Toy World 10 year anniversary

Toy World turns ten

This edition of Toy World marks ten years since the very first publication in September 2011. Publisher John Baulch looks back on the launch and how the magazine has fulfilled his ambition to become the industry defining title it is today.

10 years. One whole decade. 112 issues, plus a host of special supplements. Bloody hell – we did it. It’s been an epic journey, full of twists and turns, but great fun all the way (well, mostly).

So how did it all start? Let me take you back to 2011: the UK toy market was still recovering from the loss of Hight Street giant Woolworths two years earlier. Some in the toy community had momentarily lost all sense of perspective and predicted it would be the beginning of the end for the toy trade as we knew it. Instead, it was the beginning of a whole new era in toys – arguably neither Smyths nor The Entertainer would be the forces they are today without the demise of Woolworths. In time, value retailers such as B&M and Home Bargains would also ease into the space left by Woolworths, while countless independent stores were able to flourish on High Streets where giant Woolworths stores had once acted as a magnet for toy consumers.

On a personal level, after spending 28 years with another toy magazine, I had reached a turning point in my career. I had run out of road where I was – personally and professionally, it was time for a change and a fresh challenge. I had two choices: take my transferable skills as a publisher, head off to a new industry and start afresh. Or I could use the knowledge, experience and contacts I had built up over three decades to start my own toy magazine in the industry I knew and loved. I knew which option I preferred – but how would the industry react?

At the time, there were two toy UK magazines. When I first started working at Toy Trader in 1980, there had been four titles. This number was gradually whittled down over the years, and the industry seemed relatively comfortable with a duopoly. However, from the inside, I could see the pitfalls of this arrangement: the trade press had fallen into a safe, predictable routine, there was no real competition and precious little spark. Toy magazines had become fairly uninspiring, unambitious - just a bit… dull.

It was never a case of thinking ‘how many magazines is the right number’ – because that was the wrong question. I simply set out to create a better magazine than the ones already in the market. This was no different to any toy company launching a new product: it is not as if there aren’t enough dolls or games or pre-school toys in existence already. But there is always room for something new – providing it offers something different and is better than what is already there (otherwise kids would still be playing with wooden hoops or clackers and watching Muffin the Mule).

I spoke privately to a few friends in the industry and explained my dilemma: every single one reacted in the way I had hoped: “You are the person we’ve been working closely with– if you set up on your own, we’ll do our best to support you.” I needed no further encouragement: I was working on the basis that you don’t tend to regret the things you do in business, only the things you don’t do. I was going to give it a go – a damned good go.

So, I resigned, spent my 30 days’ notice period (yes, 30 days!) in hibernation, then launched the new company on 1st July 2011. That gave us approximately six weeks to pull together our launch issue from scratch. Anyone who knows publishing will know the magnitude of that order, but I had three big advantages. One: I was launching a magazine in an industry I knew extremely well. Two: Unbelievably, I had the element of surprise on my side – I heard from former colleagues that I had been dismissed internally as “too old to start my own business” (I was 49). Three: I had fantastic support from the toy community. In truth, that has always been the key to Toy World’s success – the industry has been incredibly supportive of what we set out to do, and where we have taken Toy World since.

We could produce the best magazine in the world, but without the backing and support of the toy industry, it would mean nothing. Thankfully, so many people were amazing: several companies recognized that cash flow would be a major challenge in the early days, so paid their first invoices the day they received them rather than waiting 30 days, while Martin Grossman wrote me a cheque for £5000 and told me to bank it and he would take the ads over the coming months. Paul Lamond’s Richard Pain told me that if I wanted a ‘no strings’ loan, I only had to ask, and we had several other offers of investment, but politely declined – we preferred to do it all under our own steam, without shareholders influencing our decisions. We wanted to do what we believed in - not what investors felt we should do. This was our ship, and we wanted to sail it alone.

In all, over 50 companies committed to advertising in our first issue in September 2011 – we were absolutely thrilled with such an incredible level of support for a start-up publishing venture. That month, we carried more ads than our two competitors put together – not a bad way to announce ourselves. In truth, this was quite a rarity in publishing circles: usually the ‘wait and see’ brigade far outnumbers those willing to give a chance to a new publication. Overall, almost two dozen toy companies have advertised in Toy World from the very start and every single year since we launched, including industry stalwarts Mattel, Character Options, Flair, Vivid, VTech, Worlds Apart/ Moose, Esdevium/ Asmodee, Grossman/ Tobar, MV, Rubies, Golden Bear, IMC, Ravensburger, Casdon and John Adams. The BTHA has also been ever-present, along with one licensing company – Warner Bros. The loyalty and unwavering support they have all shown has been hugely appreciated.

The inaugural Front Cover was reserved by Mattel, who decided to feature a brand-new interactive line. Fijit wasn’t a stayer, but it did win the Girls’ Toy of the Year in 2011. And in many respects, it was fitting to have something new and fresh on the cover – because those were exactly the qualities we wanted to bring to the trade press arena.

I received an email shortly after the first issue landed from the venerable industry legend Peter Brown, in which he admitted he had thought I was a “mad bugger” for launching a new toy magazine. He would later tell me that he had meant the epithet fondly, and that I had proved him wrong – he had not been convinced that the industry ‘needed’ a new magazine, but he could see that our arrival had shaken up the market and made everyone up their game (although in some cases, this was only temporary).

Peter was by no means the only sceptic: within a few days of the first edition landing, I was being told by advertisers that they had been contacted by one of the other magazines saying – and I quote – “enjoy it while it lasts, it will be gone by Christmas.”

And yet, 10 years later, here we are, with an 80%+ commercial market share, while the budding Nostradamus who made that bold prediction is no longer in the toy industry.

The name Toy World was carefully chosen; we didn’t want to saddle ourselves with a name which would quickly become anachronistic and outdated. The ‘World’ in Toy World was adopted more in the communal sense, rather than a global reference: a nod to the fact that we wanted to embrace everyone and every company who had an interest in the toy market. The heart of the toy community will always comprise toy suppliers and toy retailers, but it also includes many other people and organisations whose livelihoods and fortunes are inextricably linked with the toy market.

In short, we have always believed that if you have a media platform, you should use it to say something. We don’t expect everyone to agree with what we say: if that was the case, we probably wouldn’t be being brave enough in the first place. But to have a platform and fill it with boring, meaningless platitudes is unforgivable in my book: I just don’t see the point. B2B media has a unique challenge: our readers are incredibly knowledgeable – they really know their stuff. Many of our readers have been working in the toy market for a very long time. They don’t want to read a bunch of stuff they already know, or ‘Janet and John’ level of commentary. We try to avoid ‘no sh*t sherlock’ content at all costs. For many years, we had a white board in the office with some guidelines for new members of staff; one of the first rules was ‘would the Argos buyer care’? (Although if we were doing it now, we would probably replace Argos with Smyths or The Entertainer).

Many of the most successful toy retailers are true specialists – people who live and breathe toys. We wanted to mirror that by being the specialist toy magazine: we have never wanted to branch out and launch ‘Plates and Sh*t’ (the colloquial name given to one of the titles my former company used to publish). We do toys, and children’s licensing (because the two are inextricably linked). That’s it. As a result, we spend each and every day focused on the toy market, understanding what drives it, learning more about it – what the biggest opportunities are, and equally what challenges people are facing.

We have never been shy in covering controversial or ‘difficult’ subjects: in truth, we thrive on it. Whether it is the shipping crisis that currently grips the global supply chain, problems with the way certain licensors conduct their business, or our old friends at Amazon and other online platforms, we love to shine a spotlight on behaviour which affects the toy community.

There are many reasons for this: first and foremost, it helps companies to realise that they are not alone in experiencing these problems. We can also bring clarity by exploring a subject forensically – and as we are not in a commercial relationship with the companies involved, we can say things that their customers can’t, for fear of commercial retribution. Indeed, we are frequently encouraged to keep going by companies who wish they could talk freely, but in reality can only pass us information ‘off the record’. People who work closely with us know they can trust us – it is why we are so often first with a story, as in many cases we have known about it for months before it can be announced. Just as we never reveal ‘sources’ of information, we never betray trust and just go ahead and print something because we know it: B2C journalists don’t rely on long-term relationships, but we do. It’s why people are comfortable sharing things with us, knowing we will always ‘do the right thing’. It can be frustrating having to sit on some stories, but in the end, the balance between publishing the best content and maintaining the strongest partnerships is a delicate one – and one we are well-versed in navigating.

The past decade has seen some incredible toy success stories: from fleeting mega-hits like Moshi Monsters, Loom Bands and Fidget Spinners through to brands with incredible staying power such as Paw Patrol and L.O.L. Surprise! Juggernauts like Hatchimals, Pie Face, Frozen and the enduring classics – Lego, Barbie, VTech, Playmobil, Peppa Pig and so many more. We’ve been delighted to showcase them all, and a host of other brands and ranges which make up the vibrant, fascinating toy universe. There isn’t space to acknowledge all of the individual people and companies whose advertising support has been the lifeblood of Toy World’s success over the past 10 years – but thank you all. And thanks too to all the people who have shared information, given us their thoughts and opinions and generally told us interesting stuff; no trade magazine works in a vacuum, we can only present the best quality information if we know what is going on in the first place.

We’ve also been supported by many great Toy World team members over the years: our sales director Mark Austin has been with us practically since day one, while our editorial and design teams have always played a pivotal role in shaping the look, feel and content of our print publication and website. We’ve had some great team members, and it is in no way diminishing their contributions to say that our current editorial team, led by Rachael Simpson-Jones, is the best we’ve ever had. And finally, I have to offer eternal gratitude to my wife Anita, who has provided invaluable support throughout – from putting up with me whinging about how awful my last job had become, encouraging me to ‘go for it’ in the days when I was deliberating whether to launch my own business, taking on the critical database management and accounts functions, supporting the editorial team and being a crucial sounding board for my ideas for the business and my Blogs, she has been my ‘rock’. Anita has undoubtedly saved me from saying many things I shouldn’t have said over the years – she sees the ‘unexpurgated’ Blogs and has a strong sense of when I have gone too far. And if you think “Blimey, if what he prints is the toned-down version, what must the originals be like?” then I can only say that Anita knows only too well that, on occasion, it is wise that someone gently suggests that maybe I should reconsider what I am saying or the way in which I am expressing it.

I mentioned earlier that the name Toy World wasn’t conceived in a global sense. But that was ten years ago. Our initial goal was straightforward: to publish the best magazine and website for the UK toy market. We won that battle years ago. But over the past decade, the global toy community has become more closely connected than ever. People used to talk about the global toy market, and I used to tell them it didn’t exist – that the toy market was made up of lots of individual territories which all played by different rules, which all had their own foibles and idiosyncrasies, and which ultimately had more which divided them than they had in common. There is still some truth in this viewpoint, but equally the world is becoming a smaller place each year; increasingly, we take advantage of the same opportunities and face the same challenges.

I noticed a few years ago that our international readership was growing, especially online and on the digital version of our print issue. There are so many countries where the local toy magazine is only published sporadically, and in some surprising cases, there is no local magazine at all. Even where there is a print title, many international toy magazines have no meaningful online presence. Inadvertently, Toy World had started to fill the gap – people in the international toy community gravitated towards us for the same reasons as UK toy people … the reliability of daily online newsletters and monthly print magazines, and the calibre of information and opinion we were sharing. People I didn’t know would come up to me in bars and restaurants – and famously, once in a lift in Las Vegas at 2.00 in the morning – and tell me: “I love reading your Blog/your news feed/ your magazine.” I learned that we had a big following in parts of the world I had never considered were our target market: Israel, The Middle East and all across Europe. One of my contacts in the US sent me a LinkedIn message after the recent Astra show to tell me that our name had come up in conversation several times – at the US equivalent of the Toymaster show, that came as a surprise. Except, in a way, I am less surprised as time goes on: the digital arena has opened up the world in a way that could never have been achieved by purely print magazines, both in terms of cost and delivery time.

So now, we have expanded our horizons and are happy to add an international element to what we do. But some things will never change; print will always be the beating heart of our offering. Online is an invaluable resource and allows us to reach people we could never reach before – but the Toy World print magazine remains our flagship and our fundamental raison d’etre. We will always be true to ourselves and do what we think is right for us and for the toy community. We won’t do things we don’t believe in purely for commercial gain – thankfully, we don’t need to. We won’t compromise our beliefs or sell our soul for pennies.

Thanks to everyone for enabling us to do what we have done so far - and here’s to the next ten years.

What we will do is to continue to deliver the best content – the most honest, authentic content – via all the Toy World channels. We will strive to work with the best toy companies, the best toy retailers and the best service providers to bring you the latest developments from across the world of toys. We will continue to do our best to lead, not follow. We will make the odd mistake, because you can’t run a business without doing that – if you do, you’re being far too safe and not taking enough risks. And, most of all, we will continue to have fun and be thankful that we work in the toy community. When I started my career in publishing, I worked on some grim titles: Blinds & Shutters. Brushes International. Process Biochemistry. Paint & Resin News. Then I found myself on a toy magazine. The rest, as they say, is history…