Lauren Wade to head up Field Sales at MGA and

Zapf

MGA Entertainment and Zapf Creation have announced the appointment of Lauren Wade as head of Field Sales.

With over ten years’ sales experience, working with globally recognised brands, Lauren joins the team from Sambro, where she held the role of senior national Sales manager. Prior to this, she built her career at the Movado Group, heading up commercial sales across a wide portfolio of brands.

With the remit of broadening the distribution across independent and key account channels, Lauren will be overseeing the field sales team and managing some of the key and distributor accounts. The new role will see her working across a number of leading brands, including L.O.L. Surprise!, Rainbow High, Little Tikes, MGA’s Miniverse, Baby Annabell and Baby born.

Lauren said: “I’m looking forward to working on a wide portfolio of incredible brands, whilst adding even more value, passion and energy to an already highly successful sales team in the UK and Ireland.”

Commenting on the appointment, Sara Taylor, managing director for UK & Ireland, stated: “We’re delighted to have Lauren on board in such a crucial role. She brings with her a wealth of experience, and her passion for the role and the industry is clear. With incredible growth on our leading brands and several new launches, 2023 is already proving to be an exciting and successful year at MGA, and Lauren’s addition to the sales team will only heighten that.”

Forbidden Planet International announces Andrew Staff as new MD

Andrew has extensive experience in the retail sector, having previously served as CEO of Notcutts Garden Centres, COO of the EMEA region for Funko and more recently MD of Builders Merchants UP

Kenny Penman, a founding director at Forbidden Planet International, said: “We are delighted to welcome Andrew as the new managing director of Forbidden Planet International. Andrew brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, and we are confident that he will be a great asset to our team. We look forward to working with him to continue growing the Forbidden Planet brand.”

Andrew said: “I am thrilled to be joining Forbidden Planet International, a fantastic brand with a loyal customer base and a rich history in the retail sector. I am excited about the opportunity to lead the company through its next phase of growth and development, and I look forward to working with the team to deliver an exceptional experience to our customers.”

The company has been providing customers with the latest in science fiction, fantasy and cult entertainment merchandise for over 40 years and has 16 retail stores across the UK as well as shops in

Darryl Lai takes the helm at Toikido USA

Toikido has announced the appointment of industry veteran Darryl Lai as new MD for the Americas. This strategic move establishes Toikido USA, with Darryl reporting to Will Ochoa, the company’s chief commercial officer.

Founded in 2020, London-based Toikido has experienced rapid success since its inception, already selling nearly 20m products, across 75 countries in more than 100,000 stores.

In preparation for the rollout of the hotly-anticipated Piñata Smashlings, its first of many in-house IPs, Toikido has secured a range of licensing and marketing partnerships to fortify its position within key markets ahead of the official launch of the brand’s licensing programme this July.

A respected business leader with an illustrious career in global licensing and operations, Darryl Lai previously served as senior vice president (Americas) at Maxx Marketing, where he led global development and the retail product division for toys & collectibles. During his tenure at the company, he led high- performing teams across various continents and worked with the biggest brands and companies in entertainment, including The Walt Disney Company, Netflix, Marvel, Paramount, Warner Bros and Crunchy Roll.

“I’m delighted to be joining Toikido,” said Darryl. “The company has a reputation for excellence and is comprised of an elite team of passionate and driven professionals who share my love for toys and gamifying everything, and most importantly, pushing creative boundaries. I look forward to working closely with my UK colleagues to exceed the expectations of our clients and fulfil Toikido’s clear growth potential.”

“We are delighted to establish Toikido USA and bring Darryl into the rapidly-growing Toikido business,” said Will Ochoa. “Darryl brings a wealth of experience, having spearheaded the launch of YuMe toys in the market for many years. He also provides a vital direct presence for us in North America, as we support Retail Monster and PMI to launch our Piñata Smashlings IP, and set the stage for the launch of multiple other new Toikido IP, to be announced soon.”

Darryl is expected to be the first of many senior-level global hires who will play a fundamental role in establishing Toikido as a worldwide entertainment and merchandising empire.