 years old and includes The Tom Gates Monster Games Board Games Compendium, three 2-in-1 Colour In Puzzles, and a fun card game.

Also new to The Lagoon Group is the brilliant STEAM brand Purple Cow, a great range of science-based kits and tricks that give children the opportunity to become real researchers as they experiment with their own private laboratory. There will also be a range of Purple Cow Magnetic Travel Games released in 2022.

New to the Lagoon range is a series of Smart Egg Labyrinth Puzzles, a new and unique category for handheld puzzles. Smart Egg Labyrinth Puzzles are mind-bendingly difficult brain teasers with a seemingly endless number of variations. The Smart Eggs are not only educational but also help calm and relax users.

This year will also see further growth in the successful Murder Mystery portfolio with new titles in the popular Case Files range. Fun additions also join the puzzles category: new Scratch Off Harry Potter Puzzles, a Cluedo Mystery Puzzle and new Impossibles Puzzle titles including Mr Potato Head, Candyland and Monopoly.

Rainbow Designs’ collection of gifts and toys for newborns through to kids of pre-school age and beyond will be on display at Spring Fair this year. The Home of Classic Characters, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021, will be adding even more fun and joy to its portfolio in the coming months with the launch of 50 new lines including new additions to the Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh ranges.

Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit is commemorating its 120th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Rainbow Designs is adding a beautiful new wooden toy collection to its bestselling Once Upon a Time range. The Once Upon a Time collection, featuring both Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny, is a complete range of gifts and toys for little ones including soft toys, ring rattles, comfort blankets and gift sets. New to the range will be a Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny Pull along, a colourful Wooden Building Blocks Set, a 5-piece Wooden Shape Puzzle and a 28-piece Domino Set, all featuring charming Beatrix Potter illustrations of Peter Rabbit and his friends.

Rainbow’s best-selling Classic Paddington collection, Paddington for Baby and popular Adventures of Paddington pre-school toy range will also be on display. Three new play sets will be added to the toy range this autumn. Paddington’s Campervan, Football Set and Treehouse will join the Talking Paddington and Deluxe Paddington Soft Toy, as well as the best-selling Play Bus Set, the Multi Figure Set and the Rescue Set with Dr Paddington and Pigeonton.

The new Classic Pooh Always and Forever collection features Winnie the Pooh heirloom toys that can be treasured for years to come including soft toys, a comforter and ring rattle.

All have been designed to last a lifetime with a focus on sustainable materials, FSC-certified and reusable packaging, stuffing made from recycled plastic bottles and recycled plush fabric.

Rainbow’s range of infant Unfold and Discover Activity Toys is available across many of its character collections, including Peter Rabbit, Guess How Much I Love You, Classic Winnie the Pooh, Paddington for Baby, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Elmer. The fabric Unfold and Discover Activity Toys feature multiple textures, crinkles and activities including a baby-safe mirror and teether, making them an ideal toy for tummy time, sensory play and motor skill development.

New for 2022, a colourful range of wooden toys including Wooden Building Blocks, Domino Sets and Wooden Shape Puzzles join both the ever-popular Very Hungry Caterpillar and Elmer collections. There will also be a vibrant Wooden Balance Toy joining the Elmer range. Kids can have fun trying to balance Elmer the Patchwork Elephant and his animal friends on the vibrantly coloured wooden moon and watch as they all come tumbling down.

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The past Makes a beautiful present

Hall 4 Stand G60-H61 RexLondonTrade.com

Smart Toys and Games 01903 885 669 | www.smartgames.eu | uk@smart.be Hall 5, Stand 5J21 Smart Toys and Games will be presenting its new spring 2022 collection. Benefitting from Smart’s experience in designing truly unique games, the company’s new launches offer fun and exciting themes as well as innovative mechanics, to engage the minds of children and adults alike.

Horse Academy is a charming game that requires players to create a path over the jumps from start to finish, while making sure their horse is leaping in the correct sequence. Meanwhile, in Grizzly Gears, players rotate the trees to help guide the explorers through the forest, but must beware of the bear lurking within.

Using logic and deduction, players search for an ancient temple on Treasure Island. The adventure is complicated by the fact the pieces on this mysterious island move. To complete each challenge, players need to find the right combinations in which to place the pieces in order to locate the temple.

IQ fans will be able to enjoy two new releases; IQ Love, which centres on 10 colourful gemstones which players must fit into the double-sided board, while IQ Stixx asks players to stack up the sticks, discovering if they can criss-cross the pieces of this travel-friendly puzzle game to work through all the challenges. Both sets offer 120 challenges to master.

2022 will also welcome SmartMax Roboflex. Introducing kids to early STEM principles, Roboflex lets children from the age of just three get creative as they make their own flexible and fun robots. The unique magnetic parts bend and extend for hours of play and work seamlessly with the core SmartMax range, adding an extra dimension to the wider play set.

Paper Engine/Build Your Own 023 8062 5855/ 07484 543387 | www.buildyourownkits.com | Jason@paperengine.com Hall 5, Stand 5C28 Paper Engine is the creator of Build Your Own, an award-winning range of eco-friendly children’s toys you can build yourself. A fresh and fast-growing start up, Build Your Own will be showcasing new product launches at Spring Fair. Made from sustainable cardboard, the innovative, STEM-inspired kits are fun to build and provide hours of entertainment.

The company invites visitors to its stand where they will be able to enjoy the range of fun-filled, eco-friendly kits, including new introductions Binoculars, Pirate Ship, Pinball Machine and Periscope.

Build Your Own’s growing range of toys is suitable for children 8 years+ but can be enjoyed as a family experience. Assembled using simple slottogether techniques, there’s no glue, no mess and no fuss with everything needed to complete the builds provided in the kit.

All kits are made from high-quality, sustainable materials, with minimal plastics. The eco-friendly packaging is 100% recyclable, in keeping with the company ethos: ‘less plastic, paper fantastic!

Each new product launch will be supported with marketing campaigns in 2022 including digital, PR, social media activity plus much more.

Asmodee 01420 593 593 | www.asmodee.co.uk Stand 5J26-K27 Asmodee will continue its exciting partnerships with both CITV and Absolute Radio in 2022. The media sponsorships cover some of the company’s top kids’ titles including Dobble, Brainbox, Bananagrams and The Sock Game, as well as the best-selling Catan, Ticket to Ride and Azul.

All these games will benefit from significant seven figure investment throughout the year. From TV and radio to digital and PR, Asmodee is really upping the ante on its games advertising.

Retailers wanting to find out more about the company’s full range, as well as its approach to marketing investment and what a partnership might be able to offer are invited to visit the stand.

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fresh FRESH THIS MONTH:

Each month Fresh sets out to find the latest products that will have toy retailers reaching for the phone.

Here are new releases from: Casdon, Great Gizmos, IG Designs, Lego, Playmobil, Spin Master & Vivid.

Lego Ideas The Globe

The Lego Group | 01753 495 000 | www.lego.com

Available from this month, The Lego Group has revealed its impressive new set, Lego Ideas The Globe, which the company says will spark visions of traveling around the world, exploring new places and building new memories.

The 2,585-piece set allows Lego fans to build their very own realistic, customisable vintagestyle brick-built globe. Printed names of the continents and oceans that glow in the dark help kids and adults alike learn more about our planet, even with the lights off. In addition, the completed globe really spins - a first for a Lego globe produced at this scale.

The set was designed as part of the Lego Ideas platform, a Lego initiative that takes new ideas imagined and voted for by fans and turns them into reality. France-based Lego fan Guillaume Roussel was responsible for creating the concept for the Lego Ideas The Globe, having been inspired by the tales of Jules Verne.

Beware the Buzz

IG Design Group | 01908 618 811 | www.igdesigngroup.uk info@igdesigngroup.com IG Design’s Kids Create brand aims to inspire children with creative yet safe to use products with clear instructions, giving kids a tangible sense of achievement. Kids Play introduces fun and excitement with an ever-expanding range of interactive games. Designed to bring friends and family closer, Kids Play Games are bright, colourful and engaging, and offer a real sense of challenge for players of all ages.

Beware the Buzz challenges kids to see if they have what it takes to complete the maze. Using the tool included, they must navigate their way around the metal wire without touching it and setting off the buzzer.

Friends and family can compete against each other to see who can complete the maze successfully in the quickest time.

The Batman toys

Spin Master | 01628 535 000 | www.spinmastertoys.co.uk Ahead of the March release of the new movie The Batman, Spin Master has launched an exciting selection of licensed action figures and RC vehicles.

The 12” The Batman action figures are the perfect choice for any child looking to create their own epic Batman adventures. Each action figure features 11 points of articulation, a cloth cape and detailed movie styling that brings the character to life. DC fans can start their collection with action figures including Batman, Selina Kyle (Catwoman), The Penguin and more. Also available are 4” movie action figures, which take the adventure to the next level with accompanying Mystery Cards and three unique accessories.

Those looking for something faster paced will enjoy the Batmobile Turbo Boost RC. This remote control Batmobile features authentic styling as seen in The Batman, a light-up engine and turbo-boost speed, and allows drivers to perform epic back wheelies using the dual joystick remote control. The Batmobile Turbo Boost RC can also drive in any direction and up to six can be raced at once without interference from up to 60 metres away thanks to the 2.4GHz dual remote control.

The new Batcycle RC, with its fixed Batman figure, features an easy-to-use remote control and authentic details inspired by The Batman. The Batcycle is a great option for any Batman fan wanting to act out scenes from the new Warner Bros. film by racing through the streets of Gotham City.

For even more action, kids can check out the new Batman Gauntlet from Spin Master. This interactive role-play gauntlet fits over the user’s arm and features authentic movie-styling, six blaster accessories and an adjustable band.

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h

©Disney Based on the “Winnie the Pooh” works by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard.

NEW

Alwaysand Forever Collection Available Now

These toys are made with....

Recycled polyester filling Recycled plush fabric FSC Mix packaging

inspiring kids’ imaginations for 50 years

The Home of Classic Characters

Spring Fair | Hall 5 M29

A N E Y E F O R TOYS

06 - 09/02/2022 NEC Birmingham

New! www.bertoy.com 2021

New!

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1 2 3 Zoo

10 pcs Wood Stacking Puzzle 2 items

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PUZZELGOMMEN GOMMES PUZZLES

10 15 18 20

Jungle Jive

144 pcs Impossible Puzzles Classic box 3 items

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Love in the Wild

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39 School set 2 Zeedieren Set école 2 Animaux marins 42 Hexagon puzzel School set 1 Hexagon puzzle Set école 1 44 Dino set 1 Zoo Set dinos 1 Zoo 50 Geluksuil Gelukskat Chouette porte-bonheur Chat porte-bonheur 55 Verkeersborden Voertuigen Birds Panneaux de signalisation Véhicules 57 Dino set 2 Bosdieren Set dinos 2 Animaux de la forêt 58 Boerderijdieren Safari Animaux de la ferme Safari Sport 59 Pandafamilie Famille panda Sport Insecten 60 Savannedieren Animaux de la savane Insectes Aquarium service@bertoy.com 61 Parkdieren Animaux du parc Aquarium philip@bertoy.co.uk Werkvoertuigen 66 Oceaandieren Animaux de l’océan Véhicules de travail Blokjes dieren 67 Eenhoorn & pegasus Licorne & pégase Cubes animaux

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500 pcs Family Puzzles 25 Classic box 28 6 items 29

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31 32 38

Bugs Hunt

Gemaakt in Japan Fabriqué en Japon

Puzzle + Eraser Fun Blister Packs 22 items

Aden the Tibetan Tiger

1500 pcs Puzzles Classic box 9 items

new catalogue 2022

4M Craft kits

Great Gizmos | 01293 543221 | www.ggtrade.co.uk | sales@greatgizmos.co.uk The popular 4M range from Great Gizmos is expanding once again with new additions to the craft category. Mould & Paint continues to be one of the company’s most popular craft ranges. New for 2022 is the 3D range, available in Dinosaurs, Unicorns and Dragons. Each kit contains everything needed to mould and paint two impressive 3D statues.

The Junior range, Thinking Kits, continues to grow with the addition of the Light’n Sound Art Pad, a feature packed doodle kit with flashing eyes, sound effects and colouring that lets children create their own designs. Kids can also have fun building the Paper Cup Robot, which performs like an acrobat and moves around a table without falling off. Vibrating Doodler takes drawing to the next level. The kit includes a 16-page activity booklet ready to be doodled in.

KidzMaker welcomes new introductions for 2022 including Paint Your Own Glitter Unicorn Bank, Paint Your Own Terracotta Garden Frog and Paint Your Own Terracotta Flower Pot. Each kit has everything included for kids to decorate their own masterpiece.

Mini Cooper

Playmobil | 01268 548 111 | www.playmobil.co.uk The Mini Cooper symbolises the independence and spontaneity of the 1960s. Now the unique combination of classic British style in a small, fun and nimble package is available as a Playmobil model, with a lovingly detailed design and individual parts finished in shining chrome.

The design of the original Mini remained almost unchanged for nearly forty-one years; for designer Alec Issigonis, creative use of space and a focus on the essentials were so important that there was no room for heating or radio, and sliding windows were used instead of retractable ones.

The Playmobil model Mini Cooper's tailgate can be opened, and four figures fit into the small interior through the removable roof. The classic vehicle shines with detailed design, as well as chrome-coloured accents. In addition to two figures in colourful retro outfits and a Dalmatian, the set also includes a policeman in a classic Bobby uniform.

The Playmobil Mini Cooper measures 18.5x10x8 cm (L/D/H) and is available now.

Sky Dancers

Joseph Joseph role-play toys

Fuschia Fantasy, Coral Cutie and Purple-Licious are the Sky Dancers making their return in July 2022. A product with a huge legacy of success, selling 22m units between 1995 and 1997, the new improved version is set to make a mark with an entirely new audience – and with some hankering after memories past.

Casdon is a third-generation, family-focused business which manufactures best-selling role-play toys for pre-school age children. Continuing to build its successful heritage within these categories, this January will see Casdon welcome a completely new licence.

Vivid Goliath | 01483 449944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

The update includes modernised outfits more suited to fashion tastes of today and taps into an increased interest in fashion dolls, although Sky Dancers offer so much more. Reimagined from the 90s’ classic, the new Sky Dancers maintain the same magical play pattern to captivate a new generation when they take flight. Each Sky Dancer comes with a decorated launch base. Children simply pull the string to set them into flight and then marvel as they flutter back down in style.

The marketing campaign includes PR, TV and digital campaigns alongside a celebrity launch event. The event will drive nationally-relevant mass brand awareness at a location to be unveiled, while the PR campaign will tap into the nostalgia of parents who played with the dolls when they were kids.

Casdon | 01253 766411 | www.casdon.com | UK@casdon.com

Joseph Joseph is one of the world’s leading houseware brands with a global presence spanning over 100 countries. Casdon will be launching six products in the range, including the Joseph Joseph Extend which takes water play to a whole new level.

Designed and officially licensed to look just like the real thing, the Joseph Joseph Extend set comes complete with a wash bowl and tray to capture small spills while water can be pumped from the bowl through the dispenser and back again for endless play. Includes cleantech brush, extend dish rack, cutlery, plates and bowls which change colour when added to water for added play value.

Another new product which will be launched at the show is the Joseph Joseph Bake. This colourful set features four interlocking measuring cups, a large mixing bowl, twist whisk, egg spatula and ergonomic rolling pin.

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Company Profile

Diamant Toys

Diamant life While Omri Diamant, CEO of Diamant Toys, concedes it has been a challenging time for the collectibles sector during the pandemic, the Israel-based company is on track for a great performance this year, with a portfolio of products which is proving to be hugely popular.

E

stablished in 1963 and offering hobby and creative products, Diamant Toys is run by the third generation of the Diamant family and continues to go from strength to strength. The company is also known by the name of its American subsidiary, Amav Enterprises, and offers worldwide distribution to more than 40 countries.

With its own in-house R&D division, Diamant’s products are original, as a result of the company’s own development and designs. One of Diamant/Amav’s biggest successes has been the Keypsees collectibles range; a unique unboxing concept and toy which was launched in 2020.

The Keypsees Pets line features a selection of animals which each has its own house to live in. Each box contains a pet and eight surprise accessories which children can fish out with a magic pacifier. Such was the success of the range that it has been followed

by Pets Season 2 Slumber Party, which introduces a variety of animals dressed in colorful onesies. While a new line of Pets Season 3 will be released for autumn 2022, it will bring a completely different concept to the Keypsees range.

“These pets awaken the senses of little ones and create a bond between the child and the animal,” says Omri. “This is unboxing with added value, that also keeps them busy afterwards. The series also educates children about taking care of animals.”

With the Pets gaining such popularity, the Keypsees range also branched out with a Mermaids series, and more recently a new Secret Mermaid Treasures collection was added, with the magic shell opening to reveal a glittery, soft 40cm Mermaid Princess doll.

There are 12 different dolls for children to collect. “This has become an immediate sell-out in the local market, despite lockdowns and other obstacles faced, and it is now the line that children are talking about,” says Omri.

As with the Pets collection, the Mermaid range is being expanded in the second half of this year, with the next generation of Secret Mermaid Treasures – Summer Party. A new collectible unboxing series, Mystery Mermaids, will introduce play sets featuring different coloured shells and small collectible mermaids.

Diamant/ Amav also says it was the first company to have developed an LED technology to draw and light up artwork, and its Glow Pad – a portable hi-tech tablet size drawing board with eight interchanging blinking colourful lights – has already sold over 12m units globally. The company recently expanded the range with the launch of the Premium Glow Pad, which is already proving extremely popular.

The company also holds a number of leading global licences including Paw Patrol, CoComelon and Love Diana.

Speaking about the CoComelon licence, Omri says it had been a “huge investment” but one that has paid off handsomely. Diamant/Amav has produced a wide range of CoComelon products including Glow-Pad, Glitter Domes, Sand Art Posters and Ice Machines. In addition, CoComelon Fun Bricks, a range of construction sets which includes a School Bus, Fire Truck and Bulldozer, will be distributed by John Adams in the UK. “We are also in negotiations with interested leading companies in other countries,” says Omri.

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Diamant/ Amav’s Paw Patrol licence has also been extremely successful, both domestically and internationally, across many of its products including Glow Pads, Ice Machines , Glitter Domes, eZee Beads and Eraser Studio, and the company continues to expand its portfolio across the Paw Patrol product range.

Looking to the year ahead, Omri says the company will continue to innovate and produce more topquality products: “Diamant/ Amav launches new collections at least twice a year and its lines of on-trend items are eagerly awaited throughout the international toy industry. Innovation and development of new products and categories play a key role in our vision.

The goal of Diamant Toys/ Amav is to give children a challenging experience that will provide knowledge, joy and laughter and fire their imagination, as well as giving them the tools to think and encourage them to be creative. Through Diamant/ Amav’s product lines, children can easily express their feelings and emotions and reach their full potential.”

Company Profile

Precious duels

Konami enters 2022 off the back of an exceptionally strong 12-month performance for its Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The year saw record numbers of players participate in online duel events and a slew of impressive new product releases, meaning excitement for the year ahead, and the opportunities it presents, has never been higher. Toy World spoke to Dom Galizia, senior marketing manager at Konami Digital Entertainment, and Adrian Fox, organised play manager, to find out more.

Firstly, how did 2021 end up for Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG?

Dom: It was a fantastic year for Konami. The Yu-GiOh! TCG performed exceedingly well across the entire year, thanks to unique and hugely popular products like Ghosts From the Past and the Egyptian God Decks, to name just two examples. It’s very clear to me that products like this have been driving our success: the rarity and configuration of the contents have really been diversified thanks to the inclusion of Starlight Rare foil cards, the return of shiny Ghost Rare cards, and Ultimate Rare foil cards making an appearance through Official Tournament Store packs. These different card presentations have become ever more desirable and demand for them continues to grow. There’s a massive element of collectability to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG that fans have increasingly gravitated to across the year.

Can you tell me about Konami’s approach to in-store demos and events? What benefits does this offer, both for Yu-GiOh! fans and stockists?

Adrian: Official Tournament Stores are a fundamental part of how we foster the ever-growing Yu-GiOh! TCG community, providing fans with spaces in which they can come together, play, and discover unique and exclusive

events. We support our Official Tournament Stores by offering them a wide range of exclusive, branded promotional items to assist them with running events and offering demos in-store. This gives our fans a new way to collect accessories featuring all their favourite monsters and themes - things like card sleeves, game mats and deck boxes for storing their cards, for example. And it’s very important to us that players can feel part of a dedicated community, which is why our programmes are designed cater for players of all skill levels.

In 2021, Konami unveiled some very impressive and highly collectible booster packs, special rarity cards and collectible tins. Do these products drive sales among fans? What kind of reactions do you see on social media when these launches are unveiled?

Dom: These products have a major positive impact on our sales and are hugely popular with Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. Our fans are very loyal, and the community is deeply committed. Most fans are hugely invested in the overall brand, which of course encompasses the manga and animated series, digital video games and more, but the Yu-GiOh! TCG is one of the core elements of the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe.

Consider the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Masterpiece Series: Platinum Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, which was noticeably well received. We produced a limited but still significant run of this highly desirable, wonderfully produced collector’s item and it sold out in just hours. This card, and others like it, are a great example of the level of passion within our community and the desire among fans to collects as many cards as possible. Ultimately, these products don’t tend to stay in stock very long.

We see incredible reactions from our community on social media. Social media has increasingly become the backbone of our marketing strategy,

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particularly throughout 2021. As a space with many platforms and outlets, we use social media to produce a diverse range of engaging content, showcasing the variety of products we have available for our fans to collect and enjoy. We find social media is often where fans head to find out the latest news on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. More than that, it’s a place where our community can congregate and talk about things in a positive way ahead of and at launch. It’s been an important source of hype and excitement for our products in recent years, especially during months where in-person contact has been limited.

Influencers are becoming an increasingly integral part of our marketing and promotional activity. The influencers we work with are those we know to be natural, organic promoters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and they are passionate about the brand. Konami has always tried to work as closely with them as possible, so the company can present its products in a positive manner: we invite them in, we talk to them, we provide them with specialist content to reveal, as well as other exclusive opportunities.

I can’t understate the importance of digital media. It has played a huge role in our activity over the last year. Naturally, we’re working with influencers who are talking to their audiences via digital platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.

It’s important to note that thanks to them, we’ve managed to secure an indirect route to users that allows us to present our products in the best possible way, especially considering we haven’t had the luxury of having direct contact with fans through events over the last year or so.

How does Konami drive momentum in terms of product development, with so many new products rolling out throughout the year?

Dom: The collectability of our products has always been something we’re proud of. It’s safe to

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Company Profile

say that in recent years, when people have been spending more time at home, this aspect of our products has accelerated. Our diversified printing techniques, as seen with Starlight Rare and Ghost Rare, are the kind of things that have been picked up on by the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG community, our end users. Having cards of a special type or a special form, created using a special technique, is very appealing to a large part of our audience, and the approach has been very well received.

Do Official Tournament Stores benefit from exclusive lines fans can’t get elsewhere? And how can retailers become Official Tournament Stores?

Adrian: Official Tournament Stores can access our core booster packs a week before the official release date via special Premiere! events. These events ensure that Konami’s Official Tournament Stores become a community hub for players.

Official Tournament Stores also can take advantage of numerous other promotions and events including the ‘Lost Art Promotion’, which offers duellists a monthly purchase incentive. Competitive playerfocused events, meanwhile, such as our WCQ Regional Qualifiers and Official Tournament Store Championships, let players duel it out for exclusive branded prizes based on popular monsters from the most recent booster pack.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we also offered our Official Tournament Stores the chance to run Remote Duel events, in which duellists could compete from the comfort of their own homes. This was a massive success and we’re delighted with how fans gravitated towards them and the numbers that took part.

We provide exclusive branding featuring items like hanging banners, table tents, standees and much more to Official Tournament Stores.

This helps to create the feeling of a Yu-Gi-Oh! community hub. It’s a simple process to register interest in becoming an Official Tournament Store; retailers can simply contact us at https://eusupport.konami.com and notify us of their interest.

Our dedicated Organised Play Partners will then get in touch with stores.

Outside of trade press, how does Konami market the Yu-Gi-Oh! range?

Dom: We do this in numerous ways. I’ve already talked about social networking services, for example, which offers us that vital direct-to-user route. On a similar note, one of the particularly interesting examples we’ve explored in recent years is digital exhibitions. We can use these to talk to our

distributors while using virtual environments and digital renditions of our products that showcase the different releases and their features. We’re trying very hard to diversify the ways we talk about and showcase our products, and with the digital age now well and truly upon us we’re looking increasingly to things like SNS, digital exhibitions and many other avenues to promote the brand.

reception for numerous years and we’re continuing to see healthy, sustainable growth. Focusing on the TCG, demand is increasing - and we are continuing to meet that demand. We’re very happy with the way Konami’s relationship with the fan community, and the growth of the product line, has been progressing. Ultimately, we’re set to continue providing products our fans want.

What major opportunities does 2022 hold for Yu-Gi-Oh! and Konami?

It’s a great time be involved with the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The overall brand is in such good shape, and this is only bolstered by the likes of the upcoming digital titles connected to the TCG, such as Yu-GiOh! Master Duel. Everyone here at the Windsor Konami office can’t wait to keep this momentum going throughout 2022.

Dom: Firstly, all our fingers are crossed that the months ahead hold good health for everyone, and that Covid-19 becomes less of a factor our lives. This year presents a great opportunity for us to be part of physical events once again. We want to showcase on a much larger scale just how much fun the YuGi-Oh! TCG is. For us, the focus is on making sure our users are safe and happy, then, if possible, offering them experiences they can enjoy, take home with them and cherish for many years.

There are numerous products to be excited about in 2022 too. Ghosts From the Past: The 2nd Haunting will be released this year and is sure to be a community favourite. There are ample fan favourites included as well as Ghost Rares, which people cherish beyond all else, while the iconic Blue-Eyes White Dragon will be another big draw. There are so many new launches this year to look forward to – watch this space.

Anything else that you’d really like our readers to know?

Dom: First and foremost, Konami would like to thank everyone for their support of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and the products we released in 2021.

We hope everyone is enjoying them as much as possible (and we get the impression that they are). We’re striving to make sure we create products that are in line with expectations, and we’re so grateful for the support that enables us to do so.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! brand has enjoyed a great

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Feature

Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Oh so

eco!

Scrutiny on our impact on the environment continues to grow, as do the calls for meaningful change that can lessen it in the form of innovative new materials, packaging solutions and play patterns. Rachael Simpson-Jones investigates how the toy industry is playing its part and speaks to some of those leading the way.

I

f, like me, you closely followed the goings-on at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) late last year, you’re probably already the sort of consumer to whom eco-friendly, sustainable and renewable products, technologies and resources appeal.

Our apparently snoozing PM aside (one too many Downing Street parties, perhaps?), COP26 certainly drew its fair share of attention. The resulting agreement has been widely criticised as being far too lax on the issue of fossil fuels - it was reported that there were some 500+ fossil fuel lobbyists at the climate summit- while other issues viewed as particularly pressing, such as the role of food production on the climate, were left off the table. Still, as frustrating as the outcome may have been, there remains a growing, optimism-inspiring demographic of consumers keen to reduce their individual and familial impact on the planet via more thoughtful, responsible purchasing decisions, and toys are very much part of that picture.

“It’s no secret that we are seeing increasing consumer demand for better sustainability within the toy industry,” notes David Allan, managing director Toynamics UK & Ireland. “As customers are becoming more conscious of their eco-footprint,

Keelco Adoptable World (Keel Toys)

we’re noticing the trend for ‘quality over quantity’, with customers looking for toys they can pass down through the generations.”

Toynamics UK & Ireland distributes eco-friendly toys from Hape. The brand makes use of the more obvious renewable and sustainable materials, such as FSC-certified wood, alongside less common ones such as rice husk and bamboo. Putting its money where its mouth is, Hape China manages a substantial bamboo forest in Gongtong, in the Beilun district of Ningbo, and runs workshops and competitions that inspire design students to explore the merits of bamboo as a construction material.

Not only are rice husk and bamboo better for the environment than virgin plastics, they also add unique characteristics to Hape’s toys. David explains: “For example, our Japanese rice teething toys, which are made using the outside husk of rice, possess a natural and appealing rice smell. This soothing scent increases sensory development when playing.”

Of course, it’s naive to imagine that, as it stands, the majority of toys can be made from renewable natural plant-based resources. Wood, for example, though beautiful and tactile and perfect for creating everything from skittles and shape-sorters to dolls houses and themed play sets, cannot be moulded like

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plastic can, reducing its potential for intricate parts and interlocking pieces, and in terms of weight, tends to sit at the heavier end of the spectrum. Plastic, on the other hand, is light, durable and hugely versatile – but if we’re talking virgin plastics, not that great for the environment.

Happily, a number of toy companies are opting for recycled or biobased plastics that offer all the pros of virgin without the big con. In 2020, STEM and construction specialist Geomag launched its first 100% recycled plastic lines, converting two mainstays of its portfolio: Geomag Classic and Geomag Magicube. In 2021, the new recycled Mechanics line was launched, meaning 100% of Geomag products are now made from 100% recycled plastics. Following extensive efforts by the company’s Research & Development teams, Mechanics offers all the same qualities as before, which MD Clive Wooster says Geomag is very proud of. This year sees the launch of new recycled sets within the Magicube Shapes Line, the addition of Glow and Glitter ranges to the Geomag Classic collection, and the brand-new eMotions range. Mechanics also welcomes a new multiplayer challenge game.

While the widespread adoption of recycled plastics is clearly a big step for Geomag, Clive is keen to

Contributing to a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and sustainable future.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

highlight that the company considers the full environmental impact of its production processes too. He adds: “It’s more than just recycled materials and marketing messages for us. At the end of 2020 we conducted a materiality analysis to identify and assess the issues considered most relevant by Geomag and its stakeholders. From this analysis we generated a detailed sustainability report, which has and will continue to form the backbone of our company strategy and mission. The report identified 17 crucial issues, which we then prioritised and grouped into three different business categories: People, Social, and Environmental.

Our ongoing environmental policy will consider product safety, renewable energy, recycled materials, product and packaging impact, product end of life, emissions reduction, waste and microplastics.”

Vivid Goliath recently unveiled its own take on recycled plastics, this time in the form of the collectible Recylings range.

Recyclings characters are made from 70% recycled plastic, with each Recycling saving seven bottle caps from landfill, and the capsules they come in are made from 100% recycled plastic and protected by a cardboard sleeve. Chicco’s new Eco+ range of infant toys, meanwhile, relies on a combination of biobased and recycled industrial plastics: the company says its new balance bike is the first to be made from recycled materials.

Recycled materials are now also being widely used in the plush industry, with the somewhat villainous and famously un-cuddly plastic bottle being transformed into soft and squishable friends for kids. Leading the way in this area is Keel Toys, whose Keeleco sustainable soft toy range launched in 2020. Keel’s head of Design, Patrick Downs, told Toy World it can initially be quite challenging for consumers to understand how a plastic bottle can be turned into a soft toy, but that Keel has gone to great lengths to show this process, as well as the product’s eco-credentials, across hangtags, in-store POS and the website. The new Adoptable World range of plush made with recycled materials takes the messaging one step further by promoting more eco-friendly travel choices such as hot air balloons, trains and boats. The range will be supported in-store with an FSDU, posters and shelf wobblers, while the booklet hangtag on each individual toy tells the eco journey of each character.

“Coming into 2022, Keel already offers its customers a completely sustainable soft toy collection that covers wild and farm animals, dinosaurs, teddy bears, nursery toys and now the new Adoptable World range - but as a company we won’t rest there,” Patrick adds. “We have a very close relationship with our factories in China and work together daily to remain at the forefront of sustainable materials and product development. The success of Keeleco means we are continuing to develop many more ranges, with 50 new items finished and ready to be launched in the coming months.”

Following the launch of Barbie Loves the Ocean and the green Matchbox range in 2021, 2022 sees the launch of Mega Bloks Green Town, Mattel’s

Mega Bloks Green Town (Mattel)

latest eco-friendly offering. The toys, which help teach kids environmentally conscious behaviours such as recycling waste, growing your own, looking after insects and making compost, are made from responsibly sourced materials such as a mix of plant-based materials and ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification)-certified plastics, meaning the range relies on the Mass Balance Approach to sustainability. I’ll save you Googling it; in a nutshell, Mass Balance is a set of rules for determining the use of recycled content in a final product when both recycled and virgin feedstock have been used in the process. A number of experts believe this approach to be vital to upscaling the bioplastics and recycled plastics industry, making recycled or biobased plastics a legitimate option for companies who depend on plastics, while critics suggest that unscrupulous manufacturers (of which Mattel is most certainly not one) could use the method to label products as biobased or recycled when the total content of these materials is low compared to that of virgin plastics.

Toy companies looking at or already using the Mass Balance Approach in their production may therefore be wise to undertake Environmental Claim Validation through the likes of UL. The global safety certification company’s Environmental Claim Validation programme covers recycled and biobased content, rapidly renewable materials, zero waste to landfill and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content, among other things, helping manufacturers prove the eco-credentials of their products.

Ilaria Colombo, industry marketing lead – Hardline, Softline & Toys at UL, explains: “Sustainability is meaningless without transparency, and transparency requires that companies share insight about what their products contain, how they are made, and what impact products may have on the community, environment and users. The landscape of green product marketing is anything but black and white: a growing number of eco-labels have made it difficult to differentiate between products that are genuinely environmentally preferable, and those that aren’t and that feed the greenwashing phenomenon.

That’s where UL can help.”

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She continues: “Through rigorous scientific analysis, manufacturers that engage UL can prove that their products do, in fact, live up to their environmental claims, so they can gain instant credibility and a clear competitive edge in an otherwise murky green product marketplace. Adding validated sustainability attributes to product labels helps the toy industry to build consumer trust and avoid greenwashing claims. Manufacturers whose products have achieved Environmental Claim Validation from UL are able to use the UL’s Environmental Claim Validation badge on their product packaging and marketing materials. With ease and convenience, this badge communicates to customers and prospects that products have been tested by a neutral third-party and independently validated to have been manufactured and/or perform in accordance with its environmental claims.”

UL also helps companies with the sustainability of their packaging – something that crops up more and more often. As Rick Derr discusses in this month’s Letter from America (p. 32), while toy companies are certainly making big strides in reducing the plastic content in the on-shelf packaging consumers see in-store – such as World Alive’s Aqua Dragons packaging becoming plastic-free in order to meet its sustainability objectives - the packing used for transport often leaves a lot to be desired. Funnily enough, the day Rick’s February column arrived I’d seen a post on LinkedIn from a UK retailer excited to be unloading their latest shipment of toys from a big supplier. The accompanying photo showed pallet after pallet of recyclable cardboard boxes – surrounded by layer upon layer of plastic wrap. Surely there’s a better way. Rick, who in 2021 experienced his ‘greatest sales year’ but his worst year of productrelated waste, is one of those trying to find it. He’s working with a group of entrepreneurial students at the local high school to find new, biodegradable and/ or recyclable materials that create less landfill waste.

Geomag, too, has identified supply chain packing materials as an area of focus for its continuous improvement approach. The company’s first step towards this includes replacing packaging materials necessary for safety reasons with more sustainable alternatives such as recycled or renewable materials.

Clive says: “Thanks to this process, together with our suppliers we’ve shifted to much larger packs of materials with a consequent reduction of 450kg of plastic packaging waste between 2019 and 2020.

Another initiative saw us replace the cellophane used for packaging pallets with more sustainable cellophane made with recycled plastic. Small changes like this remind us that there is always a little process somewhere that we can improve on. Sustainability is not a task to complete but rather an iterative approach towards a better environment, society, and economy.”

There’s a catch, however. Ilaria at UL notes that packaging designed and tested for performance during transportation and distribution can reduce the waste associated with damaged, perishable or mistreated products that must be disposed of if the packaging is compromised. This means sustainable

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vividtoysandgames

© 2022 Headstart Designed & Imported by Headstart International Pty Ltd 15 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne VIC 3166 Australia.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

alternatives must perform at a comparable level to those of their existing counterparts, lest we accidentally create a whole new issue with waste – that of broken and damaged toys. It’s a headscratcher akin to that of emission-free electric cars and their use of harmfully mined rare-earth metals: fantastic in principle, yet still sadly flawed. For those seeking a solution, UL's laboratories can assess the quality, performance and sustainability of packaging by offering a full range of services to help manufacturers and retailers verify that they meet the most stringent sustainability, performance and safety standards.

“Driven by the growth of eCommerce, the complexity of global supply chains and changing consumer preferences, packaging has become critical to delivering safer products to market and reducing waste,” says Ilaria. “However, in a world threatened by climate change and limited natural resources, packaging must be sustainable as well as functional.”

Like supply chain packaging, transport is also hidden from the view of most consumers. The International Transport Forum (ITF) estimates that freight accounts for more than 40% of transport emissions and will rise 22% from 2015 to 2050, with any advances in sustainability more than offset by rising demand due to increased urbanisation. When so many of the toys sold in Britain are made in China, this is an area manufacturers will surely be looking to address. Reflecting a significant step in HTI’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, in 2020 the company invested in British manufacturing facilities for its

Bubblz products, which already come in recycled and recyclable bottles. With a significant chunk of the product’s carbon footprint coming in the form of transport, the company says that onshoring a bubbles factory in Lancashire was a ‘hugely positive move in terms of sustainability’, and that it’s also ensured the quality of the finished product, from the bubble solution to the bottles, is top quality.

“The combination of 100% recyclable products and bringing the bubbles factory to the UK is the beginning of a long-term commitment that HTI has made to becoming a greener toy company,” says Nancy Fielden, HTI marketing manager. “HTI is making these changes because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a core value of the company moving forwards that it continues to reduce its impact on our environment. The doors of the UK plant, which has been fully audited and certified, are open to anyone who would like to look around. HTI is very keen for its retail partners to see the bubble production process for themselves.”

Of course, onshoring production isn’t for everyone.

Generally speaking, it’s far more cost effective to produce toys in China than in the UK, even once sky high shipping rates are factored in - but there are other options. A number of manufacturers are based in Europe, which cuts down on transport distances: Bildo, for example, is based in Veria, Greece, and has pledged to manufacture at least 70% of toys using biodegradable or eco-friendly toys by 2025. And Dolu, which supplies a wide range of play houses, slides,

Bubblz (HTI)

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play gyms, sand and water tables, sand shells, picnic tables, football goals, tractors, trikes, ride- ons and much more, is based in Turkey.

Elsewhere, some companies have launched their own initiatives to reclaim and recycle pre-loved toys. Mattel is one, with its Mattel Playback and the recently unveiled #TaptoRebox initiative. A toy takeback programme for Barbie, Matchbox and Mega, this will enable families to extend the life of their Mattel toys once they have finished playing with them. The new programme is designed to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys, and supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030. Readers can find out more about Mattel’s sustainability drive in an exclusive Q&A with Pam Gill-Alabaster, VP Global Sustainability, which starts on page 82.

In summer 2021, Danish toy company Dantoy set up a container into which parents and kids can drop off their pre-loved Dantoy toys to be recycled and made into new toys at the company's factory in Hobro, Denmark. The next chapter in the Dantoy Take Back project will follow this autumn, when a major collaboration with local kindergartens will launch. As part of the weeklong initiative, Dantoy will help kids learn how to recycle toys and will help collect old and damaged Dantoy products ready for them to be given a new lease of life at the Hobro factory. MGA Entertainment, meanwhile, continues its partnership with TerraCycle to reclaim and recycle

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See you at Spring Fair tel. 0116 478 5230 • email. sales@toynamics.co.uk • www.toynamics.co.uk Toynamics UK & Ireland • 10 Nursery Court, Kibworth Business Park, Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire LE8 0EX • UK

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys LOL Surprise! dolls, capsules and accessories, to be made into Little Tikes Go Green toys.

But while all these initiatives, innovations, testing services and new materials are all very well and good, the true test of whether eco-friendly toys can hold their own in the marketplace lies with the consumer - the one parting with their cash. Does the shopper know why and how this toy is more sustainable than that one?

Are they prepared to spend a little more on a toy with strong eco-friendly credentials? As Rick Derr discusses in his column, not always. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink, as the old adage goes. I asked David at Toynamics how the company approaches the marketing of its Hape line. He tells me it’s identified two types of consumers to whom it tailors its sustainability marketing communication.

“The first customer group already has a deep knowledge of sustainability and understands the benefits of the eco-materials used to make Hape

toys,” he says. “The second group encompasses those who want to shop more sustainably but don’t necessarily know how to do so successfully. These are the customers we look to educate on sustainability, including the materials used and the processes Hape toys go through which make them so eco-friendly. Both customer groups are easy to communicate to, they just require a slightly different approach.”

David adds: “The Hape group is constantly innovating and looking for new ways to introduce sustainable materials into toys. Last year the group made major investments into a cork factory based in Portugal and we are working on something big at the moment. Keep an eye out later in the year for a new sustainable toy brand hitting the market.”

Over the next few pages, Toy World takes a look at some of the latest eco-friendly toys to arrive in stores and the ways in which companies are also reducing their environmental impact behind the scenes.

Hape Nature Fun (Toynamics UK & Ireland)

newsanalysis Don’t play around with sustainability: UL’s three strategies for getting serious The global safety certification company outlines how toy companies can make advancements that demonstrate their commitment to meaningful change.

The pressure is on toy manufacturers to get serious about sustainability. According to the UN Development Programme’s ‘People’s Climate Vote’, two-thirds of the more than 1m individuals surveyed believe that climate change is a global emergency. While toy companies can pursue many individual initiatives to improve sustainability, UL recommends three particular strategies:

• Shift to circularity: While single-attribute certifications demonstrate superior sustainability performance in target areas, shifting to circular business models ensures greater sustainability on a larger scale. Circularity considers the environmental performance of the product, the manufacturing facility and the enterprise. From models that build repairable toys to extend product life to value propositions that consider renting instead of ownership, the potential is endless for companies willing to explore circular business models. What’s more, circular product development choices can have carbon emission benefits.

• Strategically select materials: Material selection is critical because it has a ripple effect throughout the entire lifecycle of the product. The harvest of some raw materials may trigger social impacts. Products may generate landfill waste at end of life if they are not reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Other raw materials may pose health or safety hazards to children. Make a prioritised list of attributes and then verify raw material performance to make a fully informed material selection decision.

• Evaluate the entire supply chain: While measuring Scope 1 direct carbon emissions associated with manufacturing plants and office spaces is an excellent place to start, companies are increasingly responsible for tracking Scope 2 and 3 emissions - those generated indirectly during manufacturing, packing, transport, use and disposal. Companies that want to truly understand their carbon footprint should aim to achieve supply chain transparency.

How UL can help UL offers a range of services to support toy brands, retailers and manufacturers on their journey to advanced sustainability. Advisory services can evaluate the path to regulatory compliance, and enterprise software can consolidate complex information on carbon emissions from across the supply chain. UL’s Environmental Claim Validation programme provides third-party assessment that product sustainability meets the stated environmental requirements, such as the percentage of recycled or biobased content. UL’s packaging testing, meanwhile, helps ensure the security of goods during transport to reduce product loss, reshipment and packaging waste minimisation.

Discover how UL’s worldwide resources and facilities can support you by contacting Toys@ul.com.

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Guidecraft Notch Blocks provide open-ended, active learning opportunities for indoor and outdoor block play. Notched panels allow for sturdy structures that withstand group interaction and natural environments while encouraging exploration of engineering and architectural concepts. Considerately made from FSC certified eucalyptus wood, the 89-piece set is substantial in scale and play possibilities. The set includes large, double-sided concept boards that visually connect children to the world with imagery and build inspiration.

Includes 11 inspiration cards

www.guidecraft.com

Sales Rep: Lorna Smith (EMEA) Email: lsmith@guidecraft.com

Phone: +44 (0) 7725833273 Skype: lorna.smith966

Q&A

Mattel

Mattel driving positive social and environmental change

Mattel’s VP Global Sustainability, Pam Gill-Alabaster, chats to Toy World about how the company is working to reduce its carbon footprint and its approach to sustainability. responsible forest management. We also launched Mattel PlayBack, a toy take-back programme, to recover and reuse materials from outgrown Mattel toys for new products.

To date, what has Mattel’s overarching approach to sustainability been?

Our aim is to contribute to a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and sustainable future. We are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and actively supporting the communities in which we live, work and play. In 2021, we updated our ESG strategy, goals and priorities, aligning them with three pillars: Sustainable Design and Development (what we do), Responsible Sourcing and Production (how we do it) and Thriving and Inclusive Communities (those we impact).

What major milestones has the company made recently, in terms of initiatives, change of materials etc., in reducing its environmental impact?

In 2020, we achieved 97% recycled or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified content in the paper and wood fibre used in our packaging and products, exceeding our goal of 95%, and were awarded a 2021 FSC Leadership Award for excellence in use of FSC-certified products and commitment to

Last year, we introduced Barbie Loves the Ocean, the first fashion doll line made from 90% oceanbound plastic to a fantastic consumer response. We also announced Drive Toward a Better Future, our product roadmap to make all Matchbox die-cast cars, play sets and packaging, with 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials by 2030.

Additionally, we have launched sustainable products from Fisher-Price and Mega, and introduced Uno Nothin’ But Paper, the first Uno deck that has removed cellophane from its packaging and is now 100% recyclable. In fact, Mattel removed the cellophane from 100% of standard, paper-based Uno decks in 2021.

But it is not just our products and packaging that we are working to improve. We aim to optimise resource consumption and reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% and, in addition, achieve zero manufacturing waste by 2030.

We are proud of the fact that in 2021 Mattel achieved 100% pay equity for all employees performing similar work globally. We remain committed to ensuring we uphold our position on pay equity and to creating a culture of belonging.

Today, women comprise 58% of the global nonworkforce and 49% of all management positions.

Mattel is leading positive change in an authentic, meaningful way with recent recognition from numerous organisations that recognise best places to work.

How have consumers reacted to these developments?

PlayBack has been received very positively in both

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the US and Europe, and it has provided a significant amount of learning in the first six months since launch. Some of that learning will inform product design and material considerations that aim to make products easier to recycle and better for the circular economy in the future. Consumer response to sustainable products like Barbie Loves the Ocean has been similarly positive and we look forward to launching additional sustainable products in 2022.

Is the demand for more sustainable toys there? And how much would you say their appeal depends on the end price?

At Mattel we believe sustainability creates value for people, planet and our business. It’s not just a trend, but an opportunity for companies to generate value to society through their corporate values.

Earlier this year, we conducted global consumer insights research on attitudes toward sustainable toys. Seven in ten parents claim that sustainability is important in their everyday decision making.

Additionally, kids, and specifically ‘Generation Alpha’ continue to gravitate toward purpose-driven brands that stand up for issues they care about.

Three in four say that’s important to them. However, the study also revealed that mainstream consumers are not yet willing to pay more for toys that are made with materials that are better for the planet. We are confident however, that this dynamic will change overtime as it has for organic food, sustainable fashion and clean beauty.

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For trade enquiries please contact sales-uk@geomagworld.com www.geomagworld.com

Q&A

Mattel

How will Mattel be ramping up its efforts in 2022? What new products will we see as a result?

We will continue to implement programmes and initiatives that advance our progress toward our product, packaging, operating footprint and DE&I goals.

Our ambition is to advance principles of circular design in both our toy products and packaging. We will continue to invest in tools and training that enable our product and packaging engineers and designers to make products and packages that are better for the planet. This year we will introduce more sustainable products and programmes from Barbie and Matchbox, as well as the launch of our new Green Town line from Mega, which has been designed to help children learn about activities like waste sorting and recycling, buying local produce and protecting important animal species like honey bees.

Recognising that training is critical to our approach, in 2021, we conducted three circular design training workshops, led by Ideo, with our design and development, brand marketing, procurement and global supply chain teams.

In 2022, we will continue investing in employee training and in tools to optimize our product and packaging for environmental performance and for a circular economy.

To achieve our GHG emissions reduction goal, we plan to use multiple levers, including reducing the amount of energy we consume through building and equipment upgrades, more automated controls, as well as purchasing electricity from renewable sources. We will also consider purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) that provide more renewable energy to the grid, and carbon offsets or credits.

As part of our approach to waste management, we are conducting on-site waste audits of our owned and/or operated sites to determine the causes, sources, types, volumes, and costs of waste being generated. Equipped with this information, we are developing site-specific strategies with a focus on a waste-minimisation hierarchy – reduce, reuse, and recycle – and looking for opportunities to share best practices across our sites. Our ambition is to send zero waste to landfill across all our manufacturing sites by 2030.

At Mattel, we believe we are at our best when every member of our team feels respected, included and heard – when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. That is why we have implemented numerous programmes to promote diversity and inclusion, and advance representation and equity in our workplace and the communities where we operate, including Play Fair, a multi-faceted initiative that articulates the actions we are taking to address the racism, injustice and violence against the Black community.

We are also establishing external partnerships to build our knowledge and ability to collaborate to solve shared challenges with like-minded organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Sustainable Packaging Institute, Business for Social Responsibility, Sustainable Brands, the GreenBiz Executive Network, Products of Change and the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) Ethical Toy Program, among others.

Packaging can often form a large part of a product’s eco footprint. How is Mattel addressing this particular element of product development?

We are applying principles of circular design to our packaging in support of the circular economy.

Our enhanced efforts are concentrated in four principles of circularity – Reduce: Use less material; Replace: Substitute virgin, no sustainable materials with post-consumer recycled materials or materials derived from renewable sources; Reuse: Develop packaging that is part of the play pattern of the product or can be used for storage; Recover: Optimise our process for materials recovery and reuse, including adding consumer communications on packaging on how to responsibly recycle.

We have made significant progress on packaging sustainability. Over the past decade, Mattel has taken actions that have led to meaningful materials reduction in packaging and increased its sourcing of packaging materials that are better for the environment.

In recent years, we have introduced the Mattel Packaging Toolkit as a resource for our packaging engineering and design teams to use as guiding principles for circular design. The Toolkit includes recommendations to reduce or right-size packaging, implement closed box designs, and more.

We are also specifically targeting blister packs and windowed cartons for reduction by minimizing the size of plastic windows in boxes, where possible, or eliminating them entirely. In 2020, the vast majority of our blister packs and window cartons contained 25% recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic and we are working diligently to increase that to 30% in 2022. The master cartons in which our packaged products are delivered to our retail partners have also been enhanced with a view to reducing our environmental footprint. We have changed the design of our master cartons from double-wall to single-wall corrugates, which are sourced from more than 90% recycled fibre.

Long term, what are Mattel’s sustainability goals?

Mattel aims to contribute to a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and sustainable future. Trust is foundational to everything we do. Our relationship with our people, consumers, customers, business partners and communities is built on their belief that we will do the right thing and live up to our commitments. This requires that we act as a responsible corporate citizen, pursue social, economic and environmental sustainability, and promote diversity, equity and inclusion. We earn trust by operating with integrity and transparency and being true to our mission and purpose. We believe that Mattel can be a force for good by creating value for our stakeholders and at the same time contribute to a better future for the

Toy World 84

next generation.

In 2021, Mattel refreshed its ESG strategy, established new goals and priorities. Our seven public facing goals are focused on material impact areas where we feel we can make a meaningful difference.

Our product and packaging goals are focused on the development of innovative products and experiences that are better for our world while our operating footprint goals are focused on optimising our resource consumption, reducing waste and shifting toward renewable and low-carbon energy sources.

Our DE&I goals are focused on supporting diverse, equitable and inclusive communities where we live, work and play.

What role can Mattel’s retail partners play in communicating the sustainability message?

Many of our customers are well along in their own sustainability journeys and have made public commitments to more sustainable products and packaging, GHG emissions and waste reduction, ethical sourcing and creating positive social impacts and regeneration in the communities where they operate. We are always looking to work with other like-minded organisations in support of the transition toward the circular economy and to go further, faster in collaboration with others who share our views on a more sustainable future.

How are Mattel’s marketing strategies helping consumers understand the advantages of sustainable toys and packaging?

Our brands are uniquely positioned to leverage their products, platforms and trusted relationships with consumers, to create cultural conversation can drive positive social and environmental change.

We aim to create products and experiences that are better for the environment, as well as products that are more inclusive, accessible, and representative of the children that play with them.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Our purpose driven brands have an important role to play, creating culturally relevant, emotional connections with kids and families. Through brand purpose we add value not just to the lives of our consumers, but also more broadly to society.

We take pride in the fact that our brands play a leadership role in culture, setting positive examples which inspire measurable actions to help families live better today, and create a more inclusive, sustainable future for all.

Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Mattel 01628 500 000 | www.mattel.com Mattel’s goal is to use 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials in all its products and packaging by 2023, and to do so has found new ways to make playtime more responsible and sustainable. Following the launch of Barbie Loves the Ocean and the green Matchbox range in 2021, 2022 sees the launch of Mega Bloks Green Town.

Mega Bloks Green Town is suitable for children aged one and above, and is made from responsibly sourced materials. The Green Town toy line is a certified Carbon Neutral product by Natural Capital Partners, the leading expert on carbon neutrality and climate finance, and is made from responsibly sourced materials such as a mix of plant-based materials and ISCC-certified plastics (mass balance approach).

Green Town also furthers green ideas on a cognitive level by teaching kids environmentally conscious behaviours such as sorting waste, using electric transport, protecting bees, choosing renewable energy sources and more. In addition, the line promotes an understanding of the importance of representation through the use of diverse and inclusive characters. By doing so, Green Town helps kids imagine their future through play and teaches them that the world is theirs to build – bigger, better and together. All Green Town toy line packaging is made from recycled materials and is easily recycled.

The Green Town line includes the Sort & Recycle Squad building set, which comes with 18 big building blocks, including special pieces, and one rolling wheelbase. Toddlers can build the rolling recycling truck before sorting the compost, recycling and garbage, and colour matching them to the correct bins. This set is designed to help develop fine motor skills and introduce children to green behaviours important for adult life.designed to help develop fine motor and introduce children to green behaviors like waste sorting and recycling Also included in the line is the Grow & Protect Farm, which comes with 52 big building blocks, including special pieces, and two rolling wheelbases. This set lets kids build a rolling tractor, barn, crops, a beehive, a turning windmill and three fun characters, teaching lessons about buying local produce, understanding the water cycle and protecting bees.introduce children to green behaviors like buying local produce, learning about the water cycle and protecting honey bees The blocks are compatible with other Mega Bloks building sets, meaning children will be able to integrate the new line into their existing Mega Bloks collection.

Mattel’s toy recycling programme, Mattel PlayBack, continues for 2022. The programme provides guilt-free solutions for toys that have reached the end of their useful life, putting valuable materials back into play and keeping it out of landfills so that the fun comes full circle.

Rex London 020 8746 1700 | www.rexlondontrade.com info@rexlondon.com Rex London champions screen-free toys and games and places a huge focus on gifts that keep kids entertained and off their devices.

The company is also committed to becoming more sustainable, both in its products as well as its packaging. Rex offers toys made from wood rather than plastic, which are both durable and eco-friendly (as well as being beautifully made), as well as FSC-certified origami kits and stationery. Outside of its popular Toys & Games category, Rex also designs reusable BPA-free water bottles, a wide range of biodegradable bamboo gifts, and bags made from recycled plastic bottles.

Kids can see if they stack up to the challenge with the Wild Wonders balance game. Consisting of 14 wooden flora and fauna pieces, the aim of the game is to balance the pieces on top of each other. The game is a great way to improve hand-eye coordination and learn animal names at the same time. This versatile product also lets children channel the spirit of Kruger National Park by using the pieces as play figures in an African bush scene. They also look lovely placed on a shelf to decorate a kid’s room, thanks to the retro design and glossy painted finish of the wooden pieces.

With over 60 other items and counting in the best-selling Wild Wonders range, there are also many complementary products to choose from. Whilst the print itself has been designed specifically for children, it has been purposefully developed to be ungendered - exotic animals ignite the imagination in so many children, and the bright colours and beautiful finish of the balance game inspire and delight both boys and girls. Rex London has always opted for ungendered kids’ designs, focusing on unbiased characters, interests and patterns.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Chicco 020 8953 6627 www.chicco.co.uk

Amscan

01908 288500 www.amscan.co.uk

Amscan is already making many developments to tackle the sustainability challenge, both within its licensed portfolio and its generic assortment, across all categories of the business.

The company has launched a sustainable costume portfolio, which features licensed designs from iconic Warner Bros. characters, as well as generic classic themes including Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood and Alice, all of which are ideal Book Week costumes. The full package is sustainable: the garment is designed to be as environmentally as possible, manufactured with 100% recycled materials which are machine washable for repeat wear, and the costume is sub printed only, with no application of glitter or additional processes.

All plastic elements from the packaging have been removed, meaning the packaging can be fully recycled. The sustainable Halloween costumes packaging has also been updated for 2022 to share with customers just how many plastic bottles go into making one of the costumes; the Neon Skeleton Boy costume, for example, takes 13 plastic bottles to create.

Messages such as Reuse, Rewear, Recycle have proved to be key for Amscan’s sustainable dress up range packaging, and a similar message of Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle has been extended to the new party and foil balloon packaging. This urges customers to find alternative purposes for the item - or if it’s reached the end of its life span, encourages them to dispose of it responsibly.

Throughout 2022, Amscan will also continue to make significant changes to its party formats including more new products being made from FSC materials as well as continuing the migration of more traditional plastic products such as loot bags and table covers to now be made from paper. It will also continue to create more dualpurpose products for 2022, following on from the success of invitations which double up as wearables, colour-in loot bags and further developments for the typical favour pack ensuring they include more relevant re-usable items.

There will also be ongoing changes to packaging as new ensembles arrive throughout 2022, with recyclable boxes or envelopes replacing clamshell or headers and polybags.

New innovations from Anagram will see additional Airloonz joining the foil balloon portfolio, both licensed and generic, as well as new licensed air-filled sitters, with both products able to be inflated with air rather than helium. They can also be deflated after the event and reused using the accompanying paper straw.

Chicco’s new Eco+ range uses plantbased bioplastics and recycled industrial plastics to create strong, lightweight and safe toys for infants.

The 2-in-1 Stacking Cups comes with five cups and five colourful shapes made of recycled plastic from industrial residues.

Suitable from 6-36 months, the stacking cups will keep little ones entertained as they sort and drop the five shapes through the corresponding holes, helping them develop hand-eye coordination skills and become familiar with different colours, shapes and sizes.

Owly the Rattle is the perfect playtime companion. The lightweight rattle features six colourful textured rings that help kids develop manual coordination skills and create a stimulating play experience.

Inspired by the art of balancing stones, Stone Balance is a new stackable toy from Chicco’s Eco+ range. Kids can stack or play with the five stone-shaped pieces, stimulating their cognitive and manual coordination whilst using their imagination as they play. Made of recycled plastic, each stone has a different shape, size and colour, and can be stacked from largest to smallest or in a random order for hours of dextrous fun.

Chicco’s new Baobab Shape Sorter challenges kids to place the four coloured shapes, each of which features a different animal face, into the correct place on the tree. As well as helping them become familiar with geometric shapes, the sorter also helps kids develop their hand-eye coordination and manual skills.

Suitable from 6-36 months, it also features three sliding rings between the crowns of the Baobab for additional entertainment.

The 2-in-1 Transform-a-Ball has 10 detachable colourful slices, allowing little ones to build their own creations and characters, including cars and animals, by assembling the pieces. Afterwards, little ones are challenged to rebuild the ball in the correct chromatic order to make it roll.

The 2-in-1 Rocking Dino offers three activities to help develop children’s’ cognitive and manual skills. Kids can place each of the six colourful cylinders on the dinosaur in the correct position to make it balance, whilst the sorter activity allows them to find the perfect match by inserting the three shapes in the corresponding holes. For extra play, the cylinders can also be stacked on top of one another to build a tower. The 2-in-1 Rocking Dino is suitable from one to four years.

Chicco’s new Balance Bike is the first to be made of recycled plastic. Suitable from 18 months to five years, the bike has soft, antipuncture wheels and ergonomic handles, helping little ones acquire the necessary balance on two wheels before moving onto a bicycle with pedals. Inspired by nature, the bike has a strong focus on sustainability and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

All Around is a ride-on toy with swivel wheels that allows toddlers to move freely.

Featuring a compartment under the seat, a mechanical horn and stickers for customisation, All Around invites kids to get to grips with the importance of exploratory play.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Golden Bear Toys 01952 608 308 | www.goldenbeartoys.com customerservices@goldenbeartoys.co.uk Golden Bear remains committed to move its entire portfolio of plush toys to recycled fabric over the next two years. This follows the company’s realignment from virgin to recycled outer fabric made in 2021 on its complete range of Hey Duggee soft toys and continues with the conversion of the Mr Tumble and The Baby Club ranges into recycled polyester for SS22.

New sustainable plush hero SKUs for the year ahead include the Hey Duggee Explore & Snore Camping with Duggee, Baby Bear Soft Toy, and the new In the Night Garden Igglepiggle Super Soft Blankie Bundle.

All Golden Bear soft toys are stuffed using recycled polyester derived from plastic waste and this, in addition to an initiative to convert outer fabric into recycled material, has resulted in over 7m plastic bottles being recycled in 2021.

Golden Bear is also moving all its product packaging into FSC Mix cardboard. 33% of product has already made the move, and the company is targeting 100% by 2023. In addition, all product packaging will be printed using soy ink by the end of 2022.

Both initiatives are part of Golden Bear’s drive to tackle sustainability in all areas of the business, underpinned by the company ethos ‘Play Today, Protect Tomorrow’. Other strides made by the environmentally focused company include reducing carbon emissions with the installation of solar panels and LED lighting and offsetting the remaining emissions in both its UK and Hong Kong offices via investment into offset projects in developing countries.

Character Options 01616 339 800 | www.character-online.com sales@charactergroup.plc.uk In 2022, Character Options will continue to develop its extensive offering of ‘green’ toys. Its growing collection of Eco Plush brings the most popular kids’ properties to life in a format produced with future generations in mind.

Having successfully launched the collection of Eco Plush last year, starting with its Peppa Eco Plush lines, Character is unveiling new, 100% recycled versions of favourite licensed characters. Fresh for spring, 8” Eco Plush characters from the worlds of CoComelon, Blippi, Barney, Teletubbies, My Little Pony and Peppa Pig will be available.

Made from 100% recycled materials, with FSC-certified packaging, these toys are produced to the highest of standards and are suitable for ages 18 months and over. The green leaf emblem stitched onto each toy, as well as the hangtag and the platform box, will highlight the eco-friendly credentials of these toys so parents and gift-givers can make informed purchasing decisions.

Keel Toys 01233 506363 | www.keeltoys.com Since the launch of Keeleco in 2020, Keel Toys has used the equivalent of more than 14m water bottles in the manufacture of the range. The company has now announced that in 2022, just two years after launching Keeleco, it can offer its business partners a complete sustainable soft toy collection, including traditional Wild, Farm, Dinosaurs, Teddy Bears, Nursery and a new fashion range, confirming its position as the No. 1 recycled soft toy supplier in the market today.

The original Keeleco range has been extended to over 120 products including new larger sized toys (up to 70cm) in Wildlife, and extensions into more British Wildlife and Farm designs. Keeleco Dinosaurs come in four different styles and two sizes, featuring innovative fabrics and finishes.

Keeleco Nursery launched in 2021 and has been an instant success. A new Unicorn character will join the existing FSDU collection of Lamb, Koala, Giraffe and Zebra this year. The nursery range also features a teddy bear and bunny in variations of pink, blue and white.

Keeleco Adoptable World is the newest part of the sustainable soft range and the first fashion eco soft toy collection. With happy expressions and wide, expressive eyes, there are 12 characters to collect. The luggage label featured on the toy and supporting point of sale depicts sustainable world travel by sailing boat, hot air balloon and bicycle.

Each beautiful Keeleco soft toy feels exactly how a traditional plush should feel. The only difference is that they are made from a recycled source of polyester rather than a virgin one.

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The NEW ECO+ Toy Range.

Fun, friendly and sustainable.

Taking care of children also means taking care of the world in which they will grow up. This is why we are committed every day to safeguard the future of the world.

This concrete commitment to act respectfully to people and environment, for a better world, is supported by the new ECO+ range.

!

W NE

N GRPEPEER! HOY FIRSTE M LANC BABIKE!

- 36 months ˙ 18Ergonomic ˙ Comfortablesaddle handles ˙ Soft anti-puncture wheels ˙ Domestic indoor & outdoor use ˙

!

W NE ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

ALLND OUON! ARD RI E

1 - 3 years Swivel wheels Mechanical car horn Compartment under seat

IUM PREAMINABLE SUSCTKAGING! PA

The Chicco Eco+ range is made from recycled plastic and uses sustainable packaging.

For more information, please contact your account manager or email: reception.uk@artsana.com For full range information, please visit www.chicco.it/giochi/ECO-Chicco

Eco friendly/sustainable toys

HTI 01253 778 888 | www.htigroup.co.uk HTI Toys continues to introduce innovative new wooden toys into its ranges. An ecofriendly alternative to many modern toys, each product in the Woodworks range is built to last. Made from FSC certified wood, all materials used are sustainably sourced, and the products and packaging are fully recyclable.

The Woodworks collection comprises multiple chunky puzzles that have been developed for little hands, magnetic games, wooden vehicles, floor puzzles and other traditional, beautifully crafted wooden toys. A number of new lines have been added for autumn/winter including themed magnetic pieces, numbers and letters in handy wooden storage boxes, innovative stacking toys and brightly coloured pull-along wooden animals on wheels. Proving popular is the Wooden Emergency Transporter, with a two-tier carrier and four dinky emergency vehicles perfect for little hands. The Wooden Stacking Loco, meanwhile, invites kids to build and design their own train with the 13 easy to grasp blocks.

As well as being attractively priced, HTI’s Woodworks range has the added benefit of being educational, helping children with numeracy, literacy, motor skills and problem solving.

In the licensed role-play category, further wooden toys have been following the huge retail success of the Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee Mud Kitchens. The Peppa BBQ Cart and the Peppa Wooden Small Kitchen will be introduced for autumn/winter, while the Hey Duggee wooden range now includes a brightly coloured Clubhouse Kitchen, a Workbench and a Market Stall. The wooden Hey Duggee Clubhouse Kitchen is designed to look just like Duggee’s Clubhouse from the show. The Clubhouse Kitchen features a fridge, oven and washing machine, all with opening doors.

The dual-branded Teamsterz JCB range includes several wooden toys. The Wooden Tool Caddy is perfect for mini construction enthusiasts and the JCB Wooden Workbench, standing at 70cm tall, comes complete with a huge range of tools and accessories.

HTI’s Bubblz products are helping the environment with recyclable bubble solution bottles, made of recycled plastic here in the UK. Bubblz products provide the ultimate solution as the one stop shop for this year-round classic toy. The range of wands, machines, flurries and mowers are all that’s needed to turn a home or garden into the ultimate bubble fun zone. The Bubblz brand also boasts licences, with three of the top pre-school TV shows within the portfolio: Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and Hey Duggee.

Flair 020 8643 0320 | www.flairplc.co.uk

A.B.Gee 01773 570 444 | www.abgee.co.uk

sales@flairplc.co.uk

Great new additions to A.B.Gee’s eco-friendly range of Tooky Toy wooden toys are launching this spring.

With sustainability remaining a key focus among consumers, these environmentally-friendly arrivals are set to enhance A.B.Gee’s already extensive portfolio.

The Wooden Recycling Maze is guaranteed to get youngsters enthusiastic about taking part in everyday household recycling. Using the magnetic pen, kids guide the picture tokens into the correct recycling bin for that product. The maze helps young eco-warriors learn through play whilst developing their word and picture recognition at the same time.

The Tooky Toy Wooden Dolls House offers three floors of fun, with six free standing figures plus plenty of furniture and accessories with which to adorn the four rooms and balcony. The house benefits from a timeless sturdy design and is painted in beautiful pastel colours. Built to last, it will provide hours of fun.

There are new lines in the role-play category too. The Wooden Dentist Set includes toothpaste, a brush, mirror, syringe, drill, pincers and eight teeth with ‘gums’, ideal for pretend play and for developing an understanding of good oral hygiene from a young age. All pieces tuck away neatly into their own section of a folded felt bag, making the set easy to store and transport.

In addition to these new products, A.B.Gee’s exclusive Tooky Toy range offers over 250 other premium quality wooden toys in categories ranging from educational and role-play to puzzles and music sets.

Paper FX lets fashionable tweens and eco-conscious families create beautiful accessories, gifts and decorations from old magazines, wrapping paper, posters, junk mail and more. The Paper FX weaving machine recycles and transforms any sheet of paper or card in minutes. Users simply tear the sheets, crease and weave them to make unique creations ranging from handbags, purses and wallets to belts, mats, coasters and more.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Guidecraft 07725 833 273 | www.guidecraft.com A creator of natural, educational toys since 1966, Guidecraft emphasises the importance of open-ended play, the beauty of organic, loose parts and the significance of hands-on learning through children’s connections to nature. Through a range of toys that are inherently educational, Guidecraft enriches children’s lives via meaningful play and encourages them to use their imagination in learning environments and beyond.

Guidecraft’s commitment to creating positive experiences for children inspires its efforts to use high-quality, responsibly-sourced materials that will last generations. In particular, Guidecraft’s extensive line of eco-friendly wooden building toys provide openended, active learning opportunities.

Oversized Notch Blocks, made from sustainable, smooth sanded, FSC certified eucalyptus wood, can withstand play in indoor and outdoor environments, extending the opportunities for hands-on play and encouraging greater connections to nature. This 89-piece set includes a variety of long and short building pieces, rooftops, tunnels and more that allow for endless construction possibilities as well as engineering and architectural exploration. Included are double-sided concept boards to visually connect children to the world with imagery and inspiration.

Brainstorm 01200 445 113 | www.brainstormltd.co.uk

Gibsons 020 8661 8866 | www.gibsonsgames.co.uk | sales@gibsonsgames.co.uk Gibsons continually investigates how it can improve its sustainability credentials across the entire business and says that great progress has been made over the last few years.

The company has removed the shrink-wrap plastic from the outside of all its jigsaw puzzles, which are now secured with biodegradable seals instead. This simple change saves over 520,000m of plastic per year (the same as the length of 4,300 football pitches). In addition, the puzzle boxes have also been made smaller, around 29% smaller on average, meaning less space and fewer vehicles are required to transport the products, further reducing the carbon footprint. The 102-year-old company also now use vegetable-based inks on all its puzzle boxes, while the puzzles themselves are made from the thickest 100% recycled board available in the world.

One of Gibson’s latest puzzle designs is Deckchairs & Donkeys, a 1,000-piece scene by Val Golfinch featuring rainbow-coloured beach huts and sugary sticks of rock. This charming puzzle captures the excitement of the Great British seaside. Val Goldfinch’s A-Z montage puzzles are loved by all ages and are always best-sellers.

Gibsons has also been a mission to source its new games from the UK, reducing its environmental impact when it comes to transportation. The company’s new trivia game, Out of Order, is made in the UK and is completely plastic free. Players answer the quirky questions to score points, but there’s a catch: they have to give the answer to the previous question.

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With its impressive eco-friendly credentials, the highly collectible Eugy range is set to become a real craze for 2022 having grown in popularity as the selection of models available has expanded.

Distributed exclusively in the UK by Brainstorm, Eugy by Dodoland is a craft which allows children to create their own 3D models using 100% sustainable, biodegradable card each printed with natural eco-friendly inks. With a simple numerical sequence assembly, children can make intricate creations which result in a cute and sturdy animal or creature that they can collect and display.

There are currently 40 options in the range with new additions for 2022 including Hedgehog, Rhino, Bumblebee, Chameleon, Unicorn Sky, Raptor, Crocodile and Kangaroo. Brainstorm will introduce new Eugy phases throughout the year which will also be supported by PR & marketing campaigns, with promotions already scheduled in popular titles Animal Planet and National Geographic Kids.

Brainstorm also has eco-friendly Eugy POS options available including a recyclable cardboard CDU, an FSC certified wooden CDU, a slat wall POS arrangement and a new FSC certified FSDU which all allow retailers to showcase the products to full effect.

Eco friendly/sustainable toys

World Alive www.world-alive.net | amy@world-alive.net World Alive is going green. The company is removing all single-use plastic from its packaging and rolling out new sustainable packaging in 2022/23 for its famous ‘hatch and grow’ Aqua Dragons brand, which this year welcomes the new Light-Up Volcano and BioQuarium themed tanks. Viral marketing and TV campaigns will keep the brand trending.

The company’s multi-award-winning Soul Mates kids eco yoga range is already made using sustainable packaging and eco-friendly materials. The range continues to grow with new additions including Yoga Cards and a DIY Chakra fashion jewellery kit featuring real mineral gemstones. World Alive is on the lookout for international distribution partners for the Soul Mates brand after a strong launch in Spain and Australia in 2021.

Big news for World Alive is the launch of its third brand, #EarthForAll, a spin-off of the successful #MasksForAll project which brought reusable organic cotton face masks in a range of sizes and fun designs to families across Europe. The project has evolved into #EarthForAll and is now expanding into reusable and sustainable items for maternity, nursery and school. #EarthForAll is one of Europe’s first fully sustainable brands within the nursery and children’s products arena. The range encompasses everything from pencil cases, smocks, aprons, gym bags and toy sacks for kids to baby blankets, bedsheets for cots, bibs and nappies for babies, lactation pillows, reusable breast pads and lactation shawls for mothers. Products are made with organic cotton, bamboo or hemp and packaged in a natural kraft packaging or cotton bags. Contact Amy Holden for more information on the email above.

John Adams 01480 414 361 | www.johnadams.co.uk The Headu Ecoplay range, distributed in the UK by John Adams Leisure, is a new and exciting line of sustainable educational games designed for pre-schoolers. The games are all made with 100% recycled and recyclable raw materials from responsible FSC-approved sources and offer highquality components which are completely free from plastic.

In line with the Headu mission, each of the games in the Ecoplay range helps children to develop key skills based upon nature, numbers, images and sounds, the world of words, the body, and caring for themselves and others.

The Ecoplay games are beautifully illustrated by artists from all over the world with a cheerful and unique style comprising bright colours and charming characters.

John Adams is launching nine Ecoplay games from May. A range of POS options will also be available including a sustainable cardboard FSDU.

Simba Smoby Toys UK 01620 674 778 | www.simba-dickie-group.de/en | sales@sisotoysuk.com Simba Smoby Toys UK is offering families a greener option in the doll aisle this year with B-Kind, a collection designed not only to be eco-conscious but to also promote messages of kindness, creativity and compassion.

Available now, the B-Kind dolls are planet friendly, being made from recycled materials and presented in eco-conscious fashions. Each character comes in reusable packaging made from recycled materials.

The ribbon that serves as the box handle can be used as a hair tie, while creative families can use the packaging to construct their own Kindness Board: a space to share kindness goals through drawings, photos, and more. It can also be used as a background play scene for the dolls.

The range launches with five characters to collect: Brianna, Koral, Ivy, Nora, and Daisy (B.K.I.N.D.). Each character has her own passion, ranging from going green and saving the oceans to ending bullying. To add to the fun, the B-Kind dolls encourage creativity through craft activities. Linked to their individual passions, each doll comes with their own DIY activity, such as making an upcycled doll’s outfit, creating ribbon bracelets, and more.

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www.threesixty-group.com

New for 2022!

"Get to the kitchen. It's dinner time!"

Find a love of cooking through play

2-4 Players

5 - 10 Minutes

Age 2+

Web: amaroni.com Tel: 01205 260 384

Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Rubies 08453 070 707 | www.rubiesuk.com

Geomagworld 07831 886 997 | www.geomagworld.com Geomag feels just as responsible for the future of the environment as it does for ensuring everyone who plays with its toys, regardless of their age, feels a spark of creativity, learns through the experience and has fun. It therefore makes every effort to run a sustainable business.

The company says its Magicube range revolutionised the Junior Construction category. Its new Magicube Recycled collection, made with 100% recycled plastic, features the same bright colours and high standard of manufacturing as all its original Geomag sets. The company has now gone one step further by creating vehicles with real wheels that magnetically attach to the blocks, opening a whole new world of magnetic play for kids to explore.

Geomag Classic lets kids build endless 3D structures thanks to the magical forces of magnetism. The new 100% recycled Classic Recycled collection achieves the highest standards of environmental sustainability for Geomag’s Classic magnetic construction system. This year sees the introduction of the Glitter line, ideal for kids who love sparkly colours, and the magical Glow range, now also available in 100% recycled plastic. Also joining the Geomag Range is the new Emotion range. Kids will be able to use the strength and energy of Geomag magnets and spheres to build spinning tops and suspended models that will spin for ages.

Mechanics combines the forces of magnetism with a world of mechanical construction to stimulate creativity, inventiveness and ingenuity. In addition to the classic magnetic rods and steel spheres, this range adds mechanical elements to each construction, expanding the play possibilities: some structures having rotating parts that trigger chain reactions through the forces of magnetic attraction and repulsion. The Easy Combo System lets kids combine different boxes and build bigger circuits with a maximum of just three moves, and each building set can be combined with the rest of the Gravity line for an endless play experience. In 2022, a redesigned version of Geomag Mechanics Challenge will be launched, letting children can play against friends in a game of speed, precision and strategy.

Following the successful launch of its adaptive range, Rubies has announced another game changing product line-up with the addition of sustainable costumes.

Rubies has always acknowledged the need for industry changes that will help tackle the ongoing climate crisis, and the company has made it its mission to lead the way with eco-friendly and sustainable products and packaging. The innovative business has enhanced its current green practices with the introduction of its first ever collection of 100% recycled, recyclable and completely reclaimable costumes. It’s not just the products going green either: selected products from the sustainable range will feature reusable lowerimpact packaging complete with pop out characters to provide a comprehensive dress-up experience.

Costumes will be available in a wide range of children’s sizes from toddler to 9–10-year-olds, featuring some of the most popular characters from properties such as Marvel’s Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America, and Star Wars’ Storm Trooper and Darth Vader.

The costumes will be launching in April 2022.

Bladez Toyz 02392 658 255 | www.bladeztoyz.co.uk Bladez Toyz has followed up its Make Your Own Light Up Hogwarts Kit with another iconic building from the Wizarding World: the ramshackle Weasley Burrow which appeared in five episodes of the Harry Potter Movie Series as Ron Weasley's magical, if lopsided, family home.

Available for autumn/winter 2022, children will be able to make their own Weasley Burrow with the easy to assemble kit made from high quality printed board, which is similar to jigsaw board. The material is easily recycled, as is all of the packaging as the sheets come wrapped in brown paper rather than a plastic bag. The kit doesn't need glue, but for extra strength, glue can be added to the joints as the kit is built, with help from the online tutorial video.

The assembled Burrow stands 28cm tall, making a great display piece, and the kit includes warm yellow LED lights to give the Weasley Burrow's many windows a cosy glow.

Also launching for autumn/winter is the Hogwarts Activity Set, which has everything needed to make more Wizarding World inspired creations. Inside the novelty packaging, inspired by Hogwarts' Great Hall, there is printed paper washi tape, rubber ink stampers, coloured pencils and pens, colour-in sheets and stickers. The cardboard packaging insert becomes a colour-in backdrop of the Great Hall's iconic interior and card figures of Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione can also be coloured in and displayed standing among the dining tables to recreate scenes from the movie series.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Toynamics 0116 478 5230 | www.toynamics.co.uk | sales@toynamics.co.uk As an environmentally responsible company, Hape strives to be at the forefront of sustainability. From toy design to packaging, Hape is consistently investing and innovating with a view to reducing its impact on the environment year after year.

At the heart of the company’s manufacturing processes, Hape’s solar powered generators support the daily production of its toys and recycle 10 tons of water a day via a water purification system.

This year, Hape is launching even more eco-friendly toys made from materials including FSC certified wood, bamboo, bioplastic, cork and rice husk.

The best-selling Nature Fun range is made using bamboo from Hape’s 56-acre bamboo forest and bioplastic made from sugarcane. New to this collection for 2022 is the Nature Fun Exploration and Adventure Kit, containing a bug jar, butterfly net, periscope, magnifying glass and whistle. This set is ideal for encouraging children aged four years and over to get outside and explore.

Hape’s outdoor category welcomes Learn to Ride Balance Bikes in 2022. These lightweight aluminium and magnesium alloy balance bikes utilise cork material on the seat, handlebars and footrest. The eco-friendly cork is anti-bacterial and soft for little hands aged three years and up, and the bike is available in Wine Red and Classic Green colourways.

All the wood used in Hape’s wooden toys is sourced from forests that have implemented sustainable practices and/or are FSC certified. New to Hape’s infant collection is the Bunny Stacker. This cute character has removeable, colourful rings, each made of different sustainable material, and is designed to develop fine motor skills in kids aged 10 months and up.

Best-sellers from the infant range also include the Rattle & Teether Set. Made from Japanese rice husk, the toy aids hand-eye coordination and is easy to grab. All Hape’s rice toys have a soothing, natural rice smell which comes from the natural material used to make them.

All Toynamic’s brands, including Hape, are supported with full marketing plans including shop-in-shop solutions.

Great Gizmos 01293 543221 | www.ggtrade.co.uk | sales@greatgizmos.co.uk

Vivid Goliath 01483 449944 | www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

The popular 4M Green Science range from Great Gizmos is expanding once again with some exciting new additions. The range focuses on environmental issues and aims to make renewable energy fun and interesting for young minds. The range teaches kids how to generate electricity with solar power, wind and salt water, as well as understand weather patterns and explore the fascinating life of plants. Hybrid technology has also recently been introduced to products in the range, combining solar and battery power.

New for 2022 is Paper Making, which lets kids master this traditional art. They will also learn how to recycle their paper to make environmentally friendly, science-based craft projects.

Kids will also be fascinated by the Hybrid Crabot. Once constructed, this clever hybrid robot crawls along using solar power and also takes batteries so play can continue even when there’s no sunlight. The Hybrid Series also includes a number of other titles including Motorised Solar System and Water Pump. The former allows children to construct a model of the solar system and watch the planets move around the sun with the aid of either solar or battery power, while the completed pump really moves water on sunny and cloudy days alike. Once built, the Rover Robot rolls along the floor and the Aqua Robot swims along when the sun shines on their solar cells.

When the sun goes down, both can be powered by batteries.

These new items join favourites that continue to grow in popularity year on year. Kids will love learning how to power a digital clock using the humble potato with Potato Clock. The kit also includes lots of other ideas for items that can also be used to power the clock.

Weather Station, meanwhile, invites children to observe and record the weather with a multi-functional weather station. They can also experiment with the greenhouse effect and create a terrarium in a bottle.

Recyclings launched in stores across the UK & Ireland in January.

Sustainability is at the forefront of this new collectible range, with characters spanning everything from dumplings to dragons, hotdogs to handbags and popcorn to pandas. There are over 100 Recyclings to collect in total, and limited edition Recyclings – the glittery shooting star, golden treasure chest and glowing ghost – will make each collection even more exciting.

The range includes both eco-friendly toys and packaging. Each capsule the character comes in is made from 100% recycled plastic. Recyclings also double as handy-pencil toppers, making them perfect for work and play.

The range, which offers a thoughtful toy choice for a greener, cleaner planet, will be launched with the support of an extensive marketing plan. YouTube videos and influencers will showcase the collectability, cute characters and environmentally friendly ethos behind the brand to both parents and children.

A Recyclings game which merges the physical and digital worlds will also be available to download and will be supported with a range TVC and catchy jingle.

Crayola is committed to making its products responsibly. To spread this message, packs of Crayola coloured pencils, markers and crayons now feature key callouts about Crayola’s sustainability efforts. Crayola crayons and markers are made with 100% sun-harnessed renewable energy, enough to make 3b crayons and 700m markers annually, while Crayola Coloured Pencils are made with wood from well-managed forests to help preserve resources for the future. By using renewable energy, reducing waste and protecting rainforests, Crayola's green initiatives are helping to ensure that today's kids will have a healthy environment for their creative tomorrows.

A key focus for Science4you is the growth of the brand’s Eco-Science range, which puts the environment, sustainability and learning first. Children can discover the science behind renewable energy, plants, weather, climate change and much more. In autumn/winter the brand will introduce Ocean Rescue. This new theme invites kids to become a sea guardian and embark on an adventure to save the ocean as they discover more about the effects of pollution on marine life and how it affects our planet.

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

ThreeSixty Group (852) 3408 2200 | www.threesixty-group.com tsgmarketing@threesixty-group.com FAO Schwarz is one of the oldest, most historic and iconic toy brands in the world. Founded in 1862, FAO Schwarz has always been synonymous with quality and innovation, offering cherished memories for adults and children alike.

As the owner of FAO Schwarz and other global brands, ThreeSixty Group as a company is looking at ways to reduce its footprint through packaging and product materials. In 2021 the group introduced its Planet Love plush range, made with 100% recycled faux fur derived from plastics. ThreeSixty Group’s goal is to make the entire FAO Schwarz plush line with recycled plastics for the international market and it has worked very hard to get Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certified. The company is extremely proud of this achievement; such certification is not easy to secure but ThreeSixty Group felt that it was an important step on its sustainability journey.

The newly developed FAO Schwarz wood line is also Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified in line with the council’s guide for environmental and social minimum standards for the management of forests. Not only is the wood sustainably sourced, so is the collection’s packaging.

ThreeSixty Group aims to roll out FSC-certification across its entire wood line in due course.

Adjustments have also been made to the packaging of many of its remote-control cars, making them cardboard open boxes without a plastic shield, and most plastic and foam trays have been removed.

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Candylab | Fabelab | Plan Toys | MOLUK | Mr and Mrs Tin www.littleconcepts.co.uk | hello@littleconcepts.co.uk

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Eco friendly/sustainable toys

Melissa & Doug 0800 731 0578 | www.MelissaAndDoug.com Melissa & Doug, a global pre-school brand known for its high-quality, timeless toys, is bolstering its focus on sustainability with a company-wide pledge to restore the resources it uses in order to create a more playful planet.

Project Restore, launched in August 2021, is a global initiative designed to encompass and propel the company’s ongoing work across environmental responsibility, social equity and inclusion. The initiative comprises three major areas of action: Thriving forests - committed to helping protect and preserve the planet’s natural resources; Timeless Toys - ensuring that the quality, durability and play value of each toys meets the highest standards; and Inclusive world - making open-ended play possible for all children.

This year now sees Melissa & Doug accelerate its commitment to sustainability through forest-friendly products.

Having originally pledged to ensure 100% of its paper products and more than half of its wooden products would be made with materials from responsibly managed forests by 2025, the company has announced that it aims to surpass that goal by producing all its paper and best-selling wood products as FSC-certified from this year onwards.

This announcement comes off the back of three decades of caring for the environment. Melissa & Doug is a leader within the industry for responsible global supply chain management, using mainly sustainable materials such as wood and paper across most of its 500+ strong portfolio of products. It also supports the FSC’s mission to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests, ensuring they are protected for future generations. Last year, the company was the first major US toy brand to earn FSC certification for its new stationery line, which was independently certified by SCS Global Services.

Melissa & Doug UK is also implementing Project Restore by developing localised CSR partnerships with sustainable organisations in the UK, France and Germany, details of which will be announced later in 2022.

Readers can learn more about Project Restore and Melissa & Doug’s vision to make timeless, sustainable toys for a thriving and inclusive world at melissaanddoug.com/sustainability.

Amaroni 01205 260 384 | www.amaroni.com

| salessupport@amaroni.com

Let’s Cook is one of Haba’s latest additions to the My Very First Games series and features three different games within one. The My Very First Game series was first introduced over 20 years ago and, in keeping with Haba’s social and environmental responsibility values, Let’s Cook is made from wood and cardboard.

Children can practise recognising and naming vegetables and other foods, guess their fellow players’ favourite ingredients and remember what’s needed for a recipe. Suitable for 2-4 children aged 2+, the game encourages sorting, puzzle solving and memory skills.

In the first two games, children are introduced to playing by the rules of a game with simple assigning and guessing tasks. Playful descriptions of the rules aim to introduce the child to the world of role play and thus help them to better understand and implement the game’s rules. The third game requires children to use their memory, allowing them to be consistently challenged without losing heart.

The game contains a play pot with lid, a wooden spoon, 10 wooden food pieces (5 different pairs), 10 cardboard food tiles, a plate, a die and a rulebook. The rulebook offers plenty of tips on how to discover the game components with the child.

Haba has been designing and manufacturing wooden toys for over 75 years and game editors and educationalists, along with game authors, illustrators and design specialists have pooled their collective expertise to create this popular series of educational games.

Amaroni is the official distributor for Haba toys and games in the UK.

Little Concepts 07870132595 | www.littleconcepts.co.uk

| hello@littleconcepts.co.uk

For over 40 years, PlanToys has been creating sustainable products for children. Continually pushing the design and development of new production techniques has enabled the brand to become one of the leading wooden toy manufacturers in the world. The first wooden toy company to use discarded rubber-trees in the production of toys, the wood is dried using a chemical free kiln drying process and all products are finished with organic colour pigments and water-based dyes. This year the Plan City category has been revamped, including several new play sets and products, and continuing to innovate in sustainable materials, PlanToys has created the new rubber road and rail sets from 100% natural rubber.

A new adaptor has also been created to allow the connection of the new rubber track to existing wooden ones that families already own.

New to the Little Concepts portfolio for 2022 is the beautiful Danish brand Fabelab, which was founded around new GOTS-certified takes on basics such as baby towels and muslins. This season, Fabelab is exploring the galaxy with the Celestial range of home, essential and play products, and a new dress-up line including galactic cosmic guardian, moon fairy and astronaut, giving children the chance to take off to another world with their imaginations.

Brooklyn based Candylab will be launching 20 new lines in spring/ summer 2022. Candylab firmly believes that wood as a natural, renewable resource can be just as versatile as plastic when it comes to building engaging and attractive toys. Scaled to work with its Candycar line, the new fully functional solid beech wood Parking Garage comes with 21 parking spots that magnetically hold cars, meaning they will stay put even when the building is being moved.

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TOY LINE COMING THIS SUMMER PAGES 6-7