Company Profile - Toikido

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.

The 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 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 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/.