Company Profile - ToyTopic

ToyTopic launches with 'serious portfolio' and WowWee partnership

Toy World caught up with licensing stalwart Ashley Holman to hear all about his brand new venture and why the time was right for him to launch a new toy company.

“ It’s been a whirlwind year,” says Ashley, who is the face of ToyTopic, which also has two other co-directors as sleeping partners. He isn’t exaggerating. The new business, which was set up just as the pandemic hit, has not only signed a multi-territory licence agreement with Hasbro for its flagship Peppa Pig property, but has also secured a strategic partnership deal with WowWee. These two core pillars give the new company a tremendous base on which to build, and Ashley promises there is far more to come in ’22 and beyond.

Ashley is well-known in toy and licensing circles: he spent 12 years at Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, before leaving in 2018 to set up licensing agency Riverside Brands, which he still runs. While doing outbound licensing work with Riverside Brands, he established a number of key retail partners, in addition to his licensing contacts, so he decided to partner with a licensee he knew to begin informal distribution of some finished toys into UK retail.

“It went well, and we secured some pretty significant listings, so when we came to toy fair season last year, we started to think that this was scalable. We came to an agreement during lockdown last year that we would form a new company that we would co-own,” explained Ashley. The pair brought in another director/core shareholder, and so ToyTopic was born.

“When I left Nickelodeon, I always wanted to work for myself and it’s just been a natural progression,” Ashley continued. “The ultimate plan was to build a very successful toy company. I think the structure that we have is very smart.”

The ability to secure the rights to a high profile brand like Peppa Pig is a major boost to any start-up company, but this undoubtedly reflects Ashley’s reputation in the licensing world. ToyTopic kicked off the partnership with Hasbro by developing a range of Peppa Pig toys which went on sale in mid-September, starting with finger puppets and hand puppets. Marianne James, VP EMEA and Asia Licensed Consumer Products, Hasbro, told Toy World: “We’re very excited to be partnering with ToyTopic at a pivotal time for our beloved Peppa Pig. We’re looking forward to seeing Peppa come to life in the variety of innovative products that ToyTopic has developed, at the start of our long-term partnership.”

Already listed in many UK retailers and also the US, the Peppa Pig range has been sold directly in the UK by ToyTopic, while Canadian toy company WowWee is its international distributor. It is this relationship which led to ToyTopic being appointed as WowWee’s strategic partner for UK & Ireland, taking over the distribution for all of its portfolio, except for My Squishy Little Dumplings, from Jazwares. The move will apply to spring summer ‘22 listings and beyond and includes brands such as Fingerlings and Robosapien, to name but a few.

“As part of the agreement we have taken on a lot of product and some significant licensed partners,” Ashley told Toy World. “This strategic partnership has allowed us to scale up pretty quicky and we now have a serious portfolio.”

Through the WowWee partnership, ToyTopic is now the UK & Ireland’s master toy partner for Baby Shark with Viacom. In addition, with WowWee having signed on as master toy partner for Arpo from Moonbug, ToyTopic will also now be the lead UK partner for Arpo, as well as offering many own branded products, mainly in the plush and novelty categories.

Michael Yanofsky, MD sales, WowWee, is excited about the new arrangement: “WowWee is thrilled to be entering into this new partnership and believes that it is exactly what we need to grow our business in the UK/Ireland. The experience, know-how and wisdom that the ToyTopic team brings to the table will provide a level of focus that is 100% centred around growing the WowWee product portfolio, distribution and overall presence in the UK/Ireland market. We look forward to what the future has in store.”

To support the company’s ambitious growth plans, ToyTopic has hired sales director Paul Cook, who was previously head of sales at Sambro International. The company has also set up a new showroom from its Southwest London base and is planning to have a major presence at London Toy Fair in January.

ToyTopic has been running virtual and face to face previews for customers and Ashley is very pleased with the level of support the company has received so far, both here in the UK and abroad. “I think having the Peppa licence really enabled us to have a foot in the door and based on the feedback we have received, we are feeling very buoyant,” he said. “We want a nice balance between licensed and non-licensed ranges, and we want to explore new categories, but the key is that we always want to offer a quality product. Although we only have one direct licence agreement at the moment in Peppa Pig, we are in touch with several other major studios, and our plan is to build ToyTopic wholly-owned categories, as well as focus on WowWee.”