Toy World Magazine October 2020 by TOYWORLD MAGAZINE

October 2020 Volume 10 Issue 2

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The Team...

CONTENTS October 2020 Volume 10 Issue 2

John Baulch

62 Feature: Licensing Spotlight

36 Retail Profile: Toytown

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

Anita Baulch

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

News

Regulars

Features

07 From the Publisher 08 News 18 Industry Moves 20 Marketing World 26 Licensing World 106 Allegedly

30 33 40 48

36 46 55 58 60 62 74 76 102

NPD column Talking Shop Viewpoint Fresh

Contributors

Retail Profile: Toytown Special Feature: Barbie Q&A: Anna Knight Opinion: Wynne Jones company Profile: Hasbro Licensing Feature: Licensing Spotlight Company Profile: Lisle Licensing Feature: Character Licensed Merchandise Feature: Mattel Licenseesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Gallery

Rachael Simpson-Jones Editor rachael@toyworldmag.co.uk 01442 502 406

76 Feature: Character Licensed Merchandise

102 Feature: Mattel

Lisa Currie

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

Mark Crowford

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

toyworld toy world The business magazine with a passion for toys

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www.toyworldmag.co.uk @toyworldmag @baulchtweet

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Toy World 5

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elcome to the October issue of Toy World – as ever, this is our ‘licensing special’ issue. However, that is where tradition ends: this year, there is no Brand Licensing Europe show to preview. Like most other trade fairs and events, it has become an unfortunate casualty of the prevailing postpandemic landscape.

from the publisher

John Baulch - @Baulchtweet

However, business life must go on – licensees still need to be encouraged to sign deals, while retailers need to be convinced about which properties to back. BLE organiser Informa Markets has launched Festival of Licensing, a brand-new virtual event aimed at facilitating interaction within the licensing community. You can read all about this ambitious new initiative in our exclusive interview with Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group vice president Anna Knight on page 55. Of course, Toy World is doing its bit too – this edition features a raft of exclusive licensing-focused content to help licensees and retailers in the kids’ space, as they start planning for 2021. Highlights include an interview with Hasbro’s Marianne James and Katie Rollings, talking about the seamless integration of eOne into the Hasbro operation and what it means for its partners, as well as a first-look at a selection of the hottest licensed properties which will be driving the toy market next year. There’s also an extensive round-up of the latest character merchandise ranges which will be hitting toy aisles over the coming weeks. And if that wasn’t enough licensing-related content, this issue is accompanied by a special standalone supplement published in conjunction with Mattel, highlighting all the latest developments with its iconic brands, as well as key information from its licensee and retail partners. With major disruption to movie release schedules in recent months, many feared that sales of character licensed merchandise would be adversely affected. However, as NPD explains in this month’s exclusive column, the reverse is true; just as the overall toy industry has bucked the general retail malaise, so sales of licensed products have increased, despite the challenges. A combination of tried and trusted classic brands and movie properties from the latter part of 2019 have filled the gap left by the postponed movies, leaving many licensors, licensees and retailers optimistic about prospects for character merchandise over the coming months – but as ever, it’s crucial to pick the right licences to support. Hopefully, our exhaustive licensing coverage will help.

In addition to a wealth of licensing-related information, there is plenty of other content to delve into this month, including an exclusive interview with Toytown’s Alan Simpson, another specialist toy retailer which is enjoying a strong year. Indeed, the first half of the year has been far better for the UK toy market than many would have anticipated, but we all know how important the next three months will be in determining how the year will ultimately be remembered (from a trading perspective at least). Specialist retail group Toymaster has seen a fair bit of change in recent week, but I admired Paul Reader’s email to suppliers, which you can read on page 8 - an uplifting rallying cry thanking the suppliers for their support and encouraging them to work even closer with Toymaster going forward. I’ve said it before, but the toy industry is better off for having a thriving independent base. The indies are passionate about what they do and are laser-focused on toys; they don’t suddenly ‘pivot’ and devote their space to toilet roll and hand sanitizer. They live and breathe toys 24/7, 365 days a year. However well they have performed so far this year, specialist bricks and mortar retailers need support – not necessarily preferential treatment (although that would be nice on occasion), but at least as close to a level playing field as possible. The days of only offering the indies product when the majors have shut their warehouse doors, leaving stock suddenly available, are hopefully long gone. For example, it’s great to see Toymaster being given an exclusive by Mattel for Masters of the Universe – I am sure that more of that sort of thing would be very much appreciated. Without doubt, there is still all to play for in 2020. But whatever else happens - and given the year we’ve seen, clearly nothing can be ruled out - holidays are coming. Kids and parents have been reminded of the value of toys and play this year. There will be challenges in the supply chain and logistical hurdles for retailers to overcome in the festive period, but ultimately, we are working with products that evoke a positive emotional response in just about everyone you meet, both inside and outside of the business - hopefully, that will work in our favour in the coming weeks. We’ll be back next month when our focus will switch to the early part of 2021, looking at the exciting new launches which will be competing for shelf space in Q1. In the meantime, keep an eye on our website for breaking news from the world of toys – with the way 2020 has panned out, you wouldn’t bet against more major developments in the coming weeks, and as ever, we’ll bring you all the very latest news, as soon as it happens.

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News Senior appointments made at Toymaster following Ian Edmunds’ departure On 10th September, Chris Blatcher, chairman of the buying group, announced Ian Edmunds departure from Toymaster, with immediate effect. In an email to members he said: “I am sure that Toymaster members, suppliers and staff will join me in thanking Ian for over 20 years of dedicated service to the group and the toy industry in general. On a personal note, I should like to thank Ian for the support he has given me over many years as chairman of Toymaster’s marketing committee and as a director of Toymaster. On behalf of Toymaster Ltd I should like to wish Ian every success in the future.” Following Ian’s departure, Colin Farrow and Yogi Parmar have been appointed as interim joint managing directors, while Paul Reader has been promoted to marketing director. Both Colin and Yogi have been with the buying group for over 30 years. They will continue with their current roles, and - due to the above appointment - will take on additional responsibilities. Paul Reader has been promoted to marketing director. Paul has been with the company for 20 years. He too will continue with his current role while taking on additional responsibilities. Chris commented: “With the appointment of Yogi and Colin as interim joint managing directors, and the promotion of Paul to the board as marketing director, we will be able to utilise their passion for our group, and Toymaster will continue to go from strength to strength. Going forward, Toymaster looks forward to working even more closely with suppliers and members to enhance the group even further. Please join me in wishing them every success in their new roles.” Following a number of recent management changes at the group, Paul wrote to toy suppliers and agents to thank them for their ongoing support and ask for even greater co-operation in the future. His letter reads:

“The last few weeks have seen some progressive changes to the senior management team here at Northampton and if someone had said to me at the beginning of September that I would be writing to you as the newly appointed marketing director of Toymaster, I would have never imagined such an outcome. I am tremendously proud and privileged to be given this opportunity to start a new and exciting chapter for me, our team in Northampton, our Members and equally as important you, our suppliers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ian for all his help and support and wish him all the best for the future. We move positively forward, with the new structure in place, Toymaster’s financial position being very healthy and with our members trading conditions improving. With business starting to move in a more positive direction and with a fair wind, we hope to look forward to a final quarter sales period that provides us with a good platform as we move into 2021. My objective is to build on the relationship with suppliers, identify ways in which we can improve the trading facility, explore new ways of working with you to make the most of your brands and to find the best ways to help our members trade more profitably. Simply put, I would like to find time, listen and provide as much support as we can to you. I am a firm believer that relationships can only work if both parties are comfortable and happy with the way things are going, this is a fundamental core value of mine and Toymaster’s as a business. I am happy to take calls, participate in virtual meetings and meet face to face (social distancing permitting). Finally, I would like to personally thank all those suppliers that continue to support Toymaster and independent toy retailers and look forward to building on and strengthening our working relationships. Toymaster is committed and passionate, with your help and support we can all deliver on our mission statement… “Helping Our Members Trade More Profitably By Providing An Excellent Service To Our Members And Suppliers”. Kind Regards Paul Reader”

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News Has Argos catalogue cancellation hit August toy sales figures? Several toy companies have contacted Toy World to register their concern that the lack of an Argos catalogue has had an adverse effect on sales over the month of August. 2020 started promisingly for Argos, with numerous reports suggesting that the retailer was one of the strongest performers in the toy market during the lockdown period. However, some suppliers have noticed that recent sales figures have not kept up with the levels achieved last year. The general consensus is that the lack of a physical Argos catalogue to stimulate early demand for new items is a major factor behind the performance during August. The launch of the Argos catalogue at the end of July has traditionally heralded the start of the autumn winter selling season for toys, with many launches timed to coincide with its release. It is unclear yet whether this trend is widespread and, if so, whether it disproportionately affects specific categories, or if all toy sales have been similarly impacted. It is also unclear whether the whole toy market has ‘levelled off’ after an initial post-lockdown surge, or whether this short-term relapse only affects Argos. It could also be argued that sales over a four-week period in the summer are not necessarily anything to be unduly concerned about, although if the trend continues into the autumn, alarm bells may start to ring louder. Other toy retailers are believed to be hoping to capitalize on the absence of the Argos catalogue: several suppliers have singled out Smyths, which is said to see its own catalogue as filling the gap left by Argos, while Toymaster members expect this year’s catalogue to be especially well received by customers.

John Lewis announces Top 10 Toys for Christmas John Lewis has unveiled its official Top 10 toys for Christmas, as follows: • Micro Recycled Scooter (Micro) • Brio Smart Tech Sound (Ravensburger) • Botley 2.0 (Learning Resources) • I Heard Your Feelings conversation cards (Eeboo) • Earth Heroes Children’s book (Nosy Crow) • VTech Feathers & Feelings Peacock (VTech) • Isabelle Collector’s Doll (John Lewis) • Lego Gingerbread House (Lego) • Wooden Walker (John Lewis) • Monopoly Mega Edition (John Lewis exclusive) “This year is driven by the importance of learning through play and enhancing communication skills through interaction with toys as children have adapted to playing in smaller groups and with siblings,” says the team at John Lewis. “We have already seen a 106% increase in sales of electronic toys this year and are introducing Botley 2.0, Brio Smart Tech Sound and VTech Feathers and Feelings Peacock in time for Christmas. All are expected to be among sought-after gifts this season as parents look for different ways to keep children entertained whilst also learning new skills and tools.”

The Lego Group posts impressive first half results The Lego Group has posted its first half earnings for the six months ending 30th June 2020. Revenue for the period increased 7% to DKK 15.7b, while consumer sales were up 14% versus the first half of 2019. Operating profit was also up, increasing 11% to DKK 3.9. Standout lines from across the portfolio included Lego Technic, Lego Star Wars, Lego Classic, Lego Disney Princess, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Speed Champions. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Lego Group also launched ‘Let’s Build Together’, a digital initiative designed to bring learning through play to children whose education was disrupted due to the pandemic. The initiative saw thousands of hours of online content and play ideas reach more than 80m unique users around the world. Lego also unveiled Lego Super Mario, a new play experience blending the physical and digital worlds. The company has seen what it calls a ‘significant increase’ in online engagement; in the first six months of 2020, downloads of Lego digital building instructions doubled to 2m, and every two seconds a piece of content was shared on Lego Life, a digital play app with more than 9m users in 80 countries. “The strong results are due to our incredible team,” said The Lego Group CEO, Niels B. Christiansen. “When Covid-19 closed stores and offices, our colleagues did everything they could to stay safe and bring play to children and families around the world. I would like to thank them for their extraordinary contribution and their continued fantastic efforts.” Niels continued: “During the first half, we saw the benefits of our investments in long-term growth initiatives such as e-commerce and product innovation. Our strong portfolio appealed to builders of all ages and our recently upgraded e-commerce platform and agile global supply chain allowed us to fulfil online demand. We also collaborated closely with our retail partners to ensure they could continue to supply their shoppers online. The first six months of 2020 have been unprecedented. I am incredibly proud of the team and how they responded. We kept each other safe, we took care of those most in need and we did everything we could to inspire children and families, whose lives were put on hold, to learn through play.”

Toy World 10

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News UK importers face seasonal logistics headache Shippers from Asia to North Europe are said to be facing a mounting capacity crunch, while carriers are set to add to their woes with mid-month price rises and peak season surcharges. According to a report in The Loadstar, companies have been experiencing three-to-four-week delays for FAVs (first available vessels) to North Europe, and even longer for the UK. In August, Richard Brooks of Far Logistics Manchester posted on LinkedIn about the multiple challenges that logistics providers are facing: “We expect to see Peak Season Surcharges, as well as 20% capacity withdrawal against the same time last year. Demand is estimated to be up to 10% higher compared to the same period last year, while we are seeing shortages of hi-cubes and roll pools of up to 20%.” Asked if this could lead to delays or shortages in Q4, Richard told Toy World: “Normally I would say so, but shipping lines are actually posting profits - more than expected, which is great as they can’t keep losing money and we don’t want another Hanjin style collapse. The lines are in a great place, the PSS is to capitalise on bookings up to Golden Week for sure. Space is a genuine issue, as they are still not fully reinstating pulled routes or larger vessels.” Meanwhile, in the US, companies are facing similar challenges. Steve Pasierb, president of the US Toy Association, recently wrote to members about the situation, notably warning smaller and seasonal shippers about price pressure and longer wait times as the peak holiday season approaches.

Zapf Creation strengthens digital strategy with new website launches Zapf Creation has launched two new websites for its Baby Annabell and Baby born brands as it strengthens its digital strategy for the UK market. The new websites will reinforce brand positioning and align with social media channels to enhance customer loyalty and engagement, while working towards creating a clear style distinction between the two iconic brands. Each website allows users to browse and shop the full collection, meet the dolls and discover new ways to play. Aligned with the target audience of millennial parents and gift-givers, the sites have been designed and developed with a ‘mobile first’ mind-set and work to take users on a journey through the product ranges and regular blog content with links to social media. A series of sales incentives across all Zapf Creation brands is expected to entice customers and drive traffic to the website, including ‘Backpack Bonanza’, announced in September, in which consumers who spend over £50 on accessories and clothes on either the Baby Annabell or Baby born brands will receive a free branded backpack. Zapf Creation is also introducing a discount of 10% off RRP for purchases across its website, when customers sign up to the newsletter. The offer is applicable to all products across both brands, including Baby Annabell and the new Baby Annabell Lunchtime Annabell as well as Baby born Soft Touch Girl and Baby born Soft Touch Sister Blonde. To see the websites in action, visit www.baby-annabell.co.uk for Baby Annabell and www.baby-born.co.uk for Baby born.

Obituary: Charlie Jewers It is with great sadness that we report the passing of one of the toy trade’s characters, Charlie Jewers who died at the end of July, aged 87. Former colleague David Newns spoke about Charlie’s life and career: “After National Service and other activities, Charlie entered the toy trade as a salesman for Angel Toys, where he spent many happy and successful years. He subsequently worked for musical instrument manufacturer, Hohner, as national sales manager. Charlie went on to build and develop the toy division, giving Hohner a much bigger profile in the toy trade. Charlie could always be found at any Toy Fair; he enjoyed visits to shows at Brighton, Torquay, Solway House, Harrogate, Earls Court, Toymaster and many more - always with a smile on his face. Charlie enjoyed imparting his wealth of experience to new recruit Simon Blacker, who now heads up Peterkin Asia, a source of great pride to Charlie. Simon told Toy World: “Charlie was a real character. To work alongside him as a young guy joining the toy industry was an experience to remember.” After he retired from Hohner in 1997, lifelong West Ham fan Charlie became a consultant for the Bontempi musical toy company. In retirement, Charlie was surrounded by his large family – four children, nine grandchildren and, lately, three great-great grandchildren, with whom he loved spending time. According to his many friends and colleagues in the industry, Charlie was renowned for being a real family man, and very good company for anyone who had the benefit of knowing him. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.” Toy World would like to express sincere condolences at this sad time.

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Obituary: Martin Ingram Martin Ingram, a stalwart of the toy and gift industry, sadly passed away on Wednesday 12th August. Martin was wellknown around the south west of England and Wales, and worked most recently as a sales agent for Aurora World. Martin had a long and illustrious career focused on the plush category across the toy and gift markets, having previously been sales director at Play by Play, in addition to roles with Hallmark and Andrew Brownsword. According to former colleague and associate Steve Cox: “Martin always had an eye for the next big thing and loved the industry – it gave him a real buzz.” Toy World would like to express sincere condolences at this sad time.

News BTHA Briefing

Rebecca Deeming The BTHA’s Rebecca Deeming brings Toy World readers up to date on the current news from the association.

can’t quite believe that we are already in October; what an extraordinary year it has been, particularly for charities. The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted income for charities around the country, and the Toy Trust has responded by inviting small, registered, UK based charities to apply for funding. Charities that have been invited to apply are known to the Toy Trust already and have received funding in the past, and all applications are assessed by the Toy Trust Committee, which ensures grants given meet the charity’s application criteria and achieves the best possible outcome for disadvantaged children all over the UK. Grants at the time of writing have totalled just under £30,000 which is expected to be doubled by the end of 2020. So far, 10 charities have been pledged for support, all of which will go directly to charities whose income has been depleted during the pandemic and will benefit children who are in need of help. Charities supported so

far include The Daisy Garland, The Voice that Makes a Difference, All Hallows Bow, Cedarwood Trust, Dingley’s Promise, NARA The Breathing Charity, The Bradford Toy Library, Handicapped Children’s Action Group and Shepherds Bush Families Projects. Elsewhere, the BTHA Training Hub has been busy organising free training webinars for members. Last month, more than 30 members joined the ‘Introduction to the Age Appropriate Design Code’ webinar to learn about the statutory code which affects all companies that offer online services to children including websites, connected toys and apps. Companies now have 12 months to get everything in place before the grace period ends. Any member that could not attend the webinar but would like to access the presentation slides, please e-mail Rebecca@btha. co.uk and I will happily send them over to you. Coming up this month is a free webinar for members on our new guidance document on Brexit-related duty and VAT changes after the UK exits the EU. The guidance document has been developed by HW Fisher to help explain changes to payments on duty and VAT from UK companies and their European customers. The document can be found on the BTHA website, www.btha.co.uk. The webinar will take place on Thursday 15th October 10:00-11:00 and will cover the guide as well as answer members’ questions on this area of their business. If you would like to sign up to the webinar, please contact me on the e-mail mentioned above. If there is anything else our members need help with during this time, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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News Covid-19 leads to postponement of both Toy Fair New York and Toy Fair Dallas

Hamleys details plans for revival

A letter from Toy Association president Steve Pasierb has announced that both Toy Fair Dallas and Toy Fair New York have been postponed. An extract from the president’s letter reads as follows: “While the trajectory of this October’s Toy Fair Dallas has long been known to our exhibitors and the buying community given ongoing pandemic developments in Texas, the postponement of that show to 2021 now meets the news that The Toy Association has elected to also postpone Toy Fair New York 2021. Due to the current state of the pandemic and restrictive guidelines in place both in Texas and in states where our guests originate, our partners at the Dallas Market Center (DMC), site of the annual Toy Fair Dallas, have told us that they are unable to meet the unique needs of our fall marketplace, with its preview showrooms and crowds moving from floor to floor. The Association remains committed to the next Toy Fair Dallas show at the DMC in October of 2021. Also, by closely gauging exhibitor and retail buying community feedback together with the latest facts related to the pandemic and the state of business travel, The Toy Association has made the decision to postpone Toy Fair New York. At the same time, we are developing with our members a Toy Fair offering in the spring of 2021 and of course the always anticipated Toy Fair in the expanded Javits Center in February 2022. The Toy of The Year awards (TOTY) and Hall of Fame induction will go virtual for 2021. We know that our exhibitors rely upon these shows for the essential business, financial, and media value they provide. And simply that the toy community looks forward to Toy Fair NY each year – and this year it would have been especially meaningful for us all to come together in February and resume business as usual. But protecting our members’, exhibitors’ and attendees’ investments, health, and safety must come first. It is not news to say that uncertainty surrounds each of us as individuals – whether as parents, as business owners, as employees, and so on. But one thing we can say with absolute certainty is that Toy Fair New York will still happen. The market opportunity will be there. Stay tuned for an official announcement of specific show dates for both spring 2021 and February 2022, coming later this September. Our team brings their passion to work every day to help your businesses prosper. We are looking forward to sharing with you the roll out of new activities and resources in the weeks and months ahead as you plan for a successful 2021. Every day that we each keep pushing, positive and focused on what can be, is one day farther from the start of this pandemic and one day closer to the end. All good wishes for your continued health, safety and prosperity. Steve Pasierb”

Hamleys has revealed plans to refurbish its landmark London store on Regent Street, despite a slowdown in turnover created by the pandemic. Hamleys’ parent company Reliance Brands acquired Hamleys a year ago for approx. £70m, just months before the outbreak of Covid-19. Sumeet Yadav, chief executive for global retail business at Reliance Brands, said the expansion is a sign of confidence in the brand and company strategy. In recent years, Hamleys has faced an increasing struggle to survive and has not made a profit for some time, with the most recent accounts, for 2019, showing a loss of nearly £10m on revenue of about £48m. Like many stores around the world, the London flagship store was forced to temporarily close during lockdown and since reopening, the lack of tourism and lower footfall has continued to impact sales. The company has also had to contend with the recent departure of UK chief executive David Smith, after only seven months in the role. Hamleys is in the final stages of designs for a refurbishment of the seven-floor London store and intends to open pop-up concessions and stores in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. There are also plans in the pipeline to expand into Western Europe, Australia, the US and Canada. Despite challenges in store, Sumeet reports that online sales are “through the roof”. The company’s website will be relaunched by the end of 2020, building on this success. He has not revealed how much Reliance is investing, describing the sum as significant and worthy of a brand that is 260 years old. The extensive plans are designed to restore Hamleys’ position as an exciting retail destination.

Flair unveils new look for company website The team at Flair GP have unveiled its updated online presence with a brand-new look and URL for the company website. www.Flairgp.co.uk officially launched in September, bringing with it a sleek and modern design and fully responsive website for the company’s trade customers to enjoy. The easy to navigate wireframe will showcase all the Flair, Giochi Preziosi and Just Play brands and, although created for B2B, is also safe and easy for consumers to use too. Here, visitors will be able to see entire collections whilst also viewing TVCs. The new website will also provide the perfect link page for the highly active consumer facing social media programme. Susan Journeaux, GP Flair’s marketing services manager, commented: “The way in which visitors engage with Flair has changed greatly over recent years with the majority of visitors using mobile or tablet devices and a new portal that was fully responsive and in line with our social media handles/username was high on the agenda for 2020. We are delighted therefore to finally unveil the new online face of Flair GP that showcases our ranges in more modern, sleek and effective manner and invite all our customers to take a browse and see what’s on offer.” For more information visit www.flairgp.co.uk.

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10847 Number Train 1½ - 3 years

10931 Truck & Tracked Excavator 2+ years

10913 Brick Box 1½+ years

10915 Alphabet Truck 1½+ years

Industry Moves Smiffys’ welcomes new appointments Dress up manufacturer and supplier Smiffys has announced the promotion of Sharon Poulter to the role of licensing and marketing manager, as well as the appointment of Chris Isitt as licence consultant. In her prior role of marketing manager, which she held for three years, Sharon worked closely with the licence team and licensors, developing marketing plans, including promotions and advertising. In her new role, Sharon’s extra responsibilities will extend to the day to day management of the licence team and development of the portfolio, supporting Dominique Peckett, director of product and marketing. Dominique commented: “Sharon’s marketing experience combined with her management skills and product knowledge make her an excellent addition to our licence team. We have ambitious plans and are looking forward to bringing even more characters to life in 2021.” Smiffys’ has further engaged Chris Isitt to consult with them on various aspects of the company’s growing licence portfolio and business for EMEA. “We are delighted to be working with Chris, who has over 21 years of senior management experience in the industry and is universally respected. We look forward to Chris’ input in this Sharon Poulter Chris Isitt exciting phase for our business in, what is already, a different industry landscape,” Dominique added. Smiffys’ licensed portfolio features over 90 properties from leading licensors, including Acamar Films, Hasbro, Mattel, Penguin, Roald Dahl, Sony, Universal and Viacom Nickelodeon.

Rosie Marshall to head up plaY-room Following Miles Penhallow’s announcement that he is taking early retirement after 12 years at AIS, Rosie Marshall has taken on the role as head of play-room, the company’s toy and children’s gift division. Rosie has built up 17 years of experience in the toy Industry as a buyer and store manager, working for Toys R Us and more recently Boswells Department Store in Oxford. Boswells had been a member of AIS for many years before its store closed in the spring of 2020. Rosie has worked closely with the play-room team as part of its Member Retail Strategy committee; her appointment has the full support of its current chair, Su Gill of The Morley Group. Rosie commented: “I am looking forward to contributing to the success of play-room and continuing the good work that Miles has instilled into it over the last 12 years since its conception. With the support of both Aimee and Faz, we aim to continue to give our members the support that they need.”

Interplay UK expands with new hires across the company Interplay UK continues to expand its business with significant investment in infrastructure, people and its product portfolio. The company has announced several new hires and a promotion across the sales, marketing, finance and operations departments. The bolstered teams ensure the company remains on track to continue outgrowing the market. Interplay UK’s new recruits are Mark Murray, previously at Spinmaster and Seiko, who joins as UK sales manager, Jenny Hodges, who brings experience from Lego and Schleich, as national account manager, and Alison Clapcott as sales administrator. In recognition of her continued success, Karen Patterson has also been promoted to national accounts manager. Justin Clasby, formerly at Hasbro, Lego and Re-Creation, joins as senior marketing manager and due to the impending retirement of Barry Hine, who has been with Interplay since the early days, Matthew Kirsch, formerly of University Games, takes the role as finance director. Interplay will also benefit from Graham Jacobs extensive logistics experience, as he has joins as operations manager. Adrian Whyles, MD, Interplay UK comments: “We wish Barry Hine, our outgoing finance director, a long and healthy retirement. He has been a major part of Interplay’s successful growth over the years. We are also delighted to welcome the new members into our fantastic team. We have high-quality, professional staff in place across every department to support the continuous growth and exciting plans we have for sustained expansion of the business going into 2021 and beyond.”

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Marketing World Moose Toys and Gameloft announce partnership for Oh! my GIF app Moose Toys and Gameloft for brands are partnering on the Oh! My GIF: GIFs Gone Live App, a new digital tool that allows consumers to extend their experience with the Oh! My GIF brand, created by Moose. Using AR technology, the GIFs Gone Live app brings the Oh! My GIF toys to life by scanning AR cards to create digital GIFs of the tangible Oh! My GIF toy they have just collected. The app also allows children to show their creativity and emotions by customising their own videos and pictures with over 50 fun animated GIFs. They can also stay connected with friends and family through the app which allows them to share their favourite digital GIFbits through messaging apps. Gameloft brought its 20-year expertise and know-how in mobile gaming to this new app, which comes from a partnership with Moose toys to meticulously create a 100% safe and family friendly solution. Alysha Curtis, global brand manager at Moose Toys, commented: “Moose is excited for kids to start collecting Oh! My GIF and playing with the GIFs Gone Live App, which adds a whole new dimension to the play experience of our newest collectible brand. Gameloft was the perfect partner to collaborate with on this app, with their expert knowledge in this field and their ability to deliver a 100% controlled and safe solution for our consumers.” This app is available on the App Store and Google Play Store

Schleich’s Golden Lion arrives at Hamleys Schleich UK has created a stir at Hamleys’ London store with the arrival of its life size Golden Lion model which has been installed on the store’s third floor, in celebration of Schleich’s 85th anniversary. Shoppers who venture to Hamleys over the coming months will be able to see the Golden Lion, which also echoes the launch of a limited-edition anniversary Golden Lion figure in August. It can be seen standing atop a working waterfall and temporarily replaces the popular life-size model of a rare White Tiger, which has become a focal point in the store. Paul Dearlove, trade marketing manager, Schleich UK, commented: “It is great to see this new Hamleys display finally in place. Its placement not only signifies a landmark year for Schleich, but also how we have continued to support our retailers throughout this difficult year. Despite the footfall in central London being down, it’s important that we do our bit to create interest for consumers that make the journey into town. Our lion is certainly worth the visit to this most famous of toy stores.” Hamleys, alongside other retailers, is also helping Schleich with its anniversary celebration by selling Schleich’s Golden Lion, featuring a striking golden coat and six colourful brush strokes on its hind, which reflects the six franchise play worlds in Schleich’s portfolio. For more information about the 85th Anniversary or any other queries, contact the Schleich team on 01279 870 000 or email schleich@ schleich-s.co.uk.

Zuru and Fanbytes team up for Mini Brands TikTok house Having proved popular in the US and Canada, Zuru’s 5 Surprise Mini Brands now brings miniature versions of favourite household brands to the UK & Ireland. The 5-part capsule toy, which houses accurate miniature replicas of real shopping brands, went viral upon its launch in the US, amassing over 700m views on TikTok. To continue this success, Zuru has now partnered with Fanbytes to devise a three-phase TikTok campaign throughout September, designed to catapult Mini Brands to UK success. Erika Sava, international marketing director, Zuru, said: “Mini Brands exploded into the US market last year and became an instant sell-out. It was the No. 1 most Googled toy in December, and we’ve seen UK super-fans prepared to pay three-to-four times more for the capsules on some online sites. We’re experiencing a real appetite for the miniatures trend, and Mini Brands combines this with the appeal of surprise and collectability.” Erika continued: “We’re working closely with the team at Playtime PR, which facilitated the relationship with Fanbytes, ensuring that any creative content dovetails with our existing Mini Brands strategy and marketing campaign. Fanbytes has a proven record of deliverables alongside the algorithms to demonstrate how best to meet our business and communication objectives for growing our UK TikTok presence. From 1st September until mid-October, we will be introducing TikTokkers to a TikTok first with the Mini Bytehouse, plus a variety of challenge, prank and comedic-led content, all designed with a Gen Z audience in mind.” Timothy Armoo, Fanbytes CEO, added: “Innovation is at the core of what we do. The Gen Z audience is ever-changing and you cannot win by standing still. When we launched the ByteHouse at the start of lockdown, we were ripping up the playbook by taking individual influencers and building a Gen Z brand. With over 27m fans just on TikTok and over 35m weekly views, that playbook is working; we’re currently the largest TikTok media owner in the UK. This Mini Bytehouse campaign is another great chapter in that innovation; I’m excited to start this with Zuru.”

Toy World 20

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Marketing World Dobble and GOSH partner on new charity campaign Asmodee has announced a new partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) that will raise funds to support seriously ill children from across the UK. The partnership will also support play-themed initiatives led by the charity. As well as working together closely on projects to introduce children to the social and developmental benefits of playing games, Asmodee has commissioned a special edition of Dobble in support of GOSH Charity – the charity’s famous teardrop child’s face logo has been added as one of the images on the cards. The GOSH Charity branded edition of Dobble will be sold in specialist channels, with a contribution from each copy sold received by the charity. A guaranteed minimum of £50,000 will be raised during the first year of the partnership. “We’re delighted to begin the partnership between Dobble and GOSH Charity,” said Alex Green, Asmodee’s managing director. “After meeting the GOSH Charity team, it was clear that there were a number of shared values between us, including how play can make a real difference to childrens’ happiness and wellbeing. Through our partnership with GOSH Charity, we will be able to bring smiles to some of the most in-need children in the country, while at the same time raising a tremendous sum for the hospital.” Chris Carter, head of partnership development at GOSH Charity, added: “We are delighted to be launching this exciting new partnership with Asmodee and look forward to the special GOSH Charity branded Dobble hitting the market in time for Christmas this year. This is a brilliant opportunity for us to raise much needed funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital, at a time when the hospital needs the support of the charity and its supporters more than ever before.”

Opinion Jab, jab, jab, right hook your brand to success on social media As brands compete for their share of voice in a highly competitive children and family market, content is often key to achieve visibility and engagement.

taying connected both as individuals and brands has become more important than ever during Covid, with digital media playing a vital and central role in facilitating this. Social media usage has seen steady growth for the past few years, but the pandemic has accelerated its rise exponentially. With Instagram seeing a 25% rise in engagement, and 47% of people spending more time on social media, the toys and games category should seize the opportunity and integrate social as a key strategic lever in media plans to both engage with, and drive, consumers to purchase. Parents spend an average of two hours and 11 minutes on social media, visiting multiple times daily. This dwell time and frequency provides a vital connection point through which brands can reach their target audience day to day, in a way that no other media can offer. Whereas other media such as TV advertising pushes a one way and

blanket message, social provides an intimate, twoway conversation with your target market. On social media, you earn eyeballs rather than buy them. Consumers have begun to expect the deeper level of connection with a brand that social provides, and this relationship is particularly important within the toys and games sector, where buying for children is often emotionally driven. What’s more, 87% of parents consult social media platforms before they make a purchasing decision, so it is now a requisite and unavoidable part of the consumer path to purchase. Earning these eyeballs on social requires strategy, as we all become more digitally sophisticated: persistent, impersonal and overly salesy messaging is ineffective on these platforms and can reflect poorly on a brand. Companies must look to build an audience-aligned strategy and ‘thumb stopping’ content to ensure that audience connection is strong, and that brand messaging

Toy World 22

Tamara Strange Global director at Generation Media besocial@generationmedia.co.uk and values resonate. At Generation Media we favour the ‘jab, jab, jab, right hook’ approach to social media, with a creative, results-driven focus. We are committed to providing an end to end service that works for your brand. Get in touch to talk about what social media can do for you.

Opinion Why Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the one to watch KidsKnowBest is a leading kids digital media agency, and in the first of a series of regular columns, Lydia explores the latest gaming title opportunity in the kids’ space.

ony PlayStation 4 game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has made its way into the top 5 gaming titles. In just two months, it has achieved an impressive 7m downloads on Steam and become Sony Playstation Plus’ most downloaded game of all time. So how has Fall Guys become popular with young kids, and what are the signs that it’s one to watch?

If you haven’t come across it already, imagine the TV show It’s a Knockout as a bright, colourful animated game. Players become big bouncy avatars that must navigate through obstacle courses as they attempt to beat 59 others. It’s colourful and crazy carnage. Early signs of success Fall Guys has mass appeal, because, ultimately, slips and trips will always be funny. The game has therefore quickly cut through to kids. In a recent survey KidsKnowBest ran of over 1,300 UK kids 6-13, 60% had heard of the game and over 1 in 3 (35.4%) had played it, already putting Fall Guys alongside the ranks of Fortnite and Minecraft for kid awareness. In only its second month, Fall Guys amassed 113m streaming hours on Twitch, a feat that took Fortnite eight months to achieve.

Why Fall Guys works for kids Firstly, at its heart, the game concept is simple and universal. The best way to design kids’ games is to start with creating great and enjoyable worlds with mass appeal to bring kids to, rather than designing a specific kid-friendly space for them that you think will resonate. The humorous design and style feels akin to that of Cartoon Network, while the gameplay physics are satisfying and playfully irritating. Secondly, 2020 has been a tough year. Fall Guys punctuated a bleak summer with its return to simple silliness and has captured an audience’s

need for escapism. Thirdly, the game’s launch and growth strategy has paid off. Fall Guys focused its efforts on establishing an audience in the right communities. A splash launch on Twitch quickly raised its profile with young gamers. It was also released initially for free via activation codes awarded for watching Fall Guys streams, so the audience grew quickly amongst the home gaming fandom. It was then supported by big name influencers and celebrities, including Ninja, Timthetatman and Sergio Aguero, who shared their gaming efforts on Twitch and YouTube. All this activity has helped Fall Guys grow an engaged community of fans.

Lydia Mossahebi editorial director, KidsKnowBest.

Kid-Safe experience One key benefit of Fall Guys is that it solves a problem in the gaming space – the fact that many titles popular with kids are rated too old for them. Games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto often top the charts of kids most played games, but the in-game violence puts them on an age rating of 16-18. And although Fortnite is at the softer and more ‘cartoony’ end of the spectrum, it still has an official rating of 12+. This can hinder opportunities for licensing or partnership deals for younger kids. Fall Guys won’t have this issue; it offers the competitiveness and engagement of battle royale games, without the aggression or violent realism. In a similar vein to Minecraft or Roblox, Fall Guys can be played as a co-op, and in a gaming space that is filled with so much that’s meant to shock, the game is therefore much more friendly for the audience and for brands. Tailor-made CP potential There’s also a standout consumer product potential. The characters are primed for translating into fun toys and collectibles for kids. Their bouncy bodies, wobbly arms and stubby legs feel playful and tactile. The skins players can buy using crowns earned in the game are fun and distinct, and offer a huge opportunity for brand collaborations, much like the shop items in Animal Crossing. What does the future hold? Although Fall Guys made a significant impact upon its launch in August, where it accounted for 7% of total streaming hours on Twitch, so far in September the number has halved. However, there could still be an opportunity to nudge the leader’s game IPs from their top spots. Despite a Marvel themed Season 4 launching in August, Fortnite is currently accounting for just 4.8% of total

Toy World 24

streaming hours - its lowest in over two years. The next three months are going to be crucial for the game’s success as Mediatonic tries to ride the wave and turn Fall Guys into a fixture in the gaming space. A second season is due to launch in October with a different theme and new maps, but will it be enough to keep young audiences engaged? For further insights into the world of gaming online and any other research/data related queries, get in touch with jack@kidsknowbest.co.uk for more details.

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Licensing World Graham Saltmarsh to head up Licensing International UK

Vivid and pocket.watch collaborate on Love, Diana Diana, the 6-year-old star of YouTube Kids Diana Show, enjoys over 5b views a month, and – with pocket.watch behind her – she is now set to enlighten and inspire her UK audience with toys and apparel launching from this month. To support the global merchandise launch, pocket.watch has produced 40 episodes of Love, Diana, a live-action and animated hybrid series with stories focusing on positive lessons about friendship, family, creativity and the power of play. “We are delighted to be partnering with pocket.watch again, starting such an exciting journey to entertain and inspire girls with Love, Diana,” says Nick Thomas, general manager of Vivid. “Ryan’s World proved that you can disrupt the traditional toy sector because children relate to and admire YouTube superstars, and want to play with their toys. Ryan remains in the UK NPD charts in the top 10 fastest growing new properties. We are all looking forward to replicating this success with exciting and innovative Diana products.” “Pocket.watch is thrilled to continue its relationship with partners like Vivid to expand the reach of the Love, Diana franchise, and to deliver fun and inspiration to young girls on a global scale,” said Stone Newman, CRO, pocket.watch. Working with lead partners Far Out Toys (Collectibles), Jerry Leigh (Dress Up), Taste Beauty (Bath and Beauty), Headstart (Dolls, Doll Accessories and Styling Heads) and HiJinx (Plush), Vivid will be distributing a wide range across different product categories. Vivid’s range of articulated collectible mini figures of Diana, her brother Roma and myriad other characters from her channel, along with a selection of play sets, will deliver entry and midlevel price points. Fashion dolls in a variety of scales will offer fashion and hair play, and be complemented by accessories and play sets. Vivid will also be entering into two new categories with Love, Diana including role play/ dress-up and cosmetics.

Licensing International, leading trade organisation for the global brand licensing industry, has appointed industry veteran Graham Saltmarsh to head its division in the UK. As managing director, Graham will be responsible for advancing the business of licensing across all sectors of the industry in the UK, creating programmes in support of current members and developing initiatives to meet the needs of future members. Graham has spent the bulk of his career in licensing-focused roles at some of the world’s most influential media companies including BBC Worldwide and Nelvana. Most recently he served as director of Licensing & Retail for the UK & Nordics at Turner Broadcasting where he oversaw the consumer product and marketing activities for key properties including Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls and Rick & Morty. Graham is a passionate supporter of the licensing industry’s Light Fund charity and has run the London Marathon and rowed from London to Paris to raise funds. “We are thrilled to have Graham on board, leading the charge in the UK for Licensing International,” added Licensing International president Maura Regan. “His deep understanding of the UK licensing community, combined with a fantastic ‘can do’ attitude is a wonderful addition to the Licensing International team.” Graham officially moved into his new role on 15th September and can be contacted at gsaltmarsh@licensing.org.

Rubie’s opens state-of-theart design studio in Leeds Following the launch of its eCommerce website, global costume giant Rubie’s has announced another major asset investment to its ever growing creative stable by opening a new state-of-the-art design studio based in Leeds. Mike O’Connell, COO, commented: “I’m delighted to announce the opening of our new Leeds Design Studio, it’s the latest in our continued investment in the UK business and underpins our commitment to providing unparalleled creative and imaginative product. The Rubie’s brand is synonymous with being the home of licensing and innovative design. These new foundations build upon that established heritage.” He added: “As our industry continues to navigate the Covid world and the challenges that brings, we’re thinking outside the box here at Rubies and advancing our operations with technology and infrastructure, whilst delivering a workspace for our best in class creative team to thrive and our customers to enjoy.”

Toy World 26

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Licensing World Redan Publishing details advertising and sponsorship opportunities Redan Publishing’s award-winning compilation magazines, Sparkle World, Fun To Learn Friends and Fun To Learn Favourites, bring together the most popular licensed characters in one place, allowing children to engage and interact with their favourite characters as they journey through the pages and activities at their own pace. The character line-up is constantly evolving to mirror current trends, with Redan always on the lookout for the next hot property or product to keep the magazines relevant and appropriate to today’s kids. These multi-character magazines can offer other licensees an engaged and targeted audience where children (and often adults too) develop their affiliation to, and fondness of, particular brands. The experience of completing activities with much-loved characters encourages openness to further extensions of each brand, providing ideal opportunities for promotion and advertising of other licensed consumer product. Whilst advertising needs to be limited in a children’s publication, Redan does offer a few traditional advertising slots in each issue of its magazines. Readers are advised to act swiftly if they would like to find out more. Alternatively, offering product as prizes is a low-cost and effective promotional tool. Competition give-aways regularly feature within issues, offering readers an opportunity to win by simply entering via email. Another option is to be a prize sponsor on a club page; readers are selected by the editor and rewarded with a prize for their crafts, pictures or letters that they have sent in. The only cost for this type of promotional coverage (which includes product images, descriptions and any relevant retail information) is the value of the product and the cost to post it out to the winners, making this an attractive option for companies with limited marketing or promotion budgets. For more information on Redan’s compilation magazines visit www.redan.co.uk, and for further details on advertising/promotion/competition opportunities contact marketing@ redan.com.

newsanalysis

Mega expansion at Eaglemoss Toy World spoke to Eaglemoss Hero Collector’s brand manager Chris Thompson about how 2020 has been for the company, its changing approach to collectibles, and what there is to look forward to as the Christmas countdown gets underway. It’s been a pivotal year for Hero Collector in terms of expanding both reach and product lines. What’s been the highlight for you? It has been an important year, especially when you consider the situation we find ourselves in, but it’s hard to pick a favourite. I think we kicked off the year well with our debut appearances at Birmingham Spring Fair and New York Toy Fair, and that has held us in good stead for what was to come. We know our retail partners have faced challenges, but we’ve continued to supply our popular lines throughout lockdown, while simultaneously getting new products ready for the big retail comeback. Now that’s well and truly underway, we’ve been announcing some great new items from Marvel, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Rick & Morty, Batman, Sonic and more.

Outside of adding new licences, you’ve been trying to create more of an identity and range within your brand. Could you tell us a little about that? That has been a lot of fun. A lot of people traditionally know us for our 1:16 scale figurines or starship collections, but in recent times, we’ve expanded to include new lines such as our Mega (over-sized) statuettes and XL edition ships. By doing so, we’ve moved deeper into the high-end collectibles space to showcase both the quality and value of the products we create. When you look at something like our Black Panther Mega - rest in power, Chadwick - or our upcoming Spider-Man and Harry Potter Megas, you’ll see they’re truly impressive and represent a tangible evolution in what we do.

Looking ahead, what are you most excited about going into Q4? I love the higher-end Mega and XL editions of our popular licences, but I’m also enjoying the expansion into completely new areas, such as our Harry Potter Knitting Kits and Doctor Who Baking Sets. Modern day geeks come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to cater to a wider and more diverse audience. At Hero Collector, we’re working to do just that, and to make it more accessible at retail, while not alienating or forgetting about our hardcore fans. If there’s one message coming through all of this, it’s that Hero Collector offers something for everyone. To contact Eaglemoss’ marketing department, email ChrisThompson@eaglemoss.co.uk, or for sales email GlynnDavies@eaglemoss.co.uk.

Toy World 28

Peppa Pig Â© Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003.

HTIGroup1952 HTIToys HTIGroupMedia

NPD Insight

Licences remain strong Rory looks at the performance of toys in the licensed sector, in a year when movie release schedules have been disrupted and TV and digital viewing has enjoyed high demand.

he UK toy market is still in a healthy state with YTD August NPD EPOS toys data showing a market growing at +6% in value, a gain of over £50m versus the same period in 2019. The market has performed impressively, despite the many challenges that have arisen in 2020. One area that has performed particularly well is licences, with a value growth of +14% and being worth a quarter of all toy sales so far this year. Certain licences have enjoyed a boost from the lockdown period while others have suffered, but the growth in licensing has been twice as fast as that of the total market, so there are undeniably a lot of positives.

far this year. One movie that was released during the lockdown period was Trolls World Tour, albeit moving to an online only release while cinemas were closed. The Trolls licence has a total value of £4.5m so far this year, which makes it the 10th top licence in value. Sales jumped up to £685k in April when the movie was made available online but were highest in June, with just under £1m for that month alone. Could this type of online only release be more common in the next couple of years? With kids at home over lockdown, TV and digital content viewing was at an all-time high as both an aid to home schooling and a way to keep kids

Rory Partis

Director UK Toys & EuroToys NPD for the month and Peppa Pig by +27%, possibly due to the impact of increased viewing over the initial lockdown period in April. A number of other TV and Digital properties also saw similar impressive growth trends in May, with Ryan’s World growing by +152%, In the Night Garden by +33% and Hey Duggee by +332%. More recently, we have also seen a licence from the video game world become one of the most successful launches ever in the UK toy market. The Lego Super Mario range has had a great start, and the Starter Set was the No.1 item in the total market for five consecutive weeks following its launch.

Looking more closely at the licensing sector this year, it’s interesting to examine The month of May saw +30% growth in licensed toy sales It’s clear that it has what has changed been a good year for versus 2019 in terms 35% licensed sales overall, of the performance of Licence Growth % partly driven by strong different type of the 30% 30% movies releases at the properties. The big 25% back end of last year differences in trend 21% and the fact that TV are for movie-based 20% and Digital licences properties, which 15% 14% 14% have seen strong sales, 14% declined by -1% in 2019 helped by lockdown but are now growing 10% 10% 10% and school closures. by +19% this year. This 5% But looking ahead is surprising when you 2% to Q4, it might be consider the number 0% challenging to replicate of 2020 movies that Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug the sales we saw in Q4 have been moved to Source: The NPD Group | EPOS UK Monthly Trend 2020 last year. Q4 2019 saw either later this year DocumentThe classification: Client/Third Party Confidential NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential 1 strong +8% growth for or next year. But this licensed sales, with growth is coming both the Star Wars from movies released movie and Frozen 2 contributing massively to those in 2019, with Star Wars, Marvel and Disney Frozen occupied while parents did their own work. It was figures. With many key movies delayed to next year, the Top 3 for value in 2020; these three properties only natural that some TV-based licences would we don’t expect to see that type of growth and might collectively have added over £20m so far this year. see a boost in toy sales over this period. Two of the see some declines. But the strong eight months we’ve It’s interesting to note that all three properties have most popular TV based properties of recent times, had should help with the overall number for the year. benefited from being featured on Disney+ over the Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig, have both seen growth Looking ahead to next year, the new movie schedules course of this year. Star Wars is the No.1 licence this year. Paw Patrol has value growth of +4% and is could benefit licensed sales in 2021. Let’s hope so, in the UK this year and has seen growth not only the No.5 property in the market and Peppa Pig has as when the licensed toy market is strong, so is the from movie-based products, but also from The seen growth of +10% and is the No.14 property in the overall toy market. Mandalorian, with the Star Wars Mandalorian market. Both of these properties also saw stronger Battle Pack from Lego the No.1 Star Wars item so growth in May, with Paw Patrol growing by +23%

Monthly Growth in Licensed Toy Sales

Toy World 30

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.

Property Progression Total Licence

Rank July 2020

Rank Aug 2020

Nintendo

#232

#20

Lego Super Mario has been one of the most anticipated launches of the year and since the launch in the first week of August we have seen impressive sales for the line, helping the Nintendo licence to move up to No.20 in August. The Adventure Starter Course was the No.1 item in the market for the first five weeks from launch date and Lego Super Mario Brothers is now the No.3 new property in the UK toy market this year.

Fastest Growing Licences in Toys

Fastest Growing Licences Fastest Growing Licences

Top 4 gaining licences allmovie movie based. World, and Minecraft Super The top 10 fastest Top 4 gaining licencesare are all based. Ryan’sRyan’s World, Minecraft Super and growing licences in Mario Brothers are all digital licences. Fastest Growing Licences Mario Brothers are all digital licences. Sales Gained £M

Gained £M and Super Top 4 gaining licences are all movie based. Ryan’sSales World, Minecraft £0 £4 £8 £12 £16 Mario Brothers are all digital£0licences. £4 £8 £12 Sales Gained £M Disney Frozen Wars £6.9 Disney Star Frozen £0 £4 £8 Harry Potter £3.7 Star Wars £3.6 Disney FrozenTrolls Harry Potter Ryan's World £2.3 £3.7 Star Wars £6.9 Other £2.1 HarryMarvel Potter Trolls £3.7 £3.6 DC Comics Super Heroes £2.0 Trolls £3.6 Ryan's World Land Rover £1.6 £2.3 Ryan's World £2.3 Marvel Other £2.1 Minecraft £1.5 Marvel Other £2.1 Super Mario Brothers £1.2 £2.0 Comics Super Heroes DCDCComics Super Heroes £2.0 Land Rover Land Rover £1.6 £1.6 Minecraft £1.5 DocumentThe classification: Client/Third Party Confidential Minecraft £1.5 NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential Super Mario Brothers £1.2

Super Mario Brothers

£13.0

£12

£6.9

£16

£13.0

Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD Aug 2020

£1.2

Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD Aug 2020

DocumentThe classification: Client/Third Party Confidential NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential

toys for YTD August are a good mix of movie based and TV & digital licences. The Top 4 gaining licences are all movie based, with Disney Frozen being the top gain followed by Star Wars. Trolls is at No.4 for gain, after the Trolls World Tour movie moved to an online only release in 2020. Ryan’s World is the No.5 licence for gain and has surely benefited from more kids being at home over the last few months. The digital world is also represented further by having Minecraft and Super Mario Brothers in the Top 10.

Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD Aug 2020

DocumentThe classification: Client/Third Party Confidential NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential

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Talking Shop

We’ve got it covered Lisa Currie spoke to independent retailers about how they are rising to ongoing challenges, and what’s been selling. As we approach peak season, they also share their plans and predictions for this year’s Q4. Sam Walker - Wally’s Toy Shop, Thame, Oxfordshire We have really enjoyed being back and seeing everyone again. Business is picking up and feeling more consistent now that we have been open for a few months. I’m pleased that having to wear masks whilst shopping hasn’t discouraged people from coming out, which was an initial concern. Footfall has been lower than usual, however the last few weeks have been more encouraging and I am hopeful for the upcoming season. We have just brought in the DC Batman range from Spin Master, which is performing very well. It has lots to offer with varied price points, from the smaller four-inch Batman figures to larger items like the Batmobile and Batcave models. As a timeless classic favoured by children and adults alike, Batman is a popular licence that always sells well. The Back to the Future Playmobil range was a notable best-seller over summer. We arranged a striking window display to support the product launch which was very effective; adults and children alike would come in to treat themselves to the Character Sets or the Back to the Future Classic Car. Because it spans generations, the licensed merchandise is something that the whole family can enjoy. Another very popular property is Baby Yoda from Star Wars: The Mandalorian; anything related to Baby Yoda instantly stands out and sells. There are less major film licences in the market at present, as so many have had to delay release dates. A good proportion of our licensed offering is usually tied to the latest film or TV series, which relies on a strong fanbase for sales. With a reduced number of films this year, licences that are not tied to a specific new release, like Batman, are proving more popular. Even in the Lego range, classic sets and evergreen licensed titles - such as Lego City, Trolls and Star Wars - have generated more sales than the newer editions. However, I don’t think it will be too long before cinemas are bought back to life and new titles are released, giving licensors more confidence to release new product. With so much uncertainty surrounding cinemas and release dates, we don’t want to find ourselves with stock that just isn’t seeing any demand. However, licences based on TV shows should only strengthen for Q4. Favourites like Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig consistently fly off the shelves, and I anticipate that newer titles like Ricky Zoom will start to pick up, so am tempted to bring in more stock. Although it’s safer to stick to what we know will sell, it’s important to revisit our options regularly. We feel as though we can’t take as many risks this year, which is a shame. We will focus on offering products that are fun, exciting and new, as ever. However, in the current climate, we will have to be more selective. For Christmas, I think boardgames and puzzles will continue to be a popular category. Because of lockdown, more families are enjoying regular game nights, and many have found a new hobby in puzzles. This is one category that hasn’t been hit by the pandemic, rather it has flourished. It’s one for all ages and I am bringing in new stock for Q4 to keep up with demand. Christmas is our favourite time of year in the shop and although it will be very different this year, we are feeling optimistic. We have noticed more of an appreciation for local high streets these past few months; customers are keen to support local retailers and there has been a real sense of community because of that. More people are realising there is so much on offer on their doorsteps and I only hope this feeling continues into the festive season.

toyworld toy world The business magazine with a passion for toys

Toy World is always keen to hear from independent retailers, large and small. If you are interested in taking part in a future Talking Shop feature, contact:

lisa@toyworldmag.co.uk or call 01442 502 406. Toy World 33

Talking Shop John Testori - Bambola Toys, Jersey Business has been better than expected in recent months. We were lucky that we were able to reopen the shop on 18th May, here in Jersey - almost a month before the UK mainland. We trade online and instore and since reopening, we have trended up each month, with the exception of August which was slightly down on July. Overall, we feel hopeful for the upcoming season. Consumers still seem to lack confidence to go into bigger towns and shopping centres and prefer shopping on their local high streets, which benefits stores like us. Some licences are not where they should be, due to film release dates being postponed and cinemas being shuttered. Sales of film related products have been a bit subdued as a result. But other licences have stayed in demand; Mario is one of the strongest licences we sell, and the new Super Mario Lego range has seen phenomenal numbers. Customers need to spend £50 for the starter set alone before they can progress to anything else. Given its high price point, it has done particularly well, with most people opting for the full set. This is representative of a general trend of more people making bigger purchases. Many of our customers are saving money by working from home and thus have more money to spend. Paw Patrol is a very popular licence and we have been placing increased orders to keep up with demand. O.M.G and L.O.L Surprise! is another brand that never lasts long on the shelves. Live Pets and Pokémon gaming are also notable best-sellers, especially now that more children are coming into store with their pocket money. Pokémon was also running an advantageous offer where we could purchase two booster packs for the price of one, which has helped with margins. As well as Super Mario, we have found the new Star Wars Lego has been popular. Towards the end of August, we brought in the new Lego Lamborghini, which retails at around £300 and has generated seven sales already. We find high ticket items like this are well worth investing in, as we always do really well with them. As a Toymaster member, we are fortunate to have access to a Masters of the Universe exclusive, up until January. This property was a huge success the first time round, so I am hopeful that it will be highly sought after for the gifting season. For this Christmas , we have loaded up on recent best-sellers, proven licences and a multitude of products featured in the Toymaster catalogue, which attracts many of our customers from September onwards. The Argos catalogue has never been as influential in Jersey as on the mainland; the Toymaster catalogue is the one that drives business for us. September is traditionally the month that we take in the majority of our stock for Q4. This year, I originally planned on holding back a bit longer to see how things panned out, however after a good July and a solid August I felt confident enough to place some pretty substantial Christmas orders. It’s important to stay optimistic and not expect a bad Christmas; bringing in fresh stock and new ranges is essential. We sold our first advent calendar on 28th August, which indicates that people are planning their Christmas shopping earlier than usual this year due to the uncertain climate. Q4 is going be different, but I am still feeling optimistic. This year has been challenging, to say the least, but I think people are looking forward to treating their children and themselves this Christmas, and making the most of the season.

Ciaran Fitzpatrick - Banba Toymaster, Dublin Our shop is situated in the city centre, so business has been very tight. Turnover is down by at least 30% and our footfall is down roughly 50% compared to usual. At this time of year, Dublin would normally be enjoying an influx of tourists, however we have had very few visitors over the summer. We are now working hard to build an online presence. We have never felt the need to have a website before; I have always been of the opinion that we want to try and draw people into the city centre, rather than selling from a distance. But with so much uncertainty presented by the pandemic, we now feel a website would be advantageous for the business and hope to be up and running online by the end of October, in time for the festive season. We carry all the main licences here at Banba Toymaster. In pre-school, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol are our best-sellers. Other long-standing favourites like L.O.L. Surprise! and Barbie also perform very well. However, with less children coming through the door in recent months, licensed ranges have suffered a bit of a downturn. At present people are reluctant to travel into town, though speaking to some of my fellow Toymaster members outside the city centre, it seems more people are shopping locally, which is encouraging. Film licences have been impacted because major film titles were not being released in cinemas during lockdown. Trolls: World Tour is one example of a licensed range which did not take off as expected. But the world is changing all the time and we can only hope that by 2021, going to the cinema will become the norm again, and film licences will pick up as a result. Our purchasing habits have been forced to change for Christmas this year. We will have to reduce orders simply because we are selling less, and I don’t expect to have the level of footfall in the city centre that we usually experience during the gifting season. In terms of TV and film properties, we will have to be far more selective. My main objective now is to support the Toymaster catalogue. This year, it will be more important than ever because there is no physical Argos catalogue in circulation, so the Toymaster publication should be even more sought after. We distribute 200,000 catalogues over the greater Dublin area, and are focusing our efforts on dealing with the suppliers in the catalogue. We have noticed that consumers are eager to organise their Christmas shopping early this year, so we want to be prepared. Many are worrying that there will be another lockdown, so they want to make sure that they have everything in place for the festivities in good time. All we can do is stay safe and keep our fingers crossed!

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indie viewpoint Dave Tree - All the Cool Stuff, Fordingbridge Everyone has been presented with a number of challenges over the last few months. On the one hand I have weathered the storm because we are based in a rural area, which means I am used to a period of downtime, usually across January and February. Whilst I know how to cope in quieter times, an additional three months of lockdown certainly wasn’t ideal, nor good timing. Fortunately, Fordingbridge is a tourist area, so being able to reopen from June was encouraging news; we benefitted this year from many people opting for a staycation over a holiday abroad. Overall, footfall has been down at a local level: however, in July and August at least, that was compensated by tourism footfall, so overall, trade has consequently been on par with what I would expect to see for this time of year. The new Harry Potter Lego which launched over summer has sold particularly well. A whole new range of Harry Potter Mini Figure blind bags has also launched - these are always highly requested by my customers, so I expect positive results from the new series. Items like these drive pocket money purchasing, which through times of financial difficulty is often the product that attracts customers into the store. This then offers potential for us to benefit from additional impulse purchases. The Pokémon brand has been really strong, especially the cards and plush ranges. With the help of a a fantastic promotion over the summer, it is another pocket money staple that is even more likely to sell if there is an offer involved. Mattel’s Baby Yoda has been a best-seller. We put one in our window and it attracted a huge amount of attention, from kids and adults alike. The home run for that product is that it is appealing to both boys and girls (and men and women!) Anything connected with Baby Yoda, or The Child, is instantly recognisable and something new for Star Wars and The Mandalorian fans. Nerf and Top Trumps always sell well over the summer holidays, with Nerf Super Soakers getting snapped up by holiday-goers. Top Trumps is always a winner because of its low price point, the wide variety of licences and the fact that it travels well. This year L.O.L. Surprise!, Frozen, Marvel and Mario Top Trumps were favourites among our customers. I think licences have felt an impact this year with less films entering the public domain. However, on the flip side, more people are showing an interest in older and classic titles. With the lack of new releases and many cinemas still closed, more people are watching films and TV shows on streaming services and inquiring about those licences. This time last year, Friends was put on Netflix and Lego released a special edition Central Perk set, a launch which was brilliantly timed as it reflected what people were streaming at the time. Being aware of what people are watching is important, especially if it is an area that has a big catalogue of product. There are many opportunities if the right product is made available to customers. Following a decent summer period, I now anticipate a tougher couple of months ahead. Summer is always a better trading season for us, though I am hopeful we will still see last minute Christmas shoppers in December as we would any other year. We are positioned between three cities, and at Christmas time it is the cities that usually experience a massive influx of shoppers. But everything is changing this year and I have definitely seen a shift in people wanting to support local businesses. This year, a much wider message about helping the high street is being promoted on a national level. On a more local level, I have been heavily involved in trying to revive the area post-lockdown. We have started an initiative called ‘Keep the Heart Beating’ which is focused on getting people back to the high street. Everyone or everything is local to somewhere and, now more than ever, I think people have come to appreciate that.

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes Toy Barnhaus

Going for gold

y the time you read this, we will be entering the golden quarter, although what it will hold this year really is anyone’s guess. The past month has been another busy one for us, with a store relocation and a new warehouse to keep us occupied. Trade for the last few weeks has been surprisingly good, and there has been a noticeable increase in footfall. It is still behind this time last year, but the average transaction value remains up to help offset that. We have had our best few weeks since re-opening, and it does feel as though people are starting to buy early for Christmas this year. Customers are clearly planning ahead, perhaps worried about coming out when it is busier, and maybe choosing to spread the cost over a few months. This is clearly good news for us; although we can allow more customers in the shop at any one time due to people wearing masks, there is no way we can safely welcome the numbers that we normally do in December. Therefore, anything that spreads out sales is a good thing. At the time of writing, the kids have been settling back in at school for a week or so, and we are finally comparing like for like, after what has been a very disrupted few months. Over the past week, trade has slowed year on year, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out over the month. We have already had to deal with the challenges of supporting staff members who have had to self-isolate and get tests (all negative thankfully), but cases are on the rise, and it is something we are all going to have to deal with over the next few months. We are still constantly having to react to different situations and work out how to handle them. However, as you know, we like to stay positive, and we are trying to play catch up with our main season orders, which normally would have been done by now - at the Toymaster show or in the early summer. Speaking to suppliers, quite a few have warned of shortages on certain lines, and we are having to commit earlier than in previous years but, if you haven’t got the stock, you can’t sell it! Although we need to be aware of potential uncertainties, there are certain ranges/categories that are guaranteed to sell every year, so we need to make sure we have enough stock in those areas. As several national retailers have cut back their toys offering, there are opportunities for extra sales to be had this year. It has been an unpredictable year for licensed merchandise. The pandemic has laid waste to film schedules, which has had a knock-on effect on particular licences. Trolls was one we were looking forward to and had bought into, but the film was released online while stores were closed, and we ended up missing the boat on it. Otherwise, there have not really been any films to get behind. Our core pre-school licences; Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and Thomas, are all still very strong. In dolls, Barbie is having a fantastic year, and there are some great Barbie lines for Christmas. You can’t discuss licences without mentioning LOL Surprise!, which is still going strong in its fourth year, and unlike other collectibles has not really suffered during the pandemic. The new AW range is about to launch, and we are confident will be in our top sellers this season – even a pandemic cannot slow down the LOL juggernaut.

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Retail Profile

Canny and adaptable It’s safe to say that Toytown is thoroughly bucking the retail trend at the moment, with multiple new store openings and strong sales leaving managing director Alan Simpson ‘totally delighted’. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to Alan at the start of September, to find out how the business has been faring and his thoughts on the Q3/4 period.

“

It is what it is,” says Alan, when asked to comment on the general coronavirus situation. A pragmatic, somewhat unflappable businessman, Alan’s response to the lockdown announcement was to plan a number of ‘what if?’ scenarios, from the gloomiest outlook to the best possible one. As a nationwide retailer, reopening after lockdown was made somewhat more challenging by the varying guidelines in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but Alan is clearly over the moon with the figures he’s seeing, now all Toytown stores have welcomed back their customers.

“We’ve far exceeded the numbers put forth in our best-case scenario calculations,” he enthuses. “There are some stores that aren’t yet performing as well as they arguably should be in a normal year, but these are being more than offset by other stores that are blowing last year’s numbers out of the water – we’re seeing a number of locations beating 2019 figures by 70-80%. Could I have predicted at the end of March that we’d be in as good as a position as we are? Never in my wildest dreams. While any retailer can expect to lose money in the first few months of the year, we came out of lockdown in a stronger financial position than we ended last year.” New store openings continue apace, having been set back a few months by the lockdown. A location in Poole was opened in August, followed by a store on the outskirts of Derry which apparently enjoyed a ‘phenomenal’ opening weekend. Worcester then welcomed a new Toytown too, while the start of this month will see yet another store open its doors. Alan is also tentatively exploring another mid-October opening, which, if successful, would mark the firm cut-off point for 2020 openings. Already, several new stores have been put to bed for 2021. “Covid has cleaned out a lot of retailers, with more CVAs and further closures almost certainly still to come,” notes Alan. “As a business, Toytown can move quickly to fill voids, which are something landlords really don’t want right now. Where retailers have come unstuck, so have landlords. We always take the view with landlords that we’re all in this together; neither can exist without the other.”

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Footfall in shopping centres is returning, Alan tells me, generally around 60-70% of ‘normal’ levels. However, with holidays abroad curtailed, consumers have more to spend – and are happy to do so. Toytown Portrush, situated in a popular seaside town, has been beating its best-ever week’s numbers by 20%, thanks to excess cash, pent up demand and the ongoing closure of a local amusement park. Clearly, kids want to spend their money on toys, novelties and entertainment, and toy shops are benefitting as a result. Pocket money toys and collectibles are selling well, as they usually do, but Alan says it’s the bigger ticket items that are flying off the shelves in surprising numbers, given the time of year. Throughout lockdown, Toytown placed huge emphasis on maintaining its strong supplier relationships. This involved paying suppliers to terms, rather than trying to move the goalposts. With suppliers experiencing similar cashflow issues to retailers, Alan was adamant that his business wouldn’t contribute to anyone’s woes. “This will stand us in good stead with our suppliers moving forward,” he says. “The norm in retail has been to look for discounts or push payments back – or just put your head in the sand altogether and ignore requests for payment, as some retailers, not necessarily those in the toy industry, were seen to do. It was on us to resolve cashflow issues, no one else. We had a conversation with the bank, and the government loan scheme came in very handy; we used it to ensure everyone was paid on time. The bulk of our retail deals are turnover deals, so where some retailers are now looking to switch to this approach, we’ve already been doing so for the past 10 years. We didn’t have landlords banging down

Retail Profile the door asking for rent during lockdown, because our model means zero turnover, zero rent. We honoured every deal and commitment we had in place throughout the entire period.” I asked Alan what his views were on the cancellations and postponements that continue to plague the trade show calendar. While photographic assets and catalogues from core suppliers are sufficient to convey new lines, Alan says he will feel the loss of events including the Hong Kong buying trip, which he feels is unlikely to go ahead in its usual fashion; not only is foreign travel still unsettled, but so is the political situation, leaving him uncertain about travelling out. He is also pragmatic about the potential loss of other trade shows: “In business, when you’re confronted with a problem you look for a solution, and you make the best of it. The toy trade is so adaptable, and we will find ways and means to cope whatever happens. I was at AIS last week for a meeting on FOB; there’s a lot of core stuff we major on, and it is nice to get new product, but I’m a huge believer in not fixing what isn’t broken. Therefore, we stick with core lines and just occasionally slot in the odd bit of new. There are times when you need to consolidate and bed in, and we are certainly seeing such times now.” In last month’s interview with Learning Express’ Rick Derr, we asked how suppliers and reps can bridge the gap while trade shows are off. We put the same question to Alan, who himself was once a sales agent representing several suppliers in Ireland. Back in those days, samples were key, with Alan noting that there’s nothing like getting a

sample into a buyer’s hands. He says: “TV adverts, Zoom calls, virtual showrooms – none of it can replace the hands-on experience of touching and feeling a toy for the first time. How many key buyers are there in toys? 10 or 20? When you think about it, getting samples out to key buyers is very affordable, especially if you usually have budget for flights abroad, hotels and entertainment. A box of samples, tailored to our business, be those core volume lines or something a bit different, would be very welcome in this climate. Then you set up your Zoom call so you can talk us through the product, while its actually on the table in front of us.” Alan agrees with Rick’s point about catalogues, noting that some can be incredibly deep and involved, and aren’t pitched at individual companies. Rather, such tomes are universal and therefore require a fair bit of wading through. Alan adds: “When I was a rep, I liked to go to appointments with a prepared order that I felt was right for each customer. Each one was different, a bespoke product assortment curated to provide what I perceived to be the greatest potential for return. It’s a joint venture between the retailer and the supplier, so sit down with us, present us with a solution and let’s go from there. We may not have a Toy Fair in 2021, or a plaY-room show until April or May; at that stage, it’s getting late to commit to back end numbers. In all probability, some of the suppliers will have to do the Hong Kong trip in some shape or form just to find new product, which they’ll then have to promote and sell to us. We’re happy to entertain this, but I’d like it to be a more interactive, hands-on experience than simply flicking through a catalogue or looking at a toy

through your computer screen. This is a time for ingenuity and thinking outside the box.” Alan remains realistic about the Christmas period, especially given the rise in coronavirus cases when we spoke, and the increasing numbers of local lockdowns. He feels further local lockdowns are likely, while the worst-case scenario – another national lockdown – would be an absolute last resort for the government. Where local lockdowns have taken place, there’s been an obvious impact on stores in that area; the Leicester Toytown store was re-closed for four weeks but is now open and rebuilding its numbers, while the Aberdeen store was able to remain open. However, travel restrictions in and out of the locked-down zone around Aberdeen meant sales were seriously disrupted. As we get closer to Christmas, Alan tells me, local lockdowns in areas such as Manchester, Birmingham and Middlesbrough will almost certainly negatively impact things. “It’s an unknown what could happen over the next few months,” Alan comments. “I don’t have any reason to be pessimistic about Christmas though, quite the opposite, especially given the sales we’ve seen over the past few months. The situation is outside our control, and we will just have to deal with issues as and when they arrive. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. That’s my take on it.” He adds: “In times like this, the canny and adaptable survive, not the juggernauts that take an age to change direction. The future will hold so many curveballs – as an industry, we all need to be thinking on our feet.”

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Viewpoint Blackhatters’ tea party Thierry Bourret Thierry has worked in the toy industry for over a decade, specialising in developing international sales and opening up new markets globally.

There has been much written about Amazon’s challenges with fake, dangerous and non-compliant products sold on its marketplace. But that is not the only issue sellers face on the platform. With so many products listed, how can a supplier make sure that its product gets to the top of the ranking? The traditional way is to pay for advertising to ensure a climb to the top of the search list. However, there are other, less scrupulous methods, which some blackhatters employ. Here are just a few: • T o find out how many products are in stock from a competitor, blackhatters can enter a fake order for 999 pieces: when they view their basket, the quantity in stock will be shown. To go a step further, they can order them all, then return them to get a refund. That will remove the seller from the buy box, as they will have no stock left. • T hey could also order a competitor’s product, break it or even change it to one of their own fake products and return it as “not as described”. This will automatically suspend sales of the product as noncompliant. The seller will then have to spend time sorting this out with one of the Amazon chatbots dishing out canned answers. This is extremely time consuming and will cause immense frustration. The idea is for the blackhatter to take advantage of a seller’s tarnished reputation to sell similar or counterfeit product. By using the same ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), they are stealing sales from you. • A nother technique is ASIN piggybacking; normally used on an ASIN that is discontinued

or no longer in stock, but which has a good review average. The blackhatter will modify the listing with new pictures and content and off they go. All consumers see is a product which has thousands of good reviews - this means instant success is almost guaranteed. • B lackhatters have also been known to report competitors’ products as fake directly to Amazon to get them suspended, while - guess what – you have to try to speak to the same chatbots to get this rectified, which can take weeks. • T o be fair, Amazon has tried to crack down on fake reviews, although there are still sites promoting paid reviews (strictly against Amazon policy). Just have a look at fiverr.com and you will find people offering Amazon reviews. It’s easy to post fake reviews on the product and wait for the Amazon algorithm to decide that a product has received too many reviews compared to amount of product sold, and the account will be suspended. Back to the friendly chatbot to get this sorted… • L odging a fake patent infringement is another technique used. This is sure to take a long time to sort out with Amazon and in the meantime, the account is suspended while (you’ve guessed it) there’s yet another chat with the friendly chatbot.... • L eaving negative reviews on a product will also send a product down in the ranking; it is just as easy to find people on freelance sites (upwork.com) to leave negative reviews for a competitor and positive reviews for the blackhatter.

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• I mproving a listing’s ranking on Google will improve the Amazon rankings. Blackhatters will improve their Google rankings, and their Amazon rankings as a result, by building backlinks which force Amazon into thinking a specific keyword had been searched for an item. Using a team of freelancers to get a product ranked No.1 isn’t that difficult: they use a specific word search, click on a product and purchase it. This will manipulate Amazon to rank the product No.1 in the category. The accomplices can then send the product back and get refunded. The same freelancer can also add product to the Wish List on their fake accounts, which will help with ranking. • F inally, the parent and child technique is when sellers create parent-child product variations, adding in old abandoned private label products to their listing as a ‘child’, bringing over the reviews to their main listing. This increases the review count for the product and creates more social proof. The drawback is the Question & Answer section, and reviews of unrelated product appearing on the listing, but this isn’t too much of a problem as favourable reviews are pushed to the top. I belong to a WeChat group of genuine Amazon sellers who have encountered all these issues on a regular basis. Sadly, I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other questionable techniques - these are just the ones that I know of. Hopefully Amazon will get round to addressing these loopholes: as things stand, there is still a lot of work which Amazon needs to do to make trading on its platform fair.

Let’s Dino Do This! Dino Patroller

Viewpoint Toy Safety Marking Changes – CE or UKCA? Matthew Thorpe Matthew Thorpe is business development manager at MTS, with specialist experience in Toy and children’s product sector.

Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic, the clock has been counting down towards 31st December, the end of the transition period following the UK’s departure from the EU. From 1st January 2021, new toys placed on the market will be impacted by new markings requirements, as well as the movement of goods if stock is already held within Europe. I am writing this piece in early September, based on published government guidance and conversations with the government Department for Business. Things will change further and there are still UK/EU trade talks ongoing that will significantly affect things if/ when these are concluded. The latest published guidance applies to all goods that currently require a CE mark. From a toy industry perspective, there are different requirements according to where goods are made and/ or sold, and there are many nuances and caveats. For this piece, I am therefore mostly considering ‘normal’ toys produced in Asia and sold in Europe from 1st January 2021 - this covers the most common supply chain scenario. I’d be happy to discuss the specifics for this or for other supply chains if there are questions on the upcoming changes. To start, it might be helpful to state what is not changing (or not changing to any significant extent): • T esting - current certification and testing are largely unaffected, so there should be no immediate need to rush out and retest unless manufacturers are making changes to toy designs • Safety warnings • I nformation needed to be collected and retained e.g.: safety assessments, manufacturing details, test reports, material details etc. The upcoming changes are mostly determined by where the goods will be sold – specifically which side of the English Channel or Irish Sea the point of sale will be. Some key changes will be: • N o single set of safety markings across the UK • N ew UKCA safety mark (currently the CE mark) for Great Britain • A ddress details for contact by consumers or authorities • D eclaration of Conformities – differences for the GB & EU markets • T he names of the safety standards in

Great Britain – EN71 will be renamed • T oys requiring EC Type Approvals Selling in Great Britain (England, Scotland & Wales) Encouragingly, current guidance suggests the markings cliff edge we were heading towards has been avoided. Toys will need to carry the new UKCA mark, which replaces the CE mark as the symbol declaring compliance to the safety legislation. The UKCA mark was developed back in 2018, when the Brexit planning was very different, but due to the detail of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, N. Ireland will have different rules, meaning that the UKCA mark is, in reality, a GBCA mark. The guidance says to start applying the UKCA mark as soon as possible after 1st January 2021 and no later than the end of 2021. A CE mark alone will be sufficient during this time provided there is no divergence of requirements between GB and the EU. Similarly, manufacturers should have a British address, but there is time allowed to sell with an EU27 address before this is mandated. The BS EN 71 standards are expected to be renamed but the detail will remain the same. In very simple terms, if manufacturers are selling within Great Britain now, they can continue to do so after 1st January 2021. However, some changes will need to be made as soon as possible. Manufacturers will still need to create a Declaration of Conformity for selling in Britain referencing the new standards once they start using them. Selling in Northern Ireland As trade across the island of Ireland will be unrestricted, UK authorities will effectively apply EU customs requirements in N. Ireland. In toy safety terms, this means that the CE mark will continue to be the safety symbol in this region. There has been some guidance issued, while more has been promised on areas requiring clarification, such as addresses. For example, do items sold in Northern Ireland need a local address or an EU27 address? If the latter, this could be very problematic. The UK government has recently tabled the Internal Market Bill that will affect Northern Ireland, so this may be an area when the ‘specific and limited’ effects we’ve heard about will be seen. There will be another safety symbol – the Northern Ireland compliance mark (UKNI). The UKNI mark will be applied to

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items needing what is currently called an EC Type approval, and so will be probably be rare within the toy market. Manufacturers looking to sell across the UK will need to meet both the GB and NI requirements, and mark products accordingly. As yet, there isn’t any guidance on enforcement of the dual system. Common sense says toys will not be stopped from entering N. Ireland because they have a Manchester address, for example, but only time will tell. Selling in the EU27 (European Union without the UK) Within the EU27 there are no changes; the CE mark continues to be the conformity symbol. The main impact for companies here is that a UK address will no longer be sufficient and an EU27 address will be needed, either through another EU27 office or by appointing an Authorised Representative in the EU. The guidance from the EU is that an EU27 address will be required from 1st January 2021, so this will apply to any stock held in the UK at that time Whilst the focus in this article is on toys, toy companies selling non-toy goods should be aware that such items will also require an EU27 address from January under the General Product Safety Directive. How heavily this will be enforced remains to be seen. EC Type Approvals EC Type Approval will become known as UK Conformity Assessments (hence the UKCA mark) in January. Items assessed by an EU Notified Body currently on the market can continue to be sold, but new certification by a UK Conformity Assessment body will be needed when placing new goods onto the GB market. MTS will become a UK Conformity Assessment body on 1st January 2021 as part of these changes. The guidance has changed a lot in the last two weeks, and I would expect there to be further changes over the next few weeks. Manufacturers that haven’t yet reviewed their current toy markings should do so now; the priority will be to check items destined for the EU27 to see if they currently bear a UK address, as these toys will be the first to be affected. Then start appraising items heading for Great Britain and make changes as necessary. If you have not yet seen a UKCA mark on a toy, you will soon. For more information, contact Matthew Thorpe - mat@mts-uk.co.uk.

Viewpoint

Alfi Ariff Alfi is an Amazon Strategist and co-founder of CAOSS, a fullservice Amazon agency, working with a full spectrum of brands. A true all-rounder, he is also proud to be a Pointless Champion.

Amazon, third-party sellers and brand owners: Who controls who? As an opensource sales platform, Amazon allows most companies to resell most products. A company can set up and start selling anything from pens to porcupine quills, printers to pruning shears. If they can source your product and turn a profit on Amazon then that’s great for you and them, or is it? Let’s dig a little deeper into some problems 3P sellers can cause the brand owner. Amazon offers great tools to promote and market products. However, one of the most effective of these tools is currently restricted to brand owners - you need to be the registered trademark owner to unlock them. This means, in effect, that any product listing set up by a 3P seller on Amazon will be poorer than it might be. Millions of potential buyers will not see your brand in the best light. Critical information could be missing. Assets or product images are becoming as important as copy on Amazon. Utilising a carefully selected blend of seven hi-Res images can be powerful. Brands will invest heavily in product shots and lifestyle images; these assets are a critical element of a good Amazon page. Often, 3p sellers don’t have access to the majority of these assets. They’ll just get what they can, from where they can. Often, they use images that are poor, old or not at the right resolution to really showcase the brand. Reviews on Amazon are a major influence on buyers’ decision making. Negative reviews can kill

a product. It amazes me how many bad reviews are based on incorrect content and/or information. If I order a red product and a blue one turns up or if the order size says 500g and a 250g pack arrives, the chances are I will review that product negatively. Do 3P sellers make these mistakes deliberately? Of course not, it’s often through lack of information, poor attention to detail or a simple lack of basic Amazon skills. Although it will reflect on the seller, more importantly these needless errors will affect market perception of your brand and products. It goes without saying that manufacturers cannot tell companies what price they must sell for in the UK. However, having as much consistency in your omnichannel e-commerce pricing is important for most brands. By nature, Amazon is not a discounting platform. It wants to offer buyers great value for money, but its core focus is really on its vast and relevant product range, market leading customer service and its ability to deliver what the customer wants - and deliver it fast. 3P sellers, in most cases, want and need to have the buy box for all the products they sell, so they can generate good sales volumes. There are several factors in achieving and maintaining the buy box when multiple companies sell the same product. Price is one important factor. If a 3P seller has an Amazon catalogue of any more than 20

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products, it is almost impossible for them to know if they are the cheapest across all their listings. They manage this by using one of the many re-pricing software tools available, which will simply alter the price on an hourly basis to make sure their product is the cheapest, undercutting other sellers. Consequently, the price could go up and down more than 20 times a day. This may be an advantage for buyers, but uncontrolled daily price fluctuation is not good for a brand’s reputation and buyer sentiment. Think back to when most people bought things in shops. If your brand and products were sold in one of the UKs largest multiple retailers, that would be great. But what if your product was in placed the wrong aisle, behind 10 other products, covered in dust in an old box and had six different price tickets on it? Not so great. Amazon is an amazing place to sell, there are millions of pounds of sales up for grabs on a daily basis. But making sure your brand is under your own control, rather than a 3P seller control should be a main focus. It makes no difference if you have a Vendor or Seller Central account, implementing the correct strategy to ensure you keep control is critical. If you would like to know more or need help devising or executing your Amazon strategy please drop me a line alfi@caoss.net

Special Feature

Barbie

Barbie and neuroscientists from Cardiff University show benefits of doll play The new study uses neuroimaging for the first time to explore the effects of doll play, and reveals that it helps children develop empathy and social processing skills.

ver the past 18 months, senior lecturer Dr. Sarah Gerson and colleagues at Cardiff University’s Centre for Human Developmental Science have used neuroimaging technology to provide the first indications of the benefits of doll play at a brain level. Through monitoring the brain activity of children, as they played with a range of Barbie dolls, the team found that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), a region of the brain associated with social information processing, was activated even when the child was playing on their own. The benefits of solo doll play were shown to be equal for both boys and girls. Dr. Gerson explains: “This is a completely new finding. We use this area of the brain when we think about other people, especially when we think about their thoughts or feelings. Dolls encourage children to create their own little imaginary worlds, as opposed to problem-solving or building games. They encourage children to think about other people and how they might interact with each other. The fact that we saw the pSTS to be active in our study shows that playing with dolls is helping them rehearse some of the social skills they will need in later life. Because this brain region has been shown to play a similar role in supporting empathy and social processing across six continents, these findings are likely to be country agnostic”. The findings of the study show that when children played alone with dolls, they showed the same levels of activation of the pSTS as they do when playing with others. When children were left to play tablet games on their own, there was far less activation of the pSTS, even though the games involved a considerable creative element. To understand the relevancy of these

neuroscience findings, Barbie independently commissioned a global survey of parents in 22 countries. Results showed that 91% ranked empathy as a key social skill they would like their child to develop, but only 26% were aware that doll play could help their child develop these skills. During this time at home, parents are increasingly worried about ensuring their child is developing social development skills, with more than 70% saying they are concerned about how isolation might affect their child and how they interact with others. Similarly, 74% of parents are more likely to encourage their child to play with a toy if they knew it was proven to help their child develop social and emotional skills, like empathy. “As leaders in the dolls category, we’ve always known that doll play has a positive impact on kids, but up until now, we have not had neuroscientific data that demonstrates these benefits,” says Lisa McKnight, SVP and global head of Barbie and Dolls, Mattel. “The findings of this research highlights that playing with

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dolls, such as Barbie, offers positive benefits in preparing children for the future through nurturing social skills like empathy. As we continue to inspire the limitless potential in every child, we are proud to offer dolls that encourage skills we know are highly valued by parents and are determinants in children’s future emotional, academic, and social success.” Barbie will be supporting these findings with an online hub, Barbie.com/Benefits, featuring resources for parents, caregivers, and children, to assist them in enhancing and applying their social processing skills. These resources have been developed alongside leading empathy expert, writer, and educational psychologist, Dr. Michele Borba. “The latest scientific findings from Cardiff University and Barbie are extraordinary and so relevant to the times we are living, given the limited social interaction our children can have, “ commented Michele. “It’s been shown that children who have developed empathy and social skills early in life can have better grades, stay in school longer and make healthier choices overall. Empathetic children might also be more likely to stand up for a child being bullied and try to engage and resolve the conflict. Understanding that kids can help develop these skills through playing with dolls like Barbie, is remarkable and a helpful tool for parents.” The results of the study have been published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience as ‘Exploring the Benefits of Doll Play through Neuroscience.’ Recognising that this study is a first step towards understanding the positive impact of doll play with further research required to build on these initial findings, Dr. Sarah Gerson and the Cardiff University team along with Mattel, have committed to further neuroscience studies in 2021.

fresh FRESH THIS MONTH:

Each month Fresh sets out to find the latest products that will have toy retailers reaching for the phone. In October we have new releases from: Golden Bear, Globiox, Lego, Nikko, Papo, Sambro and Toynamics.

2020 advent calendars Lego 01753 495 000 | www.lego.com

Lego has unveiled this year’s line-up of Christmas advent calendars, with four options to choose from - Harry Potter Advent Calendar, Star Wars Advent Calendar, City Advent Calendar and Friends Advent Calendar. Each 24-door calendar offers a selection of fun miniature builds, characters and accessories to reveal, collect and play with.

The Harry Potter calendar lets fans of the Wizarding World count down to the big day - and the Yule Ball. Collectible figures and minifigures include Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil and Cho Chang, plus other builds such as the miniature Beauxbaton’s carriage are also waiting to be revealed. Many of the calendar’s contents will also complement Lego’s extensive range of Harry Potter play sets. Star Wars fans can collect an assortment of figures with a festive twist. The 12 characters, including Darth Vader (complete with a Christmas jumper) and D-O (sporting a Santa hat), are accompanied by 12 mini builds, plus a foldout playmat. Featuring an image of the Millennium Falcon decked out with Christmas lights, the calendar and its contents will inspire creative play. The Lego City calendar lets kids assemble festive scenes thanks to its seasonal builds and snowy playmat. Six minifigures are also available, including Duke DeTain, Harl Hubbs, Freya McCloud, Rooky Partnur, Daisy ‘Kaboom’ and Chief Wheeler. Offering three themes to enjoy - Emma’s room, Santa’s toy workshop and winter wonderland - the Friends calendar lets kids progress through each setting, building excitement as the Christmas countdown gets nearer to the big day. Accessories include a snowball launcher and a skateboard, which can be discovered alongside Friends minifigures.

XOXO arts & crafts range Sambro 0845 873 9380 | www.sambro.com

Sambro continues to develop a portfolio of own-brand lines such as the successful XOXO range, which combines aspirational and fashion-forward styles with fun ways to discover both cosmetics and arts & craft. The XOXO range includes fixed cosmetics, DIY bath and body products, nail stations, nail art and hair chalks. Sambro’s Samby range is designed for early years play, while Sambro’s Tie-Dye Maker, which launches in autumn 2020, enables young consumers to discover this current trend. The Sambro team will also be launching its own-brand creative range in 2021.

Hape Fun Fan Fryer

Toynamics 0116 478 5230 | www.toynamics.co.uk Following a successful unveiling of its Fun Fan Fryer, Hape has now upgraded the product’s packaging to involve a ‘try me’ function for customers to benefit from in store. The Fun Fan Fryer, which is available to purchase now, features an inbuilt fan which makes the food turn in the pan as if it were simmering or frying. It includes six recipes on three felt discs, one metal spatula and a set of salt and pepper shakers which click when the tops are turned. Children can pretend to cook like a real chef with the variety of meals which accompany the fryer. The Fun Fan Fryer forms part of Hape’s bigger food and kitchen range, including its new soft food baskets. All Hape toys are exclusively available through Toynamics UK & Ireland, for more information email sales@toynamics.co.uk or call the number above.

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TWO UNIQUE CONCEPTS from the North are waiting for

future licensing partners

www.molkky.com

m .co

rs a t s o

VISIT US AT THE FESTIVAL OF LICENSING For licensing enquires please contact: sales@pluslicens.se

m u l w.

fresh

Action vehicle range

Nikko Toys +852 2-1119077 | www.nikkotoys.com Omni X from Nikko Toys features a unique design and sideways sliding action, meaning young racers can drive, drift and spin their vehicle around corners at speed. The remote ensures easy handling and offers traditional controls and three instant access action buttons for even more racing possibilities. Omni X includes batteries and USB quick charger. Pro Trucks new splash and dust proof high speed racer features full suspension for racing on multiple terrains, such as mud, sand, dirt and snow. It features a sealed watertight chassis and quick charge USB battery, and can race up to 14km/h. As part of the Road Rippers brand, Speed Swipe is a high-tech race car. Race enthusiasts start it up and swipe their hand over the top of the car to activate the engine revs and lights. The more they swipe, the more it revs and the further the Speed Swipe will race. With the Machine Maker City Service brand, kids can build, take apart and rebuild their favourite city service vehicles. They can construct the Fire Truck, Garbage Truck and Tow truck, and then mix and match to invent their own machine. Each vehicle includes vehicle parts, a screwdriver, a driver action figure and a manual.

FunLockets Secret Journal Golden Bear 01952 608 308 www.goldenbeartoys.com

Golden Bear has added to its FunLockets range with a new hero line - the FunLockets Secret Journal. Combining the popular elements of finding keys and unlocking hidden mysteries, the Secret Journal offers activity and creativity while encouraging children aged 6+ to express their thoughts and feelings. Once children discover the unique way to unlock their Secret Journal, they can discover more hidden keys in secret compartments along with over 30 accessories including stickers, stencils and other stationery, secret messages, a lined notepad for recording the day’s events and a glittery pencil. Kids can hide their secret writings, drawings and doodles in the lockable case, while the unicorn charm keyring can be attached either to the journal, or to a rucksack or school bag. Golden Bear says it has seen an increase in the popularity of creative writing and journaling since lockdown began, and is therefore expecting its FunLockets Secret Journal to resonate with kids. The National Literacy Trust recently cited the connection between writing and improved mental wellbeing; as well as being fun, journaling can also act as a positive mindfulness exercise, the company states.

Pix Brix

Globix Retail 07917 667266 | www.globix-retail.de/en Pix Brix is a new pixel art puzzle brick that allows young artists to create 2D pixel art and 3D builds with only one patented piece design. Pix Brix pieces are fun, safe and reusable, and are compatible with other major brick brands. Fast and easy to enjoy, the product does not require a base plate or pegboard; artists simply slide the pieces together like a puzzle to create 8-bit inspired pixel art, or slide and stack them to create impressive 3D builds. The patented slide connection keeps the bricks together without the need for ironing, water or glue. Pix Brix are available in 32 colours and are divided into three colour palettes: Dark, Medium and Light. The creative possibilities are endless as kids recreate their favourite characters and scenes in pixel art form.

Limited Edition gift box Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus

Papo 0121 274 2121 | www.papo-france.com

An ideal Christmas present for dinosaur fans, Papo’s Limited Edition gift box Spinosaurus Aegytpiacus lets kids get up close and personal with one of the biggest theropods known to date. This extraordinary dinosaur has been reproduced in an aquatic hunting position and accurately reflects the characteristics of the species. As with the rest of the Papo range, the Spinosaurus is hand painted. Presented in its collector’s gift box, it also has an articulated jaw for more playability. The model is complemented by the The Land of Dinosaurs sustainable cardboard play set, which features an erupting volcano, cave, lagoon and tree.

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For more information, contact Adrian Leafe, European sales manager - Adrian. leafe@globix-retail. de – or call the number above.

Anna Knight, Informa Markets

Q&A

Festival ready Running from 6th-29th October 2020, the Festival of Licensing is billed as ‘the most inclusive global licensing event to date’. Toy World spoke to Anna Knight, Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group vice president, about what the event will offer, and whether the virtual approach will be seen in 2021 events. live panels and on-demand contact to watch at a time that suits. In Europe, headliners are The Smiley Co. on day one, and a sports panel on day two, including licensing representatives from Formula and Team GB. We will also have a Festival Retail Programme featuring exclusive educational content from three trusted partners – Trend Bible, Kids Industries and Buyers Eye – and free Advice Clinics hosted by Dave Collins (PowerStation Studios), Ruth Golightly (Asda), Bethan Garton (The Point. 1888), Angeles Blanco and Julia Redman (Buyers Eye). Pillar four is experiences, more on that later.

What did you learn from the virtual show which replaced Licensing Expo this summer? The first lesson was how important it is for us to spend time educating visitors and exhibitors so that they better understand the nuances of attending a virtual event and maximise their time online. For Festival, we’ve been holding a series of webinars to help with this, and our customer services team is reaching out to all exhibitors to lend a hand. The second was that it’s not possible to hold a single time-zoned event that genuinely caters for regional markets, which is why we launched Festival with time-zoned regional content.

How have you approached the Festival of Licensing and what are your key aims with the event? We want ‘Festival’ to be a truly global event, one that provides the entire global licensing industry with a platform to connect within and between regions, and that provides regionalspecific content and meeting opportunities in the local time zone. Content-wise, Festival hinges on four key pillars. The first is networking. Exhibitors are the No. 1 reason visitors attend our physical shows, and it’s no different online. As I answer this, we have just hit 100 exhibitors with four weeks to go. For Week One, they include ViacomCBS Consumer Products, Hasbro, BBC Studios, Pokemon, Panini, Sega, Mattel, Lisle Licensing and many more. Next up is IP discovery. We’ll have a series of live and exclusive brand and property showcases from exhibitors between 12-1pm and 3-4pm every day. In Europe, we’ll also broadcast the License This! competition final live on Thursday 8th October. The third pillar is content. Each regional event will have a daily Live Stage keynote at 9am, plus

While most people believe that virtual shows can never truly replace physical events, are there any advantages to the digital format? Absolutely. One of the beautiful things about digital is that it makes the previously impossible possible. From the outset, we’ve encouraged exhibitors to think differently and creatively about the way they use their time online, and to wow visitors with content and experiences they wouldn’t have been able to share in the physical space. Secondly, you don’t have to travel to attend virtual events, which is critical right now, because many companies – and indeed, countries – still have travel bans in place. Licensing Week Virtual opened up the event, and the industry, to a wider and newer audience, and we’re confident we’ll see a similar visitor trend happen with Festival.

One of the common conceptions of virtual events is that it is hard to truly engage visitors – some have even gone so far as to describe them as ‘boring’. How are you and the participating licensors intending

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to make Festival of Licensing more engaging than other virtual events? How can they replicate that personal experience which the close-knit licensing community thrives on? I can totally get on board with that. I think everyone has suffered from ‘Zoom-fatigue’ at some point over the last six months, and the last thing we want to do is add to that. One thing we all love about licensing is how much fun this industry is, and we wanted to replicate that at Festival. So, we have a full after-hours programme of daily live evening entertainment and experiences in each region. We have our Community & Wellbeing programme, sponsored by ViacomCBS, which features wellbeing workshops, business mentoring and advice clinics and our global charity fundraiser – License to Move – which will involve the whole global industry raising money for The Light Fund, Magic Wheelchair and Licensing International’s Small Business Global Grants Fund.

How can licensees and retailers make the most of FOL? They should plan. Visit www. festivaloflicensing.com, to view the events being held and what content there will be at each event, decide which you want to attend and register. You can then login and build your profile. This is important - the more information you give the platform, the more it will give you back in terms of recommendations, or meeting suggestions. Then use the Festival Matchmaking Service, which lets you request an unlimited number of online video meetings with exhibitors. There is also a drop-in video meetings function during the event to catch those that they may have missed. Retailers should check out the programme mentioned earlier, which has been developed specifically with them in mind.

When will you start looking at how you approach the 2021 shows – can we expect physical shows to return, in tandem with a digital element, next year? We have already started. You can absolutely expect a return to physical shows next year at some point. We’re currently working on what that plan looks like and will release further information following Festival of Licensing. But I can tell you that all events next year will feature a significant digital element.

Feature

Licensing Spotlight

Virtual reality R

unning from 6th-29th October 2020, Festival of Licensing will be a four-week virtual gathering, bringing together the licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage. It is anticipated to be the most inclusive global licensing event to date and builds off the momentum of the Global Licensing Group’s Licensing Week Virtual event, which exceeded expectations in its inaugural launch in June. Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group vice president, Anna Knight, commented: “Although the decision to transition Brand Licensing Europe to an all-virtual event was a difficult one, I’m proud that we have a comprehensive offering in its place and look forward to the European event kicking off Festival of Licensing.” She added, “Our partners are telling us that driving domestic and international connections, discovering new IP and brands and learning how to navigate the new consumer landscape are paramount to the health of forward-planning for the business of brand licensing, and Festival of Licensing will support all of these needs.” Since being announced, a raft of key players in the licensing industry have registered to exhibit or attend the all-virtual event, including Hasbro, CBSViacom, Mattel, Pokémon and more, with brands spanning entertainment, publishing, gaming, sport, lifestyle, not for profit and heritage. Retailers registered to attend Festival of Licensing include Asda, Target, Selfridges, Tesco, Walmart, Hamleys, Next and The Entertainer, among others.

It was announced in July that the annual Brand Licensing Europe event would transition to an all-virtual setup, following ongoing concerns surrounding mass gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. Below, Toy World presents a handy round-up of the latest news on events and programmes set to take place in this year’s Festival of Licensing.

Attendees can opt to join any or all of the Festival’s three regionally tailored events for Europe, Asia and the Americas, as well as the Licensing Leadership Summit, originally set to take place this November in New York City. The timetable is as follows: • W eek 1: 6-8 October - Europe, powered by Brand Licensing Europe eek 2: 14-15 October - Asia, powered by • W Licensing Expo China and Licensing Expo Japan eek 3: 20-22 October – North America and • W Latin America, powered by Licensing Expo eek 4: 28-29 October - Global C-suite virtual • W conference - Licensing Leadership Summit The first three events will be time-zoned around the territories they serve and deliver IP discovery, content, networking and various experiences, including Fully Licensed! - a programme of special live daily evening entertainment and experiences in each region. Informa, the Festival of Licensing organiser, has also detailed its retail programme, which is packed with exclusive content and expert advice for retailers at all experience levels to benefit from. Three trusted industry partners will deliver on demand, never-before-seen content as part of the programme. These include the Trend Bible MiniSeries, enabling retailers to learn how to use trends to spot the early signs of change and ensure they are in the best position possible to engage future consumers. Buyers Eye will be led by retail and licensing expert, Julia Redman, who will draw on her wealth of experience to outline the licensing opportunity open and available to retailers. Finally, Kids Industries

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co-founder, Gary Pope, will present five short minidocumentaries that deliver insights and include the unveiling of primary research specifically undertaken for Festival of Licensing, which explores consumer attitudes to the new retail landscape from France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. Attendees can also take advantage of the Festival of Licensing’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ live sessions, enabling retailers to ask a panel of experts anything they need to know about brand licensing and retail. European experts include Ruth Golightly, head of buying at Asda; Julia Redman; Dave Collins, co-founder PowerStation Studios; and licensing executive, Angeles Blanco, to name a few. Meanwhile, The Smiley brand, Alibaba and Authentic Brands Group (ABG) are the first keynotes revealed for the Festival of Licensing Live Stage agenda, sponsored by Crunchyroll. Festival of Licensing will also include educational content from event sponsor Licensing International, trade association for the global licensing industry. “One of the joys of virtual is that it can make the previously impossible possible, and we plan to use the power of the platform to fuel the imagination, delight and inspire in a fitting celebration of this industry and the people within it,” Anna concludes. With a jam-packed four weeks ahead, readers who haven’t already done so can view the full agenda and register via www.festivaloflicensing.com. Over the next few pages, Toy World highlights the latest developments from a selection of key licensors in our special ‘Licensing Spotlight’ feature.

Opinion

Britain’s divorce from the EU looms ever closer Registered Jones DesignsIP Ltd,

Trade Victor Caddy is Marks a partner at Wynne chartered & European patent attorneys and trademark attorneys. Here, he examines what Brexit means for the licensing community with regards to intellectual property rights, particularly trademarks and designs

Patents

Patent Analytics

Build your Rperfect strategy emember Brexit? With so much happening in the world this year, you may have forgotten that the UK has actually left the EU. So far, nothing much has changed, because we have been living through the divorce nisi (otherwise known as the Transition Period). But this will end on 31st December 2020. Once the divorce becomes final, there will be effects on your intellectual property rights, particularly trademarks and designs, as well as on any licence agreements you have. Many of the changes will affect the global toy industry, and everyone will be affected in some way. It’s important to ensure all businesses take the correct and necessary steps to protect themselves, both before the end of the year, and beyond.

applications for rights. Therefore, clones in the form of UK national rights will not be created. Instead, applicants will have an opportunity to file corresponding UK applications and backdate them to the filing dates or priority dates of the corresponding EU applications. You will have nine months to do this. Think of these as the streamed tracks on your ex-partner’s iPad: don’t forget to copy them in time. Another thing to bear in mind is that from 1st January, UK attorneys in general will lose the right to handle cases before the EU IPO (although they will be allowed to see pending cases through to a conclusion). Unlike your divorce lawyer, you want your trademark lawyer to represent you in future…...

Intellectual Property that’s built for you.

It is also important that you take the time to look at things like licences (and, in the case of trademarks, co-existence agreements) and check for things like territory. Most of the licences and agreements I have seen are worded in such a way that they should continue to cover the UK as well as the EU-27 after December 31st. However, it is worth checking. Whereas people (i.e. lawyers) have generally anticipated new states joining the EU, no one has really ever anticipated one leaving. If only the UK had signed a pre-nup… If there is any ambiguity about whether or not a contract continues to cover the UK after December 31st (and you want it to), it would be a good idea to execute an addendum between now and the end of the year. And yes, we can help here too.

Wynne-Jones IP are experts in giving you all the pieces to build the best For those with existing rights, for the UK IPO has possible service you, giving you peace of mind when it comes to I appreciate there’s an awful lot to take in, and The team at Wynne-Jones is also part of a taken the view that these should be respected, European block of IP law firms. This European much of it is about applying principles to your so EU trademark and design registrations as of protecting your IP assets. block means that we are one of the lucky UK IP law specific circumstances. Also, time is short. But if December 31st, 2020 will be cloned automatically into equivalent national UK registrations, at no cost. Think of it like getting your share of the CD collection. It’s a different case, however, for EU trademark and design applications that are pending on December 31st, 2020. In this case, the UK IPO’s view is that these are not yet rights – they are

firms that is able to handle both EU and UK cases in the future. We are all independent firms, but, jointly, we operate an IP law firm called AIPEX, which is based in the Netherlands, and hence is registered with the EU IPO. So, we can help those of you in the toy industry with both your UK and EU work from January 2021… even after the divorce.

you need a reassuring voice at the end of a phone line (counselling), or a zoom call to plan for the future (dating agency), we would be very happy to talk. (We give intellectual property advice too). And, in the fullness of time, we look forward to seeing you again in person, or meeting you for the first time. Our office door may not be open right now, but our virtual door most certainly is.

Looking for IP support, get in touch:

T: 0203 146 7888 | www.wynne-jones.com

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Company Profile

Hasbro Licensing

Fast forward for Hasbro and eOne

Hasbro completed its acquisition of Entertainment One (eOne) in January. At the time, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said the deal would accelerate the company’s blueprint strategy by expanding its brand portfolio with eOne’s global pre-school brands, adding proven TV and film expertise, and creating additional opportunities for long-term profitable growth. Nine months (and one pandemic) later, Toy World spoke to Marianne James, Hasbro’s vice president, EMEA Consumer Products, and Katie Rollings, SVP UK Licensing, Hasbro, to find out what the acquisitions means for both companies, as well as the toy and licensing industries.

“

Hasbro has always been very strong in the Kids and Families spaces, so being able to leverage eOne’s experience in the Pre-School sector, and its portfolio of properties, such as Peppa Pig and Ricky Zoom, is clearly one of the biggest positives about this acquisition,” explains Marianne. “We now have a very enviable portfolio, and the content development eOne brings to the business is second to none. It’s going to revolutionise our position in the industry.” One of eOne’s biggest USPs is the fact its portfolio offers a vast array of properties for all tastes and age groups, from infants through to adult viewers. Its family brands include Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, Cupcake & Dino: General Services and Ricky Zoom, plus many others. Combining its strengths in the Pre-School content space with Hasbro’s toy and brand experience means both companies are now in the position to build what they refer to as a ‘incredible narrative’. As with any major acquisition, there was an integration period which resulted in changes to the company structure. The consumer products division was the first to make such changes, and Marianne and Katie are both pleased to now have a fully integrated team of ‘engaged and forward-thinking people’ within Hasbro eOne’s CP business.

Katie Rollings

Marianne James

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“We have phenomenal continuity and depth across the teams, from both an eOne and a Hasbro point of view, which has helped us maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach,” adds Katie. “We also have huge depth to offer across our portfolio, with the chance to drive up both the 365-day business alongside seasonal, tactical opportunities that pulse throughout the year. As we move forward, licensees and retailers will have even more opportunities to engage with us, while driving their businesses forward.” The Hasbro-eOne blueprint, which covers theatrical, digital, CP and toys, means that retailers have plenty of differentiation to consider in their planning, while licensees also have plenty of properties to work with across a raft of categories. Multiple touchpoints, such as location-based entertainment and promotions, can also be integrated with consumer products to create bespoke programmes that will benefit both retailers and licensees alike. “Although Hasbro is migrating further into the entertainment space, we can never forget our roots,” says Marianne. “Our foundations are built on toys, so for Hasbro the focus is very much on taking that heritage and experience and translating it across the properties and brands available to us as a result of the acquisition. We’ll certainly be making the most of our Hasbro toy business across Ricky Zoom, Peppa Pig and PJ Masks. At the same time, each franchise requires a wealth of product and a multifaceted approach, so we’re looking at a spectrum of partnerships to ensure we have all the bases covered.” Picking up on what Marianne has said, Katie explains that the company will aim to maintain its existing partnerships, while continuing to find and exploit gaps and opportunities in the marketplace. The raft of licensees already on board for eOne properties is clearly very important to the business; far from burning bridges, the company is looking for ways that its partners can grow along with it, rather than being left behind. Having finalised the merger in January, I was keen to find out if the coronavirus pandemic meant either Hasbro or eOne had to change its plans for the year, or if they were able to ride it out relatively unscathed. While changes have been necessary (as they have been for most businesses), Covid-19 has had an upside for Hasbro; accelerating plans for areas of the business that were earmarked for development. Hasbro started the year with the intention to improve its e-commerce approach; a major shift to e-commerce as a result of the pandemic was reflected in Hasbro’s online sales data for the first half 2020, with nearly 30% of global toy and game revenues being transacted online in the second quarter. As a result, development of this area has been placed on a faster trajectory. Hasbro has also invested further in its value offering. Elsewhere, it’s had to pivot away from its original plans to address emerging trends that have developed in the industry and retail space. “We’ve adapted to the situation, but we feel that there are numerous opportunities still out there,” comments Katie. “When you look at how consumers have lent into the arts & crafts and gaming categories during lockdown, it’s easy to see why brands such as Play-Doh and Nerf proved so popular. Both offer big potential for

development, as well as scope to fast-track those plans. Play-Doh celebrates its 65th anniversary next year; we’re continually evaluating our strategies as trends come through, with a view to bringing some of the celebration plans forward where applicable.” For Q4, the focus is on maintaining strong relationships with licensees and retailers to ensure all can finish the year in as strong a position as possible. The company says this will involve leaning more heavily into the digital space, and being more creative on retail programmes. Heading into 2021, Hasbro’s content slate offers plenty to look forward to. As mentioned earlier, the year marks Play-Doh’s 65th anniversary, while Transformers celebrates its 35th. Several feature length theatrical movies are also in the pipeline. Of these, Hasbro considers the My Little Pony movie critical to its CP programme for 2021. The film, which is being delivered and distributed by Paramount, marks a major step change in the look and feel of the My Little Pony franchise, something Marianne is clearly very excited about. More information will be released during the Festival of Licensing. “We’ve also got a huge amount of ongoing activation in Peppa and Ricky which will really come into its own in 2021,” Katie adds. “The Ricky Zoom product rollout started earlier this year, in July, and so far, the sales data we’re seeing is really strong, bolstered by great broadcast across Milkshake! and Nick Jr. Our plan remains the same as it was at the start of the year – a steady rollout, building out the categories as we head into 2021. Towards the end of this year, we’ll start to see more on the softlines side, such as nightwear, and other categories will be unveiled from January onwards: publishing, daywear, puzzles and games, wheeled toys and more. We’ll be working closely with retailers and licensees to drive those activations where it makes sense. We’re pleased with the start Ricky has had; now we need to build on it.” Katie continues: “With Peppa, it has always been very much an always-on approach. She’s always done well for us, and I’m sure she will continue to do so. We’ve identified new areas with room for growth which will be explored throughout the year, and we’re already in discussions with many retailers for 2021 activation plans. It’s also worth mentioning Nerf again – there’s so much potential with this brand, ands so much to be excited about. We’ll be building on the success

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of Nerf, taking it beyond the core blaster play pattern into new consumer product propositions. Apparel has been coming through over the past few years, but we’re now placing a concerted effort behind driving and building this out in the latter end of this year, and into next year too.” Long term, Hasbro aims to evolve the business from licensing into a more franchiseled approach, utilising the company’s numerous arms to build entire franchises, not just consumer products programmes or toy programmes. “Bringing everything together the way we have is what will set the company apart,” comments Marianne. “We’re looking forward to what the future holds.”

Licensing Spotlight

The Pokémon Company 0207 381 7000 | www.pokemon.com As Pokémon approaches its 25th anniversary next year, this much-loved franchise continues to cement its status as both an iconic and classic brand. Multiple touch points across video games, apps, the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), animation and licensing allow Pokémon to continue innovating, connecting and expanding its fanbase worldwide. The recent expansion passes for the record-breaking video game Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield – which took total Pokémon Video Game sales to almost 350m – introduced The Isle of Armor. The Crown Tundra followed in autumn; both offered fans new areas of the Galar region to explore. Recently announced games include New Pokémon Snap for Nintendo Switch. A photo-snapping adventure through unknown islands, this is a contemporary update of the 1999 game. Also available on Switch, plus mobile devices, Pokémon Café Mix is a fun puzzle game set in a café visited by Pokémon characters. Pokémon Unite will be the first strategic Pokémon team battle game and will see players face off against each other in five-onfive team battles. A unique new mobile experience for the brand, Pokémon Smile is an app that makes brushing teeth fun for kids as they develop good habits while catching Pokémon. In animation, the new series Pokémon Journeys: The Series, follows Ash and Pikachu as they set off to see the world. The show was broadcast in the UK on its new home, Pop. The recently launched Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy reimagines the TCG as an easy to learn and fun to play family board game, while the newest expansion, Pokémon Sword & Shield—Darkness Ablaze, debuts more of the Pokémon discovered in the Galar region. A robust licensing programme covering multiple categories is complemented by innovative collaborations to ensure the brand features across multiple consumer touch points. This year has seen a raft of exciting new products from leading licensees including Wicked Cool Toys (a Jazwares company), Mattel, Ravensburger and Build-a-Bear. Fashion continues to be a booming sector for Pokémon, with diverse direct-to-retail partners including H&M, Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Undiz and Celio. For fans and fashionistas alike, the bright Pikachu sliders from Adidas, the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver patterns from Pokémon Original Stitch Shirts and Zara’s Pokéball-heeled boots have been highly sought after. Pokémon has also teamed up with Uniqlo for the Daniel Arsham x Pokémon T-shirt collection. Launched as part of a unique art project, the range imagines what Pokémon would look like to archaeologists of the future.

Hasbro Licensing 0208 569 1234 | www.hasbro.co.uk Hasbro is joining the Festival of Licensing virtual event and will present opportunities across its portfolio of powerhouse brands which includes Nerf, My Little Pony, Playdoh, Monopoly, Transformers and Power Rangers, in addition to the newly acquired and beloved pre-school properties from eOne; Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom. The licensor continues to innovate and expand the ways it brings brands to life through music, publishing, promotions, digital and location-based entertainment alongside an impressive array of consumer products spanning all key categories including toys and games, fashion and lifestyle, homewares, health and beauty, FMCG and gifts and personalised products. Milestone anniversaries, including the 35th anniversary of Transformers in 2021 and the 85th anniversary of Monopoly commencing Q4 2020, give cause for timely celebration and will be leveraged with new collaborations, consumer promotions and retail activations. Nerf is on target for rapid expansion across multiple categories as Hasbro continues to cement its position as an active lifestyle and sports brand with broad cross generational appeal and huge consumer relevance, as health and wellbeing trends prevail. The Nerf franchise will benefit from significant above the line investment in 2021 with soon to be revealed experiential marketing initiatives set to bring the brand to life like never before. The much-loved pony world of Equestria is expanding to introduce a new generation of ponies to a new generation of fans. With more humour, heart and music, audiences will enjoy the new cast of ponies joining the property. My Little Pony’s all-new, computeranimated theatrical feature also hits cinemas everywhere in September 2021. Season 28 of the Power Rangers show debuts in 2021. Power Rangers: Dino Fury journeys back to the core roots of the brand with the action being led by the original five rangers. The popularity of the show is driven by Hasbro’s commitment to new content, but also the vast back catalogue, which is streamed on Netflix and continually accessed by a huge worldwide audience. A new global brand theme for Peppa Pig, entitled Peppa’s Adventures, is kicking off in 2021, as a celebration of all the places that Peppa, her family and friends have visited since the show began. With trips to the USA lined up in the future, combined with lots of existing content, Peppa’s Adventures is a great way for fans to explore and discover the world around them. Brand new series premieres will be rolling out for Ricky Zoom throughout the year. Anticipation for the expansion of the brand’s consumer products programme, which is driven by the strength and reach of best-in-class broadcast partners across the region, will follow the phased rollout of toys in all key markets in 2020, as secondary categories will be available from spring/summer 2021. A robust plan is in place for PJ Masks which will be boosted by Series Four, set to launch this Q4, with the Disney+ roll out in multiple territories and Series Five global launch coming in 2021. In a first for the company, Hasbro will be launching its first toy range for the brand with a core range of new products hitting retail for autumn/winter 2021.

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Brand Profile

Walker Books

In the good books

Walker Books celebrates its landmark 40th anniversary this year, so it’s fitting that major plans are underway for the expansion of its global licensing programme. Toy World finds out more.

arlier this year, Walker Books - the world’s leading wholly independent publisher of English-language children’s books – announced that it had been acquired by Trustbridge Global Media. The sale provides the Walker group of companies, consisting of Walker Books UK (London, UK); Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA); Walker Books Australia (Sydney, Australia) and Walker Productions (London, UK), with enhanced ability to access new markets and is expected to help accelerate the company’s growth and expansion in publishing and other media. As the company prepares to mark its 40th anniversary, the beloved children’s book Guess How Much I Love You marks its 25th year since the adventures of the Nutbrown Hares first appeared in print. Over 50m copies of author Sam McBratney’s story of love and family bonds, illustrated by Anita Jeram, have sold worldwide in 57 languages, across a range of formats including hardback, paperback and board books to handpuppet books and puzzle books. In addition, a companion title - Will You Be My Friend - is due to launch globally in September, introducing a new friend for Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare in the shape of a snow hare,

Tipps. The publishing launch will be backed with a global marketing PR campaign including media coverage, press ads, social media activity, digital marketing, a schools & libraries advertising drive and display material for retail. The brand continues to be the company’s top-performing licensed property with over 30 licensees globally, enjoying a strong presence in the US, UK and Germany across core product categories including toys, plush and apparel. In spring 2021, Rainbow Designs, ‘The Home of Classic Characters’, will introduce a series of beautiful new wooden toys to its popular Guess How Much I Love You collection. Alongside a colourful new Wooden Shape Peg Puzzle and a Guess How Much I Love You Box of Blocks, which features a selection of shaped wooden blocks in a variety of eye-catching pastel colours, there will be a new Wooden Pull Along featuring both Large Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare. There will also be a fun new Balancing Toy with wooden pieces including Little Nutbrown Hare, a heart, clouds and stars, all of which balance on a wooden moon bearing an illustration of Large Nutbrown Hare and the wording ‘I Love You to the Moon and Back’. Rainbow Designs has also recognised the appeal of the brand in the adult gifting market by creating a range of gifting plush

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perfect for any special occasion. Rainbow recently extended its licensing rights to include EMEA, and has also become Walker’s toy and nursery partner for We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, the award-winning picture book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. The property, which this year marks its 30th anniversary, has sold over 10m copies since it was first published and benefits from a raft of licensees across toys and games, apparel, babywear, stationery, wall stickers, greetings cards, DVDs and promotions. Walker’s enhanced licensing partnership with Rainbow Designs will see a new line of toys hit shelves from 2021; more information on this will be released in due course. Pindy O’Brien, licensing & retail development director, Key Franchises (UK & Europe), commented: “We are thrilled to be strengthening our global capabilities across licensing. Our classic brands are loved by children all over the world, and we hope we can offer them further joy and entertainment through our toys and other merchandise. Rainbow Designs produces high quality, beautiful product which we are excited to see in our EMEA markets. We also have Guess How Much I Love You toys in Australia, and in the US via Kids Preferred.”

The 2020 launch of the Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and the Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass, providing two sets of additional content! Catch up with a new generation in

Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield!

New Pokémon Snap, an all-new adventure for Nintendo Switch! Pokémon collaborates with an exciting range of fashion designers and fast-fashion retailers.

Season 23,

Pokémon Journeys: The Series, debuts 1 September!

Over one billion downloads of Pokémon GO! Pokémon UNITE, coming soon to

Nintendo Switch and mobile devices!

Official merchandise available through master toy partner Wicked Cool Toys, a Jazwares Company, plus Mega Construx and Ravensburger.

For more information on Pokémon licensing opportunities, please contact: Mathieu Galante

Licensing Director—EMEA m.galante@pokemon.com

Jade Kellman

Senior Licensing Manager—UK & Nordics j.kellman@pokemon.com

ALL-FAMILY FEATURE FILM COMING AUGUST 2021

· EVERYWHERE · EVERY AGE · EVERY AISLE · EVERYWHERE · EVERY

CONSUMER PRODUCTS COMING 2021

NEW ANIMATED SERIES ON AIR SS 21

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE AS WELL AS OTHER OPPORTUNITIES NOT TO BE MISSED PLEASE EMAIL UKCONSUMERPRODUCTS@VIMN.COM

Y AGE · EVERY AISLE · EVERYWHERE · EVERY AGE · EVERY AISLE · EV

Licensing Spotlight

WWE 020 7349 1749 | www.wwe.com WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance. Its mission is to put smiles on people’s faces the world over, something the brand has strived to do throughout this challenging period. Since March, WWE content has been produced on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance, following appropriate guidelines, while taking addition precautions to ensure the health and wellness of performers and staff. Innovation is at the heart of WWE. In August, it debuted the ThunderDome and announced a residency in Orlando’s Amway Center. With the debut of WWE ThunderDome, WWE is bringing fans into the arena virtually via live video on massive LED boards for every Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and WWE payper-view events. WWE fans in the UK can register for their virtual seat to be part of upcoming shows at WWE’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. WWE made history in the UK earlier this year with highlights of flagship programming Raw and SmackDown broadcasting on free-to-air TV for the first time with family-friendly slots on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Meanwhile, BT Sport remains a highly engaged TV partner, airing all live programming, pay-per-views and the NXTUK brand as well as behind-the-scenes content in its acclaimed documentary series, No Filter. WWE Consumer Products boasts more than 175 licensees and products in more than 85 countries across multiple categories. Mattel’s wide range of action figures and playsets continues to perform well, showing double digit growth vs 2019 at retail with kids and collectors alike keen to land all their favourite Superstars. The recently launched Wrekkin’ segment continues to engage fans with new SKUs such as the Slam Mobile, Performance Centre, Entrance Stage and Slambulance (exclusive to Smyths Toys) all part of the offering. 2K’s new title, WWE Battlegrounds, hit shelves last month. The arcade-style brawler brings over-the-top WWE action to a new level of intensity and is available now on all major platforms including the PlayStation 4 system, the Xbox One family of devices, including the Xbox One X and Windows PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch system and Stadia. Featuring a roster of more than 70 WWE Superstars and Legends, this game delivers an entertaining pick-up-and-play experience for the entire family. Topps’ latest trading cards collection, Slam Attax Reloaded, launched in July 2020. With a strong FSDU presence across retail and TVC support on Channel 5, Slam Attax continues to deliver on a yearly basis. The new collection features autograph cards, relic cards and the full roster of WWE Superstars & Legends with Drew McIntyre, the first British WWE Champion receiving the honour of being the most powerful card in the collection. PMI’s new licensed WWE collectibles range landed in UK retailers recently, and promptly sold out within a matter of days as fans clamoured to get their hands on the product. The range of key chains, stampers and pencil toppers features a wide mix of WWE Superstars and legends including John Cena, The Rock, Roman Reigns and ‘The Man’, Becky Lynch.

Copyrights 020 3714 1184 | www.copyrights.co.uk The Copyrights Group is building on its brand development and licensing activity this year. Following the launch of The Adventures of Paddington TV series in the UK, a range of dedicated tie-in products will be rolled out from October in line with the series launch on Milkshake. The range includes new books from HarperCollins, plush and toys from Rainbow Designs, puzzles from Ravensburger, ELAs from Trends, and magazines from Redan. Additional tie-in product categories are set to rollout from spring 2021 in the UK, with new product launches internationally in line with the broadcast. A brand-new CGI series targeting 4-7 year olds, MushMush and the Mushables launches this autumn across markets on Turner’s Boomerang channel. The series follows the comedy adventures of the Mushable community on a fun journey of self-discovery and exciting outdoor adventures. The licensing programme is set to start rolling out from the end of 2021. New to the Copyrights portfolio is A Boy Called Christmas. This live action movie is set to release Christmas 2021 and is based on the popular books written by Matt Haig. Copyrights will be representing the licensing programme for the UK and Germany, where the film will be distributed by Studiocanal. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady is now reaching out to a wider fan and consumer base through new social channels. A new website launching this autumn will create a destination for the brand and promoting partners across numerous categories. A seasonal classic in Copyrights’ portfolio is Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas. Christmas 2019 saw the launch of a high-profile collaboration with Barbour to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the brand. A unique marketing and promotional campaign launched across Barbour stores and online, supported by a dedicated advert.

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Licensing Spotlight

Beano 0207 400 1030 | www.beano.com Loved by four generations of parents and kids alike, Beano is one of the most recognisable British brands of all time and has become firmly established as a national treasure since its launch more than 82 years ago. Hit TV show Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! will have its cinematic debut this October with a partnership with Vue Entertainment. Six hand-picked episodes, including a premiere, will be screened exclusively at 90 Vue cinemas across the UK and Ireland during October half term. The episodes will air back to back in a 70-minute long screening, which will also include bespoke interactive interstitials. Brand-new episodes of season two will also premiere on CBBC in the UK this winter. The international Emmy nominated show Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! has been sold globally to more than 90 countries, including prime time slots on free-to-air public service broadcasters such as Super RTL in Germany, Rai in Italy and France Télévision, and is available on Netflix in the UK and US. Having announced a slate of new licensing deals for UK and Ireland earlier this year, a host of new Beano products will launch at retail this autumn/winter. In October, just in time for Halloween, kids can become their favourite mischief maker with a new Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed! nightwear range from Aykroyds. For Christmas, health and beauty experts H&A’s creative range of Beano products, which includes everyday essentials, play cosmetics, health & beauty accessories and hair care, will launch exclusively into Boots. Rachel Lowe’s collection of puzzles, board games and card games for Dennis and his Beanotown friends, and Park Agencies’ range of adult and kids tees and sweats, will also launch into market as perfect presents for Beano fans. Looking ahead, 2021 will be a big year for Beano, with the 70th anniversary of Dennis. To celebrate, Beano has signed several new licensing deals including Arthouse Limited, which is creating a collection of wall coverings and home décor items, including wall clocks, paper-based lampshades and cushions. Signature Gifts has renewed its deal to create personalised Beano annuals and gift items, and Book Week will see another strong period with Rubies launching a range of dress-up at retail. Full details on the 70th celebrations of Dennis, as well as other new partners, will be announced soon. Find out more at beanostudios.com or contact 020 7400 1079 / vanessa.andreis@beano.com.

Nickelodeon 020 3580 2000 | www.nickjr.co.uk ViacomCBS Consumer Products has new developments coming through in 2021. The diverse and extensive portfolio will have products on offer for ‘Every Age, Every Aisle, Everywhere’. In 2021 Paw Patrol releases its first-ever feature length film, Paw Patrol: The Movie. In partnership with Spin Master Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount, the film will hit the big screen in August 2021, as the pups leave Adventure Bay for a new mission in Adventure City. The movie will feature big-screen storytelling and epic action, which will include new locations, vehicles, characters and a roster of celebrity voice talent to create the ultimate 2021 family summer movie. The release will be supported by a multi-phased global marketing campaign with investment spanning the wider ViacomCBS eco-system and beyond. The fresh new look will offer the opportunity to create and distribute new and different cross-category consumer products for the brand. Blue’s Clues & You! will be one of 2021’s top contenders in the pre-school area. Reigniting this cult pre-school powerhouse has already proven very successful. Thanks to an approach across linear and digital, reaching kids wherever they watch content, the show was the number one preschool premiere in the UK when it first launched on Nick Jr. in May 2020. In the Blue’s Clues & You! universe, children can learn, interact with the host and be challenged with problems to solved, all while having fun. The UK consumer product team will leverage the learning through play element to create a range of toys for 2-5 year olds for the 2021 autumn/winter season. Baby Shark was named a top five new brand in the global market by NPD in March 2020. ViacomCBS will be expanding the reach of this iconic brand through a Nick Jr. animated series, Baby Shark’s Big Show, which will launch in Q2 2021. Next year will be the opportunity to expand on the franchise with new licensees and products launching. Rugrats will be back in 2021 with a brand-new CGanimated series slated to launch in Q3 2021. This series will include the well-known characters, threaded with the memorable humour of the classic series, while also being reimagined for a modern-day audience. A consumer products line will follow in 2022. Other key 2021 developments for ViacomCBS Consumer Products will include the release of Top Gun Maverick in July 2021 and the launch of social stars such as That Girl Lay Lay and Johnny Orlando, following their respective partnership with Nickelodeon and MTV.

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Licensing Spotlight

Silvergate Media 020 7151 0081 | www.silvergatemedia.com Silvergate Media continues to bring critically acclaimed children’s programming to broadcast platforms around the world, and to develop strategic licensing programmes that bring those brands to life in key territories. Its portfolio of original kids’ content includes Octonauts, Hilda, Peter Rabbit and Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt. Octonauts is an award-winning pre-school series that combines impressive visuals, educational themes and action to transport young children into an undersea universe unlike anything else on pre-school TV. The new Octonauts spin-off series Above & Beyond launches in spring 2021. Responding to a range of new dangers across our everchanging planet, Above & Beyond sees the Octonauts take their adventures beyond the sea and onto land. Enlisting their intrepid friends from around the globe as specialised Octo-Agents, and equipped with a new fleet of land-based Terra Gups, the Octonauts’ mission is as vital as ever as they explore harsh and remote environments, rescue animals that need their help, and protect the land and all living creatures. The 156 x 11-minute new episodic adventures are in production through to 2024, with a major global brand relaunch from 2021. Above & Beyond will pave the way for a relaunch of the brand and licensing programme in markets such as the US and the UK. Silvergate Media’s new animated action-adventure comedy series, Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt, follows lead character Chico Bon Bon and his engineering crew - the Fix-It Force - as they ‘bring the awesome’, solving engineering problems in the mechanically challenged town of Blunderburg. Based on the picture book series by author and illustrator Chris Monroe, the show balances strong educational STEM content with entertainment value. The bright visuals, endearing cast of characters, gadgets and CG animation have clear toyetic potential, and Silvergate Media is currently signing partners to join the consumer products programme following its recent global launch on Netflix in May 2020. Critically acclaimed BAFTA and Emmy award-winning animated series, Hilda, is popular with audiences in 130 countries, where it’s available on Netflix. Hilda follows the adventures of a fearless blue-haired girl, as she travels from her home in a magical wilderness full of elves and giants to the bustling city of Trolberg, where she meets new friends and mysterious creatures. Season 2 will launch on Netflix this autumn, and a 70-minute movie special is in production for 2021. Licensing for Hilda is led by Gund as master partner for plush, accessories and giftware products aimed at girls and teens. Spin Master is on board to develop games, and Hot Topic is due to release an exclusive Hilda collection online. As the licensor for the popular Peter Rabbit animated TV series, SGM has seen significant growth for the property in the UK, particularly in apparel and accessories.

Tactic 01483 332 070 | www.tactic.net Two unique concepts from Tactic are waiting for future licensing partners. New brand Lumo Stars originated in Finland and is inspired by the pure Nordic nature. Finland is not only famous for the Northern lights but also for design, technology and being the home of Santa Claus. The animals living in the Nordic wilderness are the heroes of the Lumo Stars brand, and each character has a unique personality and its own backstory, drawing from the colours of Nordic nature. Tactic has produced a large plush programme with the animals in different sizes, houses and vehicles, as well as a publishing programme. In addition to traditional playtime, children can also interact with their favourite soft toy in a digital form with the free Lumo Stars app. The app contains fun and interesting facts about real Nordic animals. The primary target groups are infants, toddlers and kids aged 3–7 years. Secondary target groups are tweens, teens, kidults and collectors. All ages can enjoy the captivating story and cute characters; Lumo Stars offers endless licensing opportunities. The second concept is the game Mölkky. Wood, sustainability and accessibility are the values that make Mölkky a 21st century game sensation. This easy-to-learn skittle-throwing outdoor game offers players a great opportunity to enjoy a little competition with friends and family. It can be played by everyone, regardless of age or fitness level. It represents genuine Finnish design and is also manufactured in Finland. With a solid social media presence and an enthusiastic international fanbase, Tactic is expanding the Mölkky brand together with its licensing partner Plus Licens, and a new Mölkky style guide will be presented during the Festival of Licensing. For licensing enquires contact: sales@pluslicens.se. For more information visit www.tactic.net, www.lumostars.com and www.molkky.com.

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New licensing opportunities New style guide Significant partnerships New product launches Year-long marketing support New season of Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! airs weekdays on CBBC, 52x11min.

For UK and international licensing opportunities please contact: Vanessa Andreis | T: 020 7400 1079 | E: vanessa.andreis@beano.com beanostudios.com

Company Profile

Lisle Licensing

10 years of Lisle Licensing Colin Lisle

Lisle Licensing celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Toy World spoke to chairman Colin Lisle and managing director Frankie Lisle about how the licensing market has evolved over the past decade, what makes a great licence, and how the company’s unique knowledge of both toys and licensing keeps it ahead of the pack.

isle Licensing has plenty to celebrate this year, marking not only its 10th anniversary but also the promotion of Frankie to the position of managing director in May. Heading into 2020, plans were in place for in-person activities in Vegas and at BLE, but – as for so many others – Covid-19 has seen the year become a somewhat more remote affair. Nonetheless, spirits are high, and Colin and Frankie are both keen to raise awareness of the company. “We’ve learned a lot,” says Frankie, when asked how the past decade has been for the company. “We’ve represented several different brands of varying types over the years, and we’ve also weathered a lot both economically and societally – Covid, Brexit, even the ever-changing nature of kids’ content consumption. We’re in a really good place. We are delighted with where the business is, and we’re grateful to be representing a strong mix of different brands and licensors. There’s plenty to be hopeful about moving forward, despite recent challenges.” It’s become harder to predict how a property may perform, notes Colin, especially in the PreSchool category. Back when he started in the toy industry, any brand with a TV commercial tended to be picked up by retailers, and - years later the same could be said when animated content became more readily available. Nowadays, the elements Lisle looks for are considerably different. “The approach has really had to become the full 360° when it comes to licensing,” says Colin. “You’ve got to hit so many different touchpoints to be a success.” “What we’re trying to do as a business is curate a balanced portfolio of brands; Masha and the Bear, 44 Cats, Gormiti and SuperZings in kids’ entertainment, plus lifestyle, gaming and sports,” Colin continues. “When we started out, we didn’t have that balance; what we did have was ZhuZhu Pets which was a huge success for 2-3 years. We had some big shoes to fill following ZhuZhu Pets. Retailers, I’m afraid, are looking for properties that will perform quickly, but it can sometimes take years to establish a property in the marketplace. To give you a good example,

we’ve been doing Masha and the Bear for five or six years, and sales increase every year- in fact, Masha is in the top six licences from a broadcast audience perspective again for July. If we were starting out with it today though, I don’t think we’d be given the time to bed it in.” Lisle Licensing is on the brink of announcing three new properties, one of which is in the children’s entertainment space. The other two are lifestyle brands, an area that has been successful for the company during recent years. Tetris, which has been around for over 35 years and continues to grow each year, for example, benefits from a highly creative style guide and continues to move into the lifestyle sector as a result, having struck deals with Puma and in categories such apparel, board games, gifting and more. A small, focused business, Lisle Licensing prides itself on being hands-on. The business is run in a cautious manner, but is always looking for the next opportunity. Lisle Licensing is part of Creative Product Solutions (CPS), a sales & marketing agency representing brand owners and inventors both domestically and internationally. CPS supplies distributors and/or retailers, depending on the most effective route to market for the company represented. Selling manufactured product ready for the market enables the company to interact with a wide range of distributors and retailers. “Our Headu business, for example, has tripled year on year, and we’re doing particularly well with educational specialists and online retailers,” says Colin. “Every product in the range offers tangible value for money, in that everything has more than one play feature, and the majority of the range is sub-£20. Another range in CPS’ portfolio is PDT, a manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronics, predominantly karaoke, speakers and musical instruments. The former fall under the Singing Machine brand, the latter under the Music Alley and RockJam brands. The two areas of the business, Lisle as a licensing agent and Creative Product Solutions as a sales agency, have given us an understanding of both sides of the table. It also gives us the perfect

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Frankie Lisle

opportunity to build relationships with key retailers through the product lines we represent, which has major benefits for the licensing division. The two entities sit beautifully together, and we’ll be looking to expand the symbiotic nature of both moving forward.” “To reach the 10-year mark, given all the various hurdles we’ve had to overcome, is something we’re really proud of,” says Frankie. “Over that time, we’ve also forged some incredible relationships with retail buyers and manufacturers alike. I’d like to think that we’re honest, responsible and only work on properties we truly believe in We’re always fair when pitching out in categories, and we never waste anyone’s time – we like to think we know what people are looking for. And if there is a problem, we’ll always try our best to solve it. We’re seeing some testing times at the moment, but with the diversity of our portfolio, the strength of our relationships and our unique understanding of the marketplace, we’re optimistic of many more good years ahead.”

s e i r e S TV debuts n o r e b Octo

TOYS AND PUZZLES

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

… and further TV tie-in categories throughout 2021!

www.paddington.com Tel: +44 (0)203 880 0134

/Paddington Bear

I Floor 6, 4 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG

UK Licensing Enquiries: rachel.clarke@copyrightsgroup.com International Licensing Enquiries: polly.emery@copyrightsgroup.com

Feature

Character Licensed Merchandise

Classics to moderns

With cinemas shuttered over lockdown and many major film releases delayed this year, Toy World spoke to suppliers of character licensed merchandise about how they have adapted to this unforeseen disruption in the licensing sector, and what plans they have in store for the upcoming festive season.

his year has presented many obstacles for the toy industry as a whole, and with the closure of cinemas and a multitude of film release dates postponed, the licensing sector has certainly felt an impact over the last few months. However, amid these unexpected challenges, the strength of the sector has pulled through, with classic titles and popular TV licences enjoying success over recent months across a number of categories, leaving suppliers of character licensed merchandise hopeful for a buoyant festive period. Phil Ratcliffe, commercial director at Tandem Group, owner of MV Sports, comments: “I think there has been a shift towards classic, dependable licences which are more of safe bet compared to newer ones, especially those newcomers whose content has been curtailed, shifted or postponed. Licences performing best for us are indeed the classics, such as Frozen, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Spiderman and Batman. They have a deep and wide pool of content and high consumer awareness and affinity, which serves them well in these unprecedented times.” For party and dress-up supplier, Amscan, the regulations in place for celebratory events, as a result of social distancing measures, has seen a shift in sales of its licensed partyware product portfolio, with balloons and dress up coming out on top as more consumers opt to hold celebrations and make their own balloon displays at home. “The trusted classic franchises are leading the way this year, with DC Superheroes, PJ Masks and Dr Seuss continuing to drive dress up sales,” explains Melanie Beer, licensing director EMEA, Amscan International. “From a product perspective,

foil balloons have been our most popular licensed offering for 2020, followed by dress up sales, which we hope will be stimulated further with Halloween at the end of the month. Licensed party sales have been the hardest hit due to the limitations around social gatherings. Nevertheless, we are excited to bring CBeebies fans two more of their favourite shows by way of Hey Duggee costumes, balloons and party goods, and Love Monster costumes for Q1 2021. We’ll also be venturing into the world of social media licensing, with the introduction of Ryan’s World costumes, balloons and party goods early next year.” With film licences taking an unexpected hit this year, Vivid is focusing on its upcoming launch of new products for YouTube star Love, Diana for spring/ summer 2021, in partnership with Pocketwatch. Emma Weber, marketing and licensing director at Vivid, told Toy World about the company’s movement over the last few months, and how it plans to secure growth and strong sales across other branches of its licensed portfolio for the duration of the year and early 2021. “In recent years, our portfolio hasn’t focused as much on film franchises, and if anything, we have moved away from traditional TV licences to support YouTube creators,” explains Emma. “What has been great to see is the continued growth of Ryan’s World, even during lockdown. It is clear that YouTube creators have seen growth in channel views while kids were off school and, as a result, parents have been treating their kids to the lower priced impulse ranges of collectibles. As such, we are looking forward to launching a refreshed range of Ryan’s World Toys across entry price points in Putty, Squishy

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and Collectible figures, as well as the higher ticket Mystery Chest - a hot item for Christmas 2020. Harry Potter has also cemented its position as an evergreen licence and we’re benefitting from that with strong sales on our Harry Potter games and collectible figures.” As retailers pack their shelves with Christmas stock in preparation for what is anticipated to be another fruitful gifting season, Melanie reveals how the events of this year will shape the company’s plans going forward. “We’ve introduced some line extensions for Peppa Pig dress up for Halloween and Christmas 2020 and product development for 2021 will focus around refreshed and new lines for our existing classic franchises, such as Dr Seuss and new film licences like Batman,” says Melanie. “We still have a couple of new announcements to come for 2021, however we are really looking at 2022 now for new licences.” Phil adds: “At the present time, there doesn’t seem to be as many ‘must haves’ on the horizon, given the current disruption to production schedules and budgets. Our plans, therefore, are to focus mainly on the current portfolio, adding key new product introductions for 2021. We are looking at one or two new additions to the roster which we will be announced in due course; however I think that some licensors need to be more realistic and flexible over minimum guarantees and other contractual ‘handcuffs’ in the current climate.” Over the next few pages, Toy World brings readers a comprehensive round up of Character Licensed Merchandise hitting the shelves in the run up to Christmas and early 2021.

Play Den & Portable Bed Tent

Scootin’ Suitcase

My Dream Den

Magical 10 Piece Fairy Light Set

Rear Doll Carrier Integrated Floor

Bespoke Character Graphics

14” Bike

A Journey Together!

Tepee Tent

3-in-1 Scooter, Carry Case & Trolley

Character Licensed Merchandise

Vivid 01483 449944 | www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk Ryan’s World continues to go from strength to strength, with the Ryan channels racking up over 54b views (YouTube data, Aug 2020). Vivid’s retail sales are up 25% YTD and the brand is holding its own as a Top 10 Fastest Growing brand in the latest NPD data (NPD YTD data, Jul 2020). Off the back of this success comes a range of new products for autumn/winter. Kids can build and play just like Ryan with the Mystery Tool Box. Ryan’s tools can be used to unlock each compartment of the box and find the surprises inside, including exclusive figures, vehicles and more. Alongside the Tool Box, Vivid is extending Ryan’s Mystery Microverse with a new series of collectible micro figures and the launch of Ryan’s Micro Mystery Playset. The latter lets kids collect multiple different play sets, all based on Ryan’s favourite alter-egos including Red Titan and Astro Ryan. Each set also comes with four micro figures. For 2021, Vivid is launching Ryan’s World Tour. Fans can collect 80 different versions of Ryan and his friends, each with a unique style and flag sticker for the country they represent. The World Tour Globe and Hot Air Balloon include Ryan’s World Tour passport; inside, kids can see all the different figures and complete their sticker flag collection. Vivid’s new Love, Diana range, based upon the popular 6-year-old YouTuber, is slated for release in 2021. The launch range will focus on four key categories: collectibles based upon Diana, her brother Roma and other characters from her channel; fashion dolls; play sets; role-play/cosmetics. Harry Potter remains one of the industry’s leading licences, resulting in strong sales of Vivid’s range. The Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze Game and the Magical Beasts Game allow players to enter the Wizarding World. Players can race around the board in Tri-Wizard Maze, as they try to beat the other players back to the home space to win the game, or go on a quest to find beasts whilst manoeuvring around the unique flipping board in the Magical Beasts game. Vivid’s range also includes the Harry Potter mini collectible figures. These soft and squishy pencil toppers are a great way for fans to collect and display all their favourite characters from the hit film franchise. Licensing for Crayola goes from strength to strength with the Colour Wonder Range. Licences for all stages and ages, from Peppa Pig, Ryan’s World and Toy Story 4 to Disney’s Frozen II and the new Trolls World Tour, offer something for every child. Retailing at a pocket money price point, and with special pens that only colour on the special paper, these mess-free sets are popular with kids and parents alike.

Mattel 01628 500 000 | www.mattel.com After a successful launch in 2019, Mattel’s Disney Pixar Toy Story 4 range continues to grow with the Galaxy Explorer Spacecraft transforming vehicle and the new Buzz Lightyear figure. New for autumn/winter, the Disney Pixar Cars Stunt & Splash Colour Change Red is packed with fun features that offer a raft of different ways to play. The Rusteze Double Circuit Speedway, meanwhile, offers thrilling action and multiple kinds of racing fun. The Pixar range launches with Basic 7” Action Figures in Story scale. Featuring detailed designs, iconic expressions and full articulation, the range includes characters from Toy Story and Pixar classics such as Incredibles and Monsters Inc. WWE fans can keep up to date with all the latest Superstars thanks to Mattel’s line of Action Figures and Elite Action Figures. Real Scan FX technology has resulted in highly detailed and realistic figures. The Wrekkin’ segment also continues to offer everything kids need for a Superstar battle, including a Performance Centre and an Entrance Stage on which to perform Wrekkin’ moves. The Jurassic World toy range expands further in 2020, introducing fans to Jurassic World dinosaur battle play in a whole new way. New for autumn is the Jurassic World Control and Conquer Carnotaurus, with articulation and dual-button activation, whilst the Epic Roar T-Rex - inspired by Jurassic World animated series, Camp Cretaceous - lets kids recreate action scenes. Mattel’s Minecraft range now includes toys covering each of the games that Microsoft has developed - Classic, Minecraft Earth, and Dungeons. Based on the popular character from Disney’s The Mandalorian, Mattel’s Child Plush has recently launched. This 11” Plush features a vinyl head that captures all the detail of the Child, and a soft body to make it completely huggable. Younger fans can recreate their favourite DC moments with new additions to the Imaginext DC Super Friends range throughout the year, including the DC Super Friends Transforming Batcave. Kids can turn a Power Pad for an impressive transformation; the platforms spread, the Batwings open, the Batcomputer is revealed and the eyes light up. Turning another Power Pad opens the garage, while turning the third opens a chest containing armour for Batman.

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Stand Out in Our Collection of Dr. Seuss Costumes This World Book Day!

Adult Costume Sizes Available for 2021! Head Online to See the Full Range!

Character Licensed Merchandise

Casdon 01253 608 428 | www.casdon.com The Henry/Hetty Vacuum Cleaner is a Casdon classic; each comes with full branding along with working suction and a removable debris drawer. The Casdon Dyson Cord-Free, meanwhile, is a direct replica of the life size Dyson. Designed to be true to life, the model features working suction, spinning beads and realistic sounds. The Casdon Morphy Richards and DeLonghi ranges are ideal additions to any pretend play kitchen. The Microwave, Kettle and Toaster Set comprises a microwave with a realistic looking touch pad and lights, plus a kettle and pop-up toaster, whilst the DeLonghi Microwave has a rotating turntable, flashing lights and cooking sounds.

Asmcan 01908 288500 | www.amscan.co.uk

Funko 020 3376 3223 | www.funko.com

Hey Duggee remains a constant pre-school favourite among toddlers and parents alike. Having received numerous requests for party goods, balloons and costumes, Amscan has unveiled an innovative new range to meet the market demand. Working together with BBC Studios, Amscan has woven the essence of Hey Duggee into its product development, and now offers a deluxe costume with a 3D plush character head, interchangeable Velcro badges and five character finger puppets, all of which can be stored in a large branded pocket on the front of the costume. The company’s Hey Duggee party range, meanwhile, promotes creativity with ‘decorate your own’ party bags and a stationery favour pack. Based on the publishing series by Rachel Bright, Love Monster enjoyed a strong launch on CBeebies earlier this year. Amscan has created a cute costume in cuddly fur plush, with a lenticular heart that changes from blue to pink (to reflect Love Monster’s mood) and a detachable Monster Teddy that can be stored in a front pocket. The costume is a perfect choice for World Book Day 2021 due to its publishing heritage. Amscan is also launching a range of Ryan’s World costumes, party goods and balloons to capitalise on the momentum of this young social media (and now Nickelodeon TV) star. With 50.5b lifetime views, 1.7b product views and monthly YouTube views of 1.3b, Ryan continues to lead the way in this fast moving and highly competitive landscape. Amscan’s costume options include the Cape & Mask set, which features bright and bold graphic prints, and the Complete Superhero outfit, that features a costume, belt, branded detail, a full cape and a mask. Other new licensed dress up ranges include Crash Bandicoot, Assassins Creed, and Stranger Things, while Baby Shark and 44 Cats have joined the portfolio for party goods and balloons. Amscan continues to build on the success of its existing licensed ranges, with new product launches for Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, the DC Superhero franchises, Dr. Seuss, Paddington Bear and Trolls, among others. The company is also currently working several other new licensed signings, which will be announced in the coming months. Pre-orders can be made now by contacting sales@amscan-uk.co.uk.

Funko Games has launched a new line of collectible card games, Something Wild!, in collaboration with Disney. An innovative twist on classic trick-taking card games, and featuring the world’s favourite Disney characters, Something Wild! games are suitable for ages six years and up, and 2-4 players. Each set comes with 45 character cards and 10 power cards, with the aim of the game being to win three power cards by making sets (three cards with the same number) or runs (three cards of the same colour, in number order). The lightly competitive strategic gameplay is perfect for kids and families alike. For added collectability, each game comes complete with one of Funko’s famous Pop! Vinyl figures, in an appealing mini size. Products currently available in the UK include The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, Mickey & Friends, Disney’s Villains, Aladdin and The Nightmare Before Christmas. All the Something Wild! card sets can also be combined for even more fun, giving Disney fans the chance to play with Ariel and Aladdin or Mickey and Maleficent. Following the UK launch, Something Wild! will hit shelves in France, Germany, Spain and Italy in October.

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Character Licensed Merchandise

Hasbro 0208 569 1234 | www.hasbro.co.uk From Hasbro’s Star Wars Collection, The Child Animatronic Edition toy has sounds, motorised sequences and a Mandalorian pendant. Touching the top of The Child’s head activates over 25 sound and motion combinations, including happy and excited sounds, giggles, babbles and more, as the head moves up and down, the ears move back and forth, and eyes open and close. Boys and girls aged four and above can pretend to harness the power of the Force as The Child toy closes its eyes, raises its arm and sighs as if exerting a great amount of energy. If they lay The Child toy down, it will close its eyes and take a ‘Force nap’. With the Playskool Heroes Marvel Super Hero Adventures Spider-Man Jetquarters, kids aged three and above can take their imaginations to new heights as they pretend to fly into battle alongside Spider-Man. The five-inch action figure and vehicle set is perfectly sized for younger heroes. With the Nerf Power Moves Marvel Avengers Black Panther Power Slash roleplay toy, kids aged five and up can pretend to be Black Panther, holding down the button on the Power Slash claw and performing the Power Slash move to launch dual Nerf darts. DreamWorks Trolls World Tour Dancing Hair Poppy is suitable for Trolls fans aged four plus. This interactive toy features a wild hairdo that moves in different directions as kids play with her. She sings two songs from the DreamWorks Trolls World Tour film, “Just Sing” and “Good Times,” and encourages kids to dance along to the music with over 40 phrases. The eyes and head also move, and Poppy features a light-up headband. As well as reacting to having her hair brushed and encouraging kids to dance, Poppy will even invite kids to join her in “troller skating” when they put on the included skates.

Wotch Creations 0330 133 4392 | www.wotchcreations.com The first product from Wotch’s international patent pending Hexa-Plex technology range, SmileyHalves lets consumers ‘Collect & Connect’ Smiley’s iconic emoticons. The initial launch range comprises 10 blind-bagged emoticons in 22 variations, including six coloured editions of varying rarity and limited-edition Legendary glow in the dark versions that add to the collectability of the range. Not just a collectible toy, Smiley-Halves will allow kids to communicate how they are feeling in a unique way. Each magnetic half can also be mixed & matched with any other to create totally new expression. Each complete Smiley-Halves fits in one hand and the movement from the Hexa-Plex technology provides a distinctive and satisfying click when turned, perfect for keeping hands busy. Smiley-Halves will be supported throughout September with YouTube and TikTok marketing campaigns featuring a series of animation and unboxing videos which will demonstrate the Collect and Connect experience central to the play pattern. These campaigns will run alongside influencer partnerships to strengthen and complement the messaging. October will see the launch of a TV advertising campaign with Viacom, covering Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Nick Jr. Too, supported by activity on Nickelodeon’s social channels. The TV campaign will give retail partners already stocking the product the opportunity to feature in the adverts. Links and listings will also be added under stockists on the Hexa-Plex website, as well as referenced in social media campaigns. Phase 1 of the Smiley-Halves blind-bag collectible range is available in eye-catching CDUs of 20 pieces, each with an RRP of £4.99. FSDUs will follow for subsequent launches of new phases, along with collection boxes and display stands holding 10 faces. Product is available for despatch into stores from the end of September, for a 1st October launch. All order enquiries should be directed to info@wotchcreations.com. Alternatively, retailers can call Wotch Creations’ sales team on the number above.

Spin Master 01628 535 000 | www.spinmastertoys.co.uk Spin Master’s 1:16 scale Launch and Defend Batmobile offers remote control capability and comes complete with an exclusive 10cm Batman action figure that can be launched from the cockpit. The easy-to-use dual joystick controller lets kids move forward, backward and left to right, while a simple press of the Action button will send the Caped Crusader flying from the vehicle. With 2.4GHz frequency, kids can race up to six vehicles at once and control their Launch and Defend Batmobile from up to 75 metres away. The Batmobile can be charged with the built-in USB cable; the cockpit lights up while the vehicle charges. Featuring authentic Batman styling, aerodynamic wings and real rubber tyre treads, this Batmobile looks just like the real thing. Paw Patrol is introducing a new dinosaur theme to the popular animated show. Featuring space for all six pups, oversized wheels, a projectile launcher and an exclusive Chase and T-Rex dinosaur action figure, the Dino Patroller will let Paw Patrol fans race to the rescue in an engaging new way. Kids can press the vehicle’s badge all the way down to watch it move; with its oversized wheels, the Dino Patroller is able to conquer any terrain. Pushing the tail makes the largescale dinosaur mouth open, while the Deluxe Vehicle and rescue nets can be deployed from the bay of the Dino Patroller to help dinosaurs in need. Fans of DreamWorks Dragons can embark on new high-flying adventures with the Dragon and Viking figure sets. Available in a range of favourite characters from the animated franchise, kids can load the dragon blast projectile into the dragon’s mouth and pull back their rear left leg to fire. Poseable, detailed and collectible, the Dragon & Viking figure sets make a great gift for young dragon trainers.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT OMER DEKEL, VP INTERNATIONAL SALES, PMI LTD., AT OMER@PMI.CO.IL OR DANIEL AT DANIEL@SINGELTONTRADING.COM

Character Licensed Merchandise

PMI (+) 972 52 4614444 PMI offers a broad range of licensed toys, collectibles and stationery across a multitude of properties including WWE, Harry Potter and Fortnite to name a few. Following the successful launch of Series One in 2019, which received positive feedback from retailers across the toy and entertainment industry, PMI is now gearing up for the UK launch of Series Three of its Fortnite range this month. Suitable for ages eight and above, the line features stationery collectibles with items such as Stampers, highly detailed 3D figural key chains and more. Products in the range are available in blind-bags, blister packs and as multi-pack purchases, offering high collectability value. Series Three sees 16 new Fortnite characters join the range, which have been carefully selected by top Fortnite gamers that act as consultants for PMI. The gaming team has also selected the assortment of characters that make up the multi-packs, grouping together characters that consumers would want to purchase together, to achieve maximum sales and satisfaction among Fortnite fans. This unique method means the range is chosen by gamers, for gamers. Marketing support from Singleton Trading is in place for the upcoming UK launch. To find out more, contact daniel@singletontrading.com or omer@pmi.co.il.

Sambro 0845 873 9380 | www.sambro.com Sambro International continues to expand its licensed portfolio for 2021 by adding Baby Shark, Paw Patrol Movie and Minions: Rise of Gru to its arts & craft, outdoor and novelty stationery offerings. Sambro’s Barbie sewing machine has already been well-received by retailers for autumn 2020, and the company is working on new developments across a broad range of properties for 2021 and beyond. Sambro’s famous Puzzle Palz range continues to be a firm favourite with children across the globe, with new Puzzle Palz Vehicles launching shortly. The Puzzle Palz range includes characters from Frozen, Toy Story, Barbie, The Avengers, Disney Princess and Trolls.

Marvin’s Magic 01582 849 000 | www.marvinsmagic.com The award-winning Rubik’s Box of Tricks follows on from the innovative, digital magic set, Marvin’s iMagic and Magic Made Easy, designed for young magicians. The Rubik’s set sees a winning combination that delights both magic and puzzle fans alike. The company continues to focus on its goal to innovate, develop and encourage young magicians with compelling sets that merge the physical and online space. Combining traditional values with the latest technology is just one way that Marvin’s magic exceeds its customer expectations and stays current. With travel restrictions and toy fairs being postponed or cancelled, the company has recently launched a new, digital showroom to share its new products to a wider audience. The meetings promise to incorporate upcoming product launches, magical demonstrations and bespoke magic. For more details or to book, email: tomh@marvinsmagic.co.uk.

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Character Licensed Merchandise

Dreamtex 0844 499 8465 | www.dreamtexltd.com

A.B.Gee 01773 570 444 | www.abgee.co.uk New to A.B.Gee’s portfolo is a range of Disney wooden toys, to complement the company’s already comprehensive and hugely popular Tooky Toy range. Combining classic Disney characters with timeless, eco-friendly pre-school toys, there is something for every Disney fan to enjoy. Each toy has been carefully crafted from 100% FSC grade sustainable wood to deliver sturdy, well-built product that will enhance a child’s development, encourage their imagination, and build fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The Mickey Mouse car transporter holds three vehicles for Mickey and friends. The upper level lowers to let the cars drive on, then lifts smoothly to make way for two cars underneath. The front part of the transporter can be rotated to control the direction and can also be detached to be played with independently. Colourful Disney favourites Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy are emblazoned on all three vehicles along with Goofy on the lorry cab – plus a Mickey silhouette features on every wheel. This constantly growing collection of licensed toys has proven to be a firm favourite for A.B.Gee’s customer base. The full range can be viewed on the website.

Posh Paws 01268 567317 | www.poshpawsinternational.co.uk Posh Paws new Sunny Bunnies collection includes a variety of different sizes. The small Sunny Bunnies Slammers emit an infectious laugh when thrown, while the medium sized Giggle and Wiggle plush move and laugh with the press of a button. The large bunnies giggle and hop when their mouths are pressed. Posh Paws has added the new Rainbow Poppy soft toy to its Trolls World Tour collection. The plush joins existing characters including Queen Barb, Branch and Tiny Diamond in 7” and 10” sizes. Posh Paws also has a range of soft toys based on the popular How to Train Your Dragon movie franchise, as well as the pre-school show Pirata & Capitano.

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Homewares licensee Dreamtex continues to grow its portfolio of character brands and offers a vast collection of bedding and home accessories to brighten children’s bedrooms. One of Dreamtex’s most successful and most extensive ranges to date is L.O.L. Surprise!, with several bright and colourful duvet designs released each year to keep up with the brand’s popularity. Bold character artwork promoting the theme of friendship features throughout the collection, and the recently launched Babies Run the World duvet sets proved to be a big hit with fans. Matching fleece blankets, towels and cushions also complement the range. A festive duvet design titled Miss Snow is also arriving soon and will make an ideal Christmas gift. Dreamtex also welcomed Poopsie Slime Surprise! to the family this year and several vibrant, unicorn themed duvets are now available, including Rainbow Hair Don’t Care. Dreamtex also offers a varied choice of cot-bed and single bedding sets for pre-schoolers, as well as matching blankets featuring some of the most popular CBeebies characters, including Hey Duggee, Bing Bunny and Moon and Me. A new junior set celebrating In The Night Garden was also launched in September. One of the most popular pre-school collections is PJ Masks, with duvets featuring Catboy, Gekko and Owlette. There are various Save The Day inspired sets to choose from, plus the new Hero Crew duvet can be flipped over to reveal a road map design - perfect for children to drive their favourite PJ Masks toys around. Introducing an interactive element to children’s bedding is an innovative move for Dreamtex and helps make the sets a useful playmat for daytime fun as well. In a similar move, Dreamtex is partnering with Mattel on Hot Wheels and will shortly be launching a car shaped duvet. Other brands to look out for include new partnerships with Me To You and Jurassic World, as well as fresh duvet designs for Ben 10, Power Rangers and WWE. A festive collection of Elf on the Shelf themed bedding and blankets will also be available. Dreamtex works closely with ISA NASA and has seen great success this year with its space shuttle shaped duvet. The company has also won a Licensing International Excellence Award for its National Geographic sustainable bedding collection, in recognition of its commitment to ethical manufacturing using the unique recycled material, Repreve. For more information, contact enquiries@dreamtexltd.com.

Character Licensed Merchandise

Zappies 01273 977 440 | www.zappies.com Zappies, a UK-based toy distributor and manufacturer with over a decade of specialist experience, has seen strong growth in 2020, particularly on its Sonic range. As an evergreen property, Sonic proves popular year after year. The successful 2020 movie launch has led to the announcement of a sequel slated for release in 2022, while the property is also approaching its 30th anniversary in 2021. Sega is planning significant activity this year around the brand, driving both awareness and demand for product. The Zappies range focuses on remote control products and vehicles, with a number of stand-out lines. Prominent amongst them is the Sonic RC car, which includes working front and rear lights as well as a turbo button that sends Sonic zooming off into the distance. New for 2020 is Zappies’ Sonic Freeriders Skateboard RC. Featuring Sonic on his full function skateboard, the 27 MHz frequency means this toy is capable of racing against RC cars with a 49 MHz frequency; an included remote control offers added convenience and fun. Kids can also perform tricks and stunts thanks to forward, reverse and side to side movement, and an impressive range of 15 meters. To complement the range, Zappies also has the Sonic pullback vehicle. Ideal for the younger Sonic fan aged three and above, kids can pull back the vehicle and watch Sonic speed off. This robust toy offers hours of fun at an attractive pocket money price. For further information about the Sonic range, please contact sales@zappies.com.

HTI 01253 778 888 | www.htigroup.co.uk HTI Toys has a strong portfolio of licensed products across its key categories, with big names including Peppa Pig, JCB, Paw Patrol and Joie. After celebrating her 15th birthday last year, the Peppa Pig brand continues to be a key player. HTI has invested in new tooling for the range of Peppa Pig toys, with several new launches for the upcoming season to sit within its already popular roleplay category. Peppa’s Vacuum Cleaner is perfect for little ones. Shaped just like Peppa and featuring real suction power, the Peppa Vacuum Cleaner comes complete with two different nozzles, a carry handle and wheels. All accessories pack away neatly into the cleverly designed storage compartment. Also joining the Peppa Pig roleplay range are Peppa’s Deli Car and Peppa’s Ice Cream car. Shaped just like the famous red car from the TV series, children can learn to follow instructions with the recipe cards, creating endless combinations of ice creams or sandwiches, before directing their customers to the till to pay. Following the recent success of outdoor play kitchens, HTI has introduced Peppa’s Mud Kitchen into its roleplay range. Perfect for outdoor use, this play kitchen comes complete with an opening oven, three stoves, sink and several metal accessories. Peppa fans can write their perfect mud pie menu on the chalkboard and make mud creations with this colourful kitchen. HTI Toys has even more launches to come in 2021 across the Peppa Pig roleplay, dolls prams and wooden toy categories. Visit the website above for more information on the HTI collection.

Little Brother Books 01392 982082 | www.littlebrotherbooks.co.uk 13 of Little Brother Books’ Annuals Christmas titles have now been shipped into the UK ready to launch at retail in the coming weeks. This year’s Little Brother Books offering includes the addition of three exclusive new brands to the portfolio, plus its best-selling Gaming Annuals as well as those from the world of sport, children’s entertainment and toy properties. The range is the one-stop shop of Annuals for girls and boys from pre-school to young adult, behind the hottest brands on the market. Looking ahead to next year, the company is feeling very optimistic, with a strong breadth of retail distribution complemented by its broad portfolio of Annual titles, including new additions to the LBB stable. The success and popularity of its Gaming Annuals, as well as “World of Dinosaurs by The Natural History Museum” is set to continue, with the number of retailers supporting these titles growing year on year. Similarly, O.M.G. and Kindi Kids are building momentum and the company is confident that 2021 will be a big year for these brands with retailers, as well as the launch of 44 Cats into the category. Behind the scenes, and throughout 2020, Little Brother Books has been working on various new formats to further disrupt other areas of licensed publishing that will help it build upon its market offering, as well as see Little Brother Books continue to hold its position as the No.1 Annuals publisher. The attention to detail in each product ensures that the company continues to offer its licensors the ultimate retailer distribution.

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All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2020 WWE. All Rights Reserved. ® & © 2020 The Topps Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The words UEFA, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE and EUROPA LEAGUE,League and UEFA Europa League (including, but not limited to,logos, designs, mascots, products, trophies and names) are owned and protected as trademarks, designs and/or as copyright works by UEFA. All rights reserved. ® & © Topps. All Rights Reserved. Topps and Match Attax are registered trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc.

Asmodee contact information: Tel No: 01420 593593. Email: sales@asmodee.co.uk

Character Licensed Merchandise

Tomy 01392 281927 | www.tomy.com Tomy continues to build upon its successful partnerships with property owners including Hasbro, Disney and Nintendo. The company’s licensed product portfolio includes the master toy product range for the popular children’s television programme Ricky Zoom, which appeared on screens last year. Tomy has also extended its Peppa Pig range, having been appointed Bath Toy Licensee for the beloved cartoon character. Key lines for 2020 include Lights and Sounds Ricky, a 7” large Ricky Zoom figure. Including an articulated front wheel for multi-directional movement, an etched light-up visor and sounds & phrases, the Lights and Sounds Ricky features superior stability for better play. Kids can simply press Ricky’s button to hear eight different sounds and phrases featuring favourite catchphrases from the TV show. Inspired by the Adventure Park location from the show, the Ricky Zoom Speed & Stunt Playset offers three different ways to play, allowing little ones the chance to recreate the fun Ricky and his friends enjoy onscreen. Kids can load Ricky into the super launcher and watch him zoom into action, then add the adjustable track for extra fun. The track lets Ricky attempt the ‘Super Race’, a straight-line speed dash and the ‘Super Jump’, in which Ricky can be launched up the ramp and through the hoop to hit the target. Peppa and Daddy Pig are set to provide hours of fun when it comes to bath time with the Peppa Pig Pull & Go Pedalo. Kids can pull the ring and watch as the Peppa’s bright yellow pedalo paddles its way through the water. The Peppa and Daddy Pig characters double as water squirters, allowing kids to engage in entertaining bath time play with their parent or caregiver. With no batteries required, fun can happen straight out of the box. The latest edition of the Peppa Pig Aquadoodle Mat encourages mess-free artistic play. The product features new graphics and colours - revealed when splashed by water - as well as a Peppa Pig pen and star stamp. Children can practise writing skills or create fun doodles; the possibilities are endless with this mess-free and easy to use product suitable for kids aged 18 months and over. The newly refreshed Peppa Pig Doodle Bag is perfect for keeping kids entertained on the go, with none of the mess normally associated with paints, pens or watercolours. The padded bag opens out to provide an easel with two drawing areas for double the fun – kids can doodle on one side, then switch to the other while the first lot of doodles dry. The bag can then be easily folded back into its original form once the fun is over, making it ideal for travelling.

Playmobil 01268 548 111 | www.playmobil.co.uk This year, the classic 1980s film Back to the Future celebrates its 35th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, Playmobil has launched a brand-new, limited-edition Advent Calendar featuring scenes from the iconic film franchise. Behind every door is a gift, from figures to vehicles to accessories, providing fans with 24-days’ worth of time travelling entertainment during the lead up to the big day. Once all the surprises have been discovered, the box folds open into a backdrop to complete the iconic town square scene. The calendar lets kids recreate classic scenes from Back to the Future and Back to the Future II, including Marty McFly and Jennifer Parker having a chat, and Doc Brown and Marty in the Twin Pines Mall carpark from 1985. For fans that want to travel a bit further back in time to the 1950s, Marty can meet (and escape from) Biff on his skateboard. In addition, each calendar comes with a lenticular-effect picture, so fans can watch as the McFly family disappears before their eyes.

MV Sports 01217 488 000 | www.mvsports.co.uk MV sports has an array of both own brand and licensed categories. Properties include Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Disney Princess, Batman, Spiderman and Frozen II, while new licences Bing and Ricky Zoom will strengthen the portfolio for 2021. Peppa, Paw Patrol and Disney Princess will have new additions introduced to the 2021 ranges. The new Deluxe Light & Sound Ride Ons are packed full of features, with three moulded characters sitting at the front of the vehicle. Kids press the button to activate flashing lights, musical sounds and a central revolving character. The interchangeable plaque scooter comes with two reversible printed character inserts, meaning kids can switch and change to one of five favourite characters quickly and easily. The new interchangeable plaque scooter will be available in Peppa, Paw Patrol, Bing, Ricky Zoom, Thomas, Frozen and, new for this year, Disney Pixar. For older boys, Batman and Spiderman remain strong, with Nerf also seeing growth this year. MV Sports has expanded the Nerf range with a Nerf Assault Gokart, featuring two blasters and ten darts integrated into the front fairing. There is also a 16” BMX style bike with the same configuration integrated into the frame of the bike.

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Character Licensed Merchandise

GB Eye 0114 2767454 | www.gbeye.com GB eye offers a raft of impressive products across licensed gaming and movies. Superheroes are a perennial favourite among consumers, and Wonder Woman is no exception. A wide range of products is available now from GB Eye, developed to tie in with the WW84 movie release in October and the 45th anniversary of the character’s TV premiere in November. Batman is also back on the big screen next year; fans are advised to look out for the company’s new core range of products in 2021. GB Eye’s exclusive Fortnite posters and prints continue to sell well, and new designs are ready to launch alongside ranges for Assassin creed and Apex legends. Some of the biggest gaming brands can be found in the company’s range, with RRPs starting at sub-£3. Pokémon is one of the biggest sellers of 2020, and GB Eye’s gifting range is going from strength to strength, with RRPs from £2.99 to £19.99. Fans will be aware that 2021 will be the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, and Pikachu is to be the main focus of the celebrations. A wealth of new products will be launching alongside fan events slated to run throughout the year. GB Eye has developed its on-demand printing capabilities and locally sourced products, which ensures stock is always available. Options include coffee mugs, carabiner mugs and framed wall art, while new sustainable, environmentally friendly drinks bottles and bags are due to be launched soon. More new products will be rolling out throughout 2021. GB Eye’s entire portfolio of licences is represented across a wide range of formats; readers can view the complete range online.

Wow Stuff! 01902 390 428 | www.wowstuff.com Peppa Pig’s Clever Car has just been unveiled by Wow! Stuff. This latest offering will launch in Europe this month and North America for Spring 2021. The Peppa Pig Clever Car employs obstacle avoidance technology which detects anything in front of the car – a cushion, chair leg or other household fixtures – and veers around it while beeping its horn, educating the child that crashes are something to be avoided. Before setting off, the child is challenged with matching the colour of the characters to the colour of the car seats and ensuring Mummy or Daddy Pig is in the driving seat. Successfully matching the colours is met with the narrator congratulating the child’s skill before the Clever Car sets off. Pressing the steering wheel will prompt Peppa’s car to auto-drive, with Obstacle Avoidance technology, while the characters chat, lights activate, and the child can chase excitedly behind. The company is supporting the launch with a 360-degree marketing campaign including a TV commercial and extensive social media advertising. Peppa Pig Clever car includes the obstacle detection car with colour sorting feature plus four figures: Mummy, Daddy, Peppa and George.

Clementoni 020 3206 1397 | www.clementoni.com Clementoni is well known for developing products which promote learning through play, and its Soft Clemmy bricks allow little ones to play in a gentle and safe environment. For 2020, the brand has partnered with Peppa Pig and the hit YouTube sensation from PinkFong, Baby Shark. The Peppa Pig range is comprised of three key items, all of which include the soft and safe Clemmy bricks, ideal for sensory exploration and manual skill development. The Peppa Pig Clemmy Bucket, suitable for babies from just six months old, is a bucket shaped like a house and contains six Soft Clemmy bricks, including a Peppa Pig character. The Peppa Pig Clemmy Bus doubles as a storage box. Toddlers from 18 months can take Peppa and her brother George out for a spin in the colourful bus, which also contains eight Soft Clemmy bricks. Finally, the Peppa Pig Clemmy Train Playset includes a train, lots of Soft Clemmy bricks and two characters from the hit cartoon series, letting little ones have fun building up towers and embarking on adventures. Launching for the key Q4 period is the Clementoni Soft Clemmy Baby Shark range, which features a Soft Clemmy Small Bucket and Soft Clemmy Family Bucket, with a storage tub as well as key characters and Soft Clemmy bricks. There is also the Soft Clemmy My First Playset, designed for babies from six months. It includes a set of bricks, character shapes, accessories and the Soft Clemmy bag, containing 20 bricks in a handy and portable storage bag. All of the Soft Clemmy bricks are made from a non-toxic washable material and are simple to stack and easy for little hands to grasp. For further information please contact Shahbaz.khan@ clementoni.com.

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Character Licensed Merchandise

Smiffys 0800 590 599 | www.smiffystrade.com Smiffys has an array of new official licensed characters, including on screen favourite Peaky Blinders and retro classic Ghostbusters, plus new additions to popular licences: Top Gun, Parental Advisory and He-Man. The new costumes are ideal for those wanting a look the whole family can wear or an eye-catching dynamic duo, with costumes for men, women and children. Birmingham’s notorious gangsters comes to life with Smiffys’ new exclusive Peaky Blinders costume and instant kit. Fans can transform into Tommy Shelby himself with the Peaky Blinders Costume or simply accessorise an existing outfit with the instant Peaky Blinders kit. An 80s icon is brought to life with Smiffys’ new Ghostbusters range. The collection includes jumpsuits and boiler suits for men, women and children, that feature inflatable proton packs and an easily assembled accessory that makes for a unique family look. For the more fashionconscious Ghostbusters fans, the Ladies hot pant suit and Men’s stand out suit are sure to command attention. With the revival of retro licences, Smiffys’ brings new styles to its bestselling He-Man range, with adult and kids He-Man and Skeletor Costumes. The deluxe official range features a He-Man adult and kids padded jumpsuit, complete with EVA shields and swords for a fun father and son dress-up duo. The new Skeletor costume features an EVA chest and hooded mask, bringing the figures to life. Smiffys is committed to staying on-trend and continues to develop all licensed ranges with a fresh take on timeless characters. Top Gun fans can enjoy the new collection, which includes jumpsuits for men, women and children with changeable name badges. Smiffys is also committed to ensuring its newer ranges stay current and, following the successful launch of Smiffys Parental Advisory range earlier in the year, new for 2020 is the Parental Advisory Top and Beanie Set and Tabard. This range is ideal for the fashion-conscious consumer with its on-trend appeal and edgy feel.

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Bandai UK 020 8324 6160 | www.bandai.co.uk The CoComelon licensed toy range, manufactured by Jazwares and distributed for the UK market by Bandai UK, has reported a successful launch period with pre-orders out-performing targeted figures. Entry point items include a push-along small vehicle assortment and bath-time water squirters. With sub-£30 RRPs, the Yellow School Bus and Musical Check Up Case both include interactive elements and play songs made famous by the channel. The brightly coloured bus comes with a figure of JJ, and has room for six CoComelon friends. The song The Wheels on the Bus plays when the grill is pressed. The CoComelon Musical CheckUp Set, meanwhile, gets children singing along to the Doctor Check-Up song, and the included stethoscope, thermometer and syringe make it easy to play doctor. The JJ & Friends Figure Six Pack includes articulated characters, while the 20cm Plush Assortment consists of three different super-soft plush collectibles. Bandai’s Miraculous collection has received a makeover for 2020 from Playmates Toys. Currently the No. 1 TV show on kids’ channel Pop, Miraculous is brought to life through an assortment of Ladybug, Marinette, Cat Noir and Rena Rouge Small dolls and Fashion dolls. With 14 points of articulation, the Marinette Superhero Secret Fashion doll comes complete with accessories that transform her into her Ladybug alter-ego. Kids can also recreate magical scenes in Marinette’s beautiful Parisian apartment with the new Miraculous Balcony Fashion Doll Playset. Standing at 60cm tall, the two-storey set is compatible with the Fashion Dolls and features a bedroom, design desk and studio accessories. A new plush collection includes favourite Kwami characters Tikki, Plagg, Trixx and Pollen. As UK distributor for McFarlane Toys, Bandai UK brings a range of classic and current properties to the action figure market. McFarlane Toys enjoys strong partnerships with some of the world’s leading gaming, TV and anime businesses, and Bandai is currently launching highly detailed figures for properties including Cyberpunk, DC Multiverse and My Hero Academia. National Geographic has established its position as an evergreen, go-to science range within the company’s portfolio. A new Crystal Garden kit and Super Kits have been added to the collection for the Q3/Q4 period, while core to the range are the Dig Kits, which feature a piece of the natural world and a full colour learning guide. Sales are consistently high year-round, and the new product lines aim to keep the brand fresh and appealing. With genuine specimens to discover in each, sets are available at a range of price points starting from pocket money Mini Dig Kits up to sub-£30 for the Super Kits. World’s Smallest are miniature recreations of some of the world’s most recognisable and classic toys. Tapping into the ongoing retro and nostalgia toy trend, the collection includes fully working small-scale versions of Etch-a-Sketch, Chatter Telephone, Rubik’s Cube, Stretch Armstrong, Action Man and Hot Wheels, with plans for more licensed replicas to follow.

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* Based on Nielsen and non Nielsen retail sales. Little Brother Books Ltd, Ground Floor, 23 Southernhay East, Exeter, Devon EX1 1QL +44 (0)1392 982082 | books@littlebrotherbooks.co.uk | www.littlebrotherbooks.co.uk

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Character Licensed Merchandise

8th Wonder 01942 829 811 | www.8thwonder.co.uk

8th Wonder has added a selection of new lines to its existing successful portfolio of licensed ranges from Hey Duggee, Bing and In the Night Garden. Paw Patrol has also joined the company’s line-up for autumn/winter. Each quality licensed product offers value for money while promoting a key sustainability message, with products made from 100% FSC certified wood. 8th Wonder’s award-winning Hey Duggee range includes several new lines for 2020, including the Hey Duggee vehicle block play set. Designed to help develop any child’s imagination, this 50-piece set allows fans to create a different Hey Duggee world, featuring lights and sounds and interactive pieces, every time they play. Parents will appreciate the wipe clean folding play mat, which doubles as a storage bag so the child can take their set with them on the go. New Bing lines include Bing Character Skittles. Eye-catching and colourful, the skittles encourage active play both indoors and out. The Bing Carry-Along House is easy for any child to use; once open, the play set reveals Bing and all his friends. Fans can then recreate all Bing’s adventures from the popular animated pre-school show. All the figures can be stored inside the house, lending this product an attractive take-and-play element. The new In the Night Garden Activity Cube offers younger children hours of fun and a chance to develop key skills. The brightly coloured cube showcases a wide range of activities, and sits alongside 8th Wonder’s range of plush chairs. Launched in September, the chairs are available in Hey Duggee, Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy designs, are made from quality plush fabric, and feature a non-slip base. The company’s new Paw Patrol products started landing in the market in September. Key lines include character skittles, an activity puzzle clock, and a games selection offering a range of products suitable for kids aged two years and over.

Flair 020 8643 0320 | www.flairplc.co.uk New film, Ben 10 Versus The Universe, will debut on 10th October, accompanied by a wave of film inspired figures for fans to collect, including Space Ben and Space Heatblast which will allow children to recreate scenes from the new film. In addition, there will be a further wave of core figures for autumn, as well as the Omnitrix Creator Set. With the new Omnitrix, kids can mix and match parts to create their own custom Omnitrix or Antitrix with over 100 combinations. The Omnitrix Creator Set also comes with lights and sounds. The new PJ Masks Save the Sky range has launched this autumn, which includes a new flying base for the series’ anti-hero with Romeo’s Flying Factory Playset. The heroes can also take to the sky with the PJ Masks Air Jet, featuring expanding wings, an opening cockpit and lights and sounds. Completing the theme will be both core vehicles and Save the Sky gliders. From the core collection, hero line the PJ Masks 2-in-1 Mobile HQ is an impressive Seeker vehicle that transforms into a multistorey HQ. The new Save the Sky themed playsets will all be supported with strong TV and digital campaigns in the lead up to Christmas.

Sinco 0161 737 7464 | Sales@Sincotoys.com Sinco has added to its Scribble Me Baby Shark offering and has partnered with PMI to launch a range of Baby Shark collectibles. The line-up includes assorted self-inking Stampers, and comprises foilbag figures in CDU and a multi blister pack, with 12 styles to collect. Made from soft PVC and ink that washes off under water, the collection is perfect for toddlers and children. Also on offer is a range of plush Baby Shark Clip on Coin purses which can be attached to bags or other accessories, allowing kids to take their favourite underwater friends with them wherever they go. The line combines both high quality and value for money for fans of Baby Shark. Quality products with a point of difference is what Sinco stand for, whilst still delivering genuine value for money for the end consumer and the design team will continue to deliver refreshing new ideas that ensure the brand goes from strength to strength as it moves forward into 2021. For more information, contact Daniel Smith: daniel@ singletontrading.com.

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Officially licensed dress-up AVAILABLE NOW

Role play weapons are not included

WWW.RUBIESUK.COM or email us: customerservices@rubiesuk.com @Rubies_UK

@RubiesUK

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Character Licensed Merchandise

Rubie’s 08453 070 707 | www.rubiesuk.com

Character Options 01616 339 800 | www.character-online.com

Rubie’s has introduced its brand new range from the epic Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, as part of its strong, stable portfolio of licences featuring some of the latest major franchises. The Mandalorian is a successful series with a massive fan base from Lucasfilm‘s Star Wars franchise and Rubies launch is timed to coincide with the release of season two, streaming on 30th October. The designs in the new range capture the classic Star Wars essence of the lead character, Din Djarin, and The Child, who both became iconic characters in a short space of time. Consumers can channel their inner Bounty Hunter this Halloween, with the official costumes from the critically acclaimed series. Rubie’s will release both an adult and child Din Djarin costume, otherwise known as The Mandalorian, and little ones can wear The Child two-piece outfit, available in infant and toddler sizes. The Mandalorian range is available to pre-order now.

Character Options has a vast portfolio of licensed merchandise which includes gaming and pre-school heavyweights, Pokémon and Peppa Pig. The Pokémon Carry Case Playset brings the world of Pokémon Toys to fans like never before. The new TVC will highlight the many features, including a bounding boulder roll, treetop trap door, battle arena, launch pads, secret caves and more. The playset folds up easily into Ash’s iconic Kanto Region backpack, allowing children to safely store all of their Pokémon figures in one place. The next waves of scaled figure sets are also in stores now, which fans can pack into their carry case for easy storage. Whether two or three figure battle packs or 12-Inch Epic Figures with multiple points of articulation, Pokémon fans have plenty to collect. Peppa’s Shopping Centre Playset has two floors and four shopping areas, all of which will be brought to life through TV advertising throughout the autumn season. Peppa Pig fans can swap the backgrounds and swivel the signs to create six different shops in total. The Shopping Centre also features a lift, where kids can press the button to send Peppa up to the top floor, and then push it back down to ground level again. There’s also a working microphone and easy to press buttons to hear shopping sounds. This feature-packed Peppa Pig Core collection has been joined this season by the beautifully crafted Peppa Pig World of Wooden toys. Every item in the collection is made with high quality, durable and sustainable FSC certified wood with eye catching and colourful designs. Eminently touchable, all items are crafted with the youngest of Peppa fans in mind whilst staying true to the classic Peppa styling that is instantly recognisable, and packed with play appeal to stimulate a child’s imagination. For more information about these and other TV lines from Character Options call the number above or email sales@charactergroup.plc.uk.

KidzTech 07946 455537 | www.kidztechtoys.com KidzTech is a radio control car manufacturer and continues its evergrowing presence in the vehicles category with a wide range of products covering all key sub-categories in the sector: Prestige, Slot Sets, Off Road, Stunt and Light & Sound. The Prestige marques stable remains the most popular, featuring highly detailed and authentic officially licensed models, including classics from McLaren, Bugatti, Porsche, Audi, Land Rover and Lamborghini. New for 2021 are the Pagani Huayra and Lamborghini Sian. Most of the Prestige models operate on the 2.4 GHZ frequency, allowing multi-vehicle racing, and feature lights, suspension and USB charging for lithium ion batteries. Scales move from the entry level 1:43 to the superb 1:12 models. The Hot Wheels Slot Racing Sets and Carry Case range are ever popular. Innovation is key here, with new developments on the Zero Gravity Racetracks and Adventure Racing Sets, in both track and case formats. The Track Sets allow for all skill levels of budding race drivers, from the standard oval set to the mammoth 13m Challenge Set with double loops, spirals and Daytona banking. For off-road fans, the original Big Foot Monster Truck, the evergreen Ford F150 and Jeep models, and KidzTech’s own Jet Panther buggy are available. The fun factor ramps up with the Stunt range, including Mini and Nano Vortex, Micro Drive and Mini Flip. All operate on four-wheel drive, with 360-degree spin action. The pull-back and radio control Glo Racers catch the eye with their light up multi-colour changing feature and three sound effects. KidzTech will continue to drive forward the vehicles category with both product innovation and the strongest licences. It looks forward to a strong 2021 working with its existing retail partners and welcomes new enquiries.

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Character Licensed Merchandise

Moose Toys 01637 882200 | www.moosetoys.com Moose Toys has announced the launch of a brand-new toy and activity line in partnership with the No. 1 family-friendly YouTube channel, Collins Key. Debuting this autumn, the collaboration combines the imaginative forces of Moose Toys and the Collins and Devan Key brothers, allowing fans to play along at home and recreate the DIY challenges and projects made popular on the YouTube channel. As the No. 1 YouTube creators for compounds, activities and creativity, Collins and Devan Key have more than 21.5m subscribers and over 5b total views. The collection taps into Collins and Devan’s authenticity, energy, passion for life and signature over-the-top challenges to bring innovative play to the activity aisle and directly to their fan base. The line features boxed play sets in two categories: Fake Food Challenges and Pranks & Collectibles. The hero item within the first category is the Fake Food Challenge Wheel, inspired by the Mystery Wheel Challenge that the #KeyperSquad - Collins and Devan’s most ardent fans - will recognise from the YouTube channel. Players take turns spinning the wheel to receive their challenge and then use various tools to shape and mould their compounds into food items. The Ultimate Unboxing Game pits two players against each other, racing to find the key within one of three mystery boxes; the losing person is presented with a gross surprise. The Mystery Box Collectible, meanwhile, sees players tasked with blindly feeling around inside a box and guessing what’s hidden inside.

Zuru 01604 401 719 | sales@geemac.biz

Basic Fun 01189 253 270 | www.basicfun.com

5 Surprise Mini Brands brings miniature versions of some of the world’s most famous and popular brands to the collectibles market. Fans can unwrap and reveal mini replica collectibles housed in the unique 5-part capsule. There are over 100 miniatures and surprise shopping accessories to find. Favourites such as Skippy Peanut Butter and Mentos can be collected, alongside exclusive-to-the-UK & Ireland brands such as Bird’s Eye Fish Fingers, Aunt Bessies Yorkshire Puddings, Goodfellas, and BabyBel. Rare Metallic and Glow in the Dark minis, and Super Rare Golden Minis, will drive repeat purchase.

Basic Fun’s portfolio of Care Bears includes the iconic plush toys synonymous with the brand, and a host of collectibles. The new Care Bears collection echoes the Tiny Pop TV series and will come with a Care Out Loud campaign of celebrity and influencer sampling. Each with its own message and personality, the new Care Bears are highly collectible for today’s kids, as well as delighting the millions of cross generational fans worldwide. Collectible plush ranges from brightly coloured pocket money priced 9” Beanies, to the super soft 14” huggable Care Bears updated for today with brighter colours and a Care Coin. The Care Coin currency has inspirational quotes to collect and share with friends and loved ones. New Care Bears Surprise Collectible Figures are also available. Each figure comes in one of three different coloured rainbow-styled cases for a fun unboxing experience.; it’s not until kids open the rainbow-styled case that the Care Bears figure inside is revealed. With 10 to collect, each rainbow-styled case holds a 2” Care Bears Surprise Collectible Figure, a Collector’s Guide and collectible Care Coin. For more information, please contact Tim Ives, head of sales at Tim.Ives@basicfun.com.

Toy World 100

Feature

Mattel Licensees’ Gallery

Accompanying this month’s edition of Toy World is a special standalone supplement, brought to you in conjunction with Mattel Licensing. The supplement details the latest information and news from Mattel’s rich portfolio of iconic brands, along with a glimpse into some of the new developments that will be arriving in 2021.

Over the next few pages, we present a round-up of some of the latest ranges being offered by Mattel’s licensees.

Sinco 0161 737 7464 | Sales@Sincotoys.com Sinco has been working closely with Mattel to develop a product range for teen and tween Barbie fans to enjoy. Sinco’s creative team has embraced the world of Barbie to take product for the older Barbie girl in a fun and new direction. The range captures elements of technology and fashion, and focuses on trend led products that not only feature elements of doll play, but also day to day living - perfect for any Barbie fan. This new innovative range will be launching in May 2021 and the company has already received considerable amounts of interest from retail, both in the UK and in Europe.

Flair/Just Play 020 8643 0320 | www.flairplc.co.uk Flair and Just Play is launching the Barbie roleplay collection for autumn 2020, which includes a wide variety of styling heads, with new additions such as the Barbie Deluxe Glitter Styling Head. Also available is the Best Friend Barbie Doll complete with Princess Adventure outfit. The Just Play Barbie Best Fashion Friend Doll stands over 70cm tall. This modern fashion-forward princess Barbie combines teal wedge sneakers, a printed tulle skirt and a sleek purple pleather jacket with faux fur collar. She also comes with a removable tiara and removable shoes. This Barbie is fully articulated, meaning Barbie fans can move her into fun poses for realistic roleplay. New for 2020, the large Barbie Dreamtopia Mermaid Styling Head includes mix and match barrettes, gems and other accessorises. For added nail art fun, the Barbie Glitter Hair Deluxe Styling Head includes a wear and share unicorn headband, brush, nail stickers and lots of other accessorises. Finally, the Barbie Rainbow Sparkle Styling Head is ideal for young stylists. Barbie’s thick afro hair can be brushed, twisted and pinned into lots of on-trend designs. For more information about these and other items in Flair Just Play’s Barbie Roleplay collection email sales@flairplc.co.uk.

Asmcan 01908 288500 | www.amscan.co.uk Thomas & Friends celebrates its 75th year in 2020. Amscan’s Thomas & Friends party goods and balloon ranges remain constant and stable performers, year in and year out, due to the brand’s classic, evergreen status, and the widespread appeal of trains across a variety of ages and stages, particularly toddlers and pre-schoolers. Fireman Sam also continues to rank in Amscan’s Top 10 performing franchises for party goods and balloons. New ranges for both properties will further bolster the current success of these lines. For more information, contact sales@amscan-uk.co.uk.

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Archon Studio +48 673533839 | www.archon-studio.com In He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Fields of Eternia, players will explore the vast continent of Eternia as they undertake quests and story missions. Players will be able to take control of iconic characters from the series, such as He-Man, Skeletor, She-Ra, Hordak and many more. They can choose from a variety of factions, each with their own unique abilities and aspirations. In this game, players will determine whether to fight back the forces of Evil, or seek to take control of Castle Grayskull and claim the power of the universe. During gameplay, players will have to traverse the mountains, forests and swamp lands, as they undertake quests to power up their chosen characters, encountering familiar foes and monsters along the way. Actions include taming wild beasts in order to ride them across the plains and into battle and completing missions to take control of key locations throughout the land, to increase power and influence in the game. Area control will be a key mechanism to the game as it will provide players with unique bonuses as well as access to new weapons and items. The all-new Battle Grid combat brings a new dynamic to fighting, as players must plan their strategies and upgrade their combat effectiveness.

Boxine 020 3608 3056 | www.tonies.com Children’s audio system Tonies has added Fireman Sam to its range of Tonies – stories and songs that offer an innovative, interactive storytelling experience. Entitled The Pontypandy Pack, the Fireman Sam Tonie is based on the classic BBC children’s TV series, which has run for over 30 years in more than 155 countries. Today, a new generation of children are able to enjoy Sam’s adventures without a screen or complicated controls – they simply place the Tonie on top of the Toniebox speaker, and the content will begin to play. The story runs for 70 minutes and includes five popular episodes, including the annual Pontypandy Cheese Roll Challenge, a surprise involving a garden makeover and a barbecue out of control. Launched in the UK in 2018 by Patric Faßbender and his friend and co-founder Marcus Stahl, the Toniebox is an intuitive speaker system that is revolutionising story time for children, as an easy, fun and interactive way for three to eight year olds to play their favourite stories and songs. The Fireman Sam Tonie is available now.

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Dreamtex’s new partnership with Mattel sees Hot Wheels licensed homewares come to market for autumn 2020, as young racing fans are invited to theme their bedrooms around the evergreen brand. The highlight of the new Hot Wheels collection is the innovative Night Shifter bedding set. With a stylish and classic Hot Wheels red design, the over-sized duvet is racing car shaped and includes wheels at each corner to add a playful element to the look of a child’s bed. The Hot Wheels logo dominates the bright red pillowcase for extra visual impact and branding. In recognition of the year the iconic Hot Wheels brand was born, fans of all ages can also look forward to the launch of ’68 themed towel and fleece blanket accessories. Inspired by the popular Bone Shaker Hot Wheels design, the towel features realistic photo art and the colourful throw showcases a selection of cars alongside the Hot Wheels logo in a bold repeat pattern.

Jazwares 020 3598 5119 | www.jazwares.com Jazwares is the UK distributor for the new Fisher-Price range of electronic preschool toys from Eldohm. The range includes shaking maracas and mini pianos. Children can create a variety of melodies and beats with the mini pianos, while the maracas produce entertaining sound effects when rattled, offering endless musical fun. Eldohm believes in the Fisher-Price vision that play is the way children learn best, and understanding the importance of play in building a child’s skills is a fundamental development principle for the brand. Through the addition of role-play and musical toys to the Fisher-Price range, Eldohm hopes to enrich the lives of families with young children. Other new developments to the range, including role-play and expansions to the musical toy collection, will be announced in spring.

Smiffys 0800 590 599 | www.smiffystrade.com

Character Options 01616 339 800 | www.character-online.com Character Options’ Fireman Sam collection has expanded with a brand-new Fire Station playset for fans to enjoy. The new Fire Rescue Centre is a feature-packed playset with carry handle. Kids open-up the Fire Station to reveal the firefighters’ new headquarters. There’s a working zipwire, platform with pulley and training dolly, control centre unit and more. An articulated Fireman Sam figure is also included. To ensure this new HQ and the rest of the collection, including the wide range of rescue vehicles and character figures, are popular this Christmas, the company has in a place extensive marketing and retail support, including a dedicated TVC, a stop-motion animation, mum’s reviews, consumer print ads and social media activity. For more information call Character Options on 0161 633 9800 or email sales@ charactergroup.plc.uk.

Geemac 01604 401719 Email sales@geemac.biz

Smiffys has unveiled the new Barbie Children’s Costume, an extension of its best-selling officially licensed collection. The new design follows Smiffys’ award winning Limited Edition 60th Anniversary Barbie Costume. The Barbie brand encourages kids that they can be anything, an ethos that Smiffys has worked hard to reflect in its dress-up and role-play ranges, including the new design for younger Barbie lovers. The dress features an all-over glitter print tutu style skirt and velour bodice, inspired by the costume featured in the autumn 2020 Barbie Princess Adventure movie. The dress comes complete with a sparkly jacket sporting a soft faux fur collar, creating the perfect dress up look for Barbie fans.

Geemac’s Sportspower brand offers quality and affordable play products that stand out in the marketplace. With two decades of business experience behind it, the company remains innovative and strives to create safety-tested products that exceed all relevant standards. To this end, Geemac and Mattel have partnered to create a new Fisher-Price toddler trampoline. Offering a spacious jump mat, safety pad, painted steel frame, non-slip feet and foam handles for extra grip, the trampoline is perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. The company is also heading into spring/summer 2021 with a brand new product featuring Mattel’s updated style guide, and is working towards growing the Sportspower licensed range for 2022 and beyond.

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Bladez Toyz 02392 658 255 | www.bladeztoyz.co.uk Bladez Toyz expands its Maker Kitz range with four new kits based on Hot Wheels’ Monster Trucks. Kids simply pop-out the plastic panels and assemble the snap-fit parts. Adding two pull-back motors and giant wheels with rubber tyres means the trucks are set to take on the toughest terrain. The kits come with a double-sided cardboard stunt ramp, with space to line up 1:64 Hot Wheels cars for super stunts and car crushing action. Mini Maker Kitz bring the Make It / Race It play pattern in collectible format, with 20 designs to collect and trade. Young racers can check the stats, pop out the parts, add a super-fast pull-back motor and are ready to go. There are also rare shiny metallic gold cars to find; at the classic 1:64 scale the vehicles even work on Hot Wheels track, so kids can create the ultimate stunts. Delivering a robust playable car with collectible appeal, plus a TV campaign launching in Q4, Mini Maker Kitz tick all the boxes for an attractive pocket money purchase. Brand new for Q1 2021, Bladez introduces Barbie activity kits to the growing Maker Kitz range. Delivering the same rewarding ‘make’ process whilst combining elements of arts and crafts with Barbie’s unique style, Bladez Toyz is switching up creative play with kits that are no mess, easy to make and on-trend.

Wilton Bradley 01626 835 400 | www.wiltonbradley.com Bestway’s product range covers an abundance of different inflatable products, from unicorn and fruit-themed rubber rings to water slides to constant-air slides. The company has worked with Mattel to develop a range of officially licensed Fisher-Price products. Kids can get fun back on track with the Bestway Fisher-Price Train Ball Pit. Ideal for both indoor and outdoor active fun, the ball pit improves important hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills. Bright colours and friendly animal graphics make this a perfect addition any play area or birthday party. Bestway’s entire product range is available from Wilton Bradley, the company’s exclusive partner and representative in the UK.

Ravensburger 01869 363 830 | www.ravensburger.com There are 17 Thomas & Friends games and puzzles on offer from Ravensburger. Among the company’s licensed games line-up is the Thomas & Friends Mini memory game, in which players can match up pairs of their favourite characters. An evergreen play pattern has been reinvented with Thomas & Friends Dominos; the 28 picture cards challenge players to be the first to place down all their cards in order to win the game. Ravensburger also offers a wide range of piece counts and formats for young puzzlers. The Thomas & Friends Big World Adventures 4-in-a-Box includes a selection of four puzzles with 12, 16, 20 and 24 pieces, showcasing beautifully illustrated characters and scenery from the movie. The Thomas & Friends 4 Large Shaped Puzzles feature four different characters, Spencer, Duck, Rosie and Thomas. With varying piece counts, each character is shown against a different coloured background to make the pieces easier to find, sort and assemble. Other Thomas & Friends puzzles include 35-piece options, My First Puzzles and My First Floor Puzzles.

Mondo 01706 751 155 | www.mondotoys.com Mattel and Mondo are continuing their partnership this year with an expanded product range for both Hot Wheels and Barbie. MondoMotors is launching an R/C Hot Wheels Monster Truck range, led by the best-selling 11’’ Monster Truck Bone Shaker, which will be supported with TV advertising. The R/C is a new extension to the wider Hot Wheels range. The range will continue to be developed with new launches coming in spring 2021, which will include R/C Hot Wheels Monster Truck items in smaller scale and at lower price points. MondoMotors also continues to evolve its current Hot Wheels R/C range with the development of lights and sound vehicles in both the motorised and pull-back ranges, offering good variety and price points for retailers. Continuing the Barbie Dream Car success in 2019 and 2020, new additions to the R/C range will include brand-new vehicles available for autumn/winter 2021, along with further developments that will expand the Barbie vehicles range in new directions.

MV Sports 01217 488 000 www.mvsports.co.uk Barbie has seen huge growth in the doll market this year and MV Sports has a wheeled toy ranged to support this iconic property. The range includes bikes, scooters and protective gear in contemporary candy colours framed in iconic Barbie pink. The contemporary graphics give the range a fresh look and feel. For 2021 the company is also introducing a Barbie Mermaid range comprising a scooter and bike with glitter accents and an integrated sequin mermaid tail doll holder, which allows kids to ride around with their favourite Barbie. Much of the Thomas & Friends range of bikes, ride-ons and scooters incorporate authentic Thomas moulded features and colourful graphics. The Thomas and Friends 2-in-1 10” bike is the ideal beginner’s bike, with a recently improved design of quick release pedals and stabilisers, making it quicker to transform from a pedal to a balance bike as the child grows in confidence.

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Allegedly

Normally, this time of the year is dominated by conversations about how ‘early reads’ from the Argos catalogue are shaping up. Of course, this year there is no catalogue – and several suppliers have been in touch over recent weeks, concerned that their year-on-year Argos sales have seen a significant decline over July and August. Naturally, their suspicion is that the absence of the ‘laminated book of dreams’ has resulted in dampened sales. It would be a shame after the fantastic start to the year that Argos has enjoyed, but equally it would be perfectly logical to expect initial sales to be slower without a catalogue to stimulate demand for new items, or even to make consumers aware that Argos has a new range available. In addition, many suppliers used to run advertising campaigns when the catalogue was launched to drive early sales, in the hope that this would result in greater stock ordering for the festive season not just by Argos, but all other toy retailers. With no catalogue to focus marketing activity around, perhaps there have been fewer July and August marketing campaigns this year – could that also have impacted the numbers? It will certainly be interesting to keep an eye on the situation in the coming weeks… On the positive side, there have been several good news retail stories recently, with ecommerce playing a key role in most of them: etailer Very’s annual revenue has exceeded £2b for the first time, with a return to profit expected to follow, while Studio Retail saw revenues rise 42% to the end of March, with toys singled out as one of the key drivers of this excellent performance. Meanwhile Tesco has announced that it will be creating 16,000 new jobs, principally to support growth in its online business… By way of contrast, it’s sad to see that the department store sector continues to struggle. Fenwick’s annual loss deepened to £49m – and that was only up to 31st January. Elsewhere, Jarrold made 90 people redundant, including CEO Minnie Moll (is it just me that thinks she sounds like the latest collectible doll or a rapper…). Jarrold has some great toy departments, so I hope toy sales have at least managed to hold up despite the retailer’s wider challenges. And as for Hamleys…. I received an ‘on the spot’ report from someone in the toy industry, who had popped in for a store visit. Looking at his pictures, I asked him whether he had arranged for a private visit with all other customers banned, like a modern-day Michael Jackson. Given the visit took place on a weekday lunchtime, the shots of empty aisles were a sad reminder that, for now at least, central London remains a pale shadow of its former self… I’ve suggested previously that the John Lewis ‘Never knowingly undersold’ promise was an anachronism no longer suited to the times. So, I wasn’t remotely surprised to hear that the retailer will be replacing it with a new slogan later this year – it will be interesting to see what they come up with…

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In addition to the global economic challenges presented by the pandemic, UK toy suppliers and retailers have a delightful extra curveball to factor into the equation – the looming Brexit deadline. We’ve recently seen some clarity emerge on the CE Mark situation, but the official government guidance – such as it is – throws up just as many questions as answers. All the extra testing or mould modification required look likely add to the financial burden of companies. And then there are the other niggling bureaucratic hurdles – lorry parks in Kent, 50,000 new customs officers - which suggest that far from being reduced, we are about to face an explosion in red tape. Just what everyone needs right now, obviously… As of 15th September, US visitors arriving in China will now need to provide a negative virus test result taken within 72 hours of the flight to be allowed entry. Not being familiar with the US medical system, I don’t know how practical this requirement is, but I have my suspicions that it may put a considerable spanner in the works. Even before the introduction of this measure, many international visitors have been avoiding Hong Kong and China, with the majority of buying trips and trade fairs cancelled or postponed so far this year. In turn, this is now apparently having an impact on the permanent showroom district: one of my Hong Kong-based contacts told me that “the number of TST toy showrooms that are now empty is amazing.” Interestingly, in his view, suppliers need the fairs to survive – ironic in some respects, given the number of international visitors who never make it beyond Mody Road over to the official show. In addition, my contact’s workload has gone through the roof, largely because – in his words – “many buyers have been paying fortunes for samples and not receiving what they had been shown on the video.” It seems that video footage isn’t entirely a viable and trustworthy replacement for personal contact and actually seeing ‘the genuine article’ in the flesh – who’d have thought it, eh… A curious rumour surfaced recently, concerning Hamleys owner Reliance Brands and the prospect that it could be selling a $20b stake in its retail arm to Amazon – now, wouldn’t that be a fascinating tie-up? Of course, like all rumours of this nature, who knows how much truth there is in it, or indeed whether a deal will come to fruition. But for Bloomberg to print it, they must believe the story is credible, and the move certainly make sense if you look at the Indian market and the opportunity such a deal would offer Amazon in that territory. The intriguing by-product, of course, would presumably be that Amazon would potentially end up with a significant stake in Hamleys. As ever, more news as and when we have it.

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