Special Feature - YuMe Toys

YuMe at six

YuMe Toys, part of the Maxx Marketing group, has quickly made a name for itself within the toy industry for providing high quality licensed collectibles based upon some of the world's biggest and most beloved properties. This year, the company has made significant changes to the way it operates which will see it expand into new markets and grow its business even further. Rachael Simpson-Jones caught up with Felipe Noriega, vice president & regional directorEurope, Middle East & Africa, Maxx Marketing, to find out more.

YuMe Toys has much to celebrate this year. It’s product portfolio, for starters, has grown fourfold since Toy World publisher John Baulch and I paid a visit to the company’s London office back in December 2023 (and the range was impressive enough back then). This is but a small change, though, compared to what else has been going on behind the scenes since we last caught up with the team.

Firstly, and most importantly, YuMe has pivoted from a distribution model to a direct-to-retail (DTR) model in the G7 European market. This, explains Felipe, has given the company the opportunity to strengthen its retail relationships while simultaneously improving its margins and expanding the amount of shelf-space it’s afforded in-store.

“The switch to DTR is a logical evolution for any toy company in our position,” says Felipe, when asked about the thinking behind the move. “YuMe Toys turned five years old in 2023, and at that time we felt we had enough experience under our belt, and enough brand recognition and retail relationships, to make that leap. To be honest, it was a little cavalier - we went DTR in seven markets at the same time, which was a bold move. But the success we’ve enjoyed since is testament to how desirable our products are to retail buyers.”

Secondly, YuMe has opened two new domestic distribution warehouses – one in the UK, in Nottinghamshire, and one right in the heart of Europe, in Luxembourg – giving it the ability to restock retailers far more quickly than depending on the arrival of FOB shipments from the Far East. Streamlining and greatly improving the speed of deliveries, which previously had a 3-4 month lead time, means most customers now receive their orders in around 10 days. I asked Felipe whether the company would be opening more EU domestic distribution warehouses. He told me that within the next year or two, the company will probably explore whether opening one located slightly more towards the Eastern bloc (Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and so on) would make sense.

And because good things come in threes, YuMe has also begun distributing complementary third-party product ranges for the first time. These ranges are carefully selected from partners in China and Japan, ensuring the quality and collectability of the toys matches that of YuMe’s own. Felipe explains that the challenges the market experienced in 2023 encouraged the team to look at what else the company could do to improve and enhance its position.

“These strategic partnerships go beyond traditional, simple distribution arrangements,” Felipe explains. “YuMe Toys’ role includes support with supply chain management, packaging design, marketing and quality assurance. We are helping grant a ‘second life’, of sorts, to these products through this eco-system we’ve created.”

The three big changes outlined above have paid off for YuMe, with Felipe and his team left pleasantly surprised at the level of success they’ve witnessed since actioning them. In the G7 market, YuMe has opened direct accounts with approximately 70% of the company’s largest, most important retailers within just one year, while many more are in the pipeline. Ultimately, the goal is to secure accounts with 100% of the key retailers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, the Nordics and the United Kingdom, replicating the setup the company already has in the United States YuMe prides itself on its retail relationships and is, according to Felipe, “obsessed with quality”. This means retailers are usually more than happy to open accounts with YuMe. Partners know their new business deal will allow them to bring truly standout toy ranges to customers. Appearances at major global trade shows such as London Toy Fair, Spielwarenmesse and New York Toy Fair have helped YuMe put its products in front of buyers so they can see the high-levels of detailing and innovative packaging, while the company has also been keen to highlight the range of in-store retail activations it can offer.

YuMe currently has three key offices across the globe - one in London, one in Hong Kong and one in LA –reflecting its positioning as very much a global player. The HK office is the biggest and is home to a team of around 60 employees, while in the US there are between 20-25 employees, including freelancers. The UK office is similar, bringing the total global headcount to a little over 100. All three locations benefit from showrooms that are open year-round, so meetings and previews can take place any time they’re required, not just during peak periods. YuMe has also recently opened an office in Bentonville, Arkansas, which it hopes will help further its relationship with Walmart and other mass retailers in that region of the United States.

As we’re chatting, I cast my eye over the wall of product just behind Felipe, which proudly displays one of YuMe’s best-selling brands, Hero Box. These 4.5” nonarticulated collectible figurines are available in a wide range of licences from across the world of Kids and Family Entertainment, including Spider-Man, Harry Potter and Deadpool (OK, maybe that last one isn’t quite a ‘family’ property, but there’s no denying it’s a still a hit). Because YuMe understands the needs of different channels and consumers, Hero Box also comes in both blind and window boxes. And opposite Felipe, there’s Zoom Hero, a highly toyetic, child-oriented range of miniature pullback toy cars.

“The properties we have in our portfolio are the reason these two ranges have become our flagship brands; that and their quality,” Felipe says, gesturing behind him towards a large concentration of Stich Hero Box toys. “Our licensed ranges are based on some of the biggest and most exciting properties of 2024, including Stitch, of course, Hello Kitty, which has been huge in its anniversary year, Minions, thanks to the new Despicable Me 4 movie, Disney Princess and much more. Despite the fact they’re reasonably new to YuMe, Hero Box and Zoom Hero have been very well-received and extremely successful across all channels. Hero Box in particular is part of our strategy to ‘massify’ what historically would have been considered a purely collectible product; one that lives only within specialised channels. Through our positioning, marketing and packaging, we’re driving Hero Box into all toy specialists as well as mass-market retailers such as grocers.”

This is no mean feat, in a market that is both crowded and competitive. We all know there’s no shortage of collectible toys out there, that licences sell and that anything tiny remains big business. So how is YuMe, at the tender age of just six, managing to carve out such success? Unsurprisingly, it’s down to a combination of factors, including packaging (colourful, adorned with character artwork and call-outs that highlight the collectability of the line) and product design (tremendously detailed given their small size, stylised yet hugely reflective of the character in question).

While Felipe believes a good product will always sell, relationships with key customers are of course crucial too, especially when it comes to securing shelf-space in a range of markets – and quickly – as YuMe has Felipe also highlights how successful YuMe has been with anime properties this year, Jujitsu Kaisen in particular thanks to fans’ reaction to season two, which ended in December 2023. The avalanche of anime industry awards the content won set the influencer sphere abuzz earlier this year. Following this, the company’s sales reportedly went through the roof, which a modest Felipe puts down to luck: “We simply weren’t expecting the sheer level of excitement from fans for the latest Jujitsu Kaisen developments. That excitement led to a huge surge in demand for licensed product.”

This year, YuMe welcomed Netflix as a licensing partner. The agreement will see the launch of a new Squid Game Hero Box range in Q1 2025, perfectly timed to coincide with the highly anticipated release of season two. Those of you who peruse LinkedIn will doubtless have come across a post, video or picture about YuMe’s biggest launch of the year, both literally and metaphorically: the Netflix Gift Box. A veritable treasure trove of excitement for fans of all things Netflix, from Bridgerton and The Witcher to One Piece, Stranger Things and Squid Game, the advent-calendar-style box contains 24 surprise gifts hidden behind artworked doors and plays the now-iconic Netflix intro sound every time it’s opened. It’s been nothing short of a smash hit for YuMe Toys; demand has been sky-high, and influencergenerated content created off the back of a comprehensive gifting and sampling campaign has only heightened the pre-launch excitement. The Netflix Gift Box also enjoyed a presence at this year’s Big Christmas Press Show, where it was showcased on the Menkind stand and drew visitors by the dozen.

For the first time ever, YuMe is also investing in a consumer PR campaign for the Netflix Gift Box which will run until Christmas. “Given the price of the item compared to most of what else we do (RRP £99 vs. £1015), as well as its uniqueness and its specs, this product definitely merits strong consumer PR,” enthuses Felipe. “It’s definitely worthy of a pre-Christmas presence within consumer media.”

Looking further into 2025, which will welcome the second Netflix Gift Box (a third will follow in 2026), YuMe is committed to massively increasing its SKU count with

both brand-new introductions and additions to existing ranges. Following the success of its Jujitsu Kaisen range, the company is introducing Spy x Family for 2025 and launching a completely new range of Japanese anime collectibles with one of its new third-party partners. While we can’t yet reveal all about this anime range, it’s clear Felipe feels it’s one to watch. Attractively priced, superb quality and highly collectible, it’s a competitive line with which to kick off YuMe’s distribution servicesand the orders are apparently already rolling in ahead of its spring/summer introduction.

The company will also be increasing its presence at the Q1 trade shows, with a slightly bigger booth at London Toy Fair followed by one at Spielwarenmesse that’s two and a half times the size of last year’s.

“We need the additional space to fit in all YuMe’s new ranges,” Felipe says simply, with a small shrug and a smile at my reaction. “We really do have that much coming through for 2025 and our growth will only pick up pace in the years to come.”