Toy World Magazine February 2021

February 2021 Volume 10 Issue 7

The Team...

CONTENTS February 2021 Volume 10 Issue 7

John Baulch

38 Company Profile: DKB Toys

40 Company Profile: Two in 1 Direct

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

News

Opinion

Features

05 From the Publisher 06 News 20 Marketing World 22 Licensing World

26 NPD 28 Letter from America 30 Talking Shop 42 Fresh 44 Allegedly

38 Company Profile: DKB Toys 40 Company Profile: Two in 1 Direct 41 Company Profile: Toikido

Anita Baulch

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

Contributors The NPD Group | Jonathan Chambers Mark Buschhaus | Stephen Barnes Rick Derr

Turm to page 46 for our special

Green Issue

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

FLIP Green Toys Feature

41 Company Profile: Toikido

Mark Crowford

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

Alakat Published by

www.toyworldmag.co.uk @toyworldmag @baulchtweet

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hall we start this month with some good news? The UK toy market was 5% up in 2020. A simple sentence, behind which lies 12 months’ worth of twists, turns, sleepless nights, headaches, heartaches, elation and joy.

Take yourself back to last March – could you ever have imagined you would be reading those words now?

What the UK toy market achieved last year is nothing short of miraculous. And let’s not forget the context of this performance: UK retail sales in 2020 were the worst for 25 years. The British Retail Consortium estimates that non-food sales fell around 5% last year. It also suggested that physical non-food stores saw sales drop by a quarter compared with 2019.

from the publisher

John Baulch - @Baulchtweet

Against that backdrop, the UK toy market’s performance was remarkable – posting an astonishing £3.3bn sales, the UK maintained its position as the largest toy market in Europe and the fourth largest globally. NPD’s announcement of this stellar result contained some fascinating details, not least the fact that purchases by adults and teens now represent 27% of toy sales here in the UK. We’re a nation of toy lovers, and that doesn’t diminish as we grow old – as we found ourselves with time on our hands last year, it is amazing how many ‘grown-ups’ turned to toys for comfort, entertainment and amusement.

Naturally, the online numbers are scary – online sales represented almost half of all toy sales last year.

And for once, thankfully, Christmas came early – the 11% increase in November helped the final figure enormously. Indeed, a drop of only 9% in December feels like quite a result when you consider how many stores were closed for the crucial final week.

All in all, the UK toy community can be immensely proud of how well it coped with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune last year. Which is just as well, because I suspect a few more arrows will be heading our way in 2021. However, we are prepared this time: we know what to expect and what we need to do. In my experience, people are just getting on with it: retailers are planning for Easter, or the summer, or autumn winter, while suppliers are gearing up their marketing efforts and ensuring their supply chains are robust. By all accounts, many retailers are even further ahead with selections and plans than they would traditionally be

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at this stage of the year – not just here in the UK, but in many other territories across the globe too.

Without doubt, another year of challenges awaits – huge hikes in container and haulage rates, together with post-Brexit complications, have given suppliers and retailers a few headaches in the opening weeks of the year. However, I have every confidence in the toy community’s ability to triumph over adversity once again. New ranges are looking good and buzz is already building around some new potential crazes – this month’s Front Cover star Among Us is being talked up massively, so Darran Garnham must be delighted that his new Toikido venture has picked up global master toy rights for the brand. Toikido is one of a triumvirate of brand-new toy companies featured this month, alongside Paul Fogarty’s new Two-in-1 venture and DKB Toys, headed up by Chris Lohmeyer. Without Toy Fairs and international buying trips, it isn’t easy for new suppliers to cut through, so we are delighted to help bring some of the new players in the market to retailers’ attention and showcase their 2021 launches. We’ll be bringing you more fresh and exciting new companies and ranges over the coming months – all part of the service.

There is plenty more compelling content in this issue to get your teeth into, including a series of interviews with leading online retailers and a round-up of all the latest news and talking points from around the trade. And if you flip this edition over, you’ll find a special dedicated ‘Green’ feature, focusing on eco-friendly products and initiatives being introduced by toy companies. Environmental issues remain a hot topic, impacting every consumer market, and the toy community is playing its part in delivering viable solutions to address some of the key challenges that we’re facing. Nobody is pretending this is straightforward. However, it is imperative that we get out in front of the issues and make changes in a range of areas, from raw materials to packaging to manufacturing processes. The industry is making progress. It may, at times, feel like we could be going faster, but we are undoubtedly going in the right direction. We’re delighted to feature a selection of companies which are making great strides in this field and look forward to highlighting other eco-friendly ranges and initiatives as the year unfolds.

News UK toy market increases 5% in value during 2020 Despite a difficult trading year for many industries, the toy market remained buoyant and resistant in 2020. NPD data released in January showed overall sales increased in value by 5% last year, with the biggest spike in sales coming during the first lockdown of 2020 (+22%). Total sales for the year were £3.3b, maintaining the UK’s position as the largest toy market in Europe and fourth largest globally.

Lockdown toy successes Games and Puzzles saw the highest category growth (+19%), with families spending more quality time playing together. Puzzles increased by 38%.

Building Sets and Outdoor Toys also experienced significant growth in 2020, up by 18% and 15% respectively, while the periodic closure of schools drove a 9% increase in sales of Learning and Exploration toys such as scientific sets and musical instruments.

‘Kidults’ now responsible for more than one quarter of toy sales In addition to these trends, The NPD saw further evidence of ‘kidults’ appetite for toys. This adult and teen category now represents 27% of total toy sales, up by 16% since 2016. As this group tends to purchase higher priced toys, its buying power helped increase the average sales price of toys overall.

Christmas came early in 2020 Consumers were urged to shop early for toys in Christmas 2020 – and they heeded the advice. The result was an extremely strong November for the sector, up 11% YOY followed by lower than usual sales in December (down 9% YOY). This was exacerbated by lockdowns in November and December.

Classified as essential retail and therefore able to remain open during lockdowns, grocery chains fared well for toy sales in the last two months, up 10% YOY. Online and Click & Collect proved to be essential In the 12 months ending September 2020, online toy sales grew to almost half (49%) of all sales.

“The top 15 sellers of the year tell much of the story for toys in 2020,” said RANK MANUFACTURER TOY Frédérique Tutt, Global Industry Analyst at The NPD Group. “We turned 1 MGA Entertainment L.O.L Surprise! fashion doll 2 MGA Entertainment L.O.L. Surprise! doll to toys and games to help fill the long weeks of lockdown. Toys provided 3 Hasbro Monopoly Classic the hub for fun, entertainment, education, exercise and stress relief and 4 MGA Entertainment L.O.L. Surprise! Hairvibes they helped make the decidedly abnormal feel normal – especially at 5 Mattel Hot Wheels singles Christmas. Manufacturers and retailers worked hard to meet the need for 6 Spin Master Paw Patrol Vehicle and Pup toys of all kinds for all ages, shifting sales to online and Click & Collect, 7 VTech Kidizoom Duo DX and to grocery chains to fulfil demand. 2020 accelerated changes already 8 VTech Kidizoom Smart Watch DX2 underway in the toy sector and underlined the importance of innovation, 9 MGA Entertainment L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Remix doll strong supply chain and channel management.”

10 Asmodee Dobble Roland Earl, director general at the British Toy & Hobby Association, 11 Mattel Barbie Dreamhouse added: “2020 was an extremely challenging year for retail as a whole, 12 Mattel Barbie Colour Reveal with 7 Surprises and toy retailers of all sizes had to adapt and innovate in this difficult 13 The Lego Group Super Mario Brothers Adventures Starter Course environment in order to ensure consumers could still obtain the products 14 Mattel Uno card game assortment they require. The end of year statistics reflect the role that toys and games 15 The Lego Group Lego Technic Land Rover Defender played in bringing enjoyment and assisting families and individuals to navigate the difficulties of repeated closures and lockdowns. Despite varying functions, objectives and age suitability, all toys are ultimately designed with one overarching goal: to bring fun, enjoyment and play value to the recipient and never has this been more important. The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic will remain for some time, though toy designers will continue to innovate during tough conditions to ensure families have access to the items they want and need. Brexit will continue to have an impact on all industries in 2021, and the toy sector specifically will continue with its thorough preparation following the deal announced at Christmas.”

Frédérique concluded: “One thing is certain, the importance of playing together with toys, games and puzzles as a family, group or alone has been reestablished during the lockdowns. And when cinemas hopefully reopen later in the year, blockbusters will boost toy sales once again.”

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News The BTHA names its 2020 toy trade Superheroes Adding a twist to the Retailer of the Year Awards, 2021’s Superhero Awards paid tribute to those who went the extra mile during last year.

Phil Ratcliffe, president of the BTHA and chair of the Retailer of the Year judging panel, commented: “We made a conscious decision this year to take a completely different tack on the Retailer of the Year awards and celebrate the retailers who have gone the extra mile. We are not using our historic categories; instead, we are celebrating altruism and innovation. Over the last 12 months, retailers across the industry, both small and large, have shown great spirit and dedication in adapting and shaping their business to help support and provide for customers, despite the challenges they have faced throughout the continuing pandemic.”

Toy Corner from Galway, Ireland, The Trading Post from Kingsbridge, Devon, The Entertainer and Smyths Toys were recognised for their retail efforts throughout 2020. The panel said all displayed community spirit in various ways, such as by partnering with other local businesses, providing toys and packages to local food banks and those in need during the pandemic, as well as providing free resources online and curating toys in boredom busting boxes.

We spoke to The Trading Post’s Julia Wingate, who said: “I’m overjoyed with the award – and shocked! We really try to link in with and support our local community, and that is noticed and paid back in kind. We are positive about the rest of the year; things were buoyant coming out of lockdown in December and people were clearly keen to support their local retailers. There’s a genuine passion among shoppers about helping indies, and also about being mindful of what they buy and where they buy it from. I’d like to thank the BTHA for this award, not only for acknowledging my shop but for continuing to draw attention to all toy shops, which have been working so hard under such challenging conditions.”

This year the BTHA also introduced the Superhero Awards, which recognise and celebrate staff who have gone above and Lisa Clay beyond normal service this year. The winner of the inaugural Ultimate Superhero Award is Lisa Clay of Armadillo Toys, who has continued to deliver excellent services to her customers and community, whilst using innovative ideas to make safety restrictions in her shop child-friendly and fun.

“I feel amazed that I’ve been recognised when up against the big multiples and online retailers,” Lisa told Toy World, when asked how she felt about her award. “It’s so special, and I’m really proud. I’ve tried hard to champion independent toy retailers and have been very vocal on social media. I’ve been working so hard during the lockdowns, 10-hour days plus weekends; I nearly broke myself working so much. But, that has put me in a better position

during this third lockdown. The vaccination programme is now gathering speed and I am sure that when we can open and trade normally, things will be good. I really hope all indies can make it to the other side of lockdown.”

The following individuals have been given a Superhero Award, in recognition of their own efforts: Nouman Qureshi (eBay), Lisa Dyson (Games Crusade), and Jade Oliver-Deacon (The Toy Shop Okehampton). Ten employees from The Entertainer also received an award: Craig Whiting, Julie Robbins, Karen Stacey, Layla Owen, Chantel Lopez, Inna Nikolova, Kelsey Davis, Paul Hart, Karen Emery, and Kelly Martin.

Lisa Dyson of Games Crusade told Toy World: “I was very surprised to receive the email regarding the award from Matt [Jones], so much so that I thought it was a scam. I had to Google him to make sure that he was a real person and associated with the BTHA! It was so nice to receive some good news. It really cheered me up. I am once again offering local delivery and postal delivery, and trying to do local deliveries rather than click & collect where possible, to comply with government guidelines and keep my customers safe. I am also trying to post on social media as regularly as possible with a variety of topics.”

Andrew Laughton, Chairman of the BTHA commented: “It has been incredibly heart-warming reading through all the inspiring efforts by individuals and retailers who have shown great creativity, selflessness and spirit whilst adjusting to keep not only the toy industry going but also helping Lisa Dyson those in need during these difficult times. Whilst we have highlighted just a few of the extraordinary efforts we are sure there are many more unsung heroes that we are unaware of. The real winner this year was toy retail in general, and we are grateful to the whole toy industry which has done masses this year.”

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FOR MORE INFO! Majors - paul@allin1products.com Independents - sales@abgee.co.uk

News TRA’s Toy of the Year Awards reflect unique and challenging trading conditions Toy suppliers and retailers played a major part in keeping the nation’s children smiling, entertained, healthy and educated in 2020, resulting in a 5% increase in overall toy sales in a year heavily impacted by Covid-19.

Four outstanding categories played a big part in delivering this growth, all of which have outperformed the overall market. As such, the Toy Retailer’s Association selection panel has highlighted a ‘winner’ in each of these categories, recognised for offering the largest overall contribution to each category in a unique year for the industry.

Games & Puzzles was a key performer in the overall market. This category topped the Tim Hall, Ravensburger YOY growth performance with various suppliers driving this increase, including Orchard Toys, Gibsons Games, Asmodee, Hasbro and Tomy (Drumond Park). However, the panel has chosen Ravensburger as its standout performer in this category.

Speaking to Toy World, Tim Hall, managing director of Ravensburger, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to hear we are a 2020 Toy of the Year winner. We were delighted to finish in the top 10 toy suppliers according to NPD and especially pleased to grow with nearly every customer. This news really is the icing on the cake, and I would like to thank the entire Ravensburger team in UK and Europe, together with our trade partners and licensors, for making this possible during the most challenging trading period many of us have ever experienced.”

Building and Construction is an area dominated by one supplier, notes the TRA, although Hornby’s Airfix range added a different dimension to this category, alongside notable new lines from K’Nex and Geomag. The winner in this category is Lego. Delivering remarkable growth consistently over the last 10 years, Lego has yet again outperformed the market and is to be commended for keeping the nation's children (and kidults) entertained and amused throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and various lockdowns.

Marius Lang, UK & Ireland head of marketing at Lego, said: “We are proud that we were able to support children, families and adults through 2020 via creative play inspiration and pushing the boundaries of what traditionally was defined as a ‘construction toy’. Last year, we also launched into the Arts & Craft category with Lego Dots and Lego Arts, brought Super Mario fun to life in physical form with Lego bricks, and welcomed many new adult fans to engage in joyful focus through our more advanced builds. We‘re committed to the continued support and inspiration of families in new and innovative ways.

We’ve just launched ‘Bygge Hygge’, encouraging families to embrace The Art of Cosy Building together and, looking ahead, have many exciting launches, plus much more, on the horizon.”

A category that benefitted from people having to stay at home, it was inevitable that growth would be achieved in Outdoor & Sports. Many products helped with our children’s mental and physical health, such as bicycles, trampolines and skateboards, as well as outdoor ranges from the likes of Little Tikes. The standout performer in this category was Mookie Toys, which has been recognised for its Swingball range.

Marius Lang, Lego “We are so pleased that a classic toy like Swingball has inspired families to get outdoors and active in 2020,” commented Christina Aikman, international marketing manager, Mookie. “This year, the Swingball range will have a new and improved look, continuing to encourage children and adults to embrace their competitive side. As well as Outdoor toys, we have a number of new launches for 2021 in a range of other categories which we’re excited to share with everyone.”

Several suppliers contributed to making the Arts & Crafts category such a success in 2020, including Galt, Crayola, John Adams and Spin Master, plus many more. The winner in this category is Hasbro, which was recognised for its domination in the arts & crafts sector with its Play Doh brand.

Highly Commended certificates have also been awarded to the following companies: Bandai (CoComelon), Character Options (Peppa Pig, Goo Jit Zu, Pokémon), Funrise (Fart Ninja), Golden Bear (Hey Duggee, Bing), MGA Entertainment (L.O.L. Surprise!), Mattel (Barbie, Hot Wheels, The Mandalorian), Spin Master (Paw Patrol), VTech (pre-school learning toys), and Zuru (5 Surprise Mini Brands).

Licences played a big part in the success of 2020. In addition to properties already mentioned, Frozen, Super Mario and Harry Potter continued to deliver throughout the year.

In a press release, The TRA said it sincerely hopes that normal service resumes in 2021. “[Then] we can revert to our customary criteria and identify the actual toy winners and allocate awards accordingly. In the meantime, we wish you all a successful and healthy 2021,” the statement added.

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News Interplay rebrands as PlayMonster as company eyes further global expansion PlayMonster LLC and Interplay UK have announced that Interplay has been rebranded as PlayMonster UK. The rebranding strategy reflects the company's vision for the future and further strengthens PlayMonster’s global position in the toy industry. PlayMonster UK will remain a subsidiary of PlayMonster LLC, headquartered in the newly refurbished High Wycombe office with its own UK team. No change to staff roles or responsibilities will take place, and the team will continue to be led by managing director Adrian Whyles. PlayMonster LLC will continue to operate out of its Beloit, Wisconsin headquarters, reporting to CEO Bob Wann.

In 2016, PlayMonster acquired a North American licence for Interplay’s best-selling My Fairy Garden brand, which has seen major global success. After two years of strong partnership and continued growth, it acquired Interplay’s operations and full brand portfolio. Following years of successful cooperation, integrating business strategies and developing synergy in brand line-ups, the 2021 rebrand is a natural transition of the flourishing business relationship. With combined depth and breadth of resources, the new PlayMonster global business will become an even stronger performer in the global marketplace.

“This announcement will serve to expand PlayMonster’s worldwide brand presence, and to further growth and evolution towards becoming one of the industry’s top toy companies,” said CEO Bob Wann. “Everything we do across PlayMonster worldwide champions the power of play in children everywhere, by continuing to innovate and bring smiles to young faces across the globe.”

“PlayMonster LLC is a rapidly growing, global business, and Interplay has benefitted hugely from being a member of this great ‘family’,” said Adrian Whyles, managing director, Interplay. “We have extensive expansion plans in place; unifying the two companies with the PlayMonster brand gives us unique scope to align famous brands and further extend our business relationships internationally.”

Last year saw significant growth for PlayMonster/Interplay, which has expanded its commitment to the power of classic play with added strength in leadership, brand partnerships, multiple TOTY finalists and successful product introductions including Snap Ships, FabLab, My Fairy Garden and Drone Home.

Orchard Toys appoints Banaghans for Irish distribution

Gulf Greetings General Trading, owner of The Toy Store, closes operations

Orchard Toys has announced the appointment of Banaghan & Co as its exclusive distributor for Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The company gave careful consideration to the appointment following the retirement of its Irish agent, Bryan Walker, in the summer of last year. Simon Prest, sales director at Orchard Toys, commented: “Bryan did a fantastic job for Orchard Toys over many years and we wanted to ensure that we considered all options before making an appointment, so that our Irish customers continue to receive the best possible availability and service - particularly given the complications that Brexit will create. We are thrilled to have now entered into a partnership with Banaghans, as the company shares so many of our own values.”

Colm Banaghan (pictured) added: “We look forward to working with such a well-known and respected brand in the retail trade, and a company with a track record of delivering on service and quality. We will safeguard the high profile of this range in Ireland and ensure maximum availability of product going forward.”

The retail holdings group, which owns eight The Toy Store branches and 35 Hallmark stores across the United Arab Emirates, emailed suppliers stating: “It is with great regret that unavoidable and unprecedented circumstances have forced Gulf Greetings General Trading LLC to close down operations with immediate effect. We would ask that you treat this situation with humility and respect for the long-standing relationship between our businesses. While certain members of the team will remain over the next few weeks, their ability to assist in individual situations will be very limited. Please accept our apologies for the disruption this will inevitably cause; I assure you the effect this has on the owners, management and the entire Gulf Greetings team is devastating and would have been avoided at all costs if at all possible.”

Suppliers have been left millions of dirhams out of pocket after the company abruptly ceased trading on Friday 8th January.

Following the news, The Toy Store locations were delisted at shopping centres including Mall of the Emirates, while the store at Dubai Mall was also confirmed as shut.

Phone lines were disconnected, and The Toy Store website says it is ‘under maintenance’.

The move has left numerous suppliers out of pocket – an estimated 100 within the UAE. One said they were aware of suppliers owned AED2.5m and AED7.5m, approximately £0.5m and £1.5m respectively. The supplier added: “What we are being told is that it is unlikely that we will get any of that money back, especially when there are giants such as the banks or the malls in front of us in the queue. What is incredible was that I was speaking with the CFO on Thursday and was given no indication this was about to happen. I still have cheques from the company dated January 2021.”

Another commented: “One of my friends is owed AED2.5m, but they supply a number of brands so they will survive. Another is owed AED600,000 and this will finish them off as this was their only brand.”

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Guidecraft Little Pavers provides children ages 3 and up with a tactile experience through which they can connect to their natural surroundings. This 60-piece set of weighted blocks includes double-sided activity cards that serve as inspiration using real-life examples of related concepts meant to push playtime and learning opportunities forward. Combine the four colour gradients of the durable, textured paver piece with natural elements such as sand, mud, sticks, leaves and other loose parts to increase the open-ended play opportunities and children’s organic connections to the natural world. Designed to combine with the 2020 Guidecraft toy, Little Bricks, both sets enhance language skills, spatial awareness, STEM skills and foster social emotional growth through constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing.

G6777 - Little Pavers

www.guidecraft.com Sale Rep: Lorna Smith (EMEA) Email: lsmith@guidecraft.com Phone: +44 (0) 7725833273 Skype: lorna.smith966

News Vivid adds classic Goliath games to its portfolio for A/W ‘21 Vivid Goliath, like many other games manufacturers, has helped consumers enjoy family shared moments during the challenges of lockdown by offering a wide range of games to suit all ages and price points. For 2021, the portfolio builds further with exciting new developments.

Nick Thomas, Vivid’s general manager comments: “We have had such a positive response to our A/W 21 line up during virtual previews, and we are delighted to announce that, by mutual agreement, we are bringing the classic Goliath games Pig Goes Pop, Gooey Louie, Doggie Doo and Triominos into the Vivid games portfolio for A/W 21. I want to thank the team at John Adams Leisure for building these games over the years into the classic family favourites they are today.”

This year, the company is looking to deploy an array of marketing initiatives across TV, influencers, digital campaigns and PR to reach consumers and ensure the right games get into the right households. Not limited to tabletop gaming, Vivid Goliath games include options for floor play; one of the sellout successes of 2020 was The Floor is Lava, an addictive version of the playground game which had kids around the country enjoying recreating the fun at home with their families.

“We have it all to play for this year,” added Nick. “We are diversifying more than ever as we move into 2021 with a strong offering across Kids Games, Family, Kidult, Adult Strategy and Licensed titles, along with a range curated to offer value solutions, FOB, and puzzles. We have solutions for all retailers’ needs, bringing the best of ranges from our global offices that launched many of the newer titles in 2020.”

Online retailers continue to benefit from Covid-19 lockdown measures During the third national lockdown, with all non-essential retailers once more under orders to temporarily close, online retailers have reported strong sales and high volumes of traffic.

The discount toy specialist BargainMax, which recently reported a +92% increase in turnover across its website in 2020 compared to 2019, says the latest set of restrictions – which include school closures – has resulted in a significant rise in sales of STEM toys and Arts & Crafts products, as parents seek toys to keep children entertained at home, or to aid home-learning. The retailer has entered 2021 off the back of a very strong festive period, with sales +60% up during the months of October, November and December than in 2019. BargainMax is also reporting an +85% increase in website traffic, while the data shows that there has been a +102% percent increase in active customers compared to the previous year.

Following on from strong trading throughout the year, Very’s sales in the run-up to Christmas showed an increase of 25.2%. Overall, annual revenues topped £500m for the first time in the company’s history. The online retailer attracted 500,000 new customers and had 139m website visits. As well as benefiting from the popularity of online shopping due to the closure of many physical stores, especially in the run up to Christmas, Very’s performance was boosted by other coronavirus trends, such as people investing in improving their homes and providing toys and equipment to keep their children entertained during lockdown.

Studio Retail, meanwhile, saw record breaking sales growth of +32% in Q3 2020. Adjusted profit before tax for the group for the 39 weeks to the end of December 2020 was around £16m ahead of the equivalent period in the previous year, compared to year-on-year growth of £6m seen in the first half. Record-breaking sales were seen amid trading on Black Friday and in lead-up to Christmas, while the Studio App, which has been downloaded by nearly 1m customers, accounted for 20% of sales.

Dolu 'delighted' with UKTurkey free trade agreement The continuity agreement took effect on 1st January, ensuring that the existing flow of goods will not be affected. While Turkey is not an EU member, it does have a customs union with the EU, meaning that the new UK-Turkey deal could not be struck until after the Brexit deal was finalised. Trade between the two countries was worth £18.6bn in 2019, while the UK is Turkey’s secondbiggest export market.

Turkey’s trade minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, referred to the deal as a landmark in UK-Turkish relations, commenting: “Without a deal, about 75% of Turkish exports to the UK would have been subject to tariffs, causing the loss of some £1.78bn - this risk is now gone.”

Steve Richardson of SJR Associates, UK distributor for Dolu, the largest toy exporter in Turkey, told Toy World: “I’m delighted with the new free trade deal. We’ve been delaying shipments until the situation was clear. Thankfully, now the deal is done and dusted, this puts our retail customers in a very strong position, as there will be no duty to pay. With freight costs from China at an all-time high until at least Chinese New Year, if not beyond, importing from Turkey is an excellent alternative. Due to the very competitive prices we can offer from the Dolu factory in Turkey, we can land product considerably cheaper than Far East items, and the quality is unrivalled.”

Dolu enjoyed an incredibly strong 2020, resulting in the company expanding its production capacity by constructing a new larger factory. The new factory is located close to the Bulgarian border, situated on the main route to Europe with easy access to the main ports. The closed area will measure 55,000 square metres in total, which includes brand new offices and a purpose built 1,000 square metre showroom. This makes the capacity of the new factory five times greater than the current production facility.

For more details on Dolu’s 2021 range, please contact UK representatives Steve and Ria Richardson of SJR Associates on 07850779797 or 07877443733, or email sales@sjrassociates.co.uk.

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News Specialist toy retailers greet third lockdown with stoicism

Tigeroo Toys of Belfast joins Toymaster

Following the government’s announcement of a new lockdown for the UK in early January, toy retailers reassessed their plans for the weeks that lay ahead. Understandably, there was frustration, but also a sense of inevitability about the latest turn of events. In Paul Reader the days following Boris Johnson’s announcement, Toymaster’s Paul Reader admitted: “The announcement wasn’t unexpected, but it is still frustrating for our members that other retailers which sell toys can stay open and continue to trade. Once again, we have lost that level playing field which is so important to the specialist channel.”

Asked how his members would be addressing the latest situation, Paul felt that they would be watching closely to see how consumers react. “Store owners need to work out where to spend their budget – will games and puzzles be huge sellers again, or will other categories emerge this time round?” he said.

“And how will new launches fare now that stores are closed? I’m sure that those retailers who don’t currently have a website or a strong social media presence will be looking to sort that out as soon as possible. It’s important to look ahead – we still plan to launch the spring/summer catalogue on March 15th as scheduled. Specialists will need all the energy and enthusiasm they can muster in the coming weeks, but Gary Grant they have showed during previous lockdowns that they can react and be flexible and I am sure we’ll see that again this time round. Home delivery and click or ring and collect services will be crucial to help keep stock ticking over and money coming in.”

Over at The Entertainer, Gary Grant was in a similarly stoic mood: “Over the past few months, long-term planning has been impossible.

We would often find ourselves ripping up plans the very next day, so we gave up trying to look too far ahead. The lockdown will provide some major challenges: we can still trade online, but that can’t replace the store closures. Also, different products will sell online compared to when the stores are open – we just have to get the balance of product right. Cash flow will become critical again, as it was during the initial lockdown last year. I just hope we can be fully open again by Easter – that is a huge period for us.”

Store closures in the immediate run-up to Christmas meant that there was likely to be some stock left to tide retailers over, which could be complemented by judicious top-up orders. However, recent steep hikes in container prices are also having an impact on short-term retail decisions, as Gary explained: “Shipping costs are astronomical at the moment (early January). Hopefully, this is just a short-term issue. Otherwise, it is definitely going to have an impact on pricing, especially on the high cube, low value lines. That said, we know that if we raise the price too much to reflect the current costs, there is a risk it could kill sales on certain items.

We just have sit and watch and react accordingly.”

Posting on the shop’s Facebook page at the time of the announcement, the team at Tigeroo Toys said: “We are happy to announce that we have become a member of Toymaster. Over the coming weeks and months, exciting new toy ranges will become available.”

The toyshop stocks a wide range of products, and has seen success to date with video game themed merchandise, movie action figures, collectibles, Pokémon, dolls, soft toys, arts & crafts and early learning toys. The company is looking forward to expanding its offering, with the help of Toymaster’s support.

The store also offers a local delivery service for goods ordered via the Tigeroo website, with options for same day or next day delivery.

Tigeroo Toys is located at 192-194 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT15 2GN, and the store telephone number is 028 95430600. The email address is info@ tigerootoys.com, and the main point of contact is Raymond Kirkpatrick.

A spokesperson for Toymaster commented: “We would like to wish Raymond and the team the very best of luck.”

Obituary: Dennis Watts Dennis passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve, following a long battle with illness. After a career in engineering design, Dennis entered the toy industry in 1974, taking over his father Fred Watts’ toy shop in Melton Mowbray. Dennis acquired another local toy shop in 1978, and from the two shop names, he formed the Arbon and Watts business.

During the 90s and 00s, the retail stores won the Midlands region Toy Shop of the Year award on five separate occasions. In the mid-90s, Dennis created Mail Order Express – the idea behind the new operation was to work with selected supplier partners to carry entire ranges. In 1999, Mailorderexpress. com was launched online, leading to a massive expansion in the early 00s, as the company rode the wave of the initial internet boom.

Well-known local toy agent John Nicholas, who dealt with Dennis for many years, commented: “I first called on Dennis when he took over the business from his father in the 1970s. When I became an agent in 1984, he soon became one of my best customers, as he developed and built up the Mail Order Express side of his business. Despite the success of that operation, he remained an excellent high street retailer and my orders increased further when he took over Alan Arbon’s business in Grantham. He won Independent Retailer of the Year on several occasions and it was well deserved. I thank him most sincerely for nominating me for a Golden Teddy award: my Teddy still has pride of place in my dining room. His family can be proud of Dennis. He was a good man, and I am proud to call him my friend.”

Dennis retired in 2005 and spent the last 15 happy years traveling the world and enjoying his passion for photography. Dennis was much loved by his family – his wife Judy, sons Clive and Paul, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren – and he will be deeply missed by his many friends and colleagues in the toy industry.

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News Smyths Toys UK operation declares £31m dividend after record performance Accounts published in early January showed that revenues at Smyths Toys in Britain and Northern Ireland increased to a record €737m in 2019. Documents filed by Smyths Toys UK Ltd, which focuses on Britain, show the retailer’s pre-tax profits declined by 14% to £12.48m in 2019, as the company expanded further in Britain.

Sales at the company increased 7% from £581m to £622.6m in 2019, while sales at the Northern Ireland arm totalled £45.19m, resulting in combined revenues of £667m.

The retailer currently operates 104 stores in England, Scotland and Wales and an additional seven in Northern Ireland, where pre-tax profits for 2019 totalled £904,000.

The accounts confirm that the British company declared a dividend of £31m in February 2020, following a dividend of £9m in 2019. Combined numbers employed at the two companies increased from 2,642 to 3,001 in 2019.

Speaking about the impact of Covid-19, the directors commented that the company had been performing well up to March 2020, at which pointy it was forced to close stores, which subsequently reopened last June. The directors added that, based on company forecasts and a range of different scenarios, they are satisfied that with the current levels of reserves, and by utilising available government supports and tight cost-control measures for the period of the pandemic, Smyths UK can sustain its operations in the current volatile environment.

With regard to the group’s future developments, the directors commented that “further expansion will occur in the UK market in the coming years through the opening of new stores”. Underlining its expansion in Britain, the company spent £19m in 2019 purchasing property, an increase on the £14m spent in this area the year before.

The company recorded a post-tax profit of £9.4m after paying corporation tax of £3m.

Toy Fair New York 2021 called off The Toy Association will not conduct an interim trade show in New York for 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.

“Our foremost consideration is the health and well-being of the global toy and play community and setting a clear path forward,” said Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of The Toy Association. “We want to provide our exhibitors, retail buyers and the larger toy and play community with certainty on important destination shows and the ability to take advantage of immediate opportunities through our year-round buying and selling platform.”

Concentrating on its digital business offerings, the group will be bringing the industry back together in person for Toy Fair Dallas 2021 from Tuesday 5th to Thursday 7th October, and looking ahead to Toy Fair New York 2022, taking place from Saturday 19th to Tuesday 22nd February, in a newly expanded Jacob K. Javits Center.

The Toy Association says the Toy Fair Everywhere digital market weeks held throughout 2020 successfully helped toy businesses forge ahead amidst the pandemic, and brought in more than 3,000 buyers from 60+ countries, proving the global potential of the platform for doing business despite travel restrictions and different time zones. This February, the digital B2B marketplace will further establish its position as a yearround platform for the toy industry, making new business opportunities possible every day.

The Toy Association will also collaborate with additional prospective retailers throughout 2021 on virtual private product preview events.

“These proven digital opportunities should continue to be a critical part of every toy businesses’ mixed sales and marketing strategy,” said Marian Bossard, executive vice president of global market events at The Toy Association. “As we look forward to our time together at Toy Fair Dallas 2021 and Toy Fair New York 2022, the proof is in the pudding as to the potential of these digital tools and events to serve our members in reaching new audiences.”

Wilton Bradley welcomes Hannah Pickersgill as international sales manager Hannah brings extensive international sales experience to her new position. This experience has been consolidated over the last 11 years, with roles in various UK toy businesses as well as time spent in hospital management and luxury food & drink business development.

Hannah started her career in the toy industry in 2010, when she joined Worlds Apart (now Moose Toys) in a sales support role, gaining experience in international business and sales, and developing valued relationships with both colleagues and customers alike. Moving into the international sales manager role at Worlds Apart saw Hannah develop sales globally – across Europe, as well as Australia, Asia and Canada - working with distributors, agents and direct to retail in the form of both bricks & mortar and major online retailers.

Following time spent at West Design, Hannah re-joined Laetitia at Addo Play before leaving for ventures closer to home.

Hannah commented: “I am delighted to have joined Wilton Bradley and to find myself back in the toy industry – literally ‘back in the game’. Wilton Bradley is made up of a welcoming, knowledgeable and flexible team both in the UK and Hong Kong, and has an impressive range offering as well as an excellent capacity for developing own-brand ranges with its sourcing and manufacturing resources. I have joined Wilton Bradley at a really exciting time, and I look forward to working with the team to develop and support our international customer base in the current ever-changing climate and well into the future.”

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MORE SETS COMING! MARCH 2021 ©2021 The LEGO Group.

Marketing World Playmonster UK heads into 2021 with exciting new line-up

#AquaDragonsChallenge taps into growing social media trend Science-based, interactive kids’ products like Aqua Dragons are in high demand thanks to the pandemic, and this trend is being amplified by social media, as World Alive MD Amy Holden explains. “During the pandemic, Aqua Dragons sales rocketed, and kids started posting videos of their pets on social media channels, especially TikTok,” she says. “We launched the #AquaDragonsChallenge to make sure we were reaching this growing market.”

The hashtag already has 40m views on TikTok and is also trending on Instagram and YouTube, as Aqua Dragons owners compete to make the funniest, most creative, and most liked videos posted on #AquaDragonsChallenge in an effort to win cash prizes of €1,000. Internet star Luisito Comunca posted videos of his Aqua Dragons on his YouTube channel, gaining 32.7m views.

“Gen Z are digital natives with incredible video editing skills,” added Amy. “We’ve loved seeing the hilarious and highly creative videos they have come up with so far; it’s not going to be easy to pick the winners.”

The appeal of Aqua Dragons stems from the fact that children can fully engage with the process of hatching and growing the Aqua Dragons themselves. Kids must carefully set up their tank with the right quantity of water and maintain the correct light, temperature and oxygenation conditions. Their efforts and patience are rewarded a few days later when their new pets appear - at first, visible only with a magnifying glass.

While the pandemic has been challenging for many retailers, the success of social media campaigns like #AquaDragonsChallenge shows that toy brands can reach new audiences via creative marketing if they are willing to experiment.

“When consumer habits change, we have to change with them,” says Amy. “It’s really worked for us, not just in terms of sales, but also in brand awareness and search engine rankings, and it’s extremely cost effective.”

The #AquaDragonsChallenge runs until the end of February. The winners will be announced in early March.

The Lego Group launches its Lego Bygge Hyyge campaign

PlayMonster UK has an impressive assortment of new launches for 2021, following the news of its rebranding from Interplay UK to PlayMonster UK. The company is introducing a unique new games concept for spring. Pop-A-Tops is a handy pocket-sized container; players press the popping top and match the unique detail on the dice to the same detail shown on the Martian cards in MatchA-Martian’, or be the first to finish their bakes creation in Bake-A-Cake.

Ideal travel games and stocking fillers, and priced at a low RRP, more titles will be available for autumn/winter, including Dino Scores.

PlayMonster’s No.1 brand, 5 Second Rule, receives a refresh with a new tubular version of the Mini Game. The main game also makes a return with a game board and electronic timer.

Following a successful launch in the US, PlayMonster UK will be introducing Snap Ships this autumn/winter. This new and innovative building system lets kids create stunning spaceships while enjoying a 360-degree play experience. With RRPs from sub-£10 to the impressive Gladius AC-75 Drop Ship at £39.99, the range is highly collectible and offers the freedom to create custom builds.

PlayMonster UK’s successful Grow & Play category is being expanded with new launches from Peppa Pig, My Fairy Garden and My Living World. New Peppa’s Garden Playhouse and Grandpa Pig’s Greenhouse sets, complementary expansions to the range of Peppa Pig Growing Pots, let young nature fans grow edible plants.

Collectible My Fairy Garden Fairy Forest Friends have launched, with a selection of play sets to follow for autumn/winter including Unicorn Garden & The Magical Wishing Well, and Enchanted Fairy Village. The My Living World range is being relaunched with fresh, new look packaging this year. The new Bug Photography Kit enables kids to view creatures up close by attaching a special unit to a smart phone camera. Once viewed, they can release them back to their natural habitat.

FabLab’s growth will be driven with on-trend products, sustainable and environmentally friendly components and packaging. A new Screen Printing Kit creates unique and personalised screen-printing designs, perfect for the brand’s fashion-driven and creative audience.

Fuzzikins, meanwhile, welcomes the new Homemakers range. The range features modular homes to build and decorate, allowing kids to expand their collection and build a fuzzy world of imagination and play.

This winter, The Lego Group is providing play inspiration with the launch of Lego Bygge Hygge, which aims to help families enjoy being creative and building together whilst staying warm at home.

Lego Bygge Hygge is all about the art of cosy building, inspired by the Danish word ‘Hygge’, which acknowledges a feeling or moment as cosy or special, and the Danish word ‘Bygge’ which means building or constructing.

As part of the Lego Bygge Hygge campaign, The Lego Group has created a range of content that will inspire families to build whatever they choose.

It is not linked to any specific sets or launches; families can simply choose whatever Lego bricks they have, get comfortable, and enjoy quality family time by building together. The initiative has been designed to create not only an occasion but an atmosphere, one that can become part of a cosy family routine along with other Hygge tips. These include allowing natural light into the building room, laying out cosy blankets and cushions, and turning on a favourite playlist before sitting down to build together.

Lego Bygge Hygge launches in the UK in mid-January supported by a raft of influencer partnerships and social content, as well as a collaboration with Hygge expert and best-selling author Meik Wiking. Those wanting to find inspiration and information can head to Lego.com and The Lego Group’s social channels to discover the art of cosy building.

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A market ripe with opportunity for advertising success in 2021

Opinion

Jonathan looks at the use of varying media touchpoints for brand campaigns across 2019, to determine what trends marketers should be aware of as they assess their media planning going forwards.

A

topline look at the Toys & Games advertising spend numbers for 2020 reveals a pessimistic view of the market, in keeping with much of the narrative surrounding the year in general. However, delve a little deeper and it reveals a market ripe with opportunity for the bold in 2021, especially on the back of the +5% growth in sales reported by NPD. According to Nielsen spend data, Toys & Games advertising expenditure in the UK declined by 32% year-on-year, equating to £45m of ad revenue.

Not surprisingly, April was responsible for the largest percentage decline (-71%) as lockdown measures threw retail into uncertainty (to put it diplomatically). However, in monetary terms, November accounted for £8m of decline as advertisers chased early sales in September and October whilst there was still optimism and a degree of certainty about retail.

All of the above must be caveated by the fact that Nielsen’s data is based on estimates only, so should only be used to assess the broader trends.

However, TV data provided by BARB does provide a more robust indication of advertiser activity which can be used to calibrate other sources. Measuring TV activity in terms of Children (4-15) equivalent TVRs, we learn that in total the weight of Toys & Games TV activity was -27% lower than 2019. Not only is this broadly in line with the Nielsen spend intelligence, but also relatively in keeping with the continued decline of TV viewing in the UK. Audience decline on the commercial kids channels finished at -20% for 4-9 year olds, with the Girls 4-9 audience (-16%) faring better than Boys 4-9 (-24%).

As everyone in the industry is well aware, this pattern of double digit year-on-year decline is nothing new, so why should we persist with it as a medium in 2020? Primarily we have to focus on sales. Those who remained on air during the first lockdown were – in the main - rewarded with strong sales spikes. In terms of purchase influence, Giraffe Insights reports as part of its Little Voices study (latest wave November) that with the exclusion of “in shops” (46%), “Adverts on TV” (39%) is the primary means of inspiring children to request the gifts they want.

This remains a method still trusted by retailers to deliver results, with unanimous support for its continued use in our latest Generation Academy

session, in which we hosted a panel with retail experts from The Entertainer, Toymaster and The NPD Group.

TV also remains one of the lowest cost means of increasing share of voice in the UK, which is where the opportunity lies in 2021. The vast majority of advertisers decreased expenditure on TV in 2020, which meant that any advertiser in growth generated aggressive gains in SOV. Lego, for example, only had to increase its TV output by 4.5% (measured as CH Eq. TVRs) to restore itself back into the top 10 TV advertisers – and remember, there are effective means of achieving gains without having to spend more. More extreme growth resulted in even greater moves in the rankings that would not have been achievable under ‘normal’ circumstances. IMC doubled its TVR output and moved from 25th to 12th, whilst Interplay (one of the advertisers which remained on air during lockdown 1.0) increased its TVR levels by +131% and catapulted itself into 7th place, having previously been in 22nd.

With the sales gains made by many

manufactures in 2020, and with growing optimism for the second half of 2021 in terms of retail, we predict advertisers will invest those profits into TV activity to stimulate success in under-performing categories such as collectables, once conditions allow.

We cannot look at the Toy advertising market purely through the prism of TV however. Whist overall ad spend was reportedly down in 2020, Digital grew by +43% according to Nielsen. This

Toy World 21

figure must be caveated by the fact that that there are serious limitations to what Nielsen is able to accurately measure, not least on social media and YouTube. Nevertheless, double

Jonathan Chambers Director of AV Investment, Generation Media.

Tel: 0207 307 7906 Jonathan.Chambers@generationmedia.co.uk

digit growth is a reasonable evaluation. In the modern retail landscape, growth in Digital advertising is also a necessity. Improvements in eCommerce opportunities and data sharing from retailers means that direct sales attribution is now possible (albeit still influenced by offline channels), making ad spend more accountable and potentially more profitable than ever.

There is also a realisation that parents and gift givers are now more important than ever to the purchase cycle. Despite the fact that “in shops” remains the No.1 way in which children discover what they want, their opportunity to visit stores will remain limited (in the short term at least). Therefore having a direct conversation with parents is fundamental to the success of an effective marketing plan. It also ensures that any traffic driven to retail (with social media and programmatic solutions offering low cost means of achieving this) is served to an individual with the capability of making a purchase. Children, in the main, still don’t have online purchase power, so directing them to further content remains a better option for campaigns targeting younger audiences.

Not only that, but things are only set to improve in terms of eCommerce in 2020. Last year, retailers had to be reactive. 2021, although still fraught with challenges, presents an opportunity for learnings from 2020 to be put in place to ensure smoother customer journeys and more efficient fulfilment.

Advertisers with a multi-channel, multi-target campaign strategy will be best placed to benefit.

Licensing World Rainbow Designs celebrates 50th anniversary with raft of new licensed toys Rainbow is welcoming back the iconic Peanuts brand and Snoopy, this spring. The Everybody Loves Snoopy range features Charles Schulz’s much-loved characters, including Snoopy toys in different poses, and the Cuddly Snoopy and Woodstock Soft Toy. Set to join the Rainbow Family this March is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, with the introduction of a 20cm Bear soft toy and a colourful Wooden Shape Puzzle featuring the animals from the much-loved children’s storybook.

Beautiful new wooden toys are set to join the hugely popular Guess How Much I Love You and Fun with Spot collections this spring, including new Shape Puzzles and Building Blocks, a Spot Pull-Along, and a Guess How Much I Love You Pull-Along featuring Large Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare. There will also be a new Spot Wooden Bowling Set and a Guess How Much I Love You Balancing Toy with printed wooden pieces.

A new addition to the Home of Classic Characters range for 2021, the new Disney Classic Pooh Always and Forever Collection is crafted from high quality fabrics and features bespoke and contemporary prints. The items in this collection, which include soft toys, a comfort blanket and a ring rattle, make beautiful heirloom gifts that will be treasured for years to come.

This spring will also see the addition of two innovative infant Unfold and Discover Activity Toys to Rainbow’s popular Once Upon a Time Peter Rabbit and Classic Winnie the Pooh Hundred Acre Wood ranges. Each features multiple textures, crinkles and activities including a baby-safe mirror and teether. An ideal developmental toy for tummy time, the Unfold and Discover Activity Toys aid sensory exploration and help develop early motor skills whilst deepening the bond between baby and parent through play.

Moose Toys secures toy rights to Silvergate Media’s hit IP Octonauts

Tomy Toomies unveils new Jurassic World pre-school line

Moose Toys is launching a brand-new Octonauts toy line in partnership with Silvergate Media. The collection will support the popular pre-school animated TV property and the upcoming release of its highly anticipated new spinoff show, Octonauts: Above & Beyond.

First launched on screens in 2010, Octonauts has a global broadcast platform spanning multiple territories and huge fanbases in the UK, US and China. More recently, the show extended its reach by debuting in Latin America and the Middle East.

Octonauts appeals to audiences around the world due to its superb storytelling, educational narratives and compelling characters that cross cultural divides. The upcoming new series Octonauts: Above & Beyond will take the crew of intrepid explorers beyond the sea and onto land, with an exciting array of new locations, vehicles and storylines to enjoy. Kids will learn real facts about amazing creatures, extreme new environments, and the challenges of water and weather phenomena.

“We’re incredibly honoured to partner with Silvergate to bring the next chapter of Octonauts to fans across the world,” said Joe Smith, senior director of global marketing, licensed brands, Moose Toys. “The rich storyline and characters make for an incredible sandbox to develop fun, original toys. Octonauts is widely regarded as one of the top pre-school properties, and this partnership further solidifies Moose’s strength and expertise in the pre-school aisle.”

As part of the deal, Moose Toys will create a full range of Octonauts toys including figures, vehicles, play sets, plush, games and more. Additional details about the range will be released closer to launch. The brand-new spin-off series, Octonauts: Above & Beyond, will debut in 2021.

“With proven success in the pre-school aisle and a reputation for innovation, Moose Toys is the perfect partner to capture the world of Octonauts: Above & Beyond in toy form,” said Ron Allen, executive vice president of commercial, Silvergate Media. “We’re excited to collaborate on a new toy line that will help us take the brand in a fresh direction, and create a collection of toys that kids will love.”

Jurassic World is a $5b global franchise, and with Jurassic World: Dominion scheduled for release in June 2022, Tomy is expecting this brand to become one of the company’s biggest ever pre-school collaborations.

Launching in June 2021, the line will include Chase & Roll Raptors and a Dino Rescue Ranger, inspired by the iconic vehicles in the films; Spin & Hatch Dino Eggs, a clever twist on Toomies best-selling Hide and Squeak Eggs; and Pic & Push T. rex, a large T. rex dinosaur which offers a fun take on the iconic gyrosphere scene from the 2015 Jurassic World film.

The line will also support Tomy’s classic action game, Pop Up Pirate, with the launch of a Pop Up T. rex from July. The best-selling game recently celebrated its 45th anniversary.

Mary Wood, general manager UK at Tomy, said: “Dinosaurs are an evergreen toy trend, reaching multiple age points including pre-schoolers.

With our Toomies success in this market, dinosaurs seemed like a great fit for our next collaboration. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Universal to introduce this fantastic range. Combining our expertise in pre-school toys with the worldwide phenomenon of Jurassic World, this is going to be a major focus for the business for next year and into 2022. Feedback from retailers across all markets has been nothing but positive.”

The Toomies brand has seen exponential growth in recent years, with its toy range up by 33% at retail versus 2019. The brand’s ever-popular Hide & Squeak Eggs are also up by 25%, with the full range including the spring 2020 Hide & Squeak extension items and AW20 additions contributing to 81% of EPOS sales year to date.

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Licensing World Funko reports successful year for Loungefly licensed range Funko’s gift and accessories brand, Loungefly, experienced encouraging growth in 2020 and exceeded expectations despite being faced with challenges during an unprecedented year.

Its branded products have grown by 25% globally, with global sales estimated to generate up to $100,000,000 as we enter 2021. One of the brand’s key UK-based retailers, Truffle Shuffle, shared that they sell over 2,000 to 3,000 Loungefly bags on average in just one month.

Notable new additions that have contributed to this growth include the Cinderella bag, launched earlier in the year, as well as the Ghost Mickey and Hocus Pocus bags that were launched for the 2020 Halloween season. The Christmas ranges also experienced very healthy sales in the lead up to the festive season.

Head of softlines, Funko EMEA, Rich Smith, commented: “We experienced a number of different challenges in 2020, most notably with some ranges dropping later than planned to tie in with postponed film launches, but overall we have been very lucky, as the main impact we have seen is a growth in sales.”

As well as having an impactful instore presence, Loungefly is a strong online brand and has a huge social media following. With the launch of its very own online store, www.funkoeurope.com, Loungefly has now widened its pool of customers by creating an online home for its European fans.

Rich added: “Our fans have been requesting an online store for years. It’s important for us to give customers a hub where they can purchase all Funko brands under one roof, in particular Loungefly, as the fandom is as strong as that of our Funko Pop! collectors.”

newsanalysis

Shining bright Craft Buddy established the Crystal Art brand in 2014, initially in greeting card format. Now, the collection comprises canvases, notebooks, clocks, keyrings, LED light kits and more. Co-founder Gary Wadhwani tells Toy World what the company’s new licensing deal with Disney brings to the range for 2021.

What makes Disney a good fit for the Crystal Art brand?

The varied end consumer base for Crystal Art, which spans young children right up to senior citizens, makes Disney a great fit for the brand. Disney’s timeless films and characters are adored by all generations. Our initial Disney Crystal Art collection includes something that will appeal to everyone, with characters from older classics like Bambi, Mickey and Minnie, Winnie The Pooh and Lady & The Tramp, 80s and 90s movies such as The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, and more recent hits including Frozen and Moana.

How has the new licensed range been received at retail so far?

It’s been brilliantly received, both by our distributors in various international territories and by UK retailers.

Crystal Art has been extremely popular in several European companies since 2017-2018 – it’s sold by the biggest toy retailers in Germany, France, Holland, and Belgium – and gained mainstream attention in the UK a little later. The brand’s profile really began to surge in 2020, coming into its own during the pandemic when many of us were stuck at home and looking for fun, engaging activities that didn’t involve screen time.

The Disney range has already attracted the attention of several mainstream UK retailers who were not previously Crystal Art stockists. This is a combination of two things: firstly, the popularity of Disney will always make licensed products attractive to retailers. Secondly, Crystal Art/diamond painting now has a significant profile as the ‘trending’ arts & crafts hobby. The pandemic only served to accelerate this trajectory, and retailers want to get in on the action.

How is Craft Buddy supporting the Disney range in the marketplace?

It’s still early days, but we’re planning a B2C marketing campaign that will encompass multiple channels. We’re also launching a retail display that retailers can use to show off this new collection in-store to maximum effect.

What new Disney properties or Craft Buddy products can we expect to see later this year?

We’re launching a second collection later in 2021. We can’t give too much away, but fans can expect to see an even wider variety of Disney and Pixar characters, as well as festive Disney Crystal Art products for Christmas.

Beyond Crystal Art, Craft Buddy has several releases planned this year in our popular Forever Flowerz brand, which allow the crafter to make flowers for display in arrangements, vases, wreaths, and even flower walls. We’ll also be announcing a couple of new brands in the coming months.

How has social media played a role in the creation of the brand? Is this approach something we’ll see more of?

Social media has played a key role in raising awareness of our Crystal Art products; they lend themselves beautifully to platforms that rely on rich imagery because they are so striking and sparkly. Key platforms include Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, which let us connect with our multi-generational end users.

We have a vibrant Facebook group which has over 9,300 members from across the globe, many of whom share videos and photos of their Crystal Art creations, as well as tips, tricks and more. We use this group, together with our other social pages, to shout about new launches and offers, and to pass on handy Crystal Art advice. During the pandemic, we also ran a series of Facebook Live videos, with craft-along sessions featuring our in-house TV personalities Sarah Millsop and Naomi – both regulars on Create & Craft TV. These will continue throughout the year.

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NPD Insight

2021 Challenges

Melissa Symonds

Director UK Toys, EuroToys NPD

and Opportunities

Melissa looks at how the UK toy market can match the value sales it achieved last year, and hopefully improve the volume sales as well.

T

he good news is that the UK toy market finished 2020 with value sales up +5%, which meant that it remained the largest market in Europe. However, it is worth noting that despite a very strong performance in value sales and growth, the number of toys sold in 2020 declined by -5%, which equates to around ten million units. With the closure of physical stores, it is clear that the UK toy market lost sales from low price point, high volume items. Sales shifted to higher priced items, keeping the value in the market, even with less volume. One of the biggest challenges for 2021 will be to keep the value gained last year, and hopefully bolster that with higher volume sales - perhaps driven by the resurgence of Collectibles, as well as new product launches and increasing kidult purchases.

Collectibles were worth £190m in 2020, accounting for 9% of value and 16% of all volume sold.

Although the category declined last year (down -23%), there were still areas of the sector that performed well; Pokémon Trading Cards from Asmodee grew doubledigits for the second year in a row.

Ryan’s World continued to expand in this area, growing +16%, while SuperZings from Magic Box was up 8% +25%. One benefit for Collectibles in 2021 will be the rescheduled 2020 Euro-Championships, which traditionally drives a high volume of Panini Stickers and should get children back into a collectible frame of mind over the summer.

Grocers have always over-traded 2017 on collectibles: they continued

to do so in 2020 and even grew their share of the category, with sales up +2%. Stores remaining open remains key to the success of collectibles, which under-trade online and rely on visibility in store.

Historically, the first half of the year is a particularly strong period for collectibles with the highest share of the year and this could be an area of focus when stores exit from the third lockdown. Collectibles do not necessarily need to be low-priced, with the average price paid now £5.73.

Besides Collectibles, another challenge/ opportunity for 2021 will be new launches. Overall, 2020 saw the smallest value coming from new items and properties in three years, just 23% of all sales compared to 2019 with 27% of sales, a decline of £68m. There were some notable success stories for

new launches, with the No.1 new property being Lego Super Mario almost from launch. Lego’s expansion into Arts & Crafts brought Lego Dots to the No.2 spot, while MGA’s Rainbow High range was No.3. Some individual items like Present Pets and Playmobil’s Back to The Future Delorean also delivered strong sales last year, demonstrating that new launches still appeal to consumers. This year, the challenge will be to drive newness back into the market and ensure new properties secure a greater market share than in 2020 – maybe even reaching the heights last seen in 2018, when the top five new properties combined sold over £37m, nearly twice as much as the top five new properties in 2020. With some key launches postponed from last year about to hit shelves, let’s hope 2021 will see new introductions

Collectibles: Value £191M

£1 in every £10 spent on collectibles, but down in 2020 due to store closures Collectibles % Value Share of Total Toys

Collectibles: Value £191M

13%

£1 in every £10 12% spent on collectibles, but down in 2020 due to store closures Collectibles % Value Share of Total Toys 13%

Full Year: 9%

8%

-23%

Full Year:

-23%

2017

2018

2019

2018

2019

2020

2020 Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | U.K. | Full year 2020 vs. 19

Document classification: The NPDClient/Third Group, Party Inc. Confidential | Proprietary

Toy World 26 Document classification: The NPDClient/Third Group, Party Inc. Confidential | Proprietary

9%

12%

and confidential

and confidential

1 Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | U.K. | Full year 2020 vs. 19

1

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.

drive fresh excitement into the market.

Last year also saw strong growth for the Kidult market (toys for 12+ Years), accounting for 27% of all sales - up from 16% of sales in 2016. While this was continuation of a trend we have seen for a few years, it’s one that the toy market can continue to benefit from in 2021. Building Sets and Games & Puzzles are traditionally the strongest performers within this category, and these were also two of the fastest growing categories in 2020. However, there was also

growth from Kidult Dolls and Action Figures with adult collectors.

Early indicators for 2021 are still largely uncertain at the time of writing – in particular, how long the third national lockdown will last and when toy stores will be able to open again remain frustratingly unclear. However, we know that these types of challenges were not complete obstacles to consumers spending on toys in 2020. For 2021, we need to continue to meet these challenges while

demonstrating the excitement of new launches and encouraging collectability back into market –while also holding on to the kidult consumers who spent on money on toys, which they perhaps would have spent elsewhere in a normal year. If we can achieve all this, it should put the UK toy market on course to match the value sales the market saw last year – and hopefully improve the volume sales as well.

Item Progression Item Description

Manufacturer

Nov Rank #

Dec Rank #

Articulate

#125

#61

#6

2020 was a strong year for Games, with growth up +16% for the year as consumers found extra time to play games during lockdowns, with limited other experiences available. However, December remained the strongest month of the year for Games, accounting for a third of annual sales. As a result, it wasn’t surprising that six of the top ten best sellers for Total Toys in December came from the Games area. Articulate from Tomy Drumond Park saw the largest climb for the month, increasing by 171 positions.

It was the No.1 Adult Game for the year, and the No.3 Game item sold in December (behind Monopoly Classic and Scrabble Original). Classic and traditional games were popular throughout 2020, as consumers turned to recognised names and brands.

Fastest growing licences in toys

Fastest Gaining Licences –2020

The Mandalorian is the largest gaining licence in 2020

While total toys in the UK grew +5% in 2020, licensed toys grew more than twice as fast, up +12% last year. 2020 was the best Sales performing Gained £M year for licensed toys since The Mandalorian 2017, accounting for around £1 in every £4 spent on toys, equating to 27% of all toy spend.

Disney Frozen Brothers for much the year. The fastest gaining licence is There was a change in the type of licences that were successful in 2020, no doubt impacted by the closuresSuper ofMario cinemas Harry Potter also the number one new licence for 2020; Star Wars The Mandalorian, driven by the phenomenal success of The Child or Baby Yoda product, following the release of Trolls National the Disney+ show. Most of the toy range launched in the second half of the year. Disney’s Frozen also enjoyed a Geographic strong year, with Frozen II one of the last children’s film Star Wars releases in cinemas at the end of 2019 and then released on-demand in 2020. The Fashion Doll category accounts for a third of Frozen sales but there was also growth in Minecraft Marvel Other Playset Dolls, Building Sets and Puzzles. The third largest growth licence was Super Mario Bros, largely as a result of the successful launch of the Lego range in Q3, but Lamborghini also seeing growth in Games, thanks to Monopoly Super £0 £5 £10 £15 Millions Mario and the pre-school Games from Epoch. Harry The NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential 1 Potter was the fourth largest gaining licence, driven by Building Sets and Games, while Trolls was No.5. Trolls was released on pay-view-on-demand early in 2020 and The Mandalorian is the largest gaining licence in 2020 sold over £8m of toys this year across Dolls, Building Sets and Arts & Crafts.

Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD December 2020 vs. 19

Fastest Gaining Licences –2020 Document classification: Client/Third Party Confidential

Sales Gained £M

The Mandalorian Disney Frozen Super Mario Brothers Harry Potter Trolls National Geographic Star Wars Minecraft Marvel Other Lamborghini £0

£5

£10

£15

Millions

Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | YTD December 2020 vs. 19 Document classification: The NPDClient/Third Group, Party Inc. Confidential | Proprietary

Toy World 27

and confidential

1

Opinion

The Derr

Cycle

Letter from America

After 20 years working at A. C. Nielsen/D&B Research Company, Rick opened the first Learning Express Toys franchise in 1996 in the Chicago area, and then became a sub-franchiser, opening nine more stores. Although leaving the corporate environment behind, he has combined his expertise in data and numbers with a passion for the toy retail space. This month, in part 2 of a 3-part series, Rick looks at the effects of working with Amazon, rather than against.

I

n last month’s column, I described how an attitude shift from seeing Amazon as a competitor to Amazon as a co-operator forced us to think differently, act differently and operationally run our business to new standards. One of the changes was the creation of The Derr Cycle, which we rolled out to Learning Express Stores in 2014-15. The premise here was that “growth” in the toy market is imperative for survival: growth in new products, new categories, new age groups and new markets. Increased sales then allow for more positive cash flow, which allows a more fluid buying pattern, stocking the right products in the right quantities while avoiding stock outs.

By default, our human capital (sales team) become more effective salespeople because they end up developing more relationships with customers and prospects instead of tending to dead product, slow sales days and wasted efforts. Everything must Increased Sales revolve around growth.

The The Derr Cycle Derr Cycle

Increased Sales

To support our growth initiatives, we had to change two basic long-time independent thinking patterns. How to reach the customer/prospect (advertising), and margins. The change in advertising was the easy part—we migrated almost 80% of marketing budgets to digital online media, with Facebook being the dominant force. The strategy has worked, and worked well, especially when are promoting hot properties and toys kids want. Today, we are 90% digital.

The idea of keeping “keystone” margins (50% mark-ups) had to de dispensed with in favour of competitive pricing in order to yield growth and turns. While many independents have been slow to adopt this new model, it has become imperative to carry and stock the toys and items kids want regardless of what the cost is; it is the owner’s job to financially engineer a retail price that works in your local market, with manufacturer’s RRP versus lower prices on some items and higher prices on items that have a higher perceived value. It takes work, knowledge at the local market level and careful monitoring of online websites like Amazon.

Happier Customers

Happier Customers

So, how has this all worked out? It’s nice to have strategies but what are the results? The fact that we are still here 25 years on says something, but the real results are in sales and profits as Amazon particularly has dominated the landscape for the last 3-4 years.

Here are the results. It worked - despite the growth of online toy providers as well as in store competition, we have been able to grow and keep the levels well above the pre-Amazon strategy.

Our growth strategy (working with Amazon, rather than against) has yielded a 27% lift in sales volume.

Toy World 28

Positive Cash Flow Fluid Buying

More effective Salespeople

More effective Salespeople

I looked over our 25-year history and created three time periods around our sales dollars. A pre-level before our strategy change, the mean of all 25 years, and the post years after our strategic change.

Positive Cash Flow

Right Products/Qty

Fluid Buying

Right Products/Qty

Richard can be reached on LinkedIn or by email at LE45@sbcglobal.net.

Talking Shop

Delivering the goods With national lockdowns forcing the closure of bricks & mortar toy retailers once again, this month we turn our attention to the online space. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to several major operators in the digital field, to find out how their businesses have responded to the circumstances of the pandemic.

Edmund Lim - Maqio

M

aqio started as an online retailer in 2010 and opened its first physical toy store in 2011. Within a year, our online sales had grown so much we made the decision to close our physical shop in Buxton and focus purely on online. For the first few years we kept things quite low key, preferring to build on the relationships with our suppliers rather than the Maqio brand. Since then, we have continued to grow, and we are now predominantly a branded discount/value online retailer with a large focus on toys. At the end of 2018 we decided to reopen a dedicated toy website - www. maqio.com.

We sell on numerous platforms and websites around the world, big and small, which sets us apart from other online retailers. Suppliers appreciate the fact that Maqio works closely with them on regular product as well as promotional items. We never bite the hands that feed us; over the years, we’ve developed a deep understanding of the value market and we take great care not to operate in a way that would negatively affect it. We spend heavily on advertising, driving traffic to the product, even on the promotional side. Being online, everything we do is visible and exposed. Suppliers recognise that working directly with value and discount retailers means they retain a degree of input and they won’t

kill the price - which then affects the whole market.

We work differently.

Coming into this year, our strategy was already quite developed. We try to source toys customers really want, drawing on the data compiled from the platforms we operate on to guide purchasing decisions. We know the most in-demand brands within each country and on each platform, and we aim to offer them even if they are a loss-leader. The advent of Amazon and Google Shopping means consumers can find the best pricing on product very quickly, so we have no choice but to match Amazon pricing if we want the traffic. We are careful in what we offer; we stock key TV-advertised ranges, and work closely with brands on promotional offerings.

When Lockdown 1 was announced, we immediately called a remote meeting of both our warehouse and office teams, believing that nonessential online retailers would also be forced to close at some point. At that point, there was so much uncertainty, but we had a clear focus on ensuring Maqio was left standing by the time lockdown was over. We believe in our people, so we offered our staff incentives for their hard work during the period, and promised not to hire more staff during the lockdown.

We kept this promise, despite a number of staff having to self-isolate at times – though luckily, no actual cases of Covid-19. We all worked really hard.

The first lockdown was like a mini-Christmas for us, but we saw huge sales and growth which made the long hours and the 7-day working weeks some of us chose to work worth it. We can’t take too much credit for the growth we saw, though. The harsh reality is that many shops were shut for the majority of this time, and our increase in sales was a natural response to this.

Sales dropped once lockdown lifted, but our 2020 figures were still up on 2019. The pandemic has accelerated the growth of online shopping by several years, and consumers who previously much preferred to shop in bricks & mortar stores are beginning to trust online retailers much more.

By the time Lockdown 2 happened, the online space was much more competitive. Retailers were prepared, they’d used the first lockdown to bolster their online presence, and consumers were far savvier in their shopping habits. YOY 2020 was +57% up, so it was a great year. Our workforce adapted to the situation brilliantly, and at the same time our suppliers supported us well too. Without these strong relationships, we wouldn’t have seen such strong growth throughout the year.

Toy World 30

Our suppliers include all the big names – Mattel, Lego, Hasbro, Playmobil, Spin Master and many more. Winning Moves has been fantastic; board games were obviously a strong growth category throughout 2020. I don’t want to dwell too much on the relationships that weren’t so positive last year, because we understand that the situation was totally unique, and that companies were simply doing what they needed to do to make it through the period. For example, we saw a big reduction in product from one supplier last year even though they were +50% up. In a nutshell, the company just didn’t have promotional items to offer. Everything was selling well. In fact, I spoke with the director of that company just the other day; we still enjoy a good relationship.

We won’t just buy in-demand product in huge numbers without having proper margins in place.

People think that online retailers have a smaller cost base. Admittedly, we don’t have the rent and rates to pay that brick & mortar retailers do, but as we sell across multiple platforms we have to factor in 10-15% commission. You also need to pay for advertising, which can be costly. Some brands spend minimally on advertising and still enjoy good sales, but they tend to be names that are established and have been a part of the marketplace for many years. The majority of businesses out there now have to spend heavily to secure sales.

At the back end of last year, we brought in a new marketing team, and although our spend is similar to previous years, it’s now a much smaller percentage of our overall figures. We’ve identified more resonant key words and better online placements, and we’re seeing much stronger conversion as a result. This takes time and investment in people. Achieving that +57% growth I mentioned earlier doesn’t come easily.

Our Christmas best-sellers are largely exactly what you’d expect and what other retailers are reporting; construction brands including Lego, board games like Hasbro and Winning Moves’ licensed Monopoly offerings. Barbie sales have been phenomenal as the increased diversity of the range has really appealed our customers, and Harry Potter has been a massive licence for us; we have seen strong sales across puzzles, figures and games. We have also seen huge

growth in the under-£5 and pocket money categories, with Magni Rings a standout performer and squishy/ tactile toys doing very well too. What we did find was that the majority of sales were tied into the amount of TV or social media advertising we placed behind those products. We rotate what we push out. If a category or item isn’t selling as well as it should, we immediately alter the strategy to elevate that product and raise its awareness among consumers, whether that’s engaging an influencer, moving its position on the website, or devising a new social media campaign. Our strength in advertising means we have very little leftover stock at the end of each year which needs to be cleared in a January sale, and no write-offs. While we do take calculated risks, every buying decision we make is based on data. We know when we buy it that we can sell it.

We invested in and revamped the website in November, and we saw tremendous growth again over the festive period. Going back a few years, our website Maqio.com, was not even in the top 10 platforms we sell on, but now it’s ranked No. 2. Over the Christmas period, we saw +1000% growth on that particular site, and we are still seeing very high growth compared to other years. That said, we have to bear in mind that what we are seeing is skewed.

If your website has been up and running for many years, growth will eventually plateau – you can’t keep these huge numbers up forever.

Lockdown 3 hasn’t changed our plans. We’ll continue to invest in people; we want to train and develop our staff, and support our teams to do the best job possible. The great thing about our growth last year is that we now have the capital behind us to do this. In turn, this will fuel even more growth.

Things become trickier when you stand still. Online,

you have to be reactive. I believe that in business you either need to be one of the best, or you need to carve out a niche for yourself. With Maqio, both these are front of mind in all we do. We try to find things that are new, secure exclusives, or make deals on promotional items where we buy the entirety of the stock so we can devise deals and advertise it our own way. This strategy works for us and always has, but things are constantly changing. With promotions, once a line is gone that’s it, it’s over. Some brands are evergreen – Barbie, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig – while others are much more short-lived and will eventually disappear. In 2012, a huge amount of our turnover was based on one single supplier; the following year, that supplier didn’t even make our top 10.

The point I’m trying to make is that people need to be reactive and adaptive. We’re in our third national lockdown now and there are a lot of people out there selling online. There’s a lot more competition and it’s more of a challenge to stay ahead. There were certain brands that performed incredibly well during lockdown, but that knowledge isn’t a secret and more platforms than ever want in on the action.

Competition drives prices down, and you need to know both the opportunities online platforms present your business, as well as the potential pitfalls. A lot of our data comes from Amazon, but it’s not our first port of call for selling. It’s there as a back-up.

We can sum up our thoughts on the year ahead with one word: continuity. We will continue to work with our proven strategies and niches to grow our business; continue to work with both new and old suppliers to build lasting relationships; continue to invest in staff and training to grow our business; continue to find new countries and platforms we can sell on and develop new websites; and, last but not least, we will continue to explore new ways to engage with our customers and grow our customer base. We are nothing without our customers.

We work closely with all our suppliers. Our reputation has grown over the years, and we’re able to offer many different avenues and platforms to explore. We’ll sit down with them and follow their rules and restrictions, and build our relationship from there. I’m sure suppliers out there right now will be having issues due to the shops being shut – we are here, we pay for and move stock quickly, and our warehouses are open. Please get in contact with us maqioltd@gmail.com

SAME GREAT PUZZLES, KINDER TO OUR PLANET Last year we launched our most perfect puzzle yet and now all our blue-boxed puzzles are: • Manufactured in the UK and Europe.

• Shrink-wrap free! Biodegradable tabs secure our sturdy boxes.

• Made from the thickest board on the market.* • We use 100% recycled board, vegetable-based inks and FSC paper.

• Illustrated by artists from around the world. *excluding our 2000 piece puzzles

@gibsons_puzzles @gibsons_puzzles /gibsonsgames

sales@gibsonsgames.co.uk www.gibsonsgames.co.uk 020 8661 8866

Talking Shop Alex Woolfstein - senior buyer & Emma Carden - buyer BargainMax

I

f we look at September through to the end of the year, things were very positive. On Saturday 31st October, when Boris Johnson announced the second three-week November lockdown, we saw website traffic spike in real time – literally as he was stood at the podium, addressing the nation. It seemed like there was real fear of the unknown, and panic about whether Christmas presents for the kids could be sorted in time. Over the whole of Q4 2020, web traffic was up 78% on the same period in 2019, which we’re delighted with considering the strength of our performance that year.

In November, we were up +100%. I think a lot of trading moved back to November. We were very active in terms of our promotional content, and what we’d been pushing out during that month. We did find, though, that December was much quieter than expected. I’ve heard rumours that this was also felt by other specialist toy retailers. In December we were up 40%, which is still good, but this is where we felt the impact of bricks & mortar stores reopening; consumers wanted to get out the house and shop any way they could. During the first lockdown, in March, April and May 2020, we were up between +200% and +300%, and in two of those months we achieved the same volume of sales as we did in November and December 2019. When things settled, we saw this level out at around +110% YOY. When you look at it that way, that +40% growth we saw in December was certainly less than we were forecasting. Availability of stock impacted us too. We didn’t have as large a range as we arguably could have had, but this was the same for a lot of retailers. The best ranges were flying out and weren’t replenishable due to underforecasting, and we were left with the middling ranges which still sold, but not as strongly.

Best-sellers were unsurprising; L.O.L. Surprise! and Barbie. Demand for L.O.L. balls has slowed and now OMG fashion dolls are really driving the range;

we can’t keep them in stock. Barbie is huge at the moment. The brand’s performance is amazing, and we’re selling consistently across the range. Coming into the new year, Mattel looks very clean, which is a great indication of its success. Scooters also performed really well for us; we launched a range at the back of the end of the year across Zinc (Hy-Pro), as well as Razor and Xootz (Wilton Bradley). We were surprised at just how strong sales of these items proved to be - stock was selling through as fast as we could get it in. We have focused on licensed scooters in the past rather than the higher-quality generic lines we’ve now brought in, and we’re very pleased with early sales data.

CoComelon has seen an incredible launch, and I don’t think even Bandai could have expected the numbers it’s been achieving. In January last year, at London Toy Fair, I bumped into John [Baulch].

He asked me what I’d seen that I was most excited about, and CoComelon was top of my list. I knew it was going to be the top property of the year, but I’d be lying if I said I knew just how big it would become.

Since Boxing Day, sales have been really strong.

New Year’s Day is always pretty slow, and it was no different this year, but we’ve been up +100% on last year every day since Christmas, meaning we’re currently +100% up on January 2020 (at the time of writing) That’s good, because we’ve got a lot of ground to make up if we’re going to match March, April and May from last year. We really need to pile in as much as possible to keep us on track; we’ve already got 60% more stock than we had this time last year.

Retailers with gift card services, especially the likes of Smyths, are likely to be benefitting from the situation over Christmas, with families having been unable to see each other. I think there’s a feeling among consumers that it’s nicer to give a gift card than it is to give cash (although the recipient would probably rather have the freedom of money.) That said, many grandparents will have asked what the

Toy World 32

grandkids would like for Christmas; with younger kids, it’s always better to stick a present under the tree if you can, especially after the year we’ve had.

We sell a lot into Europe and we launched into Ireland last year. Because of the Brexit trade deal, most of the fears on pricing and competitiveness in EU countries we trade in have been allayed; there’s still a lot of paperwork to be done, but that shouldn’t affect pricing. The Euro exchange rate is favourable right now too, so it’s a perfect time for Europeans to be buying from the UK, even with our shipping costs. On the flip side, this impacts those consumers buying from Europe.

I can’t see the same huge online surge we saw last year being repeated now we have a third lockdown.

It’s difficult for us to predict traffic and work out what is natural organic growth and what isn’t, but I think parents are much more prepared for Lockdown 3 than there were for Lockdown 1. Because the timing is so close to Christmas, I can’t see parents buying even more toys when their kids have probably got a fair few at Christmas. I’ve personally got loads of stuff left over from the first lockdown - anything to fill the time – as so much of it didn’t get used. Our web traffic would reflect this; we didn’t see the same huge spike as we did in November, when Lockdown 2 was announced. People were calmer, more resigned to the news, and better set up for another long stint at home. My gut tells me the growth and traffic we’re seeing at the moment is more organic.

Suppliers are working incredibly hard on their virtual preview setups, but nothing can replace a physical toy fair. It’s so hard to get the wow factor across, especially on a major launch. When you’ve been sat behind a screen for several hours, even the most exciting toy you’ve seen in weeks can be difficult to muster enthusiasm for. It’s such a shame; hopefully we can get back to some sense of normality by the time the next preview season comes around.

This is not a criticism of suppliers whatsoever, they’re being so creative, and it really shows, but we can’t wait to be back face to face with people.

Mattel is launching Spirit this year, which is a great fit for the company, and Masters of the Universe has a massive following, there’s clear demand in the market. We’re also excited for Hasbro’s Peppa range later in the year. It’s a strong range with lines which will fill some big gaps in the market. We’ve got a really good relationship with Hasbro; it is our biggest regular supplier, so the fact that its now running Peppa is massively beneficial for us.

BargainMax will be pursuing massive growth this

year in terms of the SKU count, both by increasing our offering from current suppliers and welcoming new ones. We’ve launched with about 20 new suppliers in different categories. 8th Wonder stands out for us as one of our best new ones – you can give Andrea [Gornall] a big shout out. 8th Wonder was one of the first suppliers Emma launched with when she came on board, and the products have performed fantastically. There are more great new ranges coming through for 2021, and some really cool licences too.

We’ve reintroduced click & collect, and Klarna has been a big help to customers too – spreading the cost of payments probably accounts for around 25% of our checkouts nowadays. That’s been a really successful integration for us. We’re also working with a thirdparty provider, which is integrating our website so we can sell in every country across the globe. Customers will be able to pay in their native currency, so if you’re shopping in China, for example, you can pay with WePay or AliPay, and if you’re shopping in Germany, you can use GyroPay, etc. Everything will be listed in local currency too, and where there are shipping or import duties to pay, these will be calculated and displayed before checkout so there are no nasty surprises upon delivery. This will build huge confidence among our overseas consumers and it’s an initiative we’re really excited about.

There are so many opportunities for us to go after this year: new brands, new products, new suppliers.

Although things are still very uncertain, as a business

we’re in a strong position. The doors are very much open to new suppliers, and we’d love to hear from anyone who wants to work with us. Contact Emma Carden - Emma@bargainmax.co.uk.

Dreamworks Spirit Untamed © Dreamworks Animation LLC. All rights reserved

An Exciting New Toy Range for Preschoolers!

Movie out in June 2021

Toy World 33

Talking Shop Mike O’Shea - Wicked Uncle

A

s an online business, the pandemic has been good for us, but I’d like to make clear that the entire Wicked Uncle team remains deeply sympathetic towards those bricks & mortar toy shops that have once again had to close. With the same number of birthdays as there are every year, and Christmas taking place as usual, shoppers had to turn to online and that meant more sales for us, but I don’t want to come across like I’m dancing in the streets about it; there are some real toy shops out there that have suffered horribly. Given the choice between not

having had the pandemic, and not doing quite as well as we have, or having it and seeing the impact on other retailers, we know which we would prefer.

We know what its like to be hit by things outside of your control as a business, and we really do feel for those out there who are struggling.

We’re not the sort of website where kids come to us and spend their pocket money. Instead, parents and grandparents visit our site and are guided towards a nice, fun present for a grandchild or niece or nephew, that can be wrapped and boxed and sent out for delivery. In terms of competition, we’re up against the likes of retailers like John Lewis and online empires such as Amazon, which remains ferociously convenient for consumers unaware of where else to find what they’re looking for.

We’ve seen a lot more grandparents shopping with Wicked Uncle since the pandemic started. We know this because A) they like to ring us up and check that they’ve ordered the right thing and B) our Feefo feedback (which is excellent) features numerous positive grandparent reviews. It seems to me that a lot more older consumers have got to grips with online shopping since Covid-19 arrived. With Feefo, we always give shoppers time to let products bed in before asking for feedback, rather than chasing when the gift has only just arrived. Reviewers also consistently mention how easy our site is to use.

We spend an awful lot of time making sure this is the case – it’s certainly not by accident. When you think about how people shop online nowadays, it’s often while making dinner, chatting to a partner or assembling their child’s packed lunch. The site has to be easy to navigate so shoppers can do what they need to do while their attention is spread across several different things. With kids stuck at home,

Toy World 34

requiring their parents’ attention and time more than ever, this remains a vital element of Wicked Uncle’s success, and the ease of use is great for grandparents too.

If I had one piece of advice for a bricks & mortar retailer trying to build an online presence at the moment, it would be to keep things as simple as possible. Don’t put unnecessary steps in the way of your customers, like complex passwords A weak password for an account really isn’t the end of the world. You’re not the Bank of England, and you can easily subcontract payment to a third-party platform - these almost always have excellent security that will protect card information. Also, ship orders the day they come in. If you have the stock, get it picked, get it packed and get it out the door.

In 2020 we saw growth of around 50%, with strong sales particularly during the first lockdown.

November and December were very interesting. In previous years, we’ve found that around half our business takes place in these two months, with 1.5x more in December than in November. However, last year we found that November and December were about the same – there were a lot of shop early messages flying about, and people did take this to heart. We were a bit concerned at one point, because November sales were through the roof, and based on

indie viewpoint

previous experience we knew December sales are usually even bigger. Ordinarily that would have been fantastic, but we’ve had to reduce team numbers as part of our Covid safeguarding efforts, allowing everyone extra space in the warehouse for picking, packing and gift wrapping. That meant December could have placed real pressure on us all, but we made it through thanks to a great team effort.

We started looking at moving the warehouse, to give us extra space and allow us to boost our numbers, but truth be told we left this a bit late. Without Covid-19, we would have been fine with the space we had, but we lost some key members to shielding, and the gaps they left were then used to space out remaining staff safely. This year, we’ll be in new premises - so big, we’ll be rattling around in it.

At Christmas, sales of products that offer good old-fashioned fun and enjoyment really took off, which reflected the strain of the pandemic and its impact on kids’ lives. There’s no denying that farts are funny, and best-sellers this year included the lift-the-flap scratch ‘n’ sniff The Fart Book, and games based on flatulence; such things make people laugh and the prices are attractive. We did very well with Hornit bike/scooter lights, Bendy Lights and the wrist mounted Twistii Torch, while Golden Bear’s Smart Ball also performed well again.

Big surprises this Christmas were the Unicorn Scarf, and Chess Teacher from Spin Master’s Cardinal Kids range. I very much suspect this is down to the show Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, which has been very highly rated. The show has got a lot more people interested in learning to play chess, and this product is truly innovative in that each piece has a wide base, on which is printed the directions that piece can move in and how many moves they can make. It’s so simple yet remarkably clever. It’s just the sort of thing we’re looking for during previews and fairs; a brilliant idea that people will love. Hape’s Magic Touch Guitar from the Baby Einstein range also made our Top 10 Christmas best-sellers this year, which was a nice surprise.

It’s a delightful product and makes a gorgeous present for a child or grandchild.

Customers find our site easy to use, they love the selection of products we offer, our service is excellent, and for those reasons we enjoy a lot of repeat business – but for a small company like ours, it can be a challenge to break through to new consumers.

That said, 2020 exposed us to many more new customers than could be expected in a normal year, so we feel as though we’ve taken a step up. Liam [O’Shea, co-founder] puts in a huge amount of work keeping the range refreshed and spots a lot of products I would never have thought of, and we are confident we’re heading in the right direction. We’re feeling positive about the coming year.

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes Toy Barnhaus

Bricks & mortar to online

A

s we write this, we are well into the third lockdown in the last 12 months. It currently doesn’t look like we will be able to open until March or April. This past year ranks as the most challenging year either of us have known in over 40 years of retail experience between us. We thought we would look back over the last year, with some of the learnings, the highs and the lows.

Before March 22nd, 2020, Toy Barnhaus was purely a bricks and mortar business - we did not have an online offering. We had firm plans to put this into place last year, before the pandemic came round.

When the first lockdown started, we were ready to launch Toy Barnhaus online. This was run from the shop floor of our Crawley store, with ourselves the only two working on it. We furloughed all our colleagues to keep them safe, preserve cash and to limit social contact. As time went on and the business started to grow at a rapid rate, we enlisted Mark’s family to help. Like most of you reading this, at first the situation was a real shock and completely unknown territory; this was not in any retail textbook or anyone’s experience. We had eight shops full of stock, and our main way of generating cash closed to us.

We are very much bricks and mortar guys, and the online side was a bit alien to us. However, in the last 10 months we have learned a lot – we had to, it was all about business survival. However, stores being closed meant we could put all of our focus into setting up our online business. On day one, we had seven orders, which we were delighted with. We didn’t even know how to use the self-service machines at the post office to send the parcels! But we learned very quickly the best operational methods and processes to ramp up the business and improve efficiency. Within a week, we were up to 150 parcels, and we now regularly hit 200-300 parcels per day.

We also found our product selection skills had to adapt swiftly to meet the needs of the online business, and our knowledge of what sold well was invaluable. Starting with a handful of listings, we increased them day by day, and now have several thousand products available. We now have daily lorry collections from our Crawley store. We have even quickly become experts in the boxes game; instead of buying boxes, we recycle all our existing product cartons.

Just likes bricks and mortar, if you get the product mix right at the right time, you can shift volume. A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the pallet of wooden toboggans in our warehouse “down south” that had not sold for a few years. Within days of putting these online, we had sold the lot, mostly heading to snowier parts of the country.

Going in and out of lockdown several times over the last year means we have had to adapt our online business and relocate it when stores re-opened. With the closure of our stores just before Christmas, (we did have tears in our eyes), we had a lot of stock that did not look like it would sell as expected – just before and just after Christmas are our busiest times. Never having run an online business over Christmas, we did not know what to expect. When we reviewed our platforms on Boxing Day morning, there were over 300 orders to pack! (Thanks once again to Mark’s very understanding family for all the help.) Since then, we have been busy generating sales from the products we still have in stock. We knew we needed to work hard to turn this stock into cash and help pay our bills over the next few months. It looks like we will get some support from the government though, with grants coming through.

To be honest, without the online business, Toy Barnhaus would probably not be around any longer and we would not be making plans to hopefully re-open stores in the spring. Thankfully, we are, and feel that our business is all the stronger for it.

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Company Profile

DKB Toys

DKB

giving the customer control DKB Distribution and its toy arm, DKB Toys, were founded last year, with the aim of offering a one-stopshop for some of the biggest and best toy brands on the market. Chris Lohmeyer, MD, tells Toy World about the driving force behind his approach to business, how DKB’s in-house brand Crazy Forts could help kids’ mental health, and why he believes the company is set for success.

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hris Lohmeyer is no newcomer to the toy industry; prior to his current role, he spent four years at Hasbro and was at MGA Entertainment for a further two, where he gained experience working with distributors including A.B.Gee and HTI. Keen to take this experience and build on it his own way, opportunity knocked in the form of Doug Putman, the owner of HMV, the rebranded Alex Global Brands, and Everest Wholesale, a Top 3 distributor in the US

and Canada which enjoys strong relationships with Hasbro, MGA and Melissa & Doug, among others.

Doug was looking for someone to set up a new UK-based distribution operation and Chris’ name was thrown into the mix. A big believer in taking (calculated) risks, Chris jumped at the chance to try something new, and hasn’t looked back since.

Commenting on the appointment, Doug told Toy World: “I’m delighted to be working with Chris on this venture as he looks to drive the business forward to success in 2021 and beyond.”

Named for Doug and his parents, Karen and Bob, DKB Distribution and DKB Toys launched with Chris as MD in 2020, timing, he notes with a laugh, that was ‘not without its challenges’. However, the ongoing situation in the UK, with national lockdown No. 3 currently underway, presents its own set of opportunities. Families are once more stuck at home, looking for things to do with the kids, and we saw the impact this had on toy sales last year. With luck, 2021 may see more of the same, and DKB is poised to capitalise on this demand with a unique system that’s set to make life a whole lot easier for retail customers.

“Doug and I are in complete agreement; the goal here is to create a toy and distribution company that offers a service like no other,” Chris explains.

“If you’re the customer of any online company, you shouldn’t have to email asking for an open order report or what you have outstanding. It should be the same for our retailers. Open orders should be

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something you can access easily; one click should allow you to change dates, move orders around anything you want to do, you should be able to do quickly and easily.”

With this in mind, Chris is putting control back into his customers’ hands by investing a substantial amount of money in ‘Khaos Control’. This is a bespoke back-order system with a plugin for DKB’s website, launching this month, that will manage the company’s existing portfolio of brands and products, and allow for easy onboarding of new ones. Customers will receive email updates tailored to their profile, covering picking, packing, dispatch, delivery – the whole shebang. Chris adds: “As an MD, but also as a salesman at heart, I want the team I’ll soon be recruiting to focus on selling. Salespeople are going into meetings with just one hour to speak to a retailer these days. Khaos Control means that instead of spending the first 15 of those 60 minutes going over orders, they can spend the entire hour doing their job – selling. I think there’s way too much admin in sales, and I’m sure a lot of salespeople would agree.”

Chris’ overarching goal for DKB Distribution and DKB Toys, he reiterates throughout our Zoom call, is for the company to become a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive range of best-selling brands, hosted on one simple website, configured for use on a range of devices, where customers can save valuable time and energy – and receive great service. The scale of the website design and functionality means the

site will be completed in mid-2021, with additional features added on an ongoing basis. As Chris says: “Good things come to those who wait; we’re not rushing this. Like the company, the website will be here for a long time, and will be continuously updated, not left to mellow and get stale.”

A UK warehouse also means domestic supply as well as FOB. Current own-brands include CrazyForts, a range which has been in the US and Canadian markets for a decade; Walmart and Amazon sell over 100k pieces each a year. It’s a simple yet highly innovative product. Each kit, available in a range of designs from Igloo to Rocket to Fairytale Castle, includes a series of rods and balls which easily interconnect to create forts – just throw a bedsheet over the top, and the adventure can begin. A test run of 1,300 units sold out on Amazon UK within four days recently, proving to DKB that there is huge demand for this product in the UK marketplace.

Chris also highlights the build quality. Manufactured in Canada, Crazy-Forts is as robust as a toy of this nature can be. The brand will enjoy strong marketing support in the second half, bolstered by activities that will highlight to consumers what Crazy-Forts offers – sleepover events and a boardroom meeting held inside a giant fort are just two ideas. Chris’ excitement about bringing Crazy-Forts to the UK is evident, as are the opportunities the brand will present retailers, but there’s a more personal side to it as well for Chris.

He explains: “I really want to talk about the mental health benefits of a product like Crazy-Forts. Like so many other people, my mental health has really taken a downturn over the past months due to the lockdowns and the impact of the pandemic. I need human interaction and being without that has been hard but necessary. Growing up, my family was very open and we talked about everything, but I’m aware that’s not the case for many children. Crazy-Forts are the perfect place to have conversations. It can be hard to get kids to open up about things that are worrying them sometimes, but families can use this product to do just that. When their kid goes into the fort at a certain time of day, or hangs a sign on the outside, they can take that as a sign their child wants to talk. Parents can then go inside and start up a conversation.”

Chris adds: “There’s so much scope with CrazyForts. At the moment, as everyone is indoors in lockdown, we’ll be positioning the brand as an indoor product, but the reality is that it can be used anywhere, indoors or out. We’re looking at developing a dedicated outdoor range. When I explained what this range can do to Tony Norton and Emma Arthur

at Norton PR, they just exploded with ideas. There’s some really exciting stuff to come.”

The company will also be overseeing and rebuilding Alex Global Brands’ presence in the marketplace. Chris’ focus will be on raising its profile once more, highlighting the quality of its toys and the play potential each offers. Existing products that consumers already know and love will return with refreshed packaging and added innovation, while a raft of completely new toys will also be hitting shelves. STEM and bath play will be key areas for product development. Plasma Cars – ride-on cars that move when drivers wiggle the steering wheel - are another element of the DKB Toys’ portfolio.

DKB will be supplying Crazy Forts, Plasma Cars and Alex Global Toys product into the HMV store estate of more than 100 stores, as well as online.

The relationship opens up opportunities for new customers partnering with DKB to work with HMV, and gives DKB access to the retailer’s entire logistics, finance and HR network, a major plus for a new company. Together, both will further explore the pop-culture product opportunities that HMV has started to offer and the myriad opportunities they present. Current ranges include Hasbro’s Black Series figures and accessories, quirky Japanese sweet boxes based on My Hero Academia and other popculture licences, Ghostbusters and The Mandalorian Monopoly, Jurassic Park playing cards, and much more.

DKB has also just finished signing a distribution deal with Hasbro, which Chris is hugely excited about, and there are plans to bring other major names on board as soon as possible too.

“One of the big things for me, and something I really want readers to understand, is that DKB is not a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ company,” says Chris. “We have strong financial backing and will be expanding upon this, starting in the UK and then heading into Europe and onwards from there. We really are here for the long haul. We’re also in the process of acquiring a UK company, more details of which can hopefully be announced very soon. This is just another example of how we’re expanding our ranges and heading into new areas.”

Toymaster is already signed up as a DKB account.

Chris willingly admits that he has a ‘very soft spot’ for independents, whom he calls some of the nicest people in the trade. “They really care; we’re talking about their own business, many of them family businesses. Our indies need more focus and a little more love, and DKB is here to give them that. I’ve got a fantastic relationship with Paul [Reader] and the

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rest of the Toymaster team, and the team at AIS/plaYroom too. Indies will never be the biggest slice of your pie, but they’ll be a consistently good slice. No one tries new things like an indie will, and you can’t ask for more than that.”

Third party conversations with Amazon and Shop Direct are ongoing, and Chris also has his sights firmly set on the key major accounts for own brand products including Crazy-Forts, Alex Brands and Plasma Cars. Chris is also looking to expand the DKB team over the coming months.

Coming from a toy background, Chris knows what works and what doesn’t. He tells us that margins will be competitive, and that stock availability will be a key focus. DKB benefits from networks in key areas across the globe, with people in Canada, China, Hong Kong and America. Because the DKB portfolio encompasses in-house brands as well as distribution lines across a wide range of price points, the overall picture is one that offers competitive margins which will be attractive to retailers of all sizes. Thanks to the HMV tie-up, there’s also room to explore electronics, K-pop, sweets and confectionery– the latter of which many indies are starting to adopt. This appears to be a strong growth area.

“Where we’re going to excel is in providing a brilliant service, to all customers,” finishes Chris.

“They’ll be able to phone or meet us and talk about products rather than going through a load of admin, they’ll be able to get all the products they could possibly want through us, and they’ll be able to try a whole raft of new things through us as well.

We can offer points of difference across a range of retailers, from supermarkets to indies. The plan is to be everywhere, with everything – and I think a lot of people will be very happy about that.”

Company Profile

Two in 1 Direct

A pretty pickle Paul Fogarty’s latest venture, Two in 1 Direct, is set to bring the squishy, cute and collectible plush Cats vs. Pickles range to the UK market following a strong launch over in the US. Paul tells Toy World about his hopes for the brand this side of the pond.

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wo in 1 Direct has been created to offer an alternative supply model for UK retailers.

Opening direct accounts on an FOB basis comes with its fair share of challenges, according to toy industry stalwart Paul Fogarty, meaning retailers aren’t necessarily seeing everything that’s available; and if they are seeing it, the risk of running a new FOB line may well put them off. Two in 1’s direct supply model, based upon a domestic stock proposition in the UK, aims to take that risk away.

“In the first instance, I’m providing a menu of services that principles can choose to utilise,” explains Paul. “This commences with strategic planning, devising market entry strategies, and agreeing a road map for the development of the business. We then move through to actual implementation, where we can look after all key management functions, sales, marketing, financial and operational. The model works best for principles with a strategic vision to build a business in the UK, which Two in 1 would effectively be the face of during the build phase.”

Two in 1’s first two signings are Kangaru Toys, which is about to implement a licensing strategy it says will ‘reinvigorate the craft aisle’, and the hotlytipped new brand Cats vs. Pickles. Regular Toy World readers will already be aware of the latter range; our ‘Letter from America’ columnist Rick Derr has been shouting about it from the rooftops since it first arrived in Learning Express stores in the USA last summer.

The brand is owned by Cepia, the company behind the successful ZhuZhu Pets property, and was inspired by the viral social media trend which saw cat owners placing a cucumber (or pickle) near their feline friends, and filming their dramatic reactions.

Russ Hornsby, the owner of Cepia, whom Paul refers to as an ‘exceedingly clever and entrepreneurial’ toy person, has created a back-story for the brand which

resonates among consumers and drives storytelling – the Pickles love the Cats and are busy devising sneaky ways to get close to them, but that love is anything but reciprocal. Poor Pickles. Fans are encouraged to pick Team Cat or Team Pickle, and watch content, enjoy activities and browse the toy range online via a dedicated website. The Cats vs. Pickles YouTube channel has over 21k subscribers, and the videos rack up millions of views. One from October, "Love Letter from Pickletown", has just shy of 8m, and the entire channel boasts over 110m views in total, with more than 16m views in the UK alone. There’s also a downloadable mobile game available via the App Store or GooglePlay, which also proved popular during lockdown, and the Cats vs. Pickles Facebook group has over 113k followers.

“Cats vs. Pickles was important to me because we wanted a brand that was headline grabbing and would attract retailers,” says Paul. “The brand has seen phenomenal early success in the US, and we see it very much as a long-term brand for the UK market. We still know don’t know exactly how big it’s going to be, but early indications are that it could be genuinely huge. Brand engagement during lockdown has been massive, with a lot of eyes on the Cats vs.

Pickles videos. Russ’ content is very clever in that the animation style varies from video to video, so each is fresh and new, and they are very funny too.”

The range has enjoyed a successful soft launch with Midco Toys in the UK, alongside a number of other independents. The range has proved so popular with UK consumers that Midco was selling 50 a day during the run up to Christmas. Dave Middleton, the owner of Midco, first spotted the range at Toy Fair New York last year. He told Toy World: “After seeing reports from the States about how well it was performing, we were lucky to be one of the first to market. It sold extremely well for us over Christmas; it’s an ideal line for independents as it requires attention to detail, with 48 different designs in Series 1. It also resonated

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very well on social media, with Cepia itself sharing a number of our posts.”

In the US, meanwhile, Cats vs. Pickles was trialled by 30 Walmart stores in late summer, leading to the retailer installing two sidekicks of 96 pieces in 2,500 stores in time for Christmas, while it performed incredibly well in specialist Rick Derr’s Learning Express. Rick told Toy World: "Since launching July 11th, we have sold close to 2500 4" Cats vs. Pickles plushies, delighting kids and adults alike. That's roughly 500 pieces a month or 16 pieces a day. Why? They are gender neutral and low-priced, supported by whimsical YouTube content, and kids see them as fun little study buddies during the pandemic. I can't wait to see what's next from the brand."

Phase 2 of the roll-out, which has already started landing in Learning Express in the US, includes jumbo plush at price points ranging from £9.99 to £19.99, joining the £4.99 pocket money collectibles.

Uptake among fans has been very good. All eyes are on a UK Easter launch, by which point bricks & mortar stores will hopefully be open once more.

For the back end of 2021, fans can look forward to a range expansion called Kitty Condos, container-style homes for the Cats to live in. The roll-out of this line will be supported by more new online content, TV advertising and social media campaigns, devised to offer a holistic, design-led boost in awareness. Paul also feels that Cats vs. Pickles has major potential on the licensing side.

“Is it a property that has the ability to go that way?” muses Paul. “Yes, for a number of reasons. It’s content driven in an on-trend way, design-led and highly open to being licensed out quite easily. The brand has all the genetic indicators of becoming a massive property, and we’re really looking forward to finding out just how far it can go.”

For more information on Cats vs. Pickles or Two in 1 Direct, readers can contact Paul paul@allin1products.com.

Toikido

Company Profile

Toikido: doing things differently

“

We want to do things differently,” Darran told Toy World, when asked about the thinking behind the Toikido concept. “I have been in the entertainment business for 20 years, having bought and sold rights, watching amazing companies succeed and grow, some fail, and others go public. All of this has led me to this point. I have been lucky to be involved with some incredible companies and individuals, and Toikido will bring that experience, passion and knowledge to on everything we touch. We’ve designed our culture and structure to enable us to move fast and be the partner of choice for the new breakthrough brands that are themselves ripping up the rule book.”

Toikido’s master toy deal with Innersloth Games on AmongUs, the most downloaded game of 2020, marks an incredible opening gambit for a new company.

First released in mid-2018, the online multiplayer game shot to prominence during the pandemic, with tens of millions of locked-down kids (and more than a few adults) drawn to its addictively simple premise – sabotage the ship and bump off your crewmates, without your fellow players correctly guessing that you are the ‘Imposter’ while they try to complete maintenance tasks aboard the vessel. Demand for product is huge, with Darran noting that the fan community has already been getting creative with its own unofficial solutions and artwork that has been widely shared across social media.

Toikido’s Q3 launch will encompass collectibles, plush, action figures and a few other surprise lines, all developed in partnership with the game’s studio team to ensure the toys reflect the style of the game.

Reflecting the inclusivity and uniquely social aspect of the game, which requires players to share knowledge with each other about who the Imposter may be, the toy range will offer something for all fans. Feedback thus far has been hugely positive, and Darran is confident the hype surrounding Toikido’s master toy range will live up to the expectations of AmongUs’ passionate fans.

“The global rise in gaming has been phenomenal in recent years,” explains Darran. “No other form of entertainment has grown as fast. Multiple gaming titles have overtaken blockbuster movies titles and franchises, and we’re seeing fan support translate into the physical mechanise space. AmongUs offers the perfect mix of fun, social factors and amazing characters, while Toikido boasts some of the best talent in product design and development. Thanks to Innersloth Games, we’ve been given the knowledge of what fans want; bringing everything together has been really exciting.”

Darran adds: “The Innersloth and Duel Wield teams have been fantastic. We all share a passion for quality and for bringing AmongUs fans products they will love. Innersloth Games has some of, if not the best, community teams in gaming. Following its feed and the conversation it has with fans is truly inspiring. Any brand wishing to communicate and engage with their customers should take a leaf out of Innersloth’s book.”

Toikido’s focus won’t just be on product, however.

Instead, Darran is building a company with an ecosystem across licensing, gaming, music, live events and entertainment, partnering with existing studios as well as developing its own brands, games and content. He says: “We are building a culture that will support our partners. We want to curate a complementary portfolio and dedicate ourselves to sharing visions with our partners.”

If anyone can pull off such an impressive feat, it’s Darran. He calls Toikido an ‘insanely knowledgeable’ start-up, and few, if any, could argue with that assessment. Darran has had a remarkably diverse career, working with most major studios while on the agency side, as a licensor at Mind Candy, building Moshi Monsters up from scratch to a billion-dollar retail business and, while at Universal, managing more than 4,000 licensees. He’s also been a trusted advisor at companies such as Kano, SuperAwesome, PartyQuest and Bright Little Labs. This, he says, explains why his leadership of Toikido is underpinned by his love of data - although he also notes that data

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Darran Garnham, formerly CEO at MTW and VP EMEA NBCUniversal, is off to a strong start with his new venture, Toikido, landing a master toy deal with the studio behind the lockdown smash-hit game AmongUs, Innersloth Games, right out of the starting gates.

Toy World finds out more about how Toikido came about, and how the ‘insanely knowledgeable start-up’ will be ripping up the rule book.

only has value if it’s turned into insight. With this in mind, the company will be partnering with the kids and family market specialist Kids Industries, which will provide data, insight and strategy, while KidsKnowBest will deliver the activation that best connects with the consumer.

“We are new, but we’ve got decades-worth of knowledge, relationships and, perhaps most importantly, trust,” adds Darran. “Our team includes Grammy and BAFTA winners, inventors, investors, social media and tech experts. It also includes my kids, who have taken upon themselves to join the business – Freddy (10) as chief gaming officer, Seb (8) as chief creative officer and Bertie (1) as chief play officer. The brain power and experience we have offers opportunities across multiple platforms and is at the cutting edge of several growth sectors. Toikido is a team obsessed with trends, quality, innovation and proprietary transferable technology in AI, VR and AR.” So, what’s next for Toikido following such an impressive start? According to Darran, 2021 will see the creation of ‘at least one’ original IP, with multiple ideas currently being researched and built upon. Each is based upon consumer and commercial insight, but launches will nonetheless be kept very strategic.

Toikido’s agile infrastructure will be used to maximise every opportunity.

Darran finishes: “I don’t take it for granted that I bounce out of bed to get the day started – it’s the commercial and cultural goals of Toikido that are making that happen, and I am going to keep it that way.”

For more information, readers can contact Darran by emailing darran@toikido.co.uk.

fresh FRESH THIS MONTH:

Each month Fresh sets out to find the latest products that will have toy retailers reaching for the phone.

In February we have new releases from: Wow! Stuff, Flair, Miko, The Source, Two in 1 & Vivid.

Cats vs. Pickles

Two in 1 Direct 07967 004 585 | www.catsvpickles.com

The wonderfully weird world of Cats vs. Pickles is coming to the UK market, following a successful rollout in the US.

Available as single packs, and soon to launch 2-packs, there are more than 100 different styles of collectible plush to collect. These soft, bean-filled plush characters can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and make ideal study buddies for kids who are learning remotely or need a break from screen time.

Each collectible plush features a colourful print design with embroidered details that reflect the character’s personalities. Fans can collect different themes of Cats, as well as four soughtafter, rare plush Pickles that will help drive collectability. Popular ‘Cat-egories’ include Foodie Cats, Scary Cats, Sweet Cats and Smarty Cats.

Further launches for spring include themed 4-packs, which feature three special Cat characters, as well as a blind-bagged Pickle character. There are six Jumbo Plush Character Pillows to collect from spring, as well as a collection of 18-inch long Giant Hugging Plush launching from autumn/winter 2021.

Late spring will see the arrival of the Sweet Shop Playset, which includes two exclusive characters and 11 accessories. The Sweet Shop Playset will be a major focus for the marketing drive, which includes a dedicated TV campaign, pre-roll and influencer activity.

Autumn/winter sees the introduction of the Kitty Condo Habi-cats. These light-up, customisable play sets stack up to create Cats vs. Pickles neighbourhoods, with Cat and Pickle characters hiding behind each door. Designed to enhance role play and interaction with the Plushie range, the Kitty Condo Habi-cats add yet another level of collectability.

The Cats vs. Pickles toy line will be supported by a substantial 360-degree marketing campaign, including a major TV launch in spring/summer 2021. For more information, please email Paul@allin1products.com.

Washimals sets

Vivid 01483 449944 | www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk Crayola Washimals is currently one of the best-selling creative toy brands on the market, with a variety of themed flocked animals for kids to personalise and nurture. In 2021, Washimals pets is getting a makeover, with a new selection of cute cats and dogs to customise again and again. The new play set features a new kid-powered bathtub so that kids can wash off their designs, as well as two new dogs and two new cats to colour in and style.

Washimals is also introducing a new set of adorable ocean-themed characters. The Washimals Ocean Pets Lagoon comes complete with a kid-powered lagoon tub and four exciting new pets - a Shark, Octopus, Whale and Clown Fish.

Sevi wooden toys

Flair 020 8643 0320 | www.flairplc.co.uk Internationally renowned heritage brand Sevi is the latest premium toy range to be introduced to the Flair portfolio. Founded in Italy, the brand has earned a reputation for its exceptional quality and beautiful detailing.

The Sevi collection comprises a wide range of toys, decorations and accessories, ideal for both play and display. February launches include a wooden Doctor’s Set to inspire the healthcare professionals of tomorrow, a cute wooden Tea Set, and a Salad Set. The arrival of the Sevi Guitar, Savannah Drum Set, and the Music Centre Dog offers retailers an imaginative play range that will stand the test of time. Flair will also be introducing two types of Alphabet Letters to support letter recognition and early development.

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h

Chibies

Wow! Stuff 01902 390 428 | www.wowstuff.com Inspired by Japanese pop-culture, and the neon lights and party atmosphere of Tokyo, Chibies characters flash to the beat of any tune a child plays, across any genre; K-pop, rock, pop, hip-hop, even classical. High-tech sound sensors, the result of 18 months of Wow! Stuff team development, are embedded into each character, allowing it listen to the music and react in real time. The characters can even synchronise with every other Chibie in the room. To activate the sound sensor, children simply ‘nudge their nose’. They can then play any music and watch Chibies flash perfectly to the beat. Wow! Stuff claims they even flash to the sound of a child’s voice.

Chibies features a fun unboxing experience with a ‘Peel to Reveal’ foil pack. One Chibie and nine accessories are included, with 10 different characters to collect.

Chibies can clip to curtains, pillows, lampshades, shelves and more, or can even be worn in the hair and attached to clothing or backpacks. Batteries are included so consumers won’t have to add them at the till or checkout.

Chibies are ideal for ages 4-8 years, but are also attractive to ages 8-14 years for home decoration, parties and nights in listening to music. At an attractive SRP of £9.99, fans will be able to build up a collection. The range will be available in the UK from April.

Miko 2

Miko 020 4518 6975 | www.miko.ai Miko is an advanced consumer robotics innovation lab that has scaled globally with its flagship offering, Miko 2 - the first robot that uses playful, conversational learning to educate young learners.

With over 1,000 academic topics, games, language development and more, Miko 2 aids the cognitive development of children, and adapts to them over time.

The company’s growing team is home to leading robotics engineers, artificial intelligence and IoT innovators, psychologists, educators and content developers, all working together to explore the intersections of learning and technology.

For all enquiries, please contact Rakesh Kakaya, chief sales officer, on trade@miko.ai.

Petron Sports

The Source Wholesale 01306 646 885 www.thesourcewholesale.co.uk The Source has been appointed as exclusive UK distributor for Petron Sports, with a focus on developing its Sureshot and Stealth brands throughout 2021.

Sitting within Petron’s Fun range, these products, which include sucker-dart crossbows, pistols, rifles and more, let users improve their target shooting skill and accuracy, and drive a desire for repeat play.

The Sureshot range is designed for children aged six and above, and encourages both indoor and outdoor play that complies with all UKCA and CE directives.

The Stealth range, meanwhile, has been developed for kids aged 14, which each shot flying further and landing even more accurately.

The Source is also launching a number of new products within its existing brands for spring/summer 2021, strengthening its offering across toys, tech, gaming, lighting, functional gifting and wellness.

Online presentations are taking place with current and prospective customers. To arrange an online meeting with the team, readers should contact their account manager or email sales@thesourcewholesale.co.uk. All new products can also be found on the Source portal via the website.

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Allegedly

Amazon continues to be a joy for suppliers to deal with. Feast your eyes on this gem of a response from Amazon to a toy company, which had been complaining that someone had hijacked its listing and replaced the toy with a headphone jack. Open and shut case, right? This is what Amazon had to say – verbatim wording, typography, errant punctuation and all: “We understand that the title and brand name on website are incorrect and you would like us to update the correct details. Irrespective of the fact that details are incorrect, we would not have any option to make corrections requested by you on website. This is because, Contributions.” Clearly no human being would actually type those words and think “Yes, sure, that makes total sense – I’ll tell them that and the problem will just go away.” So, is this an AI-generated response?

Have we really arrived at a John Connor / Rise of the Machines moment? Or is this all a clever ruse to make suppliers give up? Now imagine this level of debate being replicated in terms negotiations - I don’t envy suppliers, at least I get to negotiate with sentient human beings (well, most of the time) …

Sky-high container rates continue to cause headaches for suppliers and retailers alike. The price of shipping a 40-foot container on major world trade routes has almost tripled in recent weeks, while hauliers within the UK are also charging up to three times the ‘going rate’. Concerns are growing that this will start to affect toy prices if costs don’t return to normal soon. Outdoor items are inevitably amongst those most affected in the short term; we are currently in the middle of peak shipping season for spring summer lines, with transport costs at record highs. There are hopes that these costs may decline after Chinese New Year, but no consensus within the logistics community that this outcome is guaranteed. In addition, many outdoor items are amongst the largest, bulkiest items sold by toy retailers, which only exacerbates the situation. However, other toy suppliers are watching closely to see how the situation develops. One supplier admitted: “One of my key lines comes in 40-foot-high cubes, 2500 items in each one. The cost to get the product from China to my warehouse has gone up five-fold – that equates to around £4 per product unit. In old school models, that would suggest adding £20 to the retail price.” Something to keep an eye on, as levying major price hikes would be a risky move in the current climate…

Over in the Far East, this year’s Chinese New Year working arrangements could be different to previous years: it appears that the threat of spreading the virus has prompted some workers not to return to their hometowns as they traditionally would. Indeed, local Chinese government bodies are actively encouraging employees to stay behind with financial inducements, prompting suggestions that some factories could startup much quicker after the holidays this time round if their employees are not scattered far and wide across China. However, not all factories are experiencing this trend. Vantage Sourcing’s Ger Murphy, who is on the ground in Hong Kong, posted this comment on LinkedIn: “ China is doing everything it can to restrict

New Year. New Focus. New PR? Make 2021 a year to remember & creative,

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travel during Chinese New Year to avoid another massive Covid wave. However, many factory workers want to go home immediately because of the updated policy from the Chinese government. It could restrict workers crossing the province in the next few days, or might lock down the province border completely. My advice is check with all your factories immediately as it could affect your pre Chinese New Year orders if workers have already gone home or are planning to go soon. Hebi Province is already locked down.” In addition to the evolving Chinese New Year situation, there are also multiple reports coming out of China that point to increases in the price of raw materials and labour costs, while the yuan has strengthened against the US dollar in recent weeks. All of these developments point to imminent price rises on products manufactured in China, which would pose another challenge for suppliers already grappling with sky-high freight costs….

Brexit also remains a challenge for suppliers and retailers. Forget the confiscated ham sandwiches, there are going to be far larger issues to grapple with over the coming months. Suppliers have been in touch to highlight the challenges they’re facing when it comes to shipping products to Ireland – a country that one described as having been “cut off overnight.” A Brexitsupporting DUP MP attempted to point out that it couldn’t be Brexit causing these issues, as they weren’t happening in Scotland, Wales and England – until someone with a rudimentary grasp of the situation helpfully pointed out that none of those countries share a land border with an EU country. I genuinely wonder who votes for some of these people…

We also have an issue brewing with the current click & collect regulations: Scotland has decided to suspend the practice for non-essential retailers, while in England, John Lewis voluntarily abandoned its click & collect service, putting pressure on other retailers to follow suit.

However, I am not sure it is quite as clear cut a decision as some might think. Playing devil’s advocate, was John Lewis’ decision purely altruistic, or were they just struggling to generate enough orders to cover costs? We will never know, but we do know that if many specialist retailers are forced to abandon their click & collect orders, it would be a massive blow for them. It will also presumably drive larger crowds to already overcrowded supermarkets. Providing click & collect services are structured safely (for both customers and staff), I think a ban would be overly draconian and possibly even counterproductive. Specialist retailers are already frustrated that supermarkets and certain value retailers – the ones that have “2 metres of crisps, a metre of sweets and a fridge…in a 20,000 square foot shop” according to one of my retail friends – are allowed to stay open selling toys. Depriving them of offering click & collect facilities may be the final straw: no-one wants to see them paint their faces and turning up shirtless, wearing a fur hat with horns storming their local Home Bargains (although to be fair, Home Bargains probably has better security than the White House, which fell to the cast of Duck Dynasty last month…).

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SPECIAL GREEN ISSUE Read on for the latest toys and games on offer in the eco-friendly space and to find out more about more about how toy companies are working towards a more environmentally friendly future. With Green News; Touching Base comments from suppliers; a feature on new company Toyi (the issue’s cover star) and detailed product listings.

To find out how you can get involved with Toy World in 2021 please contact: John Baulch – John@toyworldmag.co.uk Mark Austin – Mark@toyworldmag.co.uk Rachael Simpson-Jones – Rachael@toyworldmag.co.uk

February 2021 Volume 10 Issue 7

Green Toys

The green scene

Feature

The pandemic has accelerated many things; the growth of online retail, remote-working technology, advances in medical science – and the demand for environmentally-friendly, sustainable, recyclable or biodegradable products across all industries. Heading into 2021, there’s arguably never been a better time for toy retailers to increase their ‘green’ offerings.

Rachael Simpson-Jones takes a look at the latest toys and games on offer in this growing space.

H

ands up if you’ve made a concerted effort recently to cut back on your plastics consumption or carbon footprint – good for you, you’re not alone. When the NPD Group released data in January showing 5% growth for the UK toy market in 2020, Frédérique Tutt, global industry analyst, noted: “Many people have also rediscovered the value of nature and the environment in the pandemic. One encouraging sector trend is that green issues have come to the fore, and many manufacturers are reducing packaging and incorporating eco-friendly materials in their products.”

When it comes to reducing the negative impact of any product, there are a raft of avenues to explore.

Perhaps the most obvious is steering clear of virgin plastics derived from petrochemicals, such as polyolefins (polyethylene, polypropylene, EVA, etc.), styrene derived polymers (PS, ABS, SB, etc.) and

plasticised PVC. Recycling existing plastic is one solution, and it’s being explored by a number of companies. US-based Shore Buddies has recycled some 500,000 bottles that would otherwise have become that scourge of marine life, ocean plastic, by turning it into a range of cute and cuddly plush characters that come complete with stories on how kids can reduce their plastic footprint. CEO and Founder Malte Niebelschuetz states: “Early childhood education about the impact of single use plastic on the environment is key. Shore Buddies’ goal is to make sustainability a second language from day one. With this knowledge, children will grow up more in touch with the environment and make better, more sustainable decisions as adults. They will be more empowered to take action and stand up for what matters to them.”

Golden Bear’s Hey Duggee range also gets a recycled plastic overhaul, both in an out; while recycled PET stuffing is becoming increasingly

common – so readily accessible and affordable is it, I use it for all my crochet animal creations - outer materials derived from the same sources are less so. Keel Toys’ Keeleco range is also made from 100% recycled plastic waste. The company first started developing sustainable soft toys in 2019 and is seeing demand increase, as Steve Cox, Keel’s UK sales director, explains. “With consumers actively looking for sustainable product options, Keel Toys believes it’s important to produce toys with a lower environmental impact, where possible,” he says.

“Retailers are getting onboard with the sustainability message, and this will grow over the next few years as science allows us to make even more ecofriendly products. I think 2021 will be the year that sustainability really makes an impact in mainstream retail. People are realising that being green is good for business.”

Dantoy’s approach to recycled plastics allows it to carry the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, a stringent standard

Feature

Green Toys

which means the provenance of materials is known from cradle to grave. As such, the Dantoy Green Bean range comprises unique, one of kind toys made from the company’s own plastic waste, instead of that sourced from elsewhere. Bio-plastic derived from sugar cane, meanwhile, forms the basis of its Bio toy line. Sugarcane-based bioplastics (biopolyethylene) reportedly generate far fewer CO2 emissions during production than virgin plastics and are 100% recyclable. Some are also biodegradable. Demand for sugar cane bioplastics is increasing, particularly in Brazil where the largest plant of biopolyethylene is located. Biobuddi and VTech are also exploring what bioplastics can offer, the former with its extended range of construction sets, and the latter as part of its new eco-friendly product range, which also includes toys made from recycled plastics and wood.

Wooden Toys remains a category strongly associated with eco-friendliness, assuming the wood comes from FSC-certified or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) standard forestry operations, thus ensuring forest products are ‘produced according to the highest ecological, social and ethical standards’. Certified wood from European forests is considered particularly ecofriendly, as is ‘waste’ wood from rubber trees, which are felled approximately every 30 years or so to make way for new saplings.

Some toy companies are also tapping into the growing market for toys made from discarded rice husk. A major by-product of the rice milling and agro-based biomass industry, rice husk toys tend to be both strong and light. And as those aware of the problem of planetary food waste, and its contribution to GHG emissions and climate change will

appreciate, using leftover food/crop matter in this manner solves more than one problem; cutting down on the consumption of virgin materials, while also mitigating issues associated with food waste. Edx Education and Hape have both introduced rice husk toys into their portfolios as part of their sustainability efforts. Hape also uses bamboo for many of its toys.

The fast-sprouting culinary staple of discerning pandas everywhere, bamboo is a growth area (pun intended). Hape actually has its very own in bamboo forest in Gongtong, in the Beilun district of Ningbo, giving it unprecedented oversight of its management and supply chain processes.

And let’s not forget cardboard toys. Recyclable, sustainable and biodegradable, cardboard might be most often associated with outer packaging, but as Playpress shows, it’s capable of much more.

The company’s range of plastic-free play sets, vehicles and figures includes massively successful properties such as The Gruffalo, with numerous new additions arriving for 2021, all printed with vegan ocean-friendly inks and packaging that becomes a backdrop or scene related to the theme of each set.

This approach adds value to the play experience and reduces waste at the same time.

I started off discussing turning waste into toys, and I arrive back at it from a different angle. When I was younger, yoghurt pots, toilet roll tubes, cereal boxes and bottles all regularly underwent the toytransformation-treatment, usually replete with yards of sticky tape which rendered the resulting product fit only for landfill. Now, though, there are companies that offer kits designed to turn trash into toys in an eco-friendly way. Our Green Issue cover star Toyi is one such company, with its range of kits containing 100% recycled plastic pieces which can be used to turn anything around you into a toy. We got hands-on with Toyi before Christmas; it’s a lot of fun, and now our Toy World Toy Wall features a rather natty car made from an old Rhodda’s Cornish Cream Shortbread tin. Junko, the brainchild of Pete Rope, also lets kids get creative with items found around the house, turning cereal boxes into cars or bottles into boats. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Many of you may have heard the term ‘greenwashing’. It’s become something of a buzzword, referring to companies that are pretending to be environmentally conscious, when, in reality, they are anything but. When it comes to manufacturers of consumer products, it’s all very well and good producing eco-friendly, sustainable, recyclable or biodegradable toys, but if, behind the scenes, the processes used to make that toy are an environmental disaster then… well. Not so good.

But as you’ll see from our special Green Touching Base section, toy companies making a name for themselves in the ‘green’ aisle are already extending their eco-credentials far beyond the products themselves.

“With Keeleco, the aim is to be a leader in the development of sustainability in the toy industry,” says Keel Toys’ Steve Cox. “Sustainability

for Keel Toys is not just about the product – it’s about how we conduct our business. Holding both ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation, we regularly assess every aspect of our business and look for ways to reduce our environmental impact. Over the past year we have made simple yet meaningful switches to further reduce our impact, such as installing LED lighting in our offices and 115,000 ft² warehouse to reduce our energy use. We have also started to move our area managers’ company cars from diesel to hybrid or electric.”

We’re also seeing switches in packaging. Retailers face a regulatory crackdown in 2022, with the charge for plastic bags rising from 5p to 10p, and a new tax on plastic packaging that fails to meet a minimum threshold of at least 30% recycled content. The introduction of such measures will cause ripples across several industries. Even if the toys themselves can’t be made from greener materials, packaging is one aspect of a product specifically designed to end up in a bin very soon after purchase – ideally the recycling one – and reducing its plastic content should therefore be a no-brainer. Zapf recently announced a commitment to produce plastic free packaging for its Baby Annabell and Baby born ranges, doing away with traditional transparent window boxes and instead introducing closed-box designs that are 100% recyclable, joining the ranks of others that are undertaking or have already completed similar transitions.

Alex Woolfstein, senior buyer at online discount toy specialist BargainMax, believes there is also scope for suppliers to tailor packaging according the intended retail channel. He explains: “Despite many toys being sold online now as opposed to in-store, manufacturers and suppliers are still creating product that’s packaged for on-shelf display.

As a result, you’ve got toys being shipped in large packages, with big plastic windows, that can’t be transported efficiently because they take up so much room or need additional packaging to protect them.

Online retailers don’t need that. If people really want to make more sustainable, eco-friendly toys, start by sorting the packaging out. Suppliers are missing a trick by not having different packaging tailored to different retail formats. In the past, we’ve bought Hasbro lines with what Amazon calls ‘frustration free’ packaging made of paper or cardboard. The counter argument is that it doesn’t look as attractive if you’re gifting the product, but for a company like BargainMax it’s perfect, and ready-made to pick and post. I’d love to see more innovation on this.”

How feasible this would be for every toy supplier is up for debate, but it’s certainly an interesting avenue to explore. YouGov polling indicates that a little more than half of consumers would pay more for products with eco-friendly packaging, while around twothirds will pay more for products themselves that are better for the environment. Generally speaking, and there are exceptions, the use of recyclable/ recycled/sustainable materials can come with a higher price tag, but the companies we spoke to say consumers are happy to pay it, provided any increase is considered reasonable. Coming into 2021, with the pandemic raging on, this is understandable – but what price can we put on the future of our planet?

Over the next pages of this special flip-cover ‘Green Issue’, we bring you the latest eco-friendly toys from the companies doing their bit and hear why sustainability measures should be taken seriously.

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Green News Zapf Creation unveils new plastic-free packaging Zapf Creation, the company behind nurturing doll brands Baby Annabell and Baby born, has announced a commitment to produce plastic-free packaging in answer to growing demand from parents and children for more sustainable options in the toy market.

Waving goodbye to traditional transparent window boxes, Zapf Creation will instead usher in eye-catching closed box designs that clearly show the dolls, improving visibility of products and increasing the brand presence on shelves.

Within the boxes, cable ties and plastic bags will be swapped for paper packaging alternatives to ensure products are still secure throughout transport, storage, and purchase.

Removing the plastic packaging means the unboxing experience is also improved, making it easier and more exciting for kids and parents to open their new purchases. Similarly, the new packaging means that any returns are also easier, with products simply replaced into boxes.

Initially rolling out across 2021 with all new product, this new standard in doll and accessory packaging will then be seen across the entire Zapf Creation portfolio, with the ultimate aim of having the entire range plastic free by autumn 2022.

Kasia Leskow, Zapf Creation marketing manager, said: “Baby Annabell and Baby born are loved and recognised by parents and children alike, and we take the responsibility of supporting the development of young children seriously. As a brand which plays such a big role in children’s lives from an early age, we must also consider other impacts we have on their lives too. We know customers are used to seeing toys in show-boxes currently, but our world is changing rapidly and children, not just parents, are calling for brands to take sustainability into consideration. We’re thrilled to be implementing this positive change, and demonstrating our care for children and their future.”

VTech to launch green electronic learning products VTech is to launch a variety of green electronic learning products in 2021, marking the next step in its sustainability commitment, which aims to replace all fossil-based plastics with sustainable alternatives by 2030. VTech branded eco-friendly products include four new vehicles in the popular Go! Go! Smart Wheels series, all made from plant-based plastic, and the Sort & Recycle Ride-on Truck, which is made from reclaimed plastic.

LeapFrog welcomes a new Choppin' Fun Learning Pot with vegetable accessories made from plant-based plastic, while VTech will source materials from responsibly managed forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for two new wooden toys: the Nature ABC Board and an interactive wooden puzzle.

The introduction of sustainable product packaging for VTech’s toy products is also well underway. Currently, 94% of packaging materials is recyclable, while 90% of the cardboard used in packaging is recycled. VTech is also committed to eliminating fossil-based blister packaging and replacing it with plant-based alternatives in 99% of its electronic learning products by 2025.

To support circular economy initiatives in its major markets, VTech has engaged in various post-consumer packaging recycling programmes in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Packaging recycling labels such as How2Recycle and On-Pack Recycling have also been placed on the packaging of electronic learning products for consumers’ easy reference.

To encourage post-consumer product recycling, VTech has partnered with TerraCycle in the US, and the Electronic Products Recycling Association in Canada. It has also followed the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in Europe by adding product recycling labels on product packaging.

VTech says its ongoing efforts to develop eco-friendly products and packaging, as well as its continuous engagement in various post-consumer recycling programmes in major markets, demonstrate the company’s commitment to the 5-year Sustainability Plan 2025 it unveiled in June 2020.

“VTech’s vision is to create sustainable value for the lives of people and protect the planet for future generations,” said Dr. Allan Wong, chairman and Group CEO of VTech Holdings Limited. “We are committed to using sustainable materials in our products and packaging and recycling them in a responsible way, using eco-friendly transportation modes in our supply chain management, increasing the use of renewable energy and reducing the consumption of natural resources in our production process.”

Company Profile

Toyi

Upcycling through play Toyi is a relatively young company that aims to get kids upcycling through play with its range of innovative (and hugely fun) construction kits, each of which contains a variety of pieces used to turn everyday objects into new toys. Toyi founders Ögeday Uçurum and Elif Atmaca explain how the company has grown since its inception, and why eco-conscious kids love the range.

creative building kits are now distributed across 12 countries, and we’re working with some of the most prestigious retailers from around the world, including MoMa Design Stores, and the market leader in toy retail in Turkey, Toyzzshop. Now we are ready to build our presence in the UK toy market for 2021.

Why do children like playing with Toyi?

Ögeday Uçurum

Elif Atmaca

Can you tell us a bit about the history of Toyi – how did the company get started and why did you decide to launch a range of toys?

Ögeday Uçurum: Toyi is an award-winning toy company that designs and produces open-ended, child-led play experiences that encourage children to discover themselves and their surroundings, realise their creative potential, and express themselves freely.

My partner, Elif Atmaca, and I founded Toyi in 2018 with the aim of providing a new play system that incorporates everyday objects. We knew that children love to transform materials and incorporate other toys into their play, so we developed a system that lets kids introduce their interests, passions and surroundings into the experience. With our Toyi creative building kits, children can turn the objects around them into unique toys.

Toyi has been very well received within the toy industry and has garnered a number of accolades, including the 2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Award, the Independent Toy Awards Silver Award 2020 and the Play Creators 2020 Rising Star Award. Our

Elif Atmaca: Toyi is a limitless creative play kit that enables children to transform everyday objects around them into unique toys. Armed with a kit comprising wheels, feet, hands, eyes, joints, sticks and flexible connectors, kids aged six and over can transform any object around them into a toy of their own creation.

Children love Toyi because they can design toys on their own or with friends, and expand upon their creativity by making their dream toys come to life. In this way, kids can become real explorers, interacting with their physical and social surroundings as well as their inner worlds. There are no instructions or rules included with Toyi kits - only child-led inspiration. The entire process is left to childrens’ imagination. The open-ended play experience Toyi provides lets children make a limitless number of toys using purely their own creative spark. This unique play experience also supports children’s upcycling and 21st-century skills.

Toyi is also a year-round toy. Children can make Christmas toys, summer toys, winter toys, Halloween toys, anything they can think of. Due to its suitability for indoor, outdoor, or STEM-related activities, as well as group or solo play, the range offers children and their parents maximum play potential.

How important is it to teach children about upcycling and environmental issues?

Elif: We believe a more playful planet will result in a greener planet. When good habits like upcycling are established at a young age, they are more likely to stick as kids get older. Teaching your child to recognise and categorise waste, respect the environment and consume less is a good way to take responsibility for the future of our planet.

By playing with Toyi, children make their own toys by redefining and redesigning everyday objects around them; a water bottle can be transformed into a six-armed robot, for example.

Now the water bottle is no longer just trash, but a precious toy that reflects the child’s imagination.

Our approach, and the Toyi brand, is geared towards helping children to adopt an upcycling mindset, by developing a sense for producing without over-consuming at an early age. We call it ‘upcycling through play’. We hope that the unique play experience Toyi provides will help children become more creative, productive and conscious consumers.

What products make up the current Toyi range? Ögeday: Currently we are focusing on our Basic line, which sits within the Construction category.

There are eight different pieces of Toyi available in the Basic 32, Basic 64 and the Basic 128 kits; the range offers a spectrum of play, from one child to the whole family. For this year, we’ve updated our materials – now Toyi is made with 100% recycled plastic and our packages are made from only sustainable materials.

fairs, in global consumer and trade press, and be supported by PR campaigns and – we hope - more awards at the B2B level. With parents increasingly demanding sustainable and creative play experiences in the UK, we’re confident that we’ll see great returns on our investment, especially as we’ve already received hugely positive feedback from our customers and a number of toy industry awards.

In January, the UK signed a free trade deal with Turkey. The agreement is a major advantage for our customers as it lowers landing costs, and will strengthen our relationship with our partners in a big way.

What are your hopes for Toyi in 2021?

Later in the year we also have several exciting new product launches to look forward to, including three new lines and 11 products that will offer new themes and even more diverse play experiences.

What are your plans for the UK market?

Will the new free trade agreement between the UK and Turkey help you to broaden your distribution in the UK? Ögeday: We are a young company with an entrepreneurial spirit. This allows us to quickly adapt to consumer and retailer demands in an unpredictable future. We are always experimenting with new and organic ways of connecting with consumers offline and online.

This year, we plan to enter the UK market with

brick & mortar retail partners alongside online channels and specialists. Our updated marketing strategy is lockdown-friendly for our retailers, and includes both online and offline activations. We know that creative, playful and engaging content is key for these times, so we will support our retailers and e-tailers with effective marketing packages including influencer campaigns, targeted ads, high quality product videos and SEO optimised product pages.

We’ve also found that fostering and building organic connections with consumers is very effective. With this in mind, our user-generated platforms will launch with dedicated social media accounts specifically created for the UK market.

In addition, Toyi will enjoy presence at virtual toy

Ögeday: This year, our focus is on building our presence in the UK toy market with meaningful partnerships. Despite the chaos we all witnessed in 2020, Toyi was recognised with three major awards and managed growth of 140% thanks to Christmas demand and the back-to-school season. In 2021, we plan to increase our growth to 170% and expand our range with the 11 products from the three new lines detailed earlier. At the same time, we’ll be expanding our retail and online partnerships, especially within the UK, delivering our creative play experience to even more children who are keen to get on board with the sustainability trend.

For sales queries, please contact Ögeday Uçurum - ogeday@toyi.io – or visit www.toyi.io.

touchingbase

Talking green Suppliers tell us how their eco-friendly and sustainable credentials are being extended beyond just product, and why they feel this is an important area to focus on.

Pete Rope

Sarah Reast

I invented Junko after giving up my previous job and spending two years developing the brand with my kids.

Junko launched to market two years ago. We know sustainable toys are still niche; hopefully one day they will be the norm. The good news is that awareness is growing of the need for ethical/responsible shopping, and we love that plastic-free and refill shops are starting to appear on high streets. For our part, we focused on making an original, quality, European-made product, manufactured from recycled material which will give years of fun.

The joy of Junko is that it's not a predefined toy kit, or a kit that only allows you to attach just one junk item to complete the toy. Rather, Junko becomes part of pretty much any size junk model, allowing kids the freedom and creativity to make whatever they want.

Junko can integrate into existing play and toys, and we hope it offers a new way of thinking for creative kids and parents; don’t buy a plastic car for your favourite doll or action figure - make one!

True to our eco-friendly ethos, Junko kits are made in the UK and EU from recycled plastic. More companies could and should be doing this, and I hope they will as there are tonnes of plastic waiting to be reused. We've intentionally avoided using bioplastics in the creation of Junko, as we believe the land used for growing the crops used for bioplastics could be better used for producing food, or reforested to help fight climate change.

Of course, we’ve also made sure Junko is packaged without the use of plastic.

It is just held in 100% recyclable cardboard tubes.

The easiest way to pack our wooden Timberkits products has always been to use moulded plastic trays covered with plastic lids to ensure everything reaches the customer in good order. However, putting a product made from natural materials into so much plastic packaging felt wrong a long time before the broadcast of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet, so great efforts have been made to find an alternative. This was much harder than expected and has taken several years to develop. There were the obvious practical difficulties of weight, cost and manufacturing techniques for paper and card, but even more problematic than that was getting everyone on side in the philosophical sense. Even for a small family firm like Timberkits, the supply chain is complex and there are many agencies involved, all of whom had to understand what we were doing and why, and had to be prepared to go the extra distance to make it possible.

It has been rather a lonely endeavour as we saw no precedents in the market, but we are immensely proud that our pioneering efforts have enabled us to be well underway on our plastic free journey. We are delighted to be able to offer truly sustainable and natural products, and by the end of this year we aim to have half the range plastic-free, with the rest to follow. We hope that we may share our developmental work and knowledge with others so that one day, it will be affordable and practical for all toy manufacturers to package their products this way.

Director, Timberkits

Founder, Junko

Jade Childs

Brand Manager, Crayola, Vivid Goliath We’ve been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the brand’s 20-acre solar farm in the USA, which includes more than 33,000 panels and produces enough energy to make 3b crayons and 700m markers annually. By using renewable energy, reducing waste and protecting the rainforests, Crayola's green initiative is helping to ensure that today's kids will have a healthy environment for their creative tomorrows.

But this isn’t a recent goal by Crayola; the legacy of sustainability began when the company harnessed the power of the Bushkill Creek to generate electricity to manufacture slate pencils and chalk in the early 1900s.

Throughout its 117-year heritage, Crayola has continued its environmental sustainability efforts by re-using excess wax created during the crayon moulding process, manufacturing coloured pencils with wood from well-managed forests, and utilising solar energy to power its facilities. Crayola may make virtually every colour under the sun, but our current favourite is green.

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touchingbase Emily Duke

Ben Woodham

As leaders in the party industry, Amscan is excited to help ‘be the change’ by taking steps to becoming more sustainability-conscious and environmentally responsible. It is important that we meet this challenge head-on and help to create a more sustainable future for our planet and our business.

We’ve been working across all our product categories to ensure that as we move forward, and continue to bring new products to market, we ask the right questions with regards to being as sustainable as possible.

Whether that’s making a change to packaging, developing a product to have dual use, or challenging previous processes, even if something has ‘always been that way’, we are doing everything we can to follow the path to sustainability.

Messages such as Reuse, Rewear, Recycle have proved to be key for our dress up range, and we’re also introducing FSC certified products and packaging in our party assortment, where possible. We’re fully committed to continuing to develop lines within these more environmentally-friendly parameters.

GB eye’s sustainability journey started in 2019, when we began work transitioning the entire company to become zero-tolandfill. This was achieved in 2020, marking the first major step on a very long road. Since then, we have solidified three key areas within our strategy; to be sustainable, ethical and conscious. Ethical working practices have been at the heart of everything we do for a very long time, so this is a natural progression for us. Our focus now is to ensure our products and processes are sustainable, and that we deliver what the ecoconscious consumer requires.

A key aim is to use local suppliers and in-house manufacturing to reduce the reliance on overseas supply. However, we understand the need to have a balance of products to meet the demands of a fast-moving industry; ensuring imported products meet our sustainability criteria is essential to making this work.

Our sustainable product range has been incredibly well received. It’s fantastic to see such high demand for eco-friendly consumer merchandise.

With more products in development, and our continued focus on creating a sustainable business, the future is definitely looking bright.

Marketing and design executive, Amscan

Vijay Advani

Managing director, Amaroni Haba and its UK distributor Amaroni share the same vision and values when it comes to producing and promoting eco-friendly and sustainable toys that are safe and responsibly sourced. Haba uses organic materials to produce its extensive range of products, all carefully selected from sustainable resources. The company’s wooden toys, for example, are made from sustainable German forestry resources and carry the PEFC seal.

However, Haba’s commitment to responsible manufacturing extends far beyond the creation of its product range. Surplus wood from the manufacturing process is recycled, rainwater is used for the factory’s sanitation facilities, and the office air-conditioning system uses ground and air heat exchangers. Haba also plays its part in electricity generation by using photovoltaic systems.

Green roofs, natural open spaces and facades complement the exterior of Haba’s offices, which were awarded with a Gold Standard certificate given to environmentally friendly, resource-saving and sustainable buildings.

The company also embraces the protection of native animals and birds. At its Bad Rodach site in Germany, tall structures are mounted with nesting boxes for kestrels, swifts and other birds which come back year after year to nest. The company car park hedges also provide an ideal habitat for smaller birds and many other animals; surveys have shown that Haba is home to a total of 24 different bird species and animals.

Head of product, GB eye

Heather Watherston Founder, Whiz Kid Games

Leaving Lagoon and going straight into lockdown gave me the time and opportunity to look at what’s happening in the world, take stock, and decide how I want to act and do business in future.

Environmental friendliness is hugely important to me. The hunt for a truly sustainable manufacturer for our games has not been easy, but I’m delighted to have found one in Europe that uses 100% green energy – 70% of that from solar panels on the roof of its plant – which keeps our carbon footprint as low as possible. I didn’t want to use any plastics in the products, so we use card vacs and paper bags for our playing pieces. Hopefully, as more and more companies demand it, we can use paper flow wrap, not plastic shrink, for wrapping playing cards.

A much bigger challenge will be persuading consumers to think differently about their spending habits. But out of adversity comes opportunity; people much like me will have had time to reflect over the past year, so hopefully they, too, will make better choices about their future.

touchingbase Steven van Bommel

Anna Mowbray

CEO, Biobuddi

Co-founder and COO, Zuru

Conventional plastic toys create 2-7x times their own weight in greenhouse gases.

Our new ‘green’ biobased toys, however, contain 0% oil-based chemicals, because our raw materials come from the sugar cane plant. We also do not add oil-based chemicals during the manufacturing process to improve the performance or colour of our product. Our products are made from natural materials, produced in a CO2neutral way, and are recyclable.

In the last year we have seen a huge increase in interest in our range, and we have now also entered into a unique partnership with a market leader in the field of kids’ loyalty campaigns, with which we aim to change the loyalty scheme market by introducing environmentally friendly toyreward options.

We do not underestimate how important preserving our natural environment is.

At Zuru, our business social conscience is accelerating, driven by conscious consumer expectation and the passionate people in our team who are leading sustainability measures globally.

We love inspiring active play, and what could be more fun on a hot day than plying your family and friends with water-filled balloons? Bunch O Balloons represents endless summer fun for our family, and we know that kids of every age love the magic it brings. We reward the person who collects the most balloons when they’re finished.

We’re thrilled to have partnered with TerraCycle to make this beloved, innovative toy as environmentally kind as it is hours of energetic fun.

The most original toy in years...

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newsanalysis

Less plastic, paper fantastic!

Toy World spoke to Keith Finch, studio and innovation director at Build Your Own, about how the company’s innovative STEM-led range is expanding for 2021, and why eco-friendly credentials matter to the team.

Since launching in January 2020, how has the Build Your Own range been received?

We launched at Toy Fair London 2020 with our first product – the Build Your Own telescope – and have since launched three more: our Paper Plane Launcher, Microscope and Marble Run. We’ve been absolutely delighted with how the range has been received. Our first Christmas far exceeded expectations, particularly as we are new to the toy industry.

Our solid PR and marketing campaign saw Build Your Own featured in numerous publications, television and social media influencers. This built strong brand visibility, drove sales and has opened up many exciting opportunities.

Why does the creation of eco-friendly and sustainable toys matter so much to the team?

I think it’s vital to remember your roots and stay true to your beliefs. Creating eco-friendly kits has always been at the core of our brand ethos, and remains so as we develop new products. We are paper engineers at heart, with decades of experience engineering pop-up books, direct mail pieces, packaging and more. We thrive on working with paper and board and are always striving to be greener in all that we do. Our company ethos is ‘Less plastic, paper fantastic!’

Does BYO’s commitment to sustainability carry through to ‘behind the scenes’ – production, offices etc?

We use FSC paper and board to make BYO products and packaging, and encourage the recycling of our (minimal) packaging waste on-pack. Every part of our packaging can be recycled. Our Hampshire-based studio team is committed to being as eco-friendly as possible too, and all paper and board waste is recycled.

What new products can we expect from BYO this year, and how will BYO be supporting these new products?

Our new Mini-Builds will launch in early summer, four innovative kits that children (and their grown-ups) will love. Each kit comes with an informative, STEMinspired educational piece. This new Mini-Build format will be a fantastic addition to our current product range and serves to broaden appeal.

A further four new Build Your Own kits will follow, extending the STEM element of our designs and bringing innovation to the toy industry. These launches will be supported with marketing campaigns including digital, PR and social media activity. We will be developing bespoke POS for indie retailers and building on the resources on our website that encourage children to get outside and explore their world.

The team is growing, so, alongside our dedicated sales and after sales support, we can deliver focused, ongoing PR and marketing campaigns to drive brand growth.

Contact the Build Your Own sales team on 07484 543387 or email jason@paperengine.com for more information.

newsanalysis

The full package Toy World spoke to Anne Krogh Harding, sales manager at Dantoy, about the company’s transition into one of Europe’s leading eco-friendly toy manufacturers.

Can you tell us how Dantoy has developed over the last few years?

The Dantoy team has put in a lot of hard work to transform the company and its ranges. I came from the retail channel and when I arrived, it is fair to say that Dantoy was a very traditional company, both in the way it operated and the products it produced. Coming from a retail background, I knew that modern consumers were much more trend-led in terms of colours and designs, and that eye-catching packaging was extremely important in shaping their perception of an item.

What changes have been made to the company’s ranges?

The Dantoy range is very different now: everything is manufactured here at our factory in Denmark, and our entire range is produced to extremely high Nordic eco standards. In truth, very few suppliers can match these exacting standards. There is a strong emphasis on our environmental credentials, which retailers are looking very closely at; we work as a team to ensure the Dantoy range offers high-quality, well-designed, durable, stunningly packaged Bio products that kids and their parents will love. We find that our consumers are happy to pay a little more for a better product that lasts a long time.

How has the pandemic affected how Dantoy gets its message across?

Work has continued at our factory throughout the pandemic, we have reconfigured our working environment to allow us to carry on shipping product uninterrupted, which has been reassuring for our retail customers. We keep in regular contact with our customers: in a normal year, I would be travelling for up to 150 days visiting our retail partners across the globe. In recent years, I have noticed that more UK retailers have become interested in eco ranges: when we first launched our Bio range three years ago, there were a lot of questions, as sugarcane was a relatively new material to the toy market. We have done a lot of work to explain and communicate the benefits of the material.

What measures are Dantoy taking to ensure continued success?

Now we are selling the Dantoy Bio products across the world, as consumers don’t just want the product, they want the brand story too. The two biggest factors behind our ongoing success are the fact the range is made in Denmark and the Nordic eco labels. We’re working for a better environment now and a better world for our children in the future. The toy business has a hugely important role to play in achieving this and we want to be a part of that conversation. Last year, all the power we used in our factory was green; we have a goal to be better each year and even more green than we already are.

Special Green Feature

Timberkits 01650 521 635 | www.timberkits.com Timberkits are wooden mechanical models sold in kit form, spanning a broad variety of themes, ability levels and age ranges. A fun construction challenge, each kit demonstrates basic mechanical principals in an engaging and creative way, all packaged with thought for the environment.

Timberkits are made of natural, sustainable wood and can be painted, customised and motorised. With anything between 60 and 300 components each, the kits must be arranged in an orderly fashion. The photographic instructions take the builder through each stage, using numbered parts identifiable from a diagram of the tray in the box.

Timberkits’ London Cityscape, a best-seller within the Timberscene collection, comprises layers of scenery mounted above a mechanical base that brings the iconic city to life; the traffic over Tower Bridge, rocking waves in the Thames, a plane fliying over landmark features such as St.Pauls Cathedral, Nelson’s column and the Houses of Parliament, and a turning London Eye. The finished model is 26cm high and can be added to a motorised base and a branded display pod for POS wow-factor. Seeing the model move captivates consumer attention, so videos and displays form a large part of the company’s investment.

The new plastic-free packaging comprises a top tray in white card, printed with the component layout. The tiny pegs and dowels are safely contained within a printed paper envelope, while the large flat pieces left loose in the bottom of the box are covered safely by the top tray in a way that is clean, neat and environmentally friendly.

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Toyi ogeday@toyi.io | www.toyi.io Toyi lets kids turn anything into toys, with creative play kits designed to encourage ‘upcycling through play’. Each openended play experience is designed to get kids making their own toys using only their imaginations – no instructions or rules are included.

Every kit contains wheels, feet, hands, eyes, joints, sticks, and flexible connectors, eight variations in all, which can be combined with any material found around the house. Bottles, boxes, tins, toilet roll tubes and other ‘waste’ materials can be used to make toys including fun characters, vehicles, wacky models and much more.

Available options include the 32-piece Toyi Starter set, ideal for solo and sibling play, the 64-piece Toyi Standard set, perfect for groups of kids, and the 128-piece set, for larger groups and families.

The bumper 640-piece Toyi Event set is geared towards use by large groups in educational or professional settings, such as classrooms or team building events. Every piece of Toyi is made from 100% recycled materials, and the brightly coloured tube packaging is made from sturdy and sustainable cardboard.

For 2021, the range is expanding with three new lines covering 11 new products that will introduce new themes and play opportunities to the range. The entire Toyi portfolio will be supported this year by print and digital marketing efforts, including consumer and trade press, presence at virtual trade fairs, and social media.

For more information, email Toyi co-founder Ögeday Uçurum ogeday@toyi.io.

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ŠAmscan International Limited 2021 All Rights Reserved.

Special Green Feature

Build Your Own 07484 543387 | www. buildyourownkits.com Build Your Own creates eco-friendly, STEM-inspired toys that kids can build themselves. The award-winning kits encourage children to immerse themselves in the fun world of science and exploration, helping to reduce screen-time and bring families together.

Being eco-friendly is at the core of the brand ethos.

Made from high-quality, sustainable materials, kits and packaging alike use minimal plastics without compromising on integrity. Consumers appreciate that that the cardboard kits can withstand the tough handling of children, yet are gentle on the environment.

There are four products in the current Build Your Own range - Telescope, Paper Plane Launcher, Microscope and Marble Run. Each offers unique functions and build challenges that encourage children to learn through play while developing their problemsolving and dexterity skills.

The Build Your Own Microscope kit lets kids press out the pre-cut parts, and add the lenses and mirror to create an impressive, portable microscope. Perfect for examining garden mini-beasts, leaves, feathers and more, they’ll be amazed by what they can see with the 30x magnification. The focusing dials will help children adjust the zoom, reducing or increasing the detail of the specimens they are examining, while the light on a smart phone can be used to light up the object being examined via the built-in periscope.

The Build Your Own Paper Plane Launcher, meanwhile, encourages children to explore the wonders of aerodynamics and the world of engineering. The heavy-duty cardboard frame uses elastic bands as a twin propulsion system, and includes four scoring targets plus 10 different Fold ‘N’ Fly planes that can travel an impressive 10 metres.

New products are launching early summer and throughout 2021, including an exciting new Mini-Build format. All launches will be supported with marketing campaigns including digital, PR and social media activity, plus much more.

World Alive (34) 932 852 852 / (34) 650 69 57 21 | www.soulmateskidsyoga.com Amy Holden’s new Soul Mates kids’ yoga and mindfulness brand has been developed in response to the growing yoga and mindfulness market, which has been further boosted as a result of the pandemic. Women, particularly environmentally-conscious mothers, are driving the movement by attending classes and buying related products.

The first Soul Mates products to launch in 2021 are Kids Eco Yoga Mats and Mindfulness Story Pillows, with more products in development to follow.

Soul Mates Mindfulness Story Pillows are a series of five nature-themed talking plush toys. Children hug the pillow to activate a two-minute audio meditation in the form of a story and to learn each character’s mindfulness superpowers. In keeping with the ecological values of the brand, the story pillows have a Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certificate and contain approximately 90% recycled material. The GRS is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions.

Soul Mates Eco Yoga Mats, meanwhile, can be enjoyed by even very young children as suggested poses are embossed directly onto the mat. There are four themed mats, each featuring its own set of nature or animal poses. Mats come in both adult and child sizes so the whole family can practise together.

Most ecological yoga mats are made of expensive jute or rubber, which makes them an exclusive product with a limited market. Soul Mates mats are made of EVA and imbued with an innovative new treatment called EcoPure, which enhances their biodegradability. A supporting channel with a programme of 60 yoga poses and mindfulness stories is available free online.

Soul Mates is supported by a strong influencer marketing campaign, as well as online channels and community. The experienced team behind Soul Mates is World Alive, home of the highly successful and award-winning hatch-and-grow pets, Aqua Dragons.

www.Shore-Buddies.com

Special Green Feature

Amscan 01908 288500 | www.amscan.co.uk

Playpress www.playpresstoys.com | 07709 393 097 Playpress offers a wide range of innovative and connectable plasticfree playsets. Designed for kids aged four and above, each product is made from a robust, completely unique, and sustainable board that is gentle on the planet as well as 100% recyclable and biodegradable. Vegan food-grade ocean-friendly inks bring bright colours to the range, while biodegradable glue ensures the assembled figures and sets will stand up to plenty of hands-on play. In addition, the packaging opens out to become a backdrop or scene related to the theme of each set, adding value to the experience and reducing waste at the same time.

Several licensed playsets join the range for this year. Aardman’s iconic Shaun the Sheep will get his very own Playpress set, bringing all the fun of the stop-motion animated series into homes across the country.

Fans of Julia Donaldson’s books, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, have been enjoying the Gruffalo set licensed by Magic Light Pictures, which launched in summer 2020. All the characters from this beloved book are present in the deep dark wood, including the Gruffalo, Fox, Owl, Snake and Mouse, plus extra characters including squirrel and owl.

April will welcome The World of Dinosaur Roar! range, based on the storybooks published by Macmillan Children’s Books and developed in association with the Natural History Museum in London.

Playpress also offers a wide range of generic sets. The first in a series of four Animal sets has just launched, followed in spring by a Pirate set, a Vet Surgery set and a Medieval set. These new additions join existing popular themes including the space range. The 102-piece Space Station includes a detachable capsule and opposable arm so the astronaut can work outside of the station. Two crew members enhance the play possibilities. The set is complemented by two completely compatible sets: the Space Ranger and Star Searchers. The latter includes two characters and two robots with moving parts.

Emergency service sets such as the award-winning RNLI Inshore Lifeboat and Character Pack, Rescue Team Character Pack, and CheckUp Time Character Pack are also available, starting at pocket-money price points.

Retailers can benefit from free Playpress display units, which can hold eight units. The top of the CDU can be used to display a completed set.

Alternatively, a tray option will offer customers an in-store ‘try before you buy’ experience.

Amscan has made numerous changes and implemented a raft of developments to tackle the sustainability challenge, both within its licensed portfolio and across its generic assortment.

Considered one of its greatest achievements to date, Amscan has become the first company to launch a sustainable costume portfolio, which, after a seasonal trial, sees Warner Bros. licensed designs and classic themes alike added to the mix for 2021. The entire product is sustainable; the garment is made from recycled materials, while the packaging can be fully recycled. In addition, the packaging has been developed in a way that allows for a secondary use prior to recycling.

Amscan has also made significant changes to its party formats. Core items launching throughout 2021 will be manufactured from FSC-approved materials, with a rolling change to existing ranges bringing them in line with the new environmentally-friendly focus.

Traditionally made of plastic, Amscan’s printed ensemble party bags and table covers, from its licensed ensembles to all its generic juvenile designs, are now made of paper. Adding value to the range, the company has also created a number of dual-purpose products for 2021, including invitations that double up as wearables, colour-in loot bags which offers kids a fun activity while at the party itself, and other innovative ideas. Other sustainable developments include revisiting the typical favour pack, ensuring these include longerlasting and more re-usable items – stationery, for example. This approach has been adopted across all new lines for 2021, from juvenile and licensed to generic birthday and occasion.

Sustainable new products aren’t the only things launching in 2021; innovative new packaging solutions are also set to add to the environmentally friendly credentials of Amscan’s latest offerings. Although a challenge due to myriad regulations, the company successfully launched two lines at the start of 2020, with products packaged in recyclable boxes instead of clamshells or headers and polybags. As Amscan heads into 2021, retailers should look out for more sustainable packaging solutions across the portfolio.

Not to be missed are the sustainability developments on balloons. With more parties at home than ever before, Amscan offers a wide range of DIY balloon kits, with all its latex products now being fully biodegradable.

Made of pure, natural rubber latex, no fillers, extenders, plasticisers, or any cost-reducing agents are used.

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Special Green Feature

Biobuddi 01383 735 134 | www. biobuddi.com Dutch brand Biobuddi is continuing to increase its presence in the toy market.

Working in partnership with Wageningen University, the company has formed a unique, patented eco-friendly material derived from sugar cane, which forms the basis of all its Netherlands-based toy production.

The company now offers an extensive range of products. Eco-friendly building block sets are available for kids aged from 18 months to five years. The 25-piece Lagoon set, from Biobuddi’s Wildlife range, allows kids to build fun and funky animals including a crocodile, flamingo and duck, as well as a tree for the animals to shelter under. The Wildlife range also includes sets such as Swamp, Arctic, Savannah, Forest, Steppe and Jungle, all of which come complete with all the blocks required to make the animals found in each location.

Last year, the toy brand launched the Pixel Create toy line, which is suitable for kids aged four and over; even adults can create artistic builds with this engaging range. Each kit contains Pixels, patterns and a baseplate onto which kids can place small coloured blocks to create patterns and pictures. The Starter Set comes with eight baseplate designs, while smaller sets include Fish & Rocket, and Lion & Dog. Sets of individually coloured Pixels are also available, allowing Pixel fans to create pictures of their own imagining.

This month sees Biobuddi launch a bio-based 25x25cm base plate with the same dimensions and functionality as those available from other major brick brands, while the range will also expand with new sets, puzzles and more.

UK Biobuddi distribution is overseen by 1TwoKids, which maintains a constant stock of all products. Please call the number above for more information.

Guidecraft 07725 833273 | www.guidecraft.com A creator of natural children’s toys for over 50 years, Guidecraft emphasises the importance of openended play, the beauty of organic, loose parts, and the significance of hands-on learning through children’s connections to nature. Through its range of toys, all of which are inherently educational and STEM-based, Guidecraft enriches children’s lives through constructive play and encourages them to use their imaginations in learning environments and beyond.

Nature-inspired construction toys such as the new Interlox Leaves, which are made from recycled materials, provide children aged two and up with a building toy through which they can build strong, lasting connections to their surroundings. The water droplet and seed-shaped pieces in this 96-piece set feature a natural, subdued colour palette. Young children can create kaleidoscopic builds reminiscent of patterns found in nature with the friction-fit pieces, while hands-on, creative activities are inspired by 10 double-sided cards that display build ideas.

The translucent pieces in the Interlox Leaves set will also further a child’s exploration of light, shadow and colour. Loose parts and other organic materials work harmoniously with this eco-friendly, nature-based toy.

Toys designed for better play and a better future.

From how they are designed to the materials we use and where we make our play sets, we know every choice we make may have an impact on the world around us. We strive to make those impacts positive by making an engaging accessible universe of play sets that don’t harm our environment.

For more information visit Made locally

Hands on play

Sustainable

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launches

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e: INFO@WHIZKIDGAMES.CO.UK

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Special Green Feature

Dantoy (45) 96 574 100 | www.dantoy.dk Dantoy is committed to using only 100% Nordic Swan Ecolabelled plastic and bioplastic across its entire portfolio; currently, the company is at 98% uptake across its standard product range. Nordic Ecolabelled toys meet strict environmental and health requirements and are free from phthalates, fragrances, aromatic solvents, PVC, lead, cadmium, mercury and tin organic compounds. Nordic Ecolabelled toys also have no Bisphenol A added in the production process (e.g., in adhesives and dyes) and only use colourants that are approved for use in foods.

The company is adding new sets to its Bio line, which is made from 100% recyclable, frost-proof and food-safe sugarcane-derived bioplastic. Available in gift boxes made of recycled cardboard, the Bio Baking and Kitchen sets can be used to make real, delicious treats, while the Bio Ice Cream set, Coffee and Tea set, and Dining set all encourage role-play. A Dump Truck and Front Loader Tractor are also available, while the Sand set includes a bucket, rake, spade and watering can.

Dantoy’s Green Bean range of recycled toys launched in 2020, marking a natural next step for the company’s green corporate culture. Green Bean products are made exclusively from Dantoy’s own recycled Nordic Swan Ecolabelled plastic. In addition to be being free of potentially harmful chemicals and additives, Nordic Swan Ecolabelling means the entire eco-cycle of the product, from raw material to production, use, disposal and recycling, is included in the assessment when drawing up the requirements for Nordic Swan product. This ensures that the product has not acquired any other ingredients during its lifetime and prevents Dantoy from buying recycled plastic from external sources, allowing it to only use resources it creates itself.

Each Green Bean toy is unique; due to the recycling process, no two toys look exactly alike. The range has a focus on outdoor, active and hands-on play, with toys including buckets, rakes, spades and watering cans ideal for play in the garden or other outdoor spaces, dumper trucks perfect for mud and sandpit play, and boats that really float.

Dantoy is also expanding its product range to include a new line of Nordic Swan Ecolabelled baby products.

For more details, please contact Dantoy - akh@dantoy.dk.

Keel Toys 01233 506363 | www.keeltoys.com Keeleco, Keel Toys’ 100% recycled range, launched in 2020 to great acclaim. These eco-friendly toys are manufactured and stuffed with 100% recycled polyester derived from plastic waste. Weighted with recycled glass beads, these beautiful toys are designed to be hugged. Traditional glass eyes have been replaced with recycled polyester thread embroidered eyes, which give each animal a unique look. The iconic Keel Toys symbol and hang tag are now made from FSC card and are attached to the toy with recycled polyester thread. Even the sew-in label is recycled, and all toys are manufactured in an ICTI Ethical Toy Program certified factory. The eco ranges for 2021 will be audited under the Global Recycling Scheme, which verifies the source and transactional history of the recycled materials.

New designs for 2021 include four dinosaurs - T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Diplodocus - featuring textured fabrics developed to offer a unique dinosaur look. The embroidered eyes bring a striking realism to each dinosaur’s face.

The Keeleco Wild and Endangered Animals series has been extended to include two sizes of Red Panda, Lemur, Rhino and Humboldt Penguin, plus an 18cm Baby Emperor Penguin.

New for 2021 is a focus on British wildlife and farm animals, with the introduction of Lamb, Cow, Pig, Chick, Rabbit, Badger, Otter, Hedgehog and Frog. These new additions join the Deer, Fox, Owl and Squirrel that launched in the last quarter of 2020.

Keel Toys has also introduced a new 12cm collectible size to the Keeleco range, with two varieties of wildlife and farm animals now available in CDUs for ease of display and sales.

When consumers first pick up a Keeleco Baby soft toy, the first thing they notice is how soft the fabric is. This is impressive, considering the materials used started out as waste plastic before being transformed into a cute and cuddly toy. The nursery collection consists of Cozy Koala, Huggy Giraffe, Cuddle Zebra and Lullaby Lamb. Each is available in two sizes, while a comforter, stick rattle and ring rattle are also available. Cozy Koala also comes in a musical version. Building on Keel Toys’ approach to sustainability, the rattle wood is FSC certified.

A.B.Gee 01773 570 444 | www.abgee.co.uk With sustainability remaining a key focus this year and parents wanting a greener toy box for their little ones, wooden toys have never been so sought-after.

With this in mind, A.B.Gee is building on its already successful wooden Disney range for 2021. Classic, timeless and made from 100% sustainable wood, there is something for every Disney fan in this range. The Winnie the Pooh balance stacker is beautifully designed for small hands with six brightly coloured rings, topped off with the iconic characters Pooh and Piglet. With a see-saw base, this toy will help develop a child’s motor skills, problem solving and encourage them to learn about order and balance.

A.B.Gee is also expanding its exclusive Tooky Toy wooden range. Premium quality, brightly coloured and educational, the range features over 250 lines covering categories like push & pull, infant, puzzles, role play, musical instruments and many more, all of which have been built to last and can be passed down from generation to generation. Visit the website to see the full range.

View our new range of eco products at www.gbeye.com Call: 0114 276 7454 or email: enquiries@gbeye.com

Special Green Feature

Whiz Kid Games 07876 033 648 | www.whizkidgames.co.uk Whiz Kid Games is the brainchild of Heather Watherston, one of the former owners/MD of The Lagoon Group.

Heather used to devise and play a variety of homemade games with her children when they were in primary school to help them learn to spell and do their times tables, so she understands the importance of engaging children in games to help them learn. During the coronavirus lockdowns, with many parents struggling to home-school their kids, Heather felt there had never been a better time to design educational games that support the Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculums. Whiz Kid Games, with its mission to entertain and educate, was born.

As well its focus on bringing people together to play and learn, it is important to Heather that Whiz Kid Games be environmentally friendly. Whiz Kid Games’ first range, Passport to Genius, is printed on FSC paper, the playing pieces and dice are made from wood sourced from local, sustainably managed forests, and the colours and coatings are all water-based and non-toxic.

Everything is also 100% recyclable, and the games are manufactured by a European factory that uses 100% green energy.

Passport to Genius is a range of themed educational board games currently covering Maths and English, as well as the World. Players move around the board, answering multiple choice questions with three different levels of difficulty, trying to avoid the minefield of spaces that demand players miss a turn, go back five spaces, do a forfeit, and more. Play ends when the first player crosses the finish line. Scores are added up, and the person with the highest score wins.

Each Whiz Kid title comes complete with a games passport that has room for four stickers, encouraging children to move onto a new game once they have mastered their current one. Parents can also download learning aids to refresh their grasp of the subjects before play commences.

Junko

Toynamics UK & Ireland

07740 620 870 | www.planetjunko.com

0116 478 5230 | www.toynamics.co.uk

Junko lets kids create impressive working toys from their home’s recyclable materials.

Each STEAM-led kit gets kids designing, constructing, crafting and problem solving, whilst promoting upcycling and recycling. Junko teaches kids that it's fun to design and make their own toys, and good for the planet too.

An ideal gift, Junko kits are eco-friendly, educational and, most importantly, loads of fun; each kit can be reused over and over to make thousands of different toys. Junko is made from recycled plastic, is contained in plastic-free packaging, and is manufactured in Europe, in a family-owned factory.

The four main kits are the Zoomer! Kit, Core Zoomer! Kit, Water! Kit, and Build! Kit. The range allows kids to design and build cars and boats (powered by a patented rubber band drive) as well as buildings like houses and castles. Innovative Junko connectors help kids join boxes, bottles, cartons and pots, without the need for tape or glue.

Junko has recently launched its Epic Cereal Box Creations book as an introduction to the range. The book comes complete with 30 Junko Magic Corners, which join card up quickly and easily. They’re reusable and, like all Junko products and pieces, made from recycled plastic. A 50-piece Box O’Corners is also available as a standalone option.

Junko has won two European product design awards and garnered other toy industry accolades, starred on Channel 4's Buy It Now for Christmas, and appeared on ITV’s How to Spend It Well this Christmas with Philip Schofield, resulting in sell-out success on Amazon. The brand also recently launched in the USA on the highly rated curated store UncommonGoods.com.

Junko marketing is primarily driven through Facebook and Instagram, tapping into creative, craft, teaching and ecofriendly communities.

The brand is also working with specialist partners to push Junko into schools, driving awareness even further.

As an environmentally responsible company, Hape strives to be at the forefront of sustainability. Its own Chinese bamboo forest is used to produce eco-friendly materials, and recycled material is used to create packaging.

Each toy in Hape’s Japanese Rice collection has a soft-touch feel as well as a gentle, pleasant smell. Best-sellers include the Trio Geometric Rice Toy. Designed to fit snugly into little hands, the toy aids handeye coordination skills when shaken and played with. Soft coloured teethers, which are easy to grab and hold, are also available.

All of the wood used for Hape’s Wood collection is sourced from forests that have implemented sustainable practices and/or are FSC or PEFC certified. New for 2021 is the Eltern collection. The Animal Noise Puzzle helps children learn different animal sounds and the creatures that make them. When an animal fits in its intended shape, the corresponding sound will play.

All brands are supported with full marketing plans including shop-inshop solutions. To find out more, email sales@toynamics.co.uk.

Exclusive Distribution: 1two KIDS Ltd. www.1two.co.uk contact@1two.co.uk 01383 735134

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Special Green Feature

Amaroni 01205 260 384 | www.amaroni.com Haba is passionate about producing quality toys that bring joy, inspiration and creativity to learning in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Animal Upon Animal is a wobbly stacking game suitable for 2-4 players aged four and above. Each of the 29 wooden animals, from the monkey to the snake and frill-necked lizard, as well as the die, are crafted in Germany from sustainably sourced wood. These high-quality tactile pieces are a pleasure to hold and play with.

One of Haba’s most popular games for more than 10 years, Animal Upon Animal was developed to foster children’s hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The aim of the game is to be the first player to stack all their animals. A roll of the die tells each player whether they can stack one or two animals at a time, or if they must connect alongside the alligator base to widen the pyramid foundation.

Haba’s 3D arranging game, Tangram Cube, is one of the company’s newest additions for ages two plus. Featuring a selection of multi-coloured wooden tiles shaped in the basic form of a tangram, diverse geometric figures can be achieved via skillful arranging and stacking. Junior artists can experiment freely with many possible variations, by creating their own designs or by following the illustrations provided. Contents include 10 double-sided cards showing suggested combinations and 21 colourful wooden blocks. The game is robust and stable, lightweight and easy to grasp thanks to its natural wooden material, which can be safely explored with hands and mouth.

The latest game in the My Very First Games series – Rhino Hero Junior – is a co-operative matching and stacking game for 1 - 4 players aged two years and above. Made from sustainable card and wooden play pieces, and with three different games options to enjoy, children can practise their fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, the understanding of gravity and basic counting.

In free play, children can stack one or more towers and climb the individual floors with the two heroic figures, while in the matching game and the two stacking games, children are introduced to the first principles of play according to easily understandable rules. They are encouraged to wait their turn and follow the rules of the game, learning to play co-operatively and work towards a shared goal together.

In the UK, Amaroni is the official distributor for Haba toys and games. For further information, visit www.amaroni. com or email salessuport@amaroni.com.

GB eye

Character Options

01142 767 454 | www.gbeye.com

01616 339 800 | www.character-online.com

GB eye’s first sustainable product, carabiner mugs, were launched in autumn 2019 and proved to be very successful, with demand and the range both continuing to grow. To expand the offering for eco-conscious consumers, November 2020 saw GB eye release its next sustainable products. Eco Bottles was the first new range to launch, and has been very well received by a wide range of retailers. The bottles are made of high-quality recyclable stainless steel and are printed within a few miles of the company’s head office in Sheffield, allowing GB eye to produce in smaller batches and avoid wastage, all while keeping retailers’ shelves stocked. Featuring some of the most popular properties with fans, including Harry Potter, Friends, DC Comics, Pokémon and many more, the bottles are long lasting and come with minimal packaging.

GB eye quickly followed its Eco Bottles with the launch of the Tote Bag range. An essential accessory for the sustainable shopper, these reusable bags are produced by ethical suppliers and are ISO14001 certified to ensure excellent environmental credentials. A wide range of designs complements the Eco Bottle range, and, like the bottles, the bags are also printed locally.

Packaging has been kept to a minimum, and both the cotton and the environmentally friendly inks are high quality and long lasting. GB eye also recently launched its Drawstring Backpack range, which has been produced to the same ethical and sustainable standards as the Tote Bags.

Character Options’ World of Wooden Toys collection is crafted from FSC certified wood. The range continues to grow in 2021, with new launches within Peppa Pig Wood, as well as two new licences added for spring: Disney Princess and Fireman Sam. A push-along Cinderella’s Wooden Carriage complete with Cinderella, Jacq, and the Fairy Godmother, while the Enchanted Royal Castle Wooden Playset includes eight wooden figures and accessories.

The Fireman Sam Wood collection welcomes the Four Figure Character set, which joins the Fireman Sam and Jupiter Fire Engine set and the Pontypandy Fire Station play set, which is scaled for use with the other figures and the Jupiter Fire Engine.

The new Peppa Pig eco plush range is made from 100% recycled materials and uses FSC certified packaging printed with plantbased inks. The 8” Red Dress Peppa is supplied in its own platform box and Peppa’s dress features a green leaf emblem to indicate that she’s an eco-friendly toy option, and the packaging also highlights the use of recycled materials. A CDU assortment of collectible 6” Peppa and George plush is also available, also featuring the green leaf mark, while the CDU and tags mark these cuddly characters as an environmentally friendly option.

For more information, email sales@ charactergroup.plc.uk.

Special Green Feature

Brainstorm 01200 445 113 | www.brainstormltd.co.uk Brainstorm began distributing Eugy in 2018 and is entering 2021 with demand for the eco-friendly craft toy higher than ever, thanks to increased awareness of environmental issues among retailers and consumers alike. The impulse price-point product is becoming one of Brainstorm’s best-selling lines, with 5-star reviews across the board as well as positive PR coverage including inclusion in the Made for Mums Best Christmas Toys 2020.

The ever-expanding collection allows children to create unique and highly collectible 3D models. Each model is made using high-quality recycled card with eco-friendly ink and nontoxic glue. Using a simple number sequence, children can assemble the pieces in around 10-20 minutes, creating a sturdy, cute creature to keep and display. Each pack features educational fun facts too, for added value and enhanced learning.

2021 will see three phased launches, with the first new phase, which arrives in February, comprising six new SKUs: Koala, Ptero, Sea Otter, Blue Whale, Dolphin and Orca. In June, a further four products join the range: Rabbit, Lion, Mammoth and Red Fox. A cute collection of three Christmas Eugy figures will also be available to order from the end of May for delivery in October, helping retailers to capitalise on Christmas stocking sales. New Eugy figures will include Reindeer, Santa and Snowman.

The new Eugy models join existing lines including Parrot, Sloth and Penguin, plus the everpopular Unicorn and Tyranno, taking the total number to collect to 40 by the end of the year.

Innovative POS solutions enable retailers to maximise sales. When ordering 30 cases of Eugy, retailers will receive a free FSDU which comes with 16x display models, allowing stores to display the product to full effect. Wooden, eco-friendly CDUs are available too, free with 10x cases; these come complete with three display models. A standard CDU comes with 3x cases of Eugy and one display model.

Vivid 01483 449944 | www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk Over the past decade, Crayola has manufactured more than 10b crayons and 7b markers using only the power of the sun, and now kids across the globe can say their Crayola crayons and markers are now made with 100% renewable energy. In a continued commitment to the environment, Crayola Coloured Pencils are also produced with wood from well-managed forests that help preserve resources for the future. This means kids can use Crayola pencils knowing that they are sourced responsibly, and that forests are being protected and preserved.

Crayola is committed to making its products responsibly. To spread this message in the UK among eco-conscious consumers, packs of Crayola pencils and crayons will now feature key messages about Crayola’s sustainability efforts from spring. The message will also benefit from promotion across digital media.

Gibsons 020 8661 8866 | www.gibsonsgames.co.uk Gibsons is working hard on further improving its environmental footprint. In 2019, the company set up its own in-house ‘Green Gang’ with a mission to improve sustainability across all ranges. Several changes have already been implemented, including removing the shrink-wrap from all its puzzle boxes. Research continues into new ways to operate whilst reducing the company’s impact on the planet.

All Gibsons jigsaw puzzles are now planet-friendly; the new designs come in compact boxes without any shrink-wrap plastic, sealed with biodegradable stickers. The box has a gloss coating for extra protection. The puzzles are also made from the thickest board on the market, which is 100% recycled, and are produced in the UK and Europe. New designs include Daffodils & Ducklings. In this 1,000-piece puzzle by Richard Macneil, the villagers are making the most of the perfect spring day.

Last year, Gibsons launched two childrens’ card games that are fun as well as plastic free and made in the UK. The Card Game for Rebel Girls is based on the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls novels. Whilst learning about incredible women throughout history, the Card Game for Rebel Girls also encourages players to be bold, work hard and be proud of their achievements. Quirk! is a family card game where kids and adults alike can embrace their silly side with sounds and actions as they cause mischief for their family and friends. Using their best impressions, the aim of the game is for players to gather characters and claim their title by collecting the most 'Quirks'.

For 2021, Gibsons is starting to roll out a new packaging design for its traditional and wooden games, which will give a fresh lift to this range. Travel Folding Cribbage and Solitaire are the first to benefit from a makeover, and now come in contemporary and colourful boxes that will look great on any games display. They are also made from the finest quality reforested hardwood. Retailers are advised to keep an eye out for further traditional games being rolled out in this packaging throughout the year.

For more information, email sales@gibsonsgames.co.uk.

Special Green Feature

DKL-Beysal 01604 678780 | www.dkl-beysal.uk Ecoplush is a range of recycled stuffed animals that contributes to sustainability and planetary health. From the jungle to the ocean, there is an animal for everyone in this range of plush toys.

2020 saw the launch of the Ocean Series. New to the line-up for 2021 is the Jungle Series and Polar Series, each offering six adorable new animals for children to enjoy. Just like those in the Ocean Series, each toy is filled with between 7-13 plastic PET bottles which have been transformed into stuffing material. Complete with eco-friendly exterior covering, DKL-Beysal says this range is 100% sustainable.

Construction brand Plus-Plus has entered into an agreement to ensure 100% of the electricity used in its factory and headquarters in Denmark is generated by wind energy, and to ensure all PlusPlus and packaging is 100% recyclable. Key sustainability initiatives from Plus-Plus also include a no waste production pledge; all excess plastic is re-ground and used as material for Plus-Plus. All Plus-Plus is produced from food approved PE, while the tube packaging is produced from food approved PETG. This year sees a number of new additions to the Plus-Plus range including Plus-Plus Go!, a new element that brings motion to the Plus-Plus building experience.

Zuru

Tomy

info@zuru.com

01392 281927 | www.tomy.com

Invented by Texan father of eight Josh Malone, Bunch O Balloons is known for its simplicity, with patented components that fill and tie 100 water balloons in 60 seconds.

Zuru has announced that all Bunch O Balloons stems and caps now comprise 100% fully certified and traceable post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. PCR is made from recycled consumer products like bottles and containers and scrap waste diverted from landfill, is low energy use, and requires no virgin petroleum.

The innovation follows Zuru's partnership announcement with global recycling leader TerraCycle, and reflects the company’s commitment to minimising product and packaging waste with a cradleto-cradle approach.

Bunch O Balloons fans can sign up to the free worldwide recycling programme through the TerraCycle website. They then collect used stems, balloon pieces and foil packaging, download a printable shipping label, attach it to a box and drop it at a post office for free shipping to TerraCycle, which will start the material on its journey to becoming something new. Bunch O Balloons already uses natural latex materials made from the sap of the rubber tree, which biodegrades over time.

Zuru has invested substantially to minimise new plastic entering the supply chain on its path towards zero-waste. By altering Bunch O Balloons manufacturing processes, it reduces virgin plastic use by around 800 tonnes each year - 45 tonnes of this from the UK alone.

For FOB sales enquiries, please contact info@zuru.com.

An innovative solution to plastic usage in packaging, Britain’s Farm in a Box 11-piece set is contained within a sustainable cardboard box that opens out into a readymade farm kids can build and colour-in.

The set includes authentic and durable precisionmoulded farm toys including a John Deere tractor with trailer and a detachable front loader, as well as hay bales, fences and animals, giving kids the opportunity to create their very own unique and personalised farm set up.

Each part of Farm in a Box fits seamlessly back together and the box itself is made of durable, recyclable card that will stand up to hands-on farm play.

Edx Education 020 7097 5173 | www.edxeducation.com Through trial and exploration, Edx Education stumbled across one of the biggest agricultural wastes in Taiwan, the home of Edx Education’s manufacturing: rice husks. From this natural waste product, Edx can make a sustainable material called fibre particular composite, or FPC. The material produces minimal emissions during the energy-efficient manufacturing process, which also uses low amounts of water.

What’s more, FPC is 100% recyclable, non-toxic, and is completely safe for little hands and feet.

Rainbow Pebbles, one of Edx Education’s best-selling educational toys, was the natural choice as the first range to be made of FPC. Encouraging creativity and STEAM learning, each Rainbow Pebbles set consists of a collection of coloured ‘pebbles’ in various shapes and sizes. The seemingly simple objects are flexible, open-ended toys that help develop a child’s depth of knowledge through creative play. The pebbles take up very little space and can be used for a wide range of activities that can be tailored to varying age groups, from 18 months upwards.

Now available in the UK, demand for the product is high among parents and educational professionals, and Edx expects Rainbow Pebbles to therefore perform well at retail.

To learn more or request a 2021 catalogue, please contact heather@edxeducation.com.

Special Green Feature

Posh Paws

01268 567317 | www.poshpawsinternational.co.uk

Quercetti 07770 661 46 | www.quercettistore.com Quercetti’s Play Bio range was launched last year. The line comprises six STEM toys that help develop fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Buttons and pegs give creativity free rein, while marble tracks help kids learn about the dynamics of gravity.

The material, made of 40% wood fibre, preserves the unmistakable fragrance of forests certified for their ecofriendly management. Quercetti is committed to sustainable and responsible production. All products are manufactured in the company’s own factory in Turin, meaning that the carbon footprint of its entire range is superior to similar products shipped from the Far East.

Quercetti products are marketed exclusively in the UK & Ireland by Kids International Marketing. For more information, contact Kim Carter on 07770 661461 or email kidsinternationalmarketing@gmail.com.

Posh Paws’ commitment to producing eco-friendly and sustainable plush is reflected in its licensed range of BBC Earth soft toys, featuring popular and much-loved animals from the award-wining Planet Earth II and blue Planet II documentaries.

To ensure the range is in-line with the core values of the BBC Earth licence, and to meet consumer expectations and increasing demand, all the licensed plush in the range is produced using stuffing made from 100% post-consumer waste recycled plastic bottles - nine plastic bottles in total are used in each toy. In addition to the eco-friendly stuffing, the amount of packaging used for these products has been reduced, and each toy now uses only 100% recycled carboard hang-tags.

There are 18 animals in the BBC Earth range to choose from the ever-popular Sloth, Lion, Elephant and Bear, to the new cuddly companions in the baby animal collection such as the Husky, Penguin, Giraffe and Hippo.

For more information, email sales@ poshpawsinternational.co.uk.

Golden Bear Toys 01952 608 308 | www.goldenbeartoys.com Available from July, Golden Bear’s new range of Hey Duggee plush, which is made using materials created from plastic bottles, is part of the company’s staged plan to convert its entire plush range to recycled polyester over the next two years.

Golden Bear has been using recycled PET (rPET) plastic bottles for product stuffing for several years. However, as part of its ongoing commitment to reduce its impact on the planet, the company will also use 100% recycled postconsumer PET plastic for the outer fabric. On best-selling plush lines such as the Talking Duggee Soft Toy, this is the equivalent of recycling over 1m plastic bottles a year.

For further information, contact customerservices@ goldenbeartoys.co.uk.

Shore Buddies 07770 661461 | www.shore-buddies.com Shore Buddies are the world’s first plush animals made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Since launching its award-winning plush line in 2015, the California-based company has already reused more than 500,000 plastic bottles to make its toys. The recycled plastic flakes are melted down and used for the stuffing, as well as turned into polyester yarn for the soft outside. It takes six bottles to make one Shore Buddy stuffed animal. For each one purchased, Shore Buddies donates $1 to a charity that supports marine life and early childhood education to prevent future ocean plastic pollution.

The collection includes an array of huggable characters that also make fun and authentic animal sounds when pressed. Children can select from characters including Stephen Seagull, Shelly the Sea Turtle, Finn the Dolphin and more.

Shore Buddies are available as 30cm plush and as miniature keychain versions. Each character benefits from its own recycling story/ message concerning plastic pollution in the ocean. The Shore Buddies educational childrens’ book, Shore Buddies and the Plastic Ocean, and The Shore Buddies Show on YouTube, both feature the characters from the toy range and offer children tips on reducing their plastic footprint in kid-friendly language.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, this innovative brand is fast growing and expanding internationally as demand for eco-friendly and educational toys increases.

Shore Buddies is represented by Kids International Marketing and is seeking retailers and exclusive distribution partners worldwide who share the company’s values and want to bring sustainability into play.

For more information, email sales@shore-buddies.com or kidsinternationalmarketing@gmail.com.