Clementoni UK partners with MTD

Group Logistics

Clementoni UK is further expanding its UK operations by opening a new UK logistics hub next month. The company is partnering with the MTD Group based in Romford and the new facility will initially be focused on supporting and driving the independent retail business.

Paul Fogarty, UK Country manager, commented: “At Clementoni, we are committed to developing the UK business and it was always a big omission for me, since joining last year, that we didn’t have a logistics set up to support and grow our business with the independent sector. I’m delighted to be partnering with John Strong and the MTD Group on this initiative. The MTD Group shares Clementoni’s family approach to business and I’m confident that we have found a superb partner.”

Clementoni is experiencing significant growth in the UK and has exciting product development planned for 2023 and beyond.

“This new facility will give us a great opportunity to leverage our proven top sellers ranges and lines and broaden our base in the UK market,” added Paul. “Clementoni is No.1 in Science across Europe and the No.2 in adults and kids puzzles (according to Circana) and we can’t wait to showcase these brands at the upcoming Toymaster show.”

Wow! Stuff deal with Flybar for Hypr takes off

Wow! Stuff has struck a deal with Flybar Inc. for North American distribution of its Hypr brand air-powered rockets. ‘Higher, faster, further, better’ is the Hypr promise and Wow! Stuff’s unique, multi-patented take on the classic toy rocket features a Turbo mode, to ensure it always outperforms comparable outdoor rockets.

Hypr Rockets, the first in a series of Hypr branded outdoor toys, are kid-safe, soft-tipped rockets. First in the collection is the Hypr Rocket 500, which launched in the UK in March and flies up to an incredible 500 feet high –making it the fastest, farthest flying toy rocket in its category. Like all Hypr Rockets, it is launched by stomping on the included air pad and features a patented switch system so the user can choose Backyard mode or Turbo mode for the park or wide, open spaces. There’s also a Rocket Expansion Platform so players can connect their rockets for mass, multi-player flight and height competitions.

The Hypr 500 will be available in the US through Flybar from the summer, and the next release for the brand: Duelling Hypr, will be ready for take-off both in the UK and internationally in early 2024.

As one of the oldest toy companies in the US, Flybar is proud to uphold the innovative spirit and values started over a century ago. Since George Hansburg invented the pogo stick in 1918, Flybar has continued to innovate and develop world class products engineered for family fun. One hundred years later, it has ventured into new categories of play.

“We love working with exciting and ambitious toy companies that strive to give their customers better features and better value,” commented Richard North, president, Wow! Stuff. “Saul and the Flybar team are detailed operators that are winning in outdoor toys. They are the ideal partner for the Hypr Rockets range.”

Saul Wolhendler, CEO of Flybar, said: “We’ve really enjoyed working with the Wow! Stuff team to ensure our North American customer base gets access to what is without a doubt the finest air-powered toy rocket in its class. The innovation that Wow! Stuff brings to the category is significant, the quality of the product is superb and the pricing is mass market.”

US TOTY Awards to debut six new categories for 2023

The 24th edition of The Toy Foundation’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards, taking place on 29th September at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, will feature six new people- and campaign-based award categories for the first time.

In addition to submitting their top products and properties across 17 categories of play, toy companies will have the opportunity to submit the achievements of an exceptional team member or outcomes of an initiative, with four new categories focused on people and two new categories focused on campaigns. The new categories are as follows:

Campaign-Focused Categories:

• Marketing Campaign of the Year

• Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign of the Year

People-Focused Categories:

• Champion of Sustainability

• Champion of Diversity & Inclusion

• Packaging Designer of the Year

• PR/Marketer of the Year –

Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of Marketing Communications at The Toy Association, commented: “The six new TOTY categories add extra elements of excitement and anticipation for the prestigious event, demonstrating a commitment to recognising the exceptional individuals and initiatives that play a vital role in driving growth and innovation.” Nominations for the 2023 awards are now open, giving toy companies, inventors and other industry representatives an opportunity to call themselves the ‘best of the best’.

The TOTY Awards celebrates the creativity and philanthropy of the toy community and are The Toy Foundation’s premier fundraising event for which all proceeds, including nomination fees, support the Foundation’s impactful work to deliver the benefits of play to children in need. The TOTY event on Friday 29th September will kick off the global toy industry’s much-anticipated week at New York Toy Fair (Saturday 30th September to Tuesday 3rd October at the Javits Center).

To reserve tickets or discuss sponsorship opportunities, contact jfistolera@toyfoundation.org. For award nomination inquiries, contact toty@toyfoundation.org.

Registration now live for Connect @ Autumn Fair

This August will see the launch of Connect @ Autumn Fair, the new meetings programme designed to transform the buying experience and offer a host of preshow benefits for buyers to connect with hundreds of leading brands including RMS International, Ty UK and Keel Toys.

Offering a new way to shop the show, Connect @ Autumn Fair will help buyers find the right brands their customers will love and help Autumn Fair exhibitors to create leads, orders and opportunities in an efficient way, by fuelling thousands of pre-arranged meetings before the show even opens.

Buyers will have access to detailed information on all exhibitors before the show opens with the ability to search and filter them by criteria that is most important to their business. The new programme is completely free for buyers to use and there is no minimum meeting requirement.

Sarah Ward, CEO of the Giftware Association, said: “Exhibitors will be able to find and meet more interested buyers more easily, creating more opportunities and ultimately doing more business. Being able to fully promote their product ranges, price points and delivery times before the event in the Connect @ Autumn Fair platform and pre-schedule meetings with buyers they want to meet is a step change in helping exhibitors and buyers get the most out of Autumn Fair.”

Connect @ Autumn Fair also offers huge benefits to all exhibiting brands. Exhibitors will be able to view the profiles of buyers prior to the show and see the types of products they are searching for at Autumn Fair including company information such as how many stores they own or which country or county they are based in. Exhibitors can select which buyers they want to meet based on criteria that’s important to their business and book meetings before the show.

Nicola Meadows, divisional managing director for Hyve Group, said: “The most common questions and feedback we get from our exhibitors before they exhibit, at the show and once they leave the show are: ‘What buyers are coming?’, ‘Who attended and from what companies?’, and ‘What were they there to buy?’. For the first time in history, we are giving Autumn Fair exhibitors access, pre-show, to buyers’ profiles so they can see for themselves.”

To register for Autumn Fair, visit www.autumnfair.com

Mattel’s Barney’s World to air on Cartoonito

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced it has picked up the new CG-animated series, Barney’s World. The series, announced earlier this year as part of Mattel’s Barney franchise relaunch, will revamp the iconic character for modern audiences. Co-produced by Mattel Television and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, Barney’s World will debut globally in 2024.

With all the heart and comfort of the original iconic dinosaur, Barney’s World is modernised with dynamic characters and music-filled storylines that highlight themes of love, community and encouragement. Set in a local playground, Barney is joined by dinos Billy and Baby Bop and their three kid best friends, who all have silly and imaginative adventures together, helping kids explore pre-school emotions and showing them how to love themselves and others.

Barney’s World perfectly exemplifies our ‘best in animation’ approach,” said Michael Ouweleen, president, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family and Boomerang. “It strikes the right nostalgia chord for today’s parents and introduces this iconic dinosaur to a new generation of pre-schoolers.”

Fred Soulie, senior vice president and general manager, Mattel Television, commented: “Having grown up watching the original series, many of today’s parents have fond memories of laughing, singing and learning with Barney and his friends. We are proud to partner with Warner Bros. Discovery to reimagine this famed brand and bring a fresh and modern version of Barney to a global audience of families.”

Barney’s World will be executive produced by Fred Soulie and Christopher Keenan for Mattel Television and by Colin

The Bury-based global toy supplier celebrated its silver anniversary last year by increasing its sales revenue by 25%. Sambro is confident it will achieve similar growth in 2023, thanks to a strong future order book.

Sambro holds key partnerships with some of the world’s top brands, including its four principal licensors, Disney, Paramount, Hasbro and Mattel.

Thanks to a focus on evergreen properties and licence security, Sambro has secured new long-term partnerships and continues to assess incremental licensing opportunities to ensure a strong licence pipeline.

The company has invested heavily in its people to support its ambitious targets, growing the team from 96 to 106 in the last 12 months.

It is this people-led approach which the Manchester Business of the Year judges commended, especially Sambro’s approach to equal opportunity recruiting and investment in leadership development programmes, as well as achieving a median pay gap of -5.77%, well ahead of the national 7.9% average.

Other stand-out commitments include the company's approach to sustainability, with the business appointing a dedicated ESG manager to help it achieve 16 of the 17 ESG targets it has set itself. This includes becoming one of the first toy companies of its size to calculate its carbon footprint and using 2019 as a base, seeing an overall reduction in emissions.

Paul Blackaby, CEO of Sambro International, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted. To receive this accolade in the great city of Manchester is indeed an honour to be very proud of.

It is a result of the contributions, talent and commitments of all 110 members of the Sambro team, of whom I am immensely proud. We’ve achieved a lot over the last 12 months, but we have huge momentum and there’s so much more to come as we seek to achieve the objective of doubling the size of our business within the next three years.”

The BTHA’s Rebecca Deeming brings Toy World readers up to date on the current news from the association.

Rebecca Deeming

Last month the toy industry supported the Toy Trust by taking part in this year’s main Toy Trust fundraiser, May Mayhem. Industry professionals got together with their colleagues as well as undertaking solo challenges, to participate in a variety of activities to raise money for this year’s main beneficiary, Whizz-Kidz. From a five million step count challenge and cycling challenges to bake sales and company auctions, there has been a great mix of ways in which people have been taking part. The final total raised is still to be confirmed, but the amount raised by mid-May had already surpassed £10,000.

If you were unable to participate in May Mayhem then it’s not too late, anything you or your company could do to raise money for the Toy Trust throughout the rest of 2023 would still be extremely appreciated. For more information visit www.toytrust.co.uk or contact Matt@btha.co.uk.

The BTHA will be welcoming industry colleagues back under one roof for the annual Toy Industry Day later this month. Taking place on Wednesday, June 28th at Great Fosters in Surrey, attendees will hear from Amanda Myatt of KPMG, who will be providing a retail trends update, as well as polar explorer Ann Daniels. There will also be plenty of networking opportunities available and a buffet lunch. If you would like to attend, please email me at Rebecca@btha. co.uk.

Elsewhere, the BTHA’s toy safety team will be representing the toy industry at the annual Trading Standards conference taking place in Birmingham between the 20th-22nd June. The team will be presenting two seminars, regarding toy safety in online market places, to trading standards officers.

To learn more about BTHA membership, please contact Tracey@btha.co.uk.

BlogOn Kids is back for October half term

Following the success of the inaugural BlogOn Kids event in summer 2022, the organisers have announced that it will be returning to the Coppid Beech Hotel in Bracknell, on Saturday 21st October.

Moving to the start of the autumn half term holiday, the new weekend date for BlogOn Kids is perfect timing for brands wishing to reach a family influencer audience in the run up to Christmas. With a variety of brand spaces available throughout the hotel, BlogOn offers toy suppliers and PR companies the opportunity to meet and greet creators, see reactions to new toys first hand and to work closely with influencers on dynamic content creation.

The October event will also host the 7th BlogOn Toy Awards, but this time with a difference, as the toys and games will be play tested and judged by the children attending on the day.

“We are very excited to be hosting our second BlogOn Kids and opening the doors of the Coppid Beech Hotel to the influencer community once again," commented Laura Seaton, managing director of BlogOn. Entry to the Toy Awards will open in the summer, with more details to be released soon. "We’ve been keen for the children to become the judges for some time now, and we can’t wait to see what they vote as the top toys for Christmas,” Laura added.

BlogOn is also proud to support The Toy Trust and donated over £1300 to the charity in 2022 following fundraising at its events. The raffle is always a highlight of the day, and the team is grateful for any prize donations, as well as gifts for the goody bags.

Brands wishing to find out more about taking part in BlogOn Kids 2023 this October should get in touch with Laura Seaton at laura@blogonconference.com or call 07774 316834.