From the publisher

Welcome to the September issue of Toy World – the first edition of Volume 14 of your favourite toy trade magazine. Thirteen years ago, the very first issue of Toy World started landing on desks, and we sat nervously awaiting the response from the toy community. We needn’t have worried: we received great feedback to our inaugural edition, and I am delighted that the magazine and website have continued to resonate with toy people ever since, with both channels growing every single year since our debut in 2011.

So, a huge thanks to all the companies from the toy and licensing communities (and of course the many businesses which serve these communities) for your fantastic advertising support over the years. And, of course, thanks to everyone who has read, liked, commented on and generally engaged with our content. Like any trade magazine, we wouldn’t exist without our advertisers – but our advertisers wouldn’t be allocating their budget to us without knowing that people are reading it. It’s a virtuous circle, and we really do appreciate everyone who has played a part in keeping us at the top and keeping us on our toes over the years.

This issue arrives just as the summer of ’24 is giving way to the crucial autumn winter season – and what a rollercoaster summer it has been. At its best we’ve seen England and Great Britain enjoy sporting success at the Euros and the Olympics respectively, while the election saw a change of government and the prospect of a fresh start for the country. Weather-wise, it’s been a typical British summer – slow to start, with very little sun across June and early July, followed by more protracted warm spells coinciding with the kids’ summer holidays.

As usual, whatever the weather, retailers managed to blame it for affecting sales. It’s the same every year: too wet and everyone complains that they aren’t selling any Outdoor toys. Too hot and they say no-one wants to go shopping. Arguably, you can’t win either way. Nevertheless, just as you don’t ask an ice-cream salesperson how business is in December, so the summer doesn’t define how the year will end up for toy suppliers and retailers.

However, we are approaching the time of the year when it is very much ‘make or break’ – and the whole toy community is now patiently waiting for consumers to start planning -or even better, making - their festive purchases. Circana’s first half global sales data was mildly encouraging: the toy trade is metaphorically drawing 1-1 at half time, which is a decent enough position to find ourselves in. Across the G12 territories, toy sales declined marginally (-1%) from January to June 2024, while the average selling price was on par with last year at $11.57.

I think most people would take that at this stage. At least these numbers leave us all to play for in the second half of the year – better to be level pegging than 3-0 down at half time.

While the toy market typically ticks over gently across the summer, it’s been an incredibly busy few months for the Toy World team, pulling together this issue. September is always one of our larger editions, as it arrives just as the toy community starts to gear up for the countdown to Christmas and is therefore perfectly timed for toy companies to showcase their latest autumn winter launches. But this year there has been an added challenge, with licensing event BLE taking place at the end of September, rather than in early or mid-October as it traditionally does. This means that if you flip this issue over, you’ll find the latest edition of Licensing World, which includes an extensive preview of BLE, rounding up all the hottest properties from the Kids & Family and Gaming space that will be showcased at ExCeL in three weeks’ time. We’ve also teamed up with Minecraft to bring you a special feature on this iconic brand as it celebrates its fifteenth anniversary (just a little older than Toy World), ahead of the launch of the new Minecraft movie next Spring.

And if that wasn’t enough, this issue is accompanied by our legendary standalone Games & Puzzles supplement –the definitive guide to the category for this autumn winter. Nobody else comes even remotely close to publishing such a comprehensive publication dedicated to exploring this enduring sector, so I hope you enjoy our round-up of the best Games & Puzzles hitting the market this year.

While the toy community is focused on making sure that the next four month’s trading are as successful as they can be, it’s also starting to prepare for 2025. By the time you read this, many people will already have arrived in LA for Fall Toy Previews, and it won’t be long before planning begins in earnest for January Toy Fair season. It was encouraging to report recently that re-bookings for the London Toy Fair are going incredibly well. The Ground Floor is already sold out, and, at the time of writing, there were only a few spaces left up in the gallery – so if you’re thinking about exhibiting next year, you should get your name down post haste. I would imagine it won’t be that long before we’ll be running a story announcing that the show is a sell-out. Nuremberg is also looking as strong as ever, while the New York Toy Fair marks its return to the Big Apple at the start of March.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: there are four big months still to come in 2024. Let’s hope they’re successful and we can end the year with a flourish. Whatever happens, we’ll bring you every twist and turn as we approach the big day. Here we go…