Feature - Tech Toys & Gadgets

All hands on tech

Though the cost of living is escalating, the appetite for tech toys and gadgets remains just as high, as Sam Giltrow discovers.

Despite tech toys often coming with a higher price tag than other toy lines, manufacturers say they are not too concerned about increased living costs impacting sales and dampening enthusiasm for the latest innovative gadgets. In fact, many believe the category will see the same high levels of enthusiasm (and sales) it has enjoyed in the past few years, as kids seek out toys which tap into the latest trends, be they interactive tech toys that are powered by an app or robots they can programme. Parents too are increasingly choosing tech to help further their children’s learning. According to research conducted by the Lego Foundation last year, children’s knowledge, development of skills, emotional wellbeing and family relations are supported through play with digital technologies. Furthermore, combining interactive technology like Augmented Reality with traditional, physical toys can significantly enhance the educational value of children’s playing.

Parents also want to encourage toys that don’t add to their kid’s already screen-heavy media diet, and Ben Drury, CEO and co-founder of Yoto which produces Yoto Player and Yoto Mini - screen-free audio players for children - says the Yoto team expects that to continue. “While there’s no denying there are more challenging times on the horizon for all of us, we see from our customers that the enthusiasm for our product is there,” he explains. “We pride ourselves on having a product with a very high play value and we are committed to delivering amazing added value for all our customers, with regular updates to the software on Yoto Players and Yoto Minis, plus the free Yoto app.” As well as offering a library of over 800 stories, music cards, activities and sleep sounds with some big launches in recent months including Star Wars, Marvel, Disney and Peppa Pig, Yoto also offers a wide range of high-quality free content including Yoto Radio and Yoto Daily, a podcast which has just released its 1,000th episode.

“We have never been an impulse buy toy brand and spending on children is relatively resilient in tough economic times, so we feel well equipped to weather any incoming challenges,” says Ben. “We see from our customers that they’re hungry for audio content that inspires their children, and they are increasingly engaging with more educational content.”

Charlotte Polley, owner of Boo’s Toy Shop in Poundbury, Dorset, said she had seen an appetite for the Yoto Player and Yoto Mini which she started stocking in April, after seeing them for the first time at London Toy Fair. “The range has been incredibly successful for us,” she tells Toy World. “I think parents are looking for something with extra play value, and a main selling point of the Yoto Player is that it also features white noise and sleep training. It gives children not just stories but music and educational content as well. The new Yoto Mini is also ideal for kids to take out wherever they go and keeps them entertained for hours.” She describes the Yoto Player as an “amazing brand” along with another children’s audio system she stocks: Tonies.

Lucia Kreuzer, UK & Ireland MD for Tonies, says it is vital that tech toys keep up with parents’ demands for more value-for-money out of toys. “What will make or break the parents’ buying decision is not the price tag, but the value the toy will provide,” she tells us. “Questions on how long the child will be interested in the toy, how much time they will spend with it and what they will learn will determine if the consumer will purchase. By and large, parents don’t cut back when it comes to educating their children. Parents who buy a Toniebox know that it is an investment for the next few years; they can see the benefit that the Toniebox has on their child, whether it’s helping them drift off to sleep, educating them about astronauts and wildlife or entertaining them on long car journeys.”

While there is a lot of technology in a Toniebox, the product is intentionally designed to have a low tech feel for the customers. There are no screens, no cameras, no microphones and no parent required to operate it. “Our market research shows that parents are increasingly concerned about too much screen time,” adds Lucia. “This is where Tonies comes into its own as a screen-free antidote to iPads and TVs. 80% of all Tonieboxes are actively used each month and a child collects on average 20 Tonies over a time period of 4.5 years. That’s a lot of time away from screens and a lot of time invested in developing children’s imagination and literacy.”

Lucia says Tonies will continue to invest in the growth of the brand and ensure freshness. So far, the company has sold 3.7m Tonieboxes and 44m Tonies globally. In the first half of this year, Tonies launched 30 new titles, from much-loved classics such as Mr Men & Little Miss and educational content such as the National Geographic series to strong entertainment licences including Octonauts, Bing and Cars 2. The company also expanded its own productions and built up its accessories category: kids can now display their collection of Tonies on beautifully themed shelves, which also act as a charging point.

“The demand for our products has been far exceeding our expectations and I am incredibly proud of what the team has achieved,” says Lucia. “Our portfolio is already 180 Tonies strong and to develop new Tonies, we are carefully taking on board the feedback we receive from our little listeners and their parents.”

To tempt kids away from devices such as smartphones and tablets, Rebecca Lazarus, senior brand manager at Vtech, believes manufacturers must identify trends and import that tech into products. “Children will always want the latest toys, with the most up to date technology,” she tells us. VTech distinguishes trends in adult consumer electronics or identifies popular, fashionable apps and transfers the technology into products for children, ensuring they have durability while maintaining the fun element children want.

For example, last year VTech strengthened its Camera portfolio by adding the Kidizoom Print Cam, taking on board the instant picture trend; the Kidizoom print Cam allows children to take a photo and print it instantly. “Innovation with new technology and on trend features are really important for tech toys,” she says. “The KidiSnap Touch, which launches in autumn/winter 2022, has taken some of the most popular apps and features of a parent’s smart phone and transferred it to a perfect, pocket-sized touchscreen device designed especially for children.”

Eight Innovation, which has developed a range of original build-your-own electronic kits over the past decade, says it has seen a steep rise in the popularity of its products over the last two years. Its kits contain all the components needed to construct a fully functional item, from a working FM radio to a sophisticated ultrasonic bat detector. As people exhausted content on streaming services throughout the pandemic, the company says they then sought out hands-on activities, away from their screens. “Many rediscovered forgotten hobbies and wanted to share these with their children and grandchildren and this is a trend that shows little sign of reversing,” says director Adrian Howard. “Our kits promote an understanding of the basics of electronics and also encourage cross-generational collaboration, whether building a sophisticated bat detector or a retro arcade game.”

The company also offers a range of advent calendars which continue the theme, with the components put together to build fully functioning electronic games, a FM radio and music synthesizer over 24 days. “For retailers, the opportunity that these items present is to widen the age appeal of their offer – extending it to older kids and beyond, with products that are truly original,” adds Adrian.

Proving tech toys don’t always have to carry a higher price tag is HoloToyz, a relatively new company which was established by husband-and-wife team Declan Fahy and Kate Scott, along with long-time business partner, Paul Cosgrave, to bring AR to kids in a safe, fun way. The Irish fun-tech company has launched a world first range of Paw Patrol temporary tattoos and stickers which kids can scan with their HoloToyz app to watch their favourite characters pounce to life in front of them. The AR technology means they can also place the pups into the room with them and take photos and videos beside them to share with friends or print and frame for themselves. Also launching for AW 22 will be a range of Sonic the Hedgehog products.

Kate Scott explains that parents are very aware of their children’s love of technology, although equally attuned to the challenges in the digital space for children, include a market flooded with apps for kids which are limited to a digital-only experience - and often come with a fee and in-app advertising. “The team at HoloToyz has strongly considered the existing relationship children have with technology and has strived to find the right balance between digital and physical play,” she says. “Most importantly, we need to recognise that play is the primary way that young children learn and that the fundamentals of play will always exist.”

Kate feels it is important to offer young children of today - generation Alpha - the opportunity to learn about technologies in a safe and fun environment, away from the open web — particularly when the digital world around them is evolving at lightning speed. “These ‘Tiny Tech Titans‘ are the first generation who will be immersed in technology their whole lives and are expected to surpass their parents’ technology skills before their eighth birthdays,” she tells us. “The toy industry is keen to introduce innovation to this new generation and HoloToyz is able to provide a fun, educational range of products that allows them to do this. What makes our product range so attractive is that each product is still fun and engaging in its own right – our HoloToyz app simply enhances them through an immersive, digital experience.”

Affordability is also key to HoloToyz and Kate says they did not want price to be a barrier when introducing their technology to young children and their parents. “We wanted to ensure that we positioned ourselves in the affordable price range in order to allow our customers the opportunity to experience world-class AR at an accessible price point. Along with price, we wanted to lower a number of other barriers, including a focus on speed and ease of use,” she says.

As technology advances at such a rapid speed, it’s only natural that the toy industry reflects this as an increasing array of tech toys are launched onto the market. Toy World highlights some of the latest new releases over the next few pages.