Toy Fair in the Autumn Air

by Nick Truss

If you’re reading this in print form, then you’re most likely in attendance at the first-ever September Toy Fair, taking place in 2023. Congrats on being a part of history! Many in the toy sphere welcomed the move from winter to fall, since New York City in the winter presented some challenges to travellers, more often than not caused by a certain frigid white blight that falls from the sky. Others had a more cautious and skeptical reaction, asking how the move would affect the established retail cycle for buyers and manufacturers. No matter how you slice it, this new fall timeline is an upheaval of the status quo, and Toy Fair 2023 marks the first iteration of this new experiment. We reached out to toy industry executives to ask about their thoughts on the new Toy Fair schedule, expectations and hopes looking forward to 2024, and a few other timely topics.

Jeremy Padawer, Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares, takes a wholistic look at the industry, and how each sector was affected in its own way.

“Historically, Toy Fair in New York City has served three purposes: 1.) Buyer’s finalizing planograms and canvassing companies one more time to best prepare their space for the upcoming fall reset; 2.) Media reviewing great toy releases, prompting the upcoming season for fandom young and old; and 3.) Analyst conversations, and reviews of toy lines for the benefit of investor insights. The impact of moving New York Toy Fair from February to October impacted all 3 communities in different ways. Buyers aren’t finalizing their planograms. Instead, they are still early in the decisionmaking process. The media is no longer doing long lead stories on product offered for the upcoming fall season. The focus becomes what’s on the shelf right now that will be be hot for a holiday season 2 months later. For investors, the insights become more immediate in that the questions turn to weekly actual POS in lieu of future projections.

Ironically, product development is relatively unaffected by the shift from February to October - buyers shifted their schedule earlier many years ago!”

Companies that have separate focuses in mass market and specialty were uniquely affected. Roger Dreyer of Fantasma Toys remarks, “Our product development strategy has always been based on offering one product line to mass retailers, and one product line to the specialty store market, with respect to their different review schedules. The majors require products to be reviewed as early as August, but typically by October. If a product SKU is selected, we usually have an idea by February. This gives us time to adapt our Fantasma product specifications and features to ensure orderly marketing and to continue to serve both marketplaces properly.”

President

and CEO of

Basic Fun Jay Foreman is thankful for his company’s adapability in the face of the change. “It really hasn’t had much effect on Basic Fun. Major retailers are doing previews in August and September, and they expect to see working models, exact specifications and tight pricing when they meet with us. Therefore, we’ve got to be ready prior to NY Toy Fair. Getting done ahead of time also allows us to be ready for turnover for tooling and production earlier to accommodate earlier set dates when they apply, or early to market opportunities. The reality is at least 80% of product shown to retailers are carry forward or updated lines, so most should be able to work to an early schedule. New product is a bit more of a challenge to bring to market early before we all know what is working in the current year, but that’s the business we’ve chosen!”

Aaron Muderick, Founder and “Head Guy” at Crazy Aaron’s, found that the change did not disrupt the flow of his company’s operations in any meaningful way.