Toys n Playthings

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Helping everyone sell more

6 st 201 1 u g u A 1 5 No. Vol. 3

TM

The NEW interactive learning system that’s PERFECT FOR SCHOOL SUCCESS! Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,125 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016

*NPD Total Property YTD June 2016

Š 2016 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

TOY TRUST

UPDATE

A BIG thanks The Toy Trust’s Big Cambridge Challenge is over and done with — in a special report, TnP finds out how the day went TnP is bringing you a special update from The Toy Trust following July’s hugely successful Big Cambridge Challenge.

An amazing £200,000 was raised during the event which involved people jumping from planes, swimming as if their life depended on it,

running to rival Mo Farah and cycling as if they were taking on Chris Froome.

Not only are the Toy Trust thanking everyone who took part, they are also passing on their thanks to the all-important benefactors whose donations added to the incredible amount raised.

In numbers...

89 cyclists rode 7,120 miles — which more than covers a road trip to Hong Kong

66 runners ran 858 miles — which is almost ten circuits of the M25

420 miles strolled by the walkers — equal to walking from London to Edinburgh

416,000 the number of feet jumped by the skydivers — 10 times the cruising altitude of a jumbo jet!

Fore!

Andrew Wood is a happy man after walking away with the Chad Valley Bowl on Thursday 30 June. Andrew took part in a golf competition organised by committee member Clive Jones which saw a further £2,000 raised for the charity.

Andrew won the competition with 45 points (risking a cut to his handicap) while Craig Kidd won the Scratch Prize.

The event took place at Sonning Golf Club, Reading, Berkshire and Clive says: “Thank you to all those who attended the day in support of the Toy Trust, it was a lovely day and raised money for really worthwhile projects for deserving children.”

And the winners were…

On Friday 15 July, Hasbro ran the annual Toy Trust 7-a-side Football and Netball tournament at Brunel University.

A total of 23 teams competed with 15 teams fighting it out in the football and seven teams in the netball competition, which was the largest turnout yet.

Best of all, the tournament was a record in terms of the money raised for the Toy Trust with £5,000 handed over to the Toy Trust.

Results: ■

Winner Football: Arsenal in the Community

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Runner Up Football: LEGO

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Winner of Plate Football: Activision

■

Winner Netball: Winning Moves

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Runner Up Netball: Vivid

■

Winner Plate Netball: Super Awesome

For more information email Matt@btha.co.uk or visit www.btha.co.uk/toy-trust plus follow us on twitter @thetoytrust 4

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CONTENTS Regular 6 st 201 Augu No.11 5 Vol. 3

TEAM TnP Group Editor Mirella Anstey mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Leader - with Mirella Anstey

8

News - hot off the press

11

Quick Coffee Break - with Sambro’s Nikki Samuels

12 People / Exhibition News - industry moves and the latest from the exhibition calendar 13 Movie News - the latest from the box office 14 Media News - the multimedia rundown 15 Media Charts - the latest kids’ TV viewing figures and toy TV advertising spend 17 Retail News - the latest from across the retail landscape 20 What’s New - new products that you need to get your hands on

Editor Mairead Wilmot mairead@lemapublishing.co.uk

24 Toy Talk – the retailers have their say 58 Trade Talk - we give suppliers a chance to talk business 62 Licensing News – the hottest news from the toy licensing industry

Writer Rhys Thomas rhys@lemapublishing.co.uk

65 Spotlight on… Flair - one new product, all the USPs explained

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66 Step Back In Time – a slice of toy history from the industry’s longest running magazine 67 Don’t Miss – unmissable products for all buyers and retailers

Group Advertisement Manager Ryan Horwood ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk

Media Solutions Manager Bradley Mason bradley@lemapublishing.co.uk

Features 26 Farm Toy – a classic play theme with a growing market 50 Autumn Fair preview - Your guide to the exhibitors at Birmingham’s NEC this month

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Special Report 4

Publisher Mark Naish mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

Production Director Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

Design and Production Marian McNamara marian@lemapublishing.co.uk

Managing Director Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

Toy Trust update – The Big Cambridge Challenge and more

26 Retail Interview – Argos’ Trading Manager Toys and Nursery, Linzi Walker delves into the retailers’ top toys for Christmas 2016 and omnichannel trends 29 Cover story – LeapFrog shares all about its new LeapStart range 30 Sponsored feature – Crowdfunding success story Ingenium Games introduces its accessible word game Word Stacker 34 Pokémon Go - the app that caught the world by surprise

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46 View from the Top – Learning Resources MD, Dennis Blackmore explains why his ex-teacher credentials make the company an educational play powerhouse 48 EXCLUSIVE Interview with Harry Kane – the Tottenham Hotspur striker talks to TnP about his partnership with Vivid and keeping kids active 59 Home & Gift Buyers’ Festival – toys were front and centre at this year’s gift show in Harrogate

Columnists Circulation Manager Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

Lema Publishing Ltd

PUBLISHING

1 Churchgates, The Wilderness, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 2UB Telephone: 01442 289930

At the heart of retail

16 Media Whisperer – Clive Crouch looks at the impact of Brexit on TV land 18 High Street Highs – Gary Grant says care and good old-fashioned shopkeeping are the keys to customer loyalty 22 The Independent and Secret Supplier – things get heated in this month’s back and forth about agents 23 Retail Opinion – how you handle consumer feedback online speaks volumes, says John Ryan 32 Column – Webb de Vlam Strategist, Ellie Dent talks tech for the digital natives 33 Retail Column – 20.20’s Mariann Wenckheim makes the most of LEGO’s spirit in-store

A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

60 TnP Ambassadors – our ambassadors test the toys you stock on your shelves

Independently audited

64 Licensing Opinion - Kelvyn Gardner reports back from the Korea Character and Licensing Fair in Seoul, South Korea

ABC circulation of 5,125

P29

1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016

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Helping everyone sell more

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LEADER Mirella Anstey

A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,125 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016

PUBLISHING

At the heart of retail Also published by Lema Publishing

licensing T O D A Y

W O R L D W I D E

T

of thought and enthusiasm the team invests in he past month has been educational, creating clever, educational and very fun toys. to say the least, for me. Now, while I’m Many buyers and retailers were really delighted young enough to rarely be without my when seeing their range at London Toy Fair earlier phone, I’m also old enough to remain this year (the little unbothered by all the things it can coding mouse is a actually do and what possibilities terrific) — and MD and fun it can present me with.

Dennis Blackmore So, imagine my surprise recently gives us an insight when I began to be actually to his ethos and rather interested in Pokemon operation. Page 46 Go. I certainly remember reading is where you can and even writing about the catch up with him. monumental success of Pokémon One of the when it originally came to country’s favourite worldwide prominence in 1996 — Anna Whitehead and Matt Knott retailers is without and 20 years on it is still a force introduce us to WordStacker on page 30 question, Argos. to be reckoned with. Am I an avid And lately, they player — well, I certainly have a little go from time to time, but I’m not like the guy have been really moving ahead of the pack with their click and collect offerings and partnership in Brooklyn who ‘beat’ Pokemon Go in two weeks, with eBay too. We chat to Linzi or one of those doughnuts who Walker of Argos to find out a jumps in front of oncoming traffic of the QE2 bridge — daft LeapFrog have for little more about what else they planning to offer digitallyas a brush, right? many years been leaders are minded consumers and also to Daft or not, this thing is in harnessing this desire understand their top Christmas blowing up, and retailers and for tech but also toys selection better. Page 26 is suppliers are doing jolly well where you can mine this retail aligning it nicely with out of it. Brands like TOMY and gold!

Esdevium are reporting crazy key stages in learning And lastly, as I have more upswing in numbers sold – Pokémon to catch, I really must fabulous! dash, but first I want to shine a spotlight on the Find out more about this uber-succcess and fabulous guys at Ingenium Games — they are how it can push your business even further ahead newcomers to the toy industry as a company by turning to page 34! but both Matt and Anna have a great toy Kids have a natural affinity with technology — it pedigree. Check out our story on page plays a part in their everyday — and LeapFrog 30 to learn more about them. have for many years been leaders in harnessing Have a great month and see this desire for tech but also aligning it nicely with many of you at Autumn Fair! key stages in learning and for parents’ desire to give kids the best start at school. Their latest launch, the LeapStart, is just this — getting kids ready for school and ahead with their reading and writing. As a mum of a little one who is just about to start school (yikes) this really appeals to me and to my friends. It feels fun, it feels wholesome and it really helps. No brainer, right? Have a read on page 29 to get the nittygritty of this super toy.

Learning Resources is Argos’ Linzi Walker another toy brand which is interviewed on page 26 is growing in popularity because of the amount Pokémon is

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PICTURE BUSINESS

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definitely go!

Read about it on page 34

NEWS Zoomer Chimp to make an impact at retail Spin Master’s latest offering from the Zoomer range is set to make a huge impact at retail.

Zoomer Chimp launches in the UK this summer and Spin Master has announced a high-impact TV campaign set to run from October through to Christmas.

To complement the TV activity, there will also be digital campaigns on both Nickelodeon and Disney’s websites, delivering over one million impressions.

Spin Master promise they will also ensure Zoomer Chimp achieves standout in-store.

HASBRO REPORTS POSITIVE RESULTS Hasbro’s Q2 financial results are in and it’s good news overall, particularly for the company’s girls division.

There was a revenue increase of 10 per cent in the second quarter, bolstered by Star Wars, Frozen and Disney Princess but it’s the girls category where the company really saw an increase — up 35 per cent.

The boys division also saw an increase of four per cent up driven by gains in NERF, Star Wars and Yo-Kai Watch. Games are up eight per cent driven by Pie Face and Bop-It amongst others, while Pre-school was up five per cent with growth in Play-Doh.

Mookie ups TV advertising Mookie has launched an extensive TV campaign aunches due to run between supporting four new launches now and Christmas. rs, 3D Maker 3D Freestyler Buddy Balls, Story Stars, b have all hit shelves and now, and Skwooshi Fun Lab adverts are on TV too. ve been supporting all of their Mookie say they have brands with strong TV campaigns in 2016, and are set to have 15 brands on TV this mpany adds year. However, the company uilt solely that no campaign is built on TV advertising and each of the upported new brands is being supported e with PR activity, online ng campaigns and a strong in-store presence.

Did you know…

Zoomer Chimp uses voice recognition to be trained, and it performs over 100 tricks!

TREND SPOTTING Kristin Morency Goldman of the US Toy Industry Association talks toys which teach kids lifelong skills Toys and games that teach kids to skillfully cook, design, build, grow, and create physical and digital masterpieces are proving to be hot items across nearly every toy category in 2016. Dubbed Ultimate Creator by the US Toy Industry Association (TIA), this growing trend empowers kids to think creatively — and become creators in their own right.

“The Ultimate Creator trend can be seen among DIY and construction kits, fashion dolls, and even products that incorporate 3D printing concepts,” says Adrienne Appell, trend specialist at TIA. “What’s truly amazing is that the latest creative toys teach techniques and skills that can be applied throughout life — including videography, sewing, cooking, and more.” TIA toy experts first announced the Ultimate Creator trend at the 113th North American International Toy Fair in New York City this past February.

Want to be among the first to spot toy trends for 2017? Mark your calendar for the 114th North American International Toy Fair, taking place Saturday, February 18 through Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Show information will be available in the coming months at www.

ToyFairNY.com. To learn more about the positive impact of play on childhood development, visit www.TheGeniusOfPlay.org.

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Barbie grows

Barry is gold!

Barry Hughes has been promoted to MD of Golden Bear Toys. Barry joined the company in June 2011 and held the positions of Commercial Director, and more recently, General Manager at the Telford-based company prior to this appointment.

“Barry is a well-respected member of the Golden Bear team,” says John Hales, Chairman of Golden Bear Toys. “His promotion to Managing Director is in recognition of the hard work and commitment he has shown to the company over the past five years.”

Speaking about his promotion, Barry says he is “honoured to have been appointed Managing Director of Golden Bear.”

Marathon challenge Mattel’s Richard Skelton and his colleague Andy Scott are taking on a huge challenge. The two will walk a whopping 52 miles in aid of charity — that’s the length of two marathons — and they are hoping to complete the course in just 18 hours. Richard and Andy will walk the Thames Path, setting off from Donnington Bridge in Oxford to Mill Meadows in Henley, and it is all in support of Cancer Research UK. Richard’s grandfather Eric Balaam, former MD of Jumbo Games, passed away from the illness some years ago, and Richard tells TnP he has lost a number of family, friends and work colleagues to this horrible illness.

The men have been training non-stop to ensure they are in peak condition to complete the challenge. Those wishing to donate can either email Richard at richard.skelton@mattel. com or visit Just Giving www.

Eric E Er r c Ba Ba allaam aa am m Will Richard and Andy look this cheerful after walking 52 miles?! justgiving.com/fundraising/RichardSkelton5.

Mattel’s Q2 earnings report was released recently and show growth for Barbie, with sales of FisherPrice and Mega Bloks also up.

Fisher-Price also saw worldwide gross sales lift, up three per cent to $346.3m, with Mattel’s wheels category, which includes the Hot Wheels and Matchbox brands, up one per cent.

Construction and Arts & Crafts brands, including Mega Bloks and RoseArt, also fared well making $72.3m with sales up 12 per cent.

Elsewhere, worldwide gross sales for Mattel’s entertainment business were up 19 per cent.

However, worldwide net sales across the company were down three per cent, with worldwide gross sales down four per cent.

Christopher Sinclair, Chairman and CEO of Mattel says the company is “encouraged by our results,” adding that they were demonstrative of “good on-going progress in our turnaround”.

Together, we can teach the world to Play EN71 Approved The world’s best-selling trombone

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Makes for a magical, musical playtime

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pBuzz The fun, new musical instrument.

More eye-catching than a recorder, lighter than a drum and easier to play than a xylophone – pBuzz makes for a magical, musical playtime.

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NEWS IT’S A WIN FOR BTHA

LEGO’s magnificent 7 LEGO has unveiled its top seven sets for this year’s Christmas wish lists. For retailers who fancy getting their hands on the playsets most lauded by the company, they are: LEGO Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster (pictured): Kids can have fun on all the rides with the Amusement Park Roller Coaster playset.

LEGO DUPLO My First Rocket: A great introduction to building, little ones can stack chunky bricks to make a colourful rocket and a planet, and there are building cards in the set for added inspiration.

LEGO City Volcano Exploration Base: Featuring a volcano with eruption function, scientists and explorers get to discover the secrets of the lava.

LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS Jestro’s Volcano Lair: Fans can send the futuristic knights to invade Jestro’s secret hideaway and capture the Book of Monsters.

LEGO NINJAGO Ultra Stealth Raider: Ninjago fans can shock Master Chen’s Chenosaurus, his snake warriors and Master Yang with the ninja’s four-in-one vehicle, the Ultra Stealth Raider.

LEGO Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter: Star Wars lovers can fly Poe on a rescue mission in the Resistance X-Wing Fighter to protect Lor San Tekka’s home from the attacking First Order Flametrooper!

LEGO Super Heroes Doc Ock’s Tentacle Trap: Doc Ock awaits budding web swingers in this Spider-Man set that comes complete with Doc Ock’s Octo-Bot, police speedboat and a Spider-Man, Doc Ock, Vulture, White Tiger and a Captain Stacy Minifigure.

The BTHA are Winne r the BT s! All smile celebrating after s from HA te celebr a being named Trade ate th m as they eir win Association of the Year. The award was handed out at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards held on Wednesday 6 July at a ceremony in London.

The team also won the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award for their work with The Toy Trust, and the Social Media category for the Make Time 2 Play campaign, as well as being a finalist in the Exhibition of the Year for Toy Fair.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have won Association of the Year and are extremely thankful to the Trade Association Forum for the recognition of our work at the BTHA,” says Natasha Crookes, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at BTHA. “It was a lovely surprise for us all and this prestigious accolade is genuinely appreciated by entire team and our membership.”

New endorsement from Fundamentally Children Fundamentally y Children has extended its accreditation services with the launch of a new category.

FC Endorsed will sit alongside the Good App and Good Toy Guides and will encompass all children’s products that fall outside the two areas, including baby and nursery products, children’s books, tablets, hobby, outdoors and activities and more. Each product will be evaluated using the same level of thorough testing and research as the Good Toy and Good App Guide processes.

Oddbods hits shop shelves Golden Bear’s Oddbods range is out now! There is an emphasis on collectability, with feature plush and collectables based on the CITV topfive rated show, hitting shelves.

“Oddbods is an exciting launch for us,” says Katherine Pierce, Senior Licensing and Marketing Manager at Golden Bear. “The range looks fantastic and we have a great media campaign to support the release.

Response from retailers has been strong and we’re looking forward to product going on shelf so consumers can get their hands on them.”

As seen on TV Ravensburger has launched not one, but two new summer TV campaigns.

The first TV campaign is designed to support its 3D Puzzle Collection, and adverts hit screens on Monday 25 July for three weeks, running across all channels.

The second campaign is for Bugs in the Kitchen and again, this hit TVs on 25 July.

Both adverts are designed to drive sales and all items are in stock and available to order now. Give Ravensburger a call on 01869 363 800 to find out more.

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Watch this space You won’t have to wait for the seasons to change to get BBC’s top-rated Springwatch in your living room. That’s because Jumbo Games are going to produce a range of adult jigsaw puzzles based on one of the nation’s favourite shows. The deal sees a range of puzzles launching based on Autumnwatch, Springwatch and Winterwatch.

The first puzzle in the range, which will be available in September, will focus on Autumn Animals, with the first Springwatch puzzle coming in January.

“This is a very exciting deal for us to secure and fits perfectly within our Falcon de luxe puzzle brand,” says Stewart Middleton, Managing Director at Jumbo Games. “Adult puzzles remain a core focus for us at Jumbo and we believe this hugely successful new license will be very popular amongst our adult puzzle fans.”

A roaring campaign Following the success of its initial retail campaign in 2015, Schleich has opted to run a dinosaur hunt again this year.

The nationwide retail initiative for independent stores is designed to celebrate the launch of Schleich’s First Dinosaurs collection.

“Following the success of the retailer campaign in 2015, we felt it was a no-brainer to run the campaign for 2016 to support both our First Dinosaur collection and our independent retailers,” says Jeremy Robinson, Country Manager from Schleich UK. A kit has been sent to retailers including posters, colouring sheets and trail cards for children to complete the hunt and kids who take part are in with the chance to win a prize.

COFFEE BREAK Sambro has had its best year yet, says Licensing Director Nikki Samuels.

TnP talks sales, retail relationships and bestsellers

Nikki, how would you sum up the year so far for Sambro in terms of sales?

I know we have said this every year for the past number of years but this is really our best yet. Due to such rapid expansion and heavy investment in systems and tooling we have been able to increase sales massively.

What do you think is the most important thing in a relationship between a supplier and retailer?

A supplier has to understand and treat each retailer as an individual, assessing which products and categories will work best for them. It’s not a onesize-fits-all approach and we are extremely keen to provide cross-category ranges so retailers can maximise their offering and choose which lines work for them.

Sambro have a great deal of licensed product, what have been your top-selling licenses for the first half of 2016?

PAW Patrol has been huge for us this year and is performing well across all ranges, particularly bags and arts and crafts. Frozen also continues to be one of the most popular licenses ever for us.

And what about your top-selling products?

Our bag ranges have grown exponentially as we continue to innovate throughout this category adding different styles and elements including plush, EVA and lenticular backpacks.

If you had to hedge your bets for 2017— what license do you think consumers are going to bite at?

Pokémon is going to be huge once more, as well as Despicable Me 3, which is bound to be brilliant. I also think LEGO Batman, LEGO Ninjago and Spider-Man will be licenses we are all talking

TRY TRUMP THAT Winning Moves are bringing Top Trumps to the small screen. The company has teamed up with Boxatricks Ltd to create a bespoke TV quiz based on the famous game. Interestingly, the people behind Boxatricks are the original co-creators and producers of TV mega-hits Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Blind Date. We can’t wait!

AUGUST 2016

about.

And finally, sum up Sambro in three words.

Growing, dynamic, fun.

11

PEOPLE

EXHIBITION

NEWS

NEWS

Hasbro bolsters board Hope Cochran and Mary Beth West have joined Hasbro’s board of directors. Hope comes from her former role as CFO at King Digital, while Mary Beth makes the move from retail as former Chief Customer and Marketing Officer for US chain JC Penney.

“Our business and our brands are stronger, more global and more pervasive than ever before, and I’m thrilled we’ve found two dynamic business leaders whose expertise will help us further deliver against our brand blueprint strategy,” says Brian Goldner, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hasbro.

Hope brings more than 20 years’ experience rience as a top financial executive in the digital industry, most recently cently in gaming and telecom. She was was recognised nised in 2013 as one of Fortune’s 10 Most Powerful erful Women in Gaming, and is based in Seattle. le.

“Hope brings exceptional financial and gaming expertise to the board, and we very much appreciate her experience managing global teams and businesses,” said Basil Anderson, Hasbro’s Lead Independent Director.

Mary Beth West has been recognised for or her achievements by Crain’s Chicago Business, Girls Inc., and Advertising Age. Black Enterprise has named her among the 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America and most recently as a leading woman in advertising and marketing.

CTA has new director Harold Chizick was appointed to the Canadian Toy Association’s Board of Directors during the association’s recent AGM in Toronto.

“It is such an honour to be elected to the Board of Directors for the CTA,” he says. “I am very excited to begin my new role and apply my toy industry expertise, passion and experience to help further the CTA’s growth and success in the years to come.” Harold is President of ChizComm Ltd, and brings nearly 20 years experience with him.

Rubie’s welcomes Laura Hall Rubie’s Masquerade has appointed Laura Hall as its new Customer Services Manager. She will manage daily operations of the customer services team based in Wallingford, providing customer support to Rubies’ UK business. Laura brings with her 13 years of experience dealing with customer-facing enquiries, and a wealth of relationship management expertise from within corporate strategic services and the automotive industry, where she was responsible for training sales managers in core customer service skills.

David Wootliff, UK Commercial Director at Rubie’s, says: “Customer service is a key focus for Rubie’s and the recruitment of Laura with her proven experience in the field reinforces this commitment... she is an invaluable addition to the team.”

Kind + Jugend completely booked Kind + Jugend is continuing to enjoy unabated popularity. The fair for the international baby and children’s outfitting industry opens its doors in Cologne from 15 to 18 September 2016 and the 100,000 square metres of exhibition space in halls 10 and 11 of Koelnmesse are already completely booked, three months prior to the start of the fair.

Around 1,200 companies from more than 50 countries will present their new products and continuing product developments in the segments of children’s furniture, safety seats, textile outfitting, prams and hygiene items. Trade visitors from around the world can look forward to industry products of the highest quality.

It’s a sell out!

There is good news coming from the BTHA — the Greenhouse Area for Toy Fair 2017 is now sold out. In 2017, it will welcome 40 exhibiting companies, including more than half of last year’s Greenhouse exhibitors such as Green Elephant Trading, Gift Time, 1 Two Kids, Cambridge Brainbox, A Girl for All Time, Scootaheadz and Clockwork Soldier.

Majen Immink, Head of Toy Fair Operations and Sales says: “We are delighted that the Greenhouse is sold out so early in the sales process. We get excited each year to see which innovative new products will be on show in the area. It is also fantastic to see previous Greenhouse exhibitors make the move to other areas of the hall floor after a great initial platform that the Greenhouse has provided for them in previous years.”

License This! is open Brand Licensing Europe’s License This! competition is now open for entries.

The annual competition is designed to introduce new properties to licensing, and is now in its seventh year.

The competition is open to anyone with a concept that has yet to be published or broadcast, or a brand that has not yet extended to non-core consumer products.

This year’s winner will receive a prize worth over £6,000 which includes a fully furnished nine square metre stand at BLE 2017.

Deadline for entries is 9 September 2016.

The 2015 prize winner was OiDroids

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MOVIE

NEWS

Secret to box office success

Catch ‘em at the cinema The world has gone Pokémon Go mad, and it hasn’t escaped the attention of Hollywood.

Deadline reports that Legendary Pictures is close to acquiring the film rights for a live-action movie based on the creature collecting game. It wouldn’t be the first visit to the box office for Pokémon, but it would be the first non-animated film.

Continuing a trend of animated movies dominating the box office this year, The Secret Life off Pets opened in the US with h record earnings of $103.2 million. The movie’s first-weekend takings are unprecedented for an original animated film, outstripping the previous $90.4m record held by Disney’s sney’s Inside Out, and it went on to surpass $200m before 20 July.

Scherzinger sets sail

Poster star The first official poster for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story landed in July, giving fans plenty to speculate over. The unveil coincided with the Star Wars Celebration fan event in Europe.

The poster was widely shared online, and saw the Star Wars spinoff overtake Suicide Squad as the most talked about movie on social media.

Other details emerging from the event includes the fact the films won’t have the series’ iconic yellow-text opening crawl, separating it further from the saga’s main, numbered entries.

Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy confirmed this to Entertainment Weekly, saying that while it wasn’t ruled out “I don’t think these films will have an opening crawl”.

Pop star Nicole Scherzinger has joined the cast of Moana, Disney’s forthcoming animation set in the South Pacific. Jermaine Clement, Alan Tudyk, Temuera Morrison and Rachel House have also come aboard the film steered by the directors behind Disney classics The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.

Dory swims to glory The Secret Life of Pets may have knocked Finding Dory off the US top spot after spending three weeks at number one, but the follow up to Finding Nemo crossed its own milestone in July. It is now Disney’s biggest animated film of all time in the domestic US market, ending The Lion King’s reign, which made $422.7m.

Very bad baby With the release of Trolls just on the horizon, DreamWorks Animation gave crowds at ComicCon San Diego a tease of it’s next project, Boss Baby. Starring Alec Baldwin, Lisa Kudrow and Steve Buscemi, the film centres on Timothy Templeton who is trying to stop his precocious, scheming newborn brother’s attempts to ensure all their parents’ attention and love is focussed on him. It’s set for release in March 2017.

AUGUST 2016

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MEDIA

NEWS

Pop stars Vamp up Cartoon Network

It’s a winner!

A new video game with a winning combination of LEGO and Star Wars is out now for home and portable video game consoles, and smart devices.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an all-new adventure that immerses players in the blockbuster film like never before. The new release features storylines from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, retold through the clever and witty LEGO lens, plus new adventures in the Star Wars galaxy.

“Star Wars has a special place within The LEGO Group, and we are delighted to continue the journey with the franchise that started it all for LEGO video games,” says Niels Jørgensen, Vice President, Digital Games for The LEGO Group. “LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will offer the definitive game of the blockbuster movie, with all the fun, humour and epic gameplay you would expect from a LEGO game, along with brand new stories that have never been seen before.”

This action-packed adventure offers five freeplay HUB areas to explore, including Jakku and the Millennium Falcon interior, along with more than 200 collectable and customisable characters, and more than 80 vehicles and creatures.

Cartoon Network teamed up with hit British pop rock band The Vamps and Kung Fu Panda 3 in July to kickoff its official countdown to summer.

The popular four-piece took over the channel and promoted the DVD and Blu-ray release of Kung Fu Panda 3, which feature the band’s hit single Kung Fu Fighting, to get viewers kung fu ready for summer.

“We’re big fans of Cartoon Network,” say The Vamps, “which is why we’re so excited to be taking over the channel.”

From a hacky sack competition to a martial arts training session with Po, The Vamps gave kids plenty of exciting entertainment in between episodes.

The summer holiday line-up kicked off on 25 July with marathons and new episodes of fan-favourite shows.

PopJam bursts one million users

Bing hits newsstands Egmont Publishing is bringing new adventures to fans of animated bunny Bing in a new monthly magazine that launched in July.

The new Bing monthly magazine expands the world of the award-winning pre-school television series from Acamar Films. A garden play set with a watering can, trowel, fork, shears and a Froggy soaker came as a free gift with the launch issue. “We have published Bing as a one-shot magazine on several occasions in the last year,” says Laura Adnitt, Publishing Director of Egmont’s pre-school magazine portfolio. “Each time it has been a hit and I’m delighted that we are now able to launch Bing as a monthly frequency magazine.”

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Tyrannosaurus text

PopJam now has more than one million users, with over 30 per cent of eight to 12 year olds having now downloaded the app. Kids are spending over 45 minutes a day on the social content platform making it one of the most popular apps for the age group in the UK. “PopJam has become a phenomenal platform for kids to safely engage with brands and stars in a creative, conversational way,” says Paul Nunn, CCO of the app’s owner SuperAwesome.

Schleich launched a one-off Schleich-branded Dinosaur Magazine in July. Created in conjunction with Blue Ocean, the exclusive magazine is available in the UK at newsstands or by subscription, complete with a free cover mounted mini Spinosaurus figure.

“With totally new styling for the Dinosaurs collection, this magazine will really bring to life the new branding for both parents and children, while providing product information in a fun and engaging way,” says Jeremy Robinson, Country Manager for Schleich UK.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

MEDIA

CHARTS

7000

The rise and fall

6000 5000 4000 3000

2000 elcome to the media report covering the month of June.

1000 We will be looking at Girls and Boys 4-9 years 0 and Housewives with Children – Pre-school.

Looking at the chart for boys we can see immediately that Pop is now market leader, and has taken the crown from The Cartoon Network.

Kix is showing good growth too, albeit from a low base.

I think it’s fair to say that Pop has taken some viewers from Nicktoons and DisneyXD. Overall, viewing levels for Housewives Pre-school Children this market are up by 9.1 per cent.

June 15 vs June 16 For the Girls, we can see that Disney Junior is now market leader, and there has been a fair bit of movement 7000 here. Tinypop has dropped compared to June 2015 while 0 Channel 5 is doing very well with a massive jump of over 6000 300 per cent. Pop also does well here, and the total 5000 0 market is up by five per cent.

4000 0 The viewing levels for Housewives with Children – 3000 0 Pre-school, shows Nickelodeon Junior is still market 0 leader, followed by Disney Junior, Tiny Pop and Channel 2000 5. And again, we see Channel 5 is up by some 300 per 1000 cent.

0 We should point out the figures for Channel 5 focus on the breakfast segments for Milkshake. Therefore, the average ratings for Channel 5 are substantially higher than that of the other satellite stations.

The overall viewing levels for this group are down by five per cent compared to June 2015.

Boys 4-9 years TVRs Reported toy expenditure continues to increase for June 15 vs June 16 month of June at the rate of 66 per cent when compared to June 2015.

8000 The brand count has decreased from 99 products in 7000 June 2015 to 36 products in June 2016. Looking at the chart, it’s clear the Top Ten are spending more as they are 6000 5000 up 96 per cent against June 2015.

4000 The TV market continues to fall in revenue terms, the total market was down five per cent when compared 3000 to June 2015, this decrease was lower than in previous 2000 months, I would suspect we will continue to see these 1000 decreases for the next few months.

0 Overall, since January, the TV market is down by 19 per cent — to put that into context it equates to an estimated £264.3m. Social Media, on the other hand, continues to go from strength-to-strength. In the next issue we will continue to report on the Girls and Boys 4-9 years, and Girls 4-9 Years TVRs Housewives with Children – Pre-school.

June 15 vs June 16

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Jun-15

Jun 15 Jun-15

Jun-15

Jun-16

Jun 16 Jun-16

Jun-16

June 2015 Toy Company June 2016 Toy Company TV Expenditure TV Expenditure Company Name

TV Expenditure

Company Name

TV Expenditure

LEGO UK Ltd Hasbro (UK) Ltd Character Options Ltd Thinkway Toys IMC Toys UK Ltd Flair Leisure Products Ltd Golden Bear Products Ltd Mattel UK Ltd John Adams Leisure Ltd VTech Electronics Ltd

£689,417 £456,345 £350,158 £260,047 £236,742 £213,131 £204,285 £177,136 £161,214 £149,569

Hasbro (UK) Ltd Flair Leisure Prod Ltd LEGO UK Ltd Spin Master Toys Ltd IMC Toys UK Ltd Vivid Imaginations Ltd Character Options Ltd Insectlore Europe Mookie Toys Zuru Toys Inc

£2,166,220 £639,071 £556,672 £495,521 £456,881 £354,212 £353,539 £168,022 £165,320 £158,505

For more information on viewing levels please contact Mike Penfold. mike@globalmedia.me.uk Tel: 01494 763178.

All graphs and information supplied by Global Media Services

SEPTEMBER S SE EPT PTE EM M MB BER 2013 BE 20 2 013 13

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MEDIA

OPINION

Let’s watch and wait Now That Brexit has been implemented and we have a new Culture Secretary — what impact will there be on TV land and all in it?, asks Clive Crouch

I

programmes — in short, these quotas mandate that a minimum of 50 per cent of content must be an original EU production. Remember John Whittingdale? Well, before we went to polls on Unfortunately, the role and responsibility 23rd June he delivered his government’s plans of Culture Secretary, regardless of who is in for the BBC Charter review. The license fee the driving seat, always generates debate settlement means there are still more cuts to from within his own party in the form of BBC be implemented , and they will inevitably effect Former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale bashing. commissioning at BBC Children’s.

Whittingdale made a huge commitment to Furthermore the children’s market has been the children’s sector within the broadcasting structurally fractured. The 10-plus audience and creative industries working with have, to some extent, left the BBC’s linear business practitioners and Westminster channels behind and now view their Media Forum. So why did he lose his job? Well, entertainment on You Tube. The BBC’s iPlayer he had publicly supported Michael Gove’s is in the market to allow kids to build a personal leadership bid and thus has been replaced by portfolio of content across BBC channels. To Karen Bradley in the Department of Culture, some extent it can be argued that the BBC and Media & Sport. other terrestrial channels have abandoned the New Culture Secretary Industry experts are suggesting that leaving upper age band of the kids demographic in Karen Bradley Europe is bad for the media programming terms. business, but it could be even We know that kids grow older younger The UK creative worse for the kids sector. The UK these days, and some of the best shows for creative industry represents around 10 to 15 year olds like Happy Days, Sabrina industry represents eight per cent of GDP and is one of the Teenage Witch, along with Grange around eight per cent of the fastest growing parts of the Hill, and many others were made for teens, GDP and is one of the UK economy. and watched by a younger audience as fastest growing parts of Funding children’s well. Sadly, along with many other classics the UK economy production is key to its they are no more. future. In recent years, This is not only about the BBC, the current animation tax breaks situation is such that the other public service made a substantial broadcasters barely commission any original contribution to the success of the UK film content in this sector. industry and UK legislation subsequently Furthermore, Channel 4 will fall short of their output on followed, making a similar impact. children’s programming within their current license term; a Children’s shows are now large scale position that Whittingdale has not made C4 accountable for international co-productions and it is given the remaining time left on the current C4 license. However, essential to have certainty on trading it should be noted that Channel 4’s under-16 share of viewing is relationships, exchange rates, and clarity up fiver per cent across all time and 12 per cent up in peak time. about who can access what tax So why will Brexit be so bad for the media business in the incentive.

UK? Well, Enders Analysts published a report earlier this Government grants year that forecast “a post-Brexit recession will cause a hyperand broadcaster quotas are all cyclical decline in the advertising revenues of broadcasters and vital in the process of building publishers”. We need to see if, or when, this negative revenue the finance for a children’s show. position materialises. Advertising revenue declines are not good In May’s TnP, I wrote about for programme investment.

EU quotas across children’s Let’s see what happens.

n the upheaval that followed the 23rd June referendum — you know the one I’m talking about — John Whittingdale lost his position as Culture Secretary.

“

”

Clive Crouch www.clivecrouch.com, info@clivecrouch.com, mobile: 07831 670453

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toysnplaythings.co.uk

RETAIL

NEWS

Car-free Oxford Street by 2020 Oxford Street will be a traffic-free shoppers’ paradise by 2020, according to the Mayor of London’s office. Buses and taxis will be banned along with personal cars - which are already not allowed on the 1.2 mile shopping strip for the majority of the day - as part of Sadiq Kahn’s plans to reduce pollution in the capital. The project will provide a safer and more pleasant shopping environment similar to the traffic-free Christmas shopping days introduced in 2005 by then mayor Ken Livingstone.

The Entertainer heads to Northern Ireland The Entertainer will be opening its first store in Northern Ireland on Saturday 13 August.

The new flagship store in the CastleCourt Shopping Centre in Belfast will cover 3,400 sq.ft.

The grand opening will have special appearances throughout the day from LEGO Ninjago characters and The Entertainer’s very own Jack.

Plus there will be fun in-store demos, promotions, a gift card lucky dip, and more. The store will also celebrate the opening with a special trolley dash undertaken by the local charity Autism NI. Paul McMahon, Centre

Director at CastleCourt Shopping Centre said the centre was “delighted to welcome” the Entertainer.

Gary Grant, Managing Director and Founder of The Entertainer, added: “After experiencing such solid growth across the rest of the UK, we are really excited to be extending our brand and introducing our first store to Northern Ireland. The CastleCourt shopping centre offers a strong retail position as it attracts large numbers of family shoppers who are demanding more toy shopping choice. We look forward to bringing joy to the children of Belfast.”

Toymaster welcomes Kapow to its ranks McColl’s to acquire 298 Co-op stores The Co-op has agreed the sale of 298 of its smaller food outlets to newsagents and convenience store operators McColl’s, which has described the deal as “transformational”.

McColl’s chief Jonathan Miller said: “This opportunity substantially accelerates our growth strategy and expands our neighbourhood presence for the benefit of our customers. These stores are profitable, well invested, and the perfect size for our operating model.”

The £117million sale is subject to approval from the CMA and McColl’s shareholders, and will see all 3,808 staff transfer with the stores under TUPE regulations, with the handover expected from November.

Steve Murrells, CEO of Co-op Food, said the move was “completely in line with our strategy” with proceeds to be reinvested into “sustainable growth for our members”.

AUGUST 2016

Kapow in Hull has become the newest retailer to join the Toymaster buying group. In addition to toys, the shop sells licensed gifts and merchandise from retro movies, TV shows and music. To get in touch with the store, contact Robert Redshaw on rob@wholesale-gift.co.uk or call 01482 227892. Kapow is located at 15 Whitefriargate, Hull, HU12ER.

Window of opportunity Four top brands have taken over the frontage of Toymaster members in the latest window display feature. Toymaster retailers who opted in received all the materials for a fab four-week display featuring TopModel from Depesche, Shopkins from Flair, DC Super Hero Girls from Mattel, and Peterkin’s Dolls World.

Toymaster will also be running a weekly competition to engage consumers on social media.

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HIGH STREET

HIGHS

Creating customer loyalty While new business can be challenging, getting your current customer base to keep returning is down to traditional shopkeeping with an added nuance, says Gary Grant, MD of The Entertainer

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ith choice being wider and more accessible than ever before for retailers, it is vital to not only continuously attract new customers but to also nurture the existing purchasers.

Sounds impossible? Gary Grant says not! “When I was a child, while the choice was limited there were shops where the actual shopping sh was an experience. And therefore th y kept coming back. back The you shopkeeper made mad you feel special — you yo were not num just a number, but you y were we a person.”

But Bu how h has this ‘ol oldd ‘old-fashioned’ shopkeeping sh sho helped he hel Gary and The Th he Entertainer team tea te tea e shape their philosophy phi hi and o objectives?

“

A good dollop of really excellent and worthwhile customer service and care is vital in forging a good opinion of the shop

”

“For me, it is a simple common sense approach which takes dedication and skill to deliver, and deliver well. So, a good dollop of really excellent and worthwhile customer service and care is vital in forging a good opinion of the shop and its people in the customer’s mind.”

The smiles that greet the adults and the friendly wave to the children when a customer walks in the door may not appear to be an earth-shattering revenue-driving initiative, but it makes people feel warm and receptive and trusting — all good ingredients to getting people back through your doors repeatedly.

“The key to maintaining and growing a customer base is extraordinarily good customer service — and it always has been at the heart of our ethos, when it was just me in my one shop to now, when we are a large and growing business.”

But so many other shops offer loyalty schemes and Christmas clubs, how can The Entertainer, or indeed any other shop, compete with that?

Gary’s view on this is as straightforward as many of the business views he holds: “We do not have a loyalty scheme as such but that is not to say we haven’t looked at the possibilities and opportunities in having one. That may change in the future if there are reasons compelling enough to develop a loyalty scheme.”

Check out...

Jack’s Birthday Club where the customer can register their children’s birthdays to receive birthday emails with toy recommendations and a special birthday offer.

While The Entertainer doesn’t have a points-collecting scheme, it does allow customers other ways to engage regularly and to feel like “they are getting more”.

Gary tells us: “For example, we use email

1

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Watch out for: Recommendations are only active in emails at the minute but will be launched on TheToyShop.com very soon. So a Star Wars fan will be the first to see the latest Star Wars arrivals and offers on their homepage.

as a way to communicate with customers about the latest toys, offers and events online and in store. We are currently the only specialist toy retailer who does this.

We invested in software in 2015 which means that we can now send customers more personalised emails than ever before based on their purchase and browse behaviour. Since moving to a personalised approach, we have seen much more loyalty, engagement and retention from the email list because our communication to them is relevant. We never send customers generic emails, we send them emails about brands they love, about events at their local store and

recommend them toys we think they will love.”

This goes a very long way to engender and maintain customer loyalty — both with the parents when it comes to price and the children too with the consistent messaging about fun things to do in the shop. It also has plenty of activity sheets, all of great brands one would see in The Entertainer of course, that can be downloaded and coloured in, or dots joined or even spot the difference. All simple ideas in themselves, but if children like what The Entertainer gives them in store and online too, chances are they will be

“

The Entertainer engages frequently, and at a high level with customers and so this is our route to loyalty

”

visiting both more frequently. The final word must go to Gary: “The Entertainer engages frequently, multi-channel and at a high level with customers and so this is our route to loyalty.”

Gary says...

“We’re really great in store at recommending toys for customers and making them feel special, with our new recommendations tool we can now replicate this online.”

15.–18.9.2016

Fantasy for the new season! www.kindundjugend.com International Business Media Services Ltd. 42 Christchurch Road | Ringwood | BH24 1DN | Tel.: +44 1425 48 68 30 Fax +44 1425 48 68 31 | info@koelnmesse.co.uk

AUGUST 2016

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WHAT’S Brand spanking new launches from top toy companies to help you sell more!

Making music fun!

WMG 024 7671 2081 www.pBuzz.co.uk From small beginnings as a British-based music publishing company, Warwick Music Group (WMG) diversified to become makers of a series of internationally-acclaimed plastic music instruments.

The team of brass musicians’ successes to date include the world’s best-selling trombone, and the award-winning pTrumpet.

The innovative company’s latest venture — the pBuzz — is designed to widen the appeal of plastic instruments, and engage the toy market.

More eye-catching than a recorder, lighter than a drum and easier to play than a xylophone — the pBuzz is brightly-coloured, light and has a smooth curved edged, all designed to make music fun.

Early exposure to a playful product such as the pBuzz can help develop a child’s sensory and fine motor skills, encourage self-expression, stimulate imagination and creativity, build confidence and nurture their natural music talents. pBuzz is being distributed by John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd in the UK.

We got your back KIDDIMOTO 01749 871 175 www.kiddimoto.co.uk Kiddimoto has launched a new range of backpacks.

The stylish backpacks are available in three fabulous bold designs meaning parents will be able to spot their children from a distance, even when their back is turned!

The funky backpacks come in two different sizes, small for busy little toddlers exploring the great outdoors and large for pre-schoolers and school-age children.

There are eight handy storage pockets so everything will have it’s place, and it comes with cushioned adjustable straps allowing kids to use the bag as they grow.

The pastel dotty, skullz and union jack backpack designs match those of the Kiddimoto balance bikes, U-Zoom scooters, bells, horns and gloves.

Kiddimoto’s backpacks come in two different sizes, small for toddlers and large for preschoolers and school-age children, and there are eight storage pockets.

Did you know…

Research has shown that youngsters who have early exposure to musical instruments develop areas of the brain that relate to social, language and reasoning skills, as well as memory.

ttoysnplaythings.co.uk oysnplaythings.c

NEW A two for one Christmas JUMBO GAMES 01707 289 289 www.jumbo.eu Jumbo Games has added two brand new Christmas puzzles to its adult puzzle ranges — the latest Wasgij Christmas 12 puzzle set, titled The Big Turn On!, and the Falcon de luxe’s All Ready for Christmas box set. And for the first time, Jumbo are including two 1,000 piece jigsaws for the price of one.

Wasgij Christmas 12: The Big Turn On! is a festively entertaining, brainteaser puzzle box set with a special surprise for customers.

Included in this added value set is both the unique Wasgij solution image, and the 1,000-piece puzzle of the image printed on the box.

In the nostalgic Falcon de luxe Christmas puzzle box set, puzzlers can enjoy the beautifully decorative illustrations of Father Christmas preparing all the children’s toys in his workshop, before heading out on Christmas Eve, as he boards the Santa Express.

Global domination

Don’t wake Greedy Granny TOMY 01392 281 928 ukcustomerservices@tomy.com Granny loves biscuits! So Your mission… take a biscuit much so that of each type from Granny while she has fallen she slumbers, one wrong move and asleep with you could wake her and send the the entire tray biscuits soaring. on her lap.

No wonder everyone calls her Greedy Granny! Your mission… take a biscuit of each type from Granny while she slumbers, one wrong move and you could wake her and send the biscuits soaring. Greedy Granny is a new and mischievous game from Tomy. Perfect for all the family, Greedy Granny is a suspenseful and whimsical game that will have everyone on the edge of their seats. Will you risk it for a biscuit? Or will your swift moves wake Granny?

Suitable for five years and up.

CLEMENTONI 020 3206 1101 www.clementoni.com Clementoni is strengthening their offering in the educational sector with the launch of its Explore the World Interactive Globe, complete with augmented app reality technology.

The globe launched in July, and allows children to discover the world and learn about continents, countries, capital cities, populations, currencies, languages, territories, time differences, interesting facts, and lots more — all with the touch of the optical reader pen which prompts the globe to talk.

Adding educational and play value, the app is available to download from the App Store and Google Play enhancing the reality experience.

Did you know…

Batteries are included and the packaging features the allimportant ‘try me’ function which is great for retail presence.

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THE INDEPENDENT

OPINION

Don’t tell me what to do Agents are in for it this month, take cover

H

ave you ever found yourself in a situation where someone’s arrogance has really got under your skin?

Their manner makes you feel like you need a shower even though there has been zero contact between you? No, I am not speaking (in this instance) about my mother-in-law!

I recently sat in one of these meetings.

Under normal circumstances, I am quite calm and collected, especially in my increasingly ripe age, but this guy made me want to pummel him just enough so that no one else has to endure his monotonous self-interest.

Let me explain — we have been having quite a difficult time with one of this agent’s suppliers. We’ve spoken during previews, Toy Fair and even had one other sit down earlier in the year to explain what the issues were and how I felt we needed to come to an agreeable solution.

Despite the fact that zero progress had been made during the first half of this year, I was happy enough spending my money with other suppliers who support me and who we can actually make some money with.

Best sellers VOLUME: 1) Num Noms Mystery Pack – MGA 2) Finding Dory Mash`Ems – Character 3) Tsum Tsum Blind Bags – Jakks Pacific VALUE: 1) Paw Patrol Vehicle – Spinmaster 2) Secret Life of Pets Plush – Spinmaster 3) Paw Patrol Air Patroller - Spinmaster

I’m fine with different personalities and understand we sometimes have to do business with people we may not like. But, when I make my list of issues clear for the umpteenth time, and am effectively told: “But we are the supplier and you aren’t a credible retailer unless we have good presence in your stores”, I felt like I was having an outof-body experience. I really wanted to jump over the desk, head-butt this guy and throw him through our less-than-sturdy stud walls.

My face must have looked like I had disappeared and flown to cloud cuckoo land, but all the same, I don’t care if this guy thinks I am an idiot.

On behalf of all independent retailers I wanted to take the opportunity to respond to every supplier who may be thinking along the same lines and I appreciate that this does not include most of you. For example, we trade with almost 100 suppliers on a domestic basis and the number of difficult ones amounts to about five, but I still feel the point needs to be raised.

I have been in this industry long enough to know a good shopping experience when I see one. In my stores, we constantly strive for the best shopping experience a consumer can wish for with training, care, attention to detail, activities, promotions, savings clubs and more.

This isn’t to say that all retailers should be the same, I know plenty of customers who want to walk in, grab what they need and get out again and this is totally fine, but I see kids interacting with staff in an independent store and they enjoy telling them all about their

favourite part of a movie, or what Minifigure or Shopkins they still haven’t been able to get. This is key to our success, and it costs us nothing.

Over the past number of years I have seen a couple of retailers become increasingly interested in stocking toys, and one of these in a very good way with a decent offering of special price items across age and sex to create a solid offering of toys for anyone who may need a birthday present or a treat for their own kids. The other couldn’t care less about our industry and why people trade with him is beyond me. I am, of course, writing about the discounters. Is it a worthwhile point for me to remind our suppliers that these guys don’t sell LEGO, but are still extremely profitable at toy retailing?

So, my answer in short, to the arrogance that seems to uncontrollably flow out of some of my agents, is if someone can make a success of selling toys without the biggest brand within toys, it makes me a lot less nervous when making difficult decisions to not range products because you felt it was acceptable business practice to tell me I needed to stock your ranges in order to be credible. Further to this, I feel that suppliers could do with keeping a close eye on how some of their agents act.

If I had employees treating their customers in this way I would be livid, but in the instance I wrote about something tells me that the agent picked up his arrogance from the supplier… any guesses which supplier it was?!

THE SECRET SUPPLIER

Keep calm Mr Independent This has nothing to do with agents and everything to do with managing emotions

D

oes The Independent need to take an anger management course?

This month’s column suggests that life might be easier, and perhaps more productive, if he did not let other people’s arrogance and attitude get under his skin.

The Independent’s column has very little to do with the toy industry and much more to do with how good management needs to be applied to difficult situations.

All of us come face-to-face with people who have the skill to make us angry and in The Independent’s case, violently angry!

This is an inevitable fact of life and the test for all of us is how best to manage these situations.

In The Independent’s case his anger meter is pushed off-thescale by the arrogance and attitude of a particular agent. But let’s be clear, this is not a story about agents but it is story about someone who has the ability to make the Independent really angry. I had a close friend who was a passionate Brexiteer and who had the ability to make me feel really angry every time I

22

read one of his diabolical emails. The solution was in my hands and I just stopped reading his emails and we have gone our separate ways.

Similarly, The Independent needs to manage the situation, because we all know that when we are angry we sometimes make the wrong decision. Our logic and discretion vanish, leaving us at a disadvantage when dealing with annoying people.

We need to keep cool and think strategically so that we seek out a solution that delivers the best result for ourselves. In the case that The Independent highlights, the quick and easy solution is simply not to stock the agent’s products. If this is economically ill-advised then he must cut the agent from the process by seeking a direct meeting with the supplier themselves.

Most suppliers will have the flexibility to compromise with a retailer if that retailer is equally prepared to compromise. In that context The Independent may need to revisit his “list of issues”.

Being angry is a waste of good time, so Mr Independent be calm and live longer!

toysnplaythings.co.uk

RETAIL

OPINION

“Wonderful times at the largest toy store!”, “an amazing place”, “we loved shopping in here, it was brilliant!”.

These are just a few of the online encomiums referring to Hamleys on TripAdvisor - it’s fair to say that on the strength of these recommendations, you might be inclined to head to the Regent Street behemoth.

For retailers, of whatever kind, online praise can only be good and, as all of it comes from unpaid third parties, it’s fair to say they may actually mean something to those The first thing is to fess up, even if the fault is not yours, reading them. and to empathise with the problem your customer has There have, in the past, been instances of companies encountered. who post online reviews of their ranges, shops and suchlike Practically, this means saying “sorry” and then getting and if this is rumbled, the results can be disastrous for the the individual’s details and taking the problem offline. If this retailer involved. Happily, this kind of practice is largely a is done successfully, the chances are good that you will be thing of yesteryear and when the shopper comes to look at forgiven and you may even find a new comment appears an outfit like Hamleys, there are thousands of reviews to sift praising you for the manner in which things have been through, so what tends to happen is that a mental average dealt with. At worst, there will be no further problems and is formed, based on what has been written. you may actually have added a loyal customer to the list of All fine and dandy then, and while a toy shop may have those who come to your store in preference to others. no control over what is written about it, if the balance This sort of thing costs money, of course, purely in terms of reviews is positive, there is little to worry about. The of the time required to get things back on the straight and real crunch, however, comes when reviews are less than narrow, but if it is regarded as part and parcel of the online glowing. And they can take any form, with service, store marketing effort, then it can be absorbed. ambiance, product range or even the ice cream in the kid’s More to the point, peer-to-peer reviews about a toy restaurant swaying the balance. shop are very powerful and may be more likely to win The point for a retailer who gets bad reviews is that they shoppers than any of the usual advertising that you may may actually be almost totally unfair. But it is how it is dealt feel tempted to pay for. with that will determine what others think. Whatever the The fact of the matter is that, dealt with swiftly and reason for the bad customer experience, it is what happens appropriately, negative online reviews can actually make next that matters. you a better retailer in the long term. The weak links in an Speed is of the essence. Let a poor review otherwise flawless retail chain may have been linger for a day or two, and opinions will The first cruelly exposed, but these comments do put crystallise… and the outcome for your image thing is to fess you in a position to do something about them. will not be good.

If you’re fortunate enough to be the recipient up, even if the solely of glowing reviews, then you are pretty fault is not unusual. Best then to regard online criticism yours, and to as a call to action, the sort of thing you’ve been meaning to do, but haven’t got empathise round to. The fact that this kind of with the is needed is part of the problem your prompt rough and tumble of being a good customer has retailer. And while Hamleys looks, encountered. on the face of it, like the perfect toy shop, you can be sure that if you sift through the myriad online reviews there will be a few glitches that need ironing out. The internet has given the lone consumer a much louder voice than in former times and it needs to be listened to. Simple stuff, but so easily overlooked.

“

Online reviews may not always be as good as you might wish, but it is how you deal with them that will determine your class as a toy retailer, says John Ryan

”

John Ryan is Stores Editor at Retail Week. He has worked for the magazine for more than a decade covering store design, visual merchandising and what makes things sell in-store. In a previous life he was a buyer.

AUGUST 2016

1

RETAIL

OPINION

Toy talk Retailers are important to us here at TnP. We love chatting to them each month to get industry insights into what is selling well and we ask some key questions...

TnP loves to hear your views. This month we chat with retailers around the country to see what trends are emerging, and they tell us if the future if looking bright for them

BRETT JARVIS Eko Toys, Maldon, Essex

BILL DEAKIN Silly Billy’s Toy Shop Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire Bill opened his store 19 years ago in the picturesque town and has recently moved premises because of a devastating flood on Boxing Day of last year.

Bill, how is business?

We are trading really well and that’s really pleasing given the flood, the closure of my original premises, the three-month hiatus and now being in a new location!

The shop is brand-spanking-new but full of the charming mix of traditional, collectable and popular toys kids love to play with.

What new things are you doing to attract customers?

We have tried a few initiatives to keep people’s awareness of us strong because of the location change. There are a few sandwich boards dotted around the town centre and next year we will be a sponsor of our town map which the local tourist centre hands out. For us, it was a cost-effective but big impact exercise and we know it will really boost us even further.

How is the success of Pokémon Go effecting your business?

We have always done good business with Pokémon. I have stocked it ever since it launched in the UK — in those days it was colossal. I’ve got five CDUs coming next week and am ordering boxes and boxes a week and selling out — terrific!

What else has been giving you a lift?

At the beginning of the year we did well with Star Monsters and also with Grossman’s Flashing Dragons — but cannot get hold of those and we really want them! My LEGO Minifigures are consistently excellent too, but far and away the best is Flair’s Shopkins. It’s really smashing, we want more, and need more! And I cannot talk highly enough of Sylvanian Families — it’s rocketing, long may it continue!

What kind of customers do you have in your store, Bill?

We have a good mix of locals who know and love us and have shopped here for many years, as well as the tourists. Come into my shop on any given day during the holidays seasons and you will bump into folks from New York, Chicago, Darwin and Auckland all rubbing shoulders with day-trippers. It’s great!

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The Eko Toys team are now nicely settled in after moving to a better location on Maldon High Street last year. The shop itself is smaller, but as Brett says, location, location, location is everything.

Has the success of Pokémon Go resulted in an uplift in Pokémon product?

The Pokémon trading cards are going very well, and that actually took off before the Pokémon Go app. The children at the local school all of a sudden decided to start collecting the cards, and we’ve been very well supported by them. It’s continuing to be very popular.

What are kids buying this summer?

Other than Pokémon, Depesche’s Top Model is selling really well — mainly with the girls. Bunch O Balloons and other water bombs are also selling, although bizarrely not paddling pools.

Have you noticed a lot more grandparents buy products because they are looking after the grandkids, and what sort of things do they buy?

Yes, but we get an influx of people from outside of town. We’re surrounded by three or four big caravan parks, so lots of holiday-making families come into the shop over the summer. Shopkins, Grossery Gang and other collectables have been good so far, as well as some of the Papo figurines.

Have there been any little surprises either in terms of products or licences that are really doing well or better than expected?

Pokémon has been the big surprise for me. We also took a punt on Yu-Gi-Oh after we were asked for it a few times. That’s another trading card game, and that’s actually done pretty well coming from nowhere.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Tweet Talk Share your thoughts with us and keep up to date with all things TnP on Twitter @toysnplaythings MARK MITCHELL Crocodile Toy Shop, Cirencester, ster, Gloucestershire Glouc ce es stershire The Crocodile Toy Shop team have had their work cut out this year, producing their very own catalogue to promote the incredible toys and brands shoppers can find in-store and online What are kids buying this summer?

We have the typical summer stuff uff like kites going out the door, but come rain or shine our best seller remains LEGO. It’s actually been the grownup-facing sets like LEGO Technic and LEGO Architecture that have been popular recently, along with the new August lines, LEGO Ninjago and the favourites like LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City and LEGO Friends.

Have you noticed a lot more grandparents buy products because they are looking after the grandkids, and what sort of things do they buy?

Absolutely, and they’re coming in to spend around £15 to £25 for something to keep the kids entertained for a while. Grandparents tend to be mainly interested in our two major segments, LEGO and wooden toys, so that’s great. The rest of our ranges slot in after that — craft kits is another biggish one.

Have there been any little surprises either in terms of products or licences that are really doing well or better than expected?

The fact that people are walking around with their heads buried in their phone playing Pokémon Go. I can’t believe so many people, mainly adults!, are so obsessed with a game on the phone in their hands.

JANE REES Eve’s Toy Shop, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales Jane has been running her family business in the beautiful town of Llandeilo for 12 years. “I’ve stuck it out; I must be mad,” she jokes.

What are kids buying this summer?

I’m selling lots of Kinetic Sand from Spin Master, and Depesche’s Top Model continues to go quickly, too. We’re also doing well with a range of gardening tools for children, which are great for getting the little ones out and busy in the sun.

Have you noticed a lot more grandparents buying products because they are looking after the grandkids? What sort of things do they buy?

Yes, we do get more grandparents come into the shop — usually accompanied by the whole family. We have a lot of people come here to visit family over the summer, and it’s nice to see them all each year.

Grandparents tend to look for slightly more traditional toys, and toys with better quality.

AUGUST 2016

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RETAIL

Argos held its annual top toys showcase in Victoria House, Bloomsbury, London

ARGOS TOP TOYS

Christmas comes early Argos has revealed the annual list of eclectic toys its buyers believe will be the most soughtafter this festive season. TnP’s Rhys Thomas spoke to Linzi Walker, Trading Manager Toys and Nursery at Argos, during the Christmas in July event in London to delve into the selection process, this year’s trends, and the secrets to identifying a winner early on Linzi, before we get stuck into this year’s top toys list, how healthy is the toy industry as we head into the second half of the year?

I think it’s been pretty robust as we come into Autumn/Winter. The market dynamic is changing from what’s been really popular so far, and that’s collectable ranges - Shopkins in particular. So I’m quite excited to have Autumn/ Winter land because that’s certainly where Argos come into their own.

We have some super top toys that I’m really excited about, and some really big movies coming up too, namely Trolls and Star Wars. There’s lots to look forward to for this Christmas in the toy industry, and some brilliant toys for kids, which is what it’s all about.

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What’s important for me is that the toys themselves have a lot of play as soon as you get them out of the box

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And as a real leader in the world of omnichannel retail, how are customers choosing to shop for toys at Argos, and how is this changing?

We’re seeing our transactions online now accounting for over 50 per cent of the total.

And there’s a shift in the way consumers are coming onto the site, and that’s very much through mobile, with around 70 per cent visiting us online in this way. What we’re really working hard on is making that journey easier for shoppers, because let’s face it, it’s not always easy on mobile. We’re working hard on helping customers find what they want quickly, and making the browsability on mobile much, much better. But interestingly, what we’re still

seeing is that about 80 per cent of customers still want to come into store to pick up the products they purchase. Using our stores in lots of locations, and with our new Fast Track delivery, we now have over 20,000 products available for same day delivery, whether that’s to a local store or to your home.

For us it’s really all about how we get products in customers’ hands, when they want it and how they want it. I think that’s the evolution: it’s more around distribution and how we get products to them, and how we make that overall journey simple and as quick as possible.

You unveiled your predicted top toys for Christmas 2016 in June.

How do you choose them?

If I’m being honest, the top five or six toys almost pick themselves.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

They’re so magical, or they build on a historical popularity, and you kind of just know. We all sit down as a team and really debate what’s going to make this list, but we’re more or less aligned on the top half of it. You get a gut feeling with these toys that have a history, and you know they’re going to be as popular as before. And with their modern twists they’re going to be really, really exciting.

There’s some debate between the buyers, but we all agree in the end that this is a list of what we believe will be the most soughtafter toys. We don’t come at it with a need to find some sort of balance; we really want the toys to speak for themselves and stand up on their own two feet. Obviously we do look at what sells, and we look at what’s popular now and see if that’s going to trend for Autumn/ Winter. But there are always one or two toys that are just magical and give you real awe and excitement — we just have to pick them.

What does the Christmas list tell us about overall trends/ patterns in the toy industry in 2016?

We’re still seeing toys with connectivity that merge the physical toy with enhancements from online, through an app or your mobile phone. But what’s important for me is that the toys themselves have a lot of play

as soon as you get them out of the box.

Which toys in the list epitomise that?

Furby for me is a brilliant example.

We have the brand new Furby Connect, which has just been added to our list as What’s it’s only just been released. really Furby has been around since important to the nineties, and has topped me is that a the charts twice in the child will play last five years as the most with a toy for popular toy being sold in the UK. So it will be amazing to as long as me if it’s not the number one possible toy for this Christmas.

What I love about the new Furby is that as soon as you get it out of the box it’s absolutely gorgeous and really super soft. He has full-colour eyes, which we’ve not seen before; more movement; his ears move and therefore he has more character; he has over 1000

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Argos’ top toys for Christmas 2016 Furby Connect Hasbro Zoomer Chimp Spin Master PAW Patrol Air Patroller Spin Master LEGO City Volcano LEGO VTech Toot-Toot Drivers Goldmine VTech Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike Hasbro Tiny Treasures Baby Doll Chad Valley SelfieMic Worlds Apart Design a Friend Tiffany Chad Valley Snuggles My Dream Puppy Character Options Fisher-Price Code-a-Pillar Mattel BB-8 Hasbro

phrases built-in - so there’s loads to play with straight away. He’s still going to learn like the old Furby did, but what you can do now is download the app, and that can be played with by itself or it can be used with Furby. Furby will know what you’re doing on the app, so if you play a song, Furby will sing along.

It’s taking Furby to a whole new level, and its taking that connection with physical and digital to a whole new level. That’s what I think is really key for kids: that they have a bit of both, and that’s why it will be a big success.

Do you think we will see more toys that mix physical with enhancements through connectivity and app interaction?

We won’t necessarily see more of it. But I will be amazed if over the next three or four years we don’t see a few toys on the list each year that do that connectivity between digital and physical.

The Selfie Mic is a great example of this. For everybody — well, certainly for me — a favourite toy from childhood was the karaoke machine. With the Selfie Mic you now get that same capability, and a whole lot more. You can make your own videos, you can put your own pictures on it, and you can do that all by yourself for less than £20, which I think is just brilliant value for money - I love that. We need it round the office actually; I’d quite like to have a selfie-karaoke competition.

Is having an educational slant, particularly with the importance now placed on STEAM, a real selling point for a modern toy?

I think it is with preschoolers. I think toys have to do two jobs: mums want to feel that they’re doing the right thing for their child by helping them develop and learn, and the child has to be entertained and

Argos’ top toys for Christmas

AUGUST 2016

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Spin Master’s Zoomer Chimp

Chad Valley’s Tiny Treasures

Linzi’s top picks Tiny Treasures - Chad Valley: “One of my absolute personal favourites, for me it is a doll like no other. It’s really life-like, it’s weighted to feel like a newborn baby, especially the way it moves, with its head and arms replicating the movements of a newborn baby — and it even smells like a newborn. This baby has not left my sixyear-old’s side.”

Code-a-Pillar - Fisher-Price: “This comes from Fisher-Price, a great pre-school brand that needs no explanation. This is quite a traditional toy really: a pull-along caterpillar which we’re all familiar with. But it incorporates coding, which is a hot topic right now, so this is young ones’ first go at coding. It’s really good for learning.”

Design a Friend - Chad Valley: “We’ve expanded this range a lot for autumn/winter, with more dolls, outfits and furniture sets. New feature dolls include Tiffany, with extra long, beautiful hair and a ballgown, and the box opens up into a catwalk because we know that’s how kids want to play with her.”

Zoomer Chimp - Spin Master: “I saw him for the first time in January and was blown away with it. He’s so like a real monkey: he has over 100 moves, acrobatics, he’s fun and cheeky, and kids love anything that farts which he does.

I’m expecting big things.”

LEGO City Volcano - LEGO: “No top toys list is complete without the hottest toy from LEGO. The new LEGO City Volcano has a lot of building and play, and plenty of interactivity too. The volcano explodes, the balls pop out and it has loads of accessories like scientist Minifigures and drones.”

LEGO City Volcano

Eager children enjoyed the Christmas in July showcase

not get bored quickly. If it does both of those things then I think you’ve got a winner on your hands - and the Code-A-Pillar does.

because there’s been so much hype and chat around that, we’ve actually reviewed our Autumn/ Winter range and selection within the last couple of weeks to seize on that opportunity that we think is Do you notice an immediate pickgoing to be popular. up in sales of the toys featured on We absolutely try and keep the Argos Christmas list? our finger on the pulse on what We probably will now as our new people are talking about and Autumn/Winter ranges launch what the trends are. We look at soon after this event. What’s what kids are watching on TV, but also important is we see loads of now also on YouTube, and chatter on social media. what parents are saying on So while we may see If I’m social media and MumsNet. a bit of an uplift salesbeing honest, It all helps to support how wise, we certainly see the top five or we communicate our toy mums talking around six toys almost offering, and choose what what they think they pick themselves. we might want to focus on at might buy for their kids They’re so Christmas. this Christmas.

I think that’s why it’s magical important for us to What makes a winning Christmas announce the list this early on in toy, in your view? the season, because people like to get an idea and it can be quite For me the number one thing overwhelming: there are so many about a toy is that excitement and toys to choose from. So if we can awe factor. For instance, you might help them decide what we think look at Zoomer Chimp and imagine will be great value for money and what it can do, but it actually the toys that the kids will want exceeds that and blows your mind under the tree, then I think that - that is the real excitement of a gives them a bit of comfort and super good toy. helps them plan for Christmas.

What’s really important to me is that a child will play with a toy for Do you take a lot of your buying as long as possible. The more a toy or reordering cues from social can do, firstly out the box, and then by adding to it to keep playing in media and what’s buzzing lots of different ways, the better. online?

If I see a toy for the very first We do look on social media, time and I get goosebumps and and Pokémon is a really good am wowed by it, then you’re example that is hot - really, guaranteed a winner. There’s really hot - right now. I think certainly a couple of toys within our that’s taken the toy industry Christmas list that have done that. a little bit by surprise. And

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toysnplaythings.co.uk

COVER FEATURE LEAPFROG

Start with a leap LeapFrog has launched its LeapStart range of devices — here they tell TnP why the range is so special, and what sort of support retailers can expect from the company

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Today’s parents realise that learning is more than just the alphabet and 1-2-3s – it’s also about problem solving and critical thinking Jody Sherman LeVos, PhD, Director of Learning at LeapFrog

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eapFrog has introduced something special to its range — LeapStart — a brand new interactive learning system.

Designed to help build key skills for school, the system works with a library of replayable activity bookson everything from maths, literacy and phonics, science, problem solving, and much more.

There are two LeapStart devices, one for pre-schoolers and one for children in their first years of primary school, both jampacked with school and life skills for curious two to seven year olds.

Available now, LeapStart retails at £34.99 RRP, with 16 activity books each sold separately for £9.99 RRP. Spanning four learning levels, each book works with LeapStart and there are four books at each learning level which together teach more

than 50 key skills; from the alphabet and 1-2-3s to space science, basic coding and educational problem solving.

The LeapStart launch is supported by a heavyweight TV campaign with more than 1,000 TVRs, as well as an online digital and CRM campaign set to gain over 15 million impressions.

Full working demo units will be available for retailers, as well as demo videos, POS and FSDUs to strengthen the LeapFrog brand, boost sales and create maximum impact within stores.

The unveiling of LeapStart was supported by an online competition — consumers were encouraged to show their child in a #LeapStart learning moment on Facebook or Twitter with winners scooping a £225 prize pack. LeapStart will also be included in the incredibly popular Title of the Month competition which LeapFrog runs on its Facebook page each month, offering followers the chance to win a LeapStart book by answering a question based on the theme of that particular title.

Did you know…

A dark post is a bespoke piece of marketing content that populates relevant users’ Facebook news-feeds, but does not appear as a post on the creator’s own page. It allows brands to engage only with their target audience.

AUGUST 2013

In the run up to the LeapStart release date, a series of targeted dark posts were placed on Facebook, promoting a pre-order available at retail and encouraging clicks straight through to retailer websites.

On top of that, LeapFrog is working with the online mummy vlogger community Channel Mum, to create a series of videos following four mums as they prepare their family for starting school.

The LeapStart campaign is also being supported by parenting expert Liat Hughes Joshi who has given tips and advice on how parents can address their own fears and excitement ahead of the first day at school.

“Today’s parents realise that learning is more than just the alphabet and 1-2-3s — it’s also about problem solving and critical thinking. That’s why LeapFrog’s focus is on 21st century learning, a framework that includes the foundational skills kids have always and will always need, such as the ability to adapt to changing technology, collaboration skills, and perseverance,” says Jody Sherman LeVos, PhD, Director of Learning at LeapFrog. “Through funfilled activities and engaging adventures that progress one step at a time, the LeapStart interactive activity book system brings learning to life to provide children with the tools they’ll need to thrive in tomorrow’s world”.

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SPONSORED FEATURE

Stacked in your favour A new word game is hitting retail and you need to be in on the action!

WordStacker from Ingenium Games is fast, competitive but best of all, it’s fun.

TnP finds out more from directors Anna Whitehead and Matt Knott

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hat happens when an exHasbro producer/ designer meets a published games developer?

Ingenium Games happens.

But more importantly, WordStacker — the company’s first game to launch at retail — happens.

Graphic designer Matt Knott and developer Anna Whitehead, who also has a background in the licensing industry, came across each other when Anna was on the lookout for a designer.

“I wanted to bring games to market,” explains Anna, “but I needed a graphic designer. It was through networking that I met Matt.”

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With WordStacker, you can play strategically and even sabotage other players so it’s really interactive and you can play with all of the family.

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Anna Whitehead, Ingenium Games

That was 18 months ago and today, Matt and Anna are presenting Stock will be available from WordStacker, an ingenious new game, September 2016 to retailers. They’ve already had interest from not deter Anna and Matt, in fact, distributors, and they’ve got the it only strengthened their resolve thumbs up from retailers too with to push ahead. They embarked on commitments already secured to a successful Kickstarter campaign stock the game. (they were fully-funded after 59 To top it all off, WordStacker hours!) which armed them with has got the all-important seal enough revenue to get Ingenium of approval from The Good Toy Games on the road — and now, Guide, something parents and WordStacker is ready for retail. retailers look out for, and love to “This is a mass market game,” see, on a product. they say. “It belongs on the shelves Ingenium Games brought with Scrabble and Bananagrams.”

WordStacker to London Toy Fair Much like it says on the tin, 2016 and the reception was so WordStacker is a word game, but positive it gave Anna and Matt Scrabble it is not. enough encouragement to “I love word games,” says Anna. plough ahead with their plans.

“But it’s always frustrating to lose A partner was due to to a clever clogs!” come on board, but The premise behind WordStacker as often happens is simple — it’s a card game, a word in business, they game and you don’t need to be pulled out at the fluent in Latin to win. last minute.

“I wanted to create a game where This did you don’t have to know a lot of clever words to win,” says Anna.

“You don’t have to sit in silence over a board. With WordStacker, you can play strategically and even sabotage other players so it’s really interactive and you can play with all

Did you know…

Fact The game is for two to six players aged 10+... and it’s a lot of fun!

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toysnplaythings.co.uk

Fact The WordStacker Kickstarter fund set up

by Anna and Matt was fully-funded after 59 hours!

Who’s who of the family — a ten-year-old can beat a grown-up.”

We In a nutshell, that is the beauty of the game, didn’t want WordStacker is inclusive and the packaging everyone has a chance to win. to be fussy – With Matt being a graphic the logo is, in designer, the look and feel of the packaging was important essence, to Ingenium. It has to stand showing you out on the shelves, but Anna how to play was clear she wanted it to feel like a classic. the game.

“The game has massive replay value so we didn’t Matt Knott, want to use on-trend colours, Ingenium Games we wanted the packaging to have a sense of a long-lasting classic.”

Matts adds: “We didn’t want the packaging to be fussy, the logo is, in essence, showing you how to play the game. We wanted it to appeal to young and old, as well as having the feeling of a well-loved classic.”

Under the Ingenium Games banner, Matt and Anna have plenty of other tricks up their sleeves — with a younger version of WordStacker currently proving popular in play-testing, and

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several other games currently in development.

“There are no restrictions on what we can do,” says Matt, with Anna adding, “we are very keen not to be seen as a one-trickpony so we do want to push on with other projects too.”

So what can you expect to see coming to market from Ingenium Games, other than WordStacker and WordStacker Junior?

“There is a lot,” laughs Anna.

“We have party games, afterdinner games, and more board games. We want to be perceived as a company with a broad range.”

With WordStacker ready and waiting — Matt and Anna say they see the game sitting comfortably on indie retailers’ shelves, as well as stores such as Waterstones, John Lewis and Waitrose. And they will also be opening their own Amazon store to reach consumers too.

Watch this space because Ingenium Games is going to be a name on everybody’s lips and, as they say themselves, stack-isfaction is guaranteed.

Matt Knott: Ex-Technicolor and producer/designer Matt Knott has made entertainment and gaming products for all of the major Hollywood film studios, global music labels and gaming mega brands.

Anna Whitehead: With a background in the licensing industry, Anna Whitehead has worked with the biggest brands in the world; Disney, Star Wars and Peppa Pig to name but a few.

Calling all retailers!

Retailers interested in stocking the game can give Ingenium Games a call on +44 1706 232 131 or visit www.ingeniumgames.com where you will find a full rundown on how to play WordStacker and a special link with all of the details retailers need to know.

AUGUST 2016

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GUEST

COLUMN

Connected childhoods T Google’s Project Bloks — an effort to teach kids the basics in computer coding — is a sign of the times says Ellie Dent, from strategic brand design firm Webb deVlam

Contact Webb deVlam Web: www.webbdevlam.com Email:london@webbdevlam.com Tel:020 7202 4720

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he world is changing, perhaps faster than ever before. Even parenthood and childhood — states as old as humanity — are morphing at great speed as technology and attitudes change and adapt. Social, environmental and technical trends and developments have all meant that new types of children have emerged, and with them new types of parent and different parenting styles. The pressure is on for brands to adapt too, if they want to capture the attention and affection of tech-savvy parents and their children, who will be the most digitally literate, socially connected individuals the world has ever seen to date. Google’s

devices and interactive technology in the same way that older generations used blackboards. This ability to access a wider network of resources and enable and encourage more interaction and participation is hugely positive, but of course there is also increasing pressure for parents and teachers to set boundaries from an early age.

Safe and sound

Safety is one aspect, as access to the internet and online content obviously presents dangers that children need to be protected from. However, some brands have already begun to put measures in place to tackle this issue, for example the launch of Project Bloks was the brand’s effort to make BBC has introduced ‘iPlayer kids’ and several child-friendly coding physical for youngsters, search engines are now emerging which tapping into children’s filter out adult-only content.

The pressure is on natural instincts to touch and Another concern is perceived over-use. for brands to adapt too, if Many parents welcome the distraction that manipulate objects and turn those behaviours into code. devices and technology provide for their they want to capture the This is not the first time that attention and affection of children, much in the same way that TV and a big brand has introduced video did before them. Yet there is growing tech-savvy parents and the idea of teaching young social pressure to limit time on these their children children modern skills through devices, so that children don’t become overplay, but it is a growing trend. reliant, or choose to spend all of their time inside, which could be said to remove them Redefining modern parenthood from outdoor and social play.

Today’s young children are absolutely used to devices, Rewarding curiosity toys and tools that are connected, interactive and The challenge for brands is to strike a balance here. driven by technology. Their parents, meanwhile, are Any brand offering a technological, interactive element, the first generation to make the transition to modern will be appealing to an audience of children for whom technology, redefining what it means to be a parent. this technology is not only exciting, but entirely natural.

They use social media to share and collect ideas, they And they will be appealing to parents who celebrate often diarise their lives and the lives of their children the independence, education and opportunity that this online and most importantly for brands, they look for technology offers their children. information about products and services largely online.

Using branding, packaging and marketing that enforces Interactive technology, connectivity and devices these positive messages will help to allay the fears around may be relatively new to anyone over 30, and even safety and overuse, and instead tap into the idea that these alien to older generations, but for many younger modern tools can enrich and empower our children. What children, they have been surrounded by it all their lives.

Google is doing with Project Bloks is introducing children As a consequence, research shows us that children from an early age into the world they are inheriting: a world experience technology in an emotional way. They don’t driven by connectivity, technology and computerised see it as being separate to themselves, but rather an intelligence. extension of their human experience. They see play as This may seem advanced, complicated, and even scary to ‘one reality’ among many, and technology and devices those of us who have only accessed these tools recently, but empower them to experience and participate in this to the youngest generation, this world is intuitive to them, reality. and brands should embrace this fact and deliver products As such, technology is considered to be an essential that foster this insatiable sense of learning and creativity. tool for childhood — it’s part of their life and enables them to have enriched experiences. Schools use

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toysnplaythings.co.uk

GUEST

COLUMN

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SUCCESS We all know and love LEGO — it is a friend to many retailer.

Mariann Wenckheim, Director at strategic design consultancy 20.20 suggests retailers will prosper if they embrace the spirit of the brand

Many people have fond memories of playing with LEGO and even today, when children are surrounded by electronic devices, it remains as popular as ever. When children walk into any toy store they are immediately drawn to the colourful blocks which they associate with creativity, fun, and learning.

LEGO is continually evolving by tapping into new trends, with its tie-ins with Star Wars and Harry Potter, and the launch of their widely successful feature film. The reach and expansion of LEGO is global.

But it is more than a toy; it’s an expression of creativity that allows everyone to engage with a product to create something straight from their imagination. This is deeply ingrained in our psychology people love to make things.

LEGO bridges the gender gap perfectly.

Traditionally mothers and grandparents buy toys, but LEGO has seen fathers become more involved over the years. The brand itself is equally for girls and boys and there is no reason why either sex shouldn’t be building the same things.

AUGUST 2016

Playing with LEGO is an activity that parents and children can enjoy together, whether it is on the kitchen table or on the floor. Unlike other games, adults get down to the same level as their children during this shared playtime. Each has their own role to play and gives them the chance to spend quality time together.

When it comes to retail, a little imagination can go a long way.

Children love nothing more than exploring a new environment and playing with toys they discover along the way.

When we created the new Early Learning Centre concept for Mothercare, we introduced features such as a hot air balloon that young shoppers could climb into and a reading tree where they could pick books from the branches.

Store size itself isn’t too important, what matters is that the space encourages play. Shop owners

Toymaster’s recent LEGO window display

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It is more than a toy; it’s an expression of creativity that allows everyone to engage with a product to create something straight from their imagination

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and managers should look for imaginative ways to engage with children, perhaps with dedicated workshops, demonstrations from experts or launch events.

Toy retailing is dependent on the next big hit, but LEGO’s leadership shows that human values of play are crucial to success. With a little imagination, smaller retailers can communicate the spirit of brands like LEGO, building on the products they stock with a winning experience that will have customers returning to their stores to play together.

Contact 20.20, web: www.20.20. co.uk, email: info@20.20.co.uk, tel: 020 7383 7071.

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FOCUS C

POKÉMON GO O

r o f g n i Go Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm, but what is it, why is it so popular, and how is it making an impact at retail? TnP explains all

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he world has caught Pokémon fever. The Pokémon Go app launched in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in July, and millions of players of all ages are downloading it to their smartphones and embarking on their own quest to catch ‘em all.

Launched 20 years ago in Japan, the Pokémon video game soon became a global phenomenon, spawning a TV series, toys, collectable card games and licensed merchandise of all varieties. With the release of Pokémon Go in July, Pikachu and pals burst back onto the scene in a big way. But why has it been such a runaway success?

The concept of Pokémon Go is not new. The game’s developer Niantic launched a similar game called Ingress in 2013, a game that also tracked players’ positions and used augmented reality technology to let them battle it out for real world hotspots in their proximity.

But with a fresh lick of officially licensed Poké-paint, and some refinements to make the gameplay even more compelling, Pokémon Go

appeals not only to today’s school children, but to the millennial, 20 and 30 something men and women who the collectable brand was originally marketed too.

With such mass appeal and recognition, a sprinkle of nostalgia, and a magical use of all the sophisticated technology we forget is inside modern smartphones, the Pokémon Go sensation took off.

Reinvigorated Certainly recognition of the Pokémon brand has skyrocketed in the wake of the app’s launch. The brand has been steadily popular throughout its 20 years, but Pokémon Go has catapulted it to the top of 2016’s hot list. Ben Hogg, Marketing Manager at Esdevium, which distributes the collectable Pokémon trading card game (TCG), says the

CONSUMERS SAY… “I loved Pokémon when I was in school, and one of my most vivid memories is swapping Pokémon cards in the playground and talking about the game. There’s lots of nostalgia wrapped up in it for people my age, so I thought I’d try Pokémon Go out to see if it recaptured any of that magic — and now I’m hooked. I haven’t seen this many people excited and talking about Pokémon since the good old days.” Joshie Davies, 25

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What is Pokémon Go? Pokémon Go is a downloadable app game for smartphones that tasks players with collecting all 151 original Pokémon characters. The phone tracks the position of players and how many steps they have taken to determine which Pokemon are nearby. Players can then attempt a mini-game to snag the critters in a Pokéball and add them to their collection. Advanced players with rare and powerful Pokémon can battle and and claim territory, known as Gyms, for bragging rights and greater rewards.

attention has boosted an already “landmark year” for the brand.

“We have not seen the same excitement around the brand since the original UK launch back in the late 1990s,” he says. “TCG sales are up around eight times the level we saw back in 2012 and over 100 per cent year-on-year from 2015. The 20th anniversary box sets we have released across 2016 have been real drivers for interest in the Pokémon TCG. With the winter release of the new video games, there is plenty to be excited about for Pokémon even before the launch of Pokémon Go.” It’s still too early for Ben to see what impact the popularity of Pokémon Go has had on sales of the trading cards, but he is confident the impact will be

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d l o g

Hitting headlines Pokémon Go is hitting the headlines of national newspapers and news sites daily. Here are just some of the biggest stories:

Pokémon in numbers Over 21.5 billion cards shipped worldwide 72.3 million box office moviegoers 400 licensees worldwide 280 million units Pokémon-related software sold TV show aired in 95 countries to date

positive, but “just how positive we do not yet know”. Ben also says the furore surrounding its launch “generated plenty of additional interest in Pokémon from our retailers”, with more shops looking to capitalise on the phenomenon.

At retail With more fans and consumers of all ages heading to shops to pick-up licensed Pokémon toys and merchandise in the UK, Pokémon Go is having a more direct impact on footfall in other countries.

McDonald’s became the first brand to advertise in the game, transforming 3,000 of its restaurants in Japan into in-game hotspots known as Pokémon Gyms, which draw crowds of players to their real world locations to battle it out for rewards. The fast food giant is already reaping the benefits, linking the move with a boost to sales in the country. CEO Steve Easterbrook says the promotion is “doing great things for the business” in a recent earnings call. “It’s a global phenomenon, clearly.”

There are no

current plans for McDonalds to extend the commercial tie-up to territories outside Japan, but with the promotion already proving a hit, it’s only a matter of time before other brands take advantage of the opportunities.

So where now for Pokémon Go? Apple confirmed the app had been downloaded more times than any other during its first week on the App Store, although there are still no firm download numbers. And due to teething issues with the games’ servers, it isn’t even available in all territories it plans to launch in yet. So with more countries coming online, and a trickle of new feature updates and content to keep users coming back for more, Pokémon Go is here to stay.

Esdevium

AUGUST 2016

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FEATURE FARM TOYS

“

The farm theme has a strong tradition and is an established play world Jeremy Robinson, Schleich

”

Ploughing ahead Agricultural sets and figures are an enduring play concept for children the world over. TnP takes a closer look at this evergreen category and finds out the key times of year it reaps the biggest bounty

F

inding a winning new range or play theme doesn’t have to be like searching for a needle in a hay stack. Often, the classics are classics for a reason, and it’s why farm-themed toys, games and dress-up remains so popular — even with the rise of tablets, apps, or a little thing called Pokémon Go. Today’s kids are sophisticated, often knowing far more than their parents especially when it comes to technology — but that’s certainly not at the expense of more traditional play forms. There are many farmyard games on the market and we spoke to

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suppliers to get a better picture of consumer demands and how the category is performing.

James Triptree of The Sales Partnership for Bruder is in full agreement about children and technology but believes there is an inherent interest in farms and farming. “Despite modern technology kids love to touch, feel and play with traditional toys,” he says. “Bruder is a longestablished business, and both grandparents and parents will have played with their product range, so faith and confidence in the brand is high.”

Jamie Dickinson, Tomy Marketing Manager,

Playmobil, has noticed a trend in traditional games being popular with kids who, one might have thought, would have been too busy with their smartphones and tablets.

He says: “Traditional play themes reflect our everyday lives, and are very relatable. Outings to the farm often make great family activities and school trips, where children can learn about farm animals and growing fruit and vegetables through our Playmobil sets.

“Classic play themes have always been key to Playmobil sets. This year, retro toys have made a comeback, heavily supported by parents and grandparents’ nostalgia, and this is reflected in our popularity.”

Jeremy Robinson, Country Manager for Schleich UK, adds: “We have seen an on-going increase in sales since launching boxed play sets and Farm Life accessories.

“We look forward to second half of the year when the Large Farm and

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CONSUMER CORNER Mum Aoife loves that her boys Cian and Tadhg are so excited by farms.

“The boys love anything farm related, and we have Go faster dad! Tadhg and Cian on the farm so many of Schleich’s farm animals that we probably qualify as a registered farm!

But there’s a special place in their heart for tractors, and that’s one thing they can’t get enough of. We have everything from scale versions of real-life tractors to wooden puzzles and a shape sorter. It is a great theme though that’s very wholesome and active. It’s also surprisingly educational, as the boys learn the names and sounds of animals, and as they’re growing older why we farm them and how we use them in everyday life.”

Barn with animals and accessories will also be launched. These will be key items for our customers this year and we are expecting big Christmas sales.”

One might have thought What’s also that farm toys would, if not great about the hark back to nostalgia, at farm range is you least embrace it. This is can add so many certainly true, but many different products are modern and up-to-date says James. enclosures and “The most important animal sets thing for Bruder is to ensure licences are bang up to Jamie Dickinson, date,” he tells us. “If kids see Playmobil a new JCB on a building site, or a John Deere in a field, you can be sure Bruder are working on a toy version of it. Farm

“

”

Playmobil

AUGUST 2016

Bruder

related programmes or films help sell farm toys but are not as key as brand confidence.

“Innovation is always at the forefront of Bruder’s success. This starts from the specialist in-house design equipment through to the best tooling and production equipment in the industry. This ensures a consistently high quality product with a highly detailed finish.”

Playmobil’s Jamie tells us: “Licences are becoming increasingly popular in the toy market, and there may be area for new licensing ventures in the future.

“The Farm range includes lots of working farm machinery, and really reflects those used on a real farm.

What’s also great about the farm range is you can add so many different enclosures and animal sets.”

It is the reality of the toys that appeals to many adults, perhaps remembering their own trips to farms when they were younger.

“The farm theme has a strong tradition and is an established play world,” says Schleich’s Jeremy. “This theme is known to be one of the entry points to the Schleich range and our products are ideal for children to use their imagination and also learn about animal sounds and names.

“There are many educational opportunities that go along with the farm theme. We’ve recently produced a brochure on educational play the Schleich way, based on our pre-school Farm World and Wild Life ranges, which explains all about a child’s balanced play diet and how these toys can promote various skills.

“From early language skills to co-operative play, these types of toys can stimulate many of the different learning areas required for a healthy play diet.

“We also know that our products are

utilised in many learning environments such as nurseries and schools to help children better understand facts relating to animals and the wider environment.”

Like farming, farm toys have their own special times for sales.

“There are two strong selling periods for Bruder, which are summer and Christmas,” says James. “When the agricultural shows are in full swing in the summer, sales are great at the shows and also customers get to see the detailing of the range. There are of course mini spikes in sales all year round as new lines are released.”

Nostalgia, modernity, education, fun – it seems that farming toys have it all!

What the retailer says…

“Farming is still such a compelling play theme for so many kids because farm animals and farms feature very prominently in early learning activities, songs and stories, so inevitably children develop a strong connection with farming from a young age. Kids will literally spend hours playing pretend games with their favourite farm toys like tractors, trailers and farm animals. In terms of what sells well for us — it has to be tractors, trailers and farm animals. We find that John Deere and JCB are usually a big hit with the kids — it’s the instantly recognisable branding that they love!”

Julie Lowe, Farm Toys Online

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FEATURE FARM TOYS

Authentic experience BRUDER 01491 412415 (The Sales Partnership) www.bruder.de The new Fendt 1050 Vario is Fendt’s top of the range product model. This tractor really owns up to its attributes of being big, strong, and unique in design, handling and traction force. This is the first item in Bruder’s new 4000 series, representing outstanding attention to detail. It’s easy to play with, and it comes with the typical high levels of toughness and quality Bruder is wellknown and loved for.

The model also features established characteristics, such as the steerable front axle or the height-adjustable rear coupling to attach any Professional series trailer. Thanks to a unique steering system,

featuring a steering wheel that is extended through the cabin roof, these tractors can easily be handled. Brand new functions include a re-designed front mount to attach accessories, and re-developed axles with detachable wheels, which is a real highlight. Thanks to the enclosed mechanic figure including tools and jack, wheel changes and any other repairs can be recreated easily.

Dig in!

GOLDEN BEAR 01952 608308 www.goldenbeartoys.com

Stable mates DKL MARKETING

Golden Bear’s My First JCB range is a colourful, kid-tough pre-school construction vehicle range based on real life JCB vehicles. Perfect for outdoor and indoor play, My First JCB Fun Farm Tractor Tim has the recognisable big chunky wheels, and features a trailer with drop down tailgate.

The popular My First JCB collection is also set to expand this year with the introduction of Stacking Stanley. The biggest member of the My First JCB team - measuring a massive 43cm long – Stacking Stanley features six super-sized wheels.

Stanley also comes complete with five shape sorting blocks that can be matched to the corresponding shape within his bucket or stacked to create a tower. For added play value, Stanley has a manual tipping bucket which children can load, transport and tip.

01604 678780 www.dkl.co.uk AnaMalz is the eco-friendly range of poseable animal figurines for ages two years and up - all hand-painted using child-friendly paint and glue.

The Farm Yard AnaAmalz range consists of nine individual farm animals to collect, from a bull to a goose. Plus there’s the adorable AnaMalz Barn House where all of the wooden critters are welcome.

A percentage of every AniMal purchased is being donated to help preserve nature.

Breyer Classic model horses are a perfect addition to any farm. A variety of adorable sets include the English Horse and Rider, which feature foal and rider to provide children with hours of imaginative fun on the farm. Children will also enjoy the classic accessories, including the Country Stable with a built in wash stall and swinging hose, swinging roof, fencing, saddle racks and bridle hooks.

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Meet Bertie LE TOY VAN 020 8979 2036 www.letoyvan.com Bertie’s Tractor is a shiny red tractor and detachable trailer that comes complete with Budkin farmer Bertie. The Farmyard is a classic, painted wooden farmyard playset that includes a large barn with hay loft, a milking parlour, a stable, and a pigsty. It comes mounted on a detailed, decorated baseboard complete with movable fences. The playset is scaled to Budkins animals and characters.

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MARKETING SUPPORT DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

PR SUPPORT

ENHANCED INSTORE VISIBILITY

Animal Sounds Hayride

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT FARM PLAY FOR PRESCHOOLERS

Push and Roll Johnny Tractor

Remote Controlled Johnny Tractor

Johnny Tractor County Fair Wagon Ride

Call the sales department on 01392 281 928 or email UKCUSTOMERSERVICES@TOMY.COM

Barnstorming SCHLEICH 01279 870000 www.schleich-s.co.uk

Farmers’ market PLAYMOBIL 01268 548111 www.playmobil.co.uk Playmobil has a fantastic Farm range that is sure to put smiles on little ones’ faces this year, as budding agriculturalists get to grips with country life in Playmobil’s largest ever farm set.

Animal lovers will find the new Large Farm irresistible, with a huge number of animals to learn about and care for. Kids can muck out the pig pen, deliver bales of hay in the wheelbarrow, and put the chickens away to roost at night. Complete with stables, a tool shed and living area for the farmer to live, boys and girls can enjoy this set together.

There’s lots of fun to be had at the Farmer’s Market, where bargain hunters can haggle their home-grown fruit and vegetables. This set comes with an array of fresh goods, all easily transported in portable crates, cash till and weighing scales.

No farm would be complete without vital machinery, and the Playmobil Farm range doesn’t disappoint. The Large Tractor with Trailor has a fully-functioning frontloader to collect and transport hay bales from field to farm. Wind the wheel on the Hay Bale Conveyor to store bales high up in the barn.

The Playmobil Farm range also has lots of animal enclosures to add, including Rabbit Pen with Hutch, Ducks and Geese and Golden Retrievers with Toy, making them popular pre-school toys for little ones.

Grow your own story CHEATWELL GAMES 02392 524098 www.cheatwell.com Tell-a-Tale Farmyard is the guided storytelling game for children as young as three. It helps pre-schoolers grow and develop their storytelling skills. Popping down to the farm are the best-selling Animal Squeeze popper characters, including pig, cow, dog and squirrel. They shoot soft foam balls up to 20ft without the need for batteries.

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With Schleich’s vast collection of Farm World animals, little ones can learn as they play.

For 2016, young farm fans can look forward to a whole host of new products such as the My First Farm animals and Feeding on the Farm playsets. Launching this month, the new centrepiece of the Farm World range will be the Large Farm with animals and accessories playset, which, thanks to its many functions, will turn little animal lovers into big farmers. Little ones can look forward to great new figurines in the coming year: from cute dogs to large bulls. There are also plenty of new accessories to choose from. Like all Schleich products, the new Farm World figurines and playsets are designed with attention to detail and hand-painted with care. The pre-school portfolio will be supported by a substantial PR and marketing campaign for 2016.

Ranch hands PUPPET COMPANY 01462 446040 www.thepuppetcompany.com From dinosaurs, to birds, animals from under the sea and even mythical creatures, The Puppet Company has a puppet for everyone - and the farm offering certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Starting with the finger puppets, the farm animals set includes a pig, duck, cow, sheep, chicken and horse, and little ones can add to their farm-themed finger puppet collection with the black sheep, donkey and hen. For car journeys, kids can bring Old McDonald’s Farm to life with the horse, cockerel, cow, hen, pig, sheep, pig and duck CarPet. Designed to live in the glove compartment of every family car, CarPets make journeys entertaining and enjoyable for all. The Puppet Company’s long sleeved puppets feature lots of farmyard favourites, including a black sheep, cockerel, cow, donkey, duck, hen, pig, horse – almost every farm animal you can think of!

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just like the real thing

The Sales Partnership Distributors Ltd Ancastle House Gravel Hill Henley on Thames RG9 1TP Tel: 01491 412415 Fax: 01491 412915 Contact Name - James Triptree

FEATURE FARM TOYS

Next stop, the farm!

BIGJIGS TOYS 01303 250400 www.bigjigstoys.co.uk Young children love animal-themed toys, especially farm animals, and Bigjigs Toys has a great variety of wooden farm themed toys available.

Discover all the fun of the farm with Bigjigs Toys’ brightly coloured wooden Farm House Sorter. Little ones will enjoy matching each animal to its uniquely shaped slot on the wall of the farm house. Bigjigs Rail Farm Train Set is perfect for storytelling and creative play. Children can drive the farm train through the apple orchards and help the farmer deliver hay bales.

Bumper crop

Mix and match

TOMY 01392 281 928 www.tomy.com

GIBSONS

Britains offers a full range of in-scale farm models, including tractors, implements, vehicles and accessories. With over 94 years’ experience, the collection is constantly refreshed and updated to offer a range of models that children love using for farm toy role-play.

Tractors have been a big focus for Britains in 2016, and Tomy will continue to build its impressive portfolio of 1:32 scale models with the New Holland T7.315 tractor, a popular choice much like the original which boasts classleading responsiveness thanks to its lightweight construction.The New Holland T7.315 tractor features an enclosed driver’s cabin, big-tread tyres, oversize front wheels, superb interior detail, and front counterweight. Also new this summer is the classic David Brown 1412 tractor. This die cast model with enclosed drivers cab, interior and original decal detail makes it an ideal model for collectors.

Both vehicles also have a compatible tow hitch that can be used to attach all vehicles and machinery under 1:32 range from Britains.

Britains will expand its machinery and vehicle collection with the Ifor Williams Livestock Trailer, a sturdy and reliable transporter featuring triple axles and drop down tailgate that can be paired up with any vehicle or tractor on the farm. This year the brand will also unveil the Kuhn Gyrotedder, featuring adjustable wheels and folding arms to replicate working and transporting implements.

020 8661 8866 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk The My Farm Animals puzzle from Gibsons allows children to make all kinds of weird and wonderful creations, with eight mix-and-match puzzles of farmyard animals. After matching up the right tops to the right bottoms, the interchangeable pieces can be used to make combinations that children will find hilarious.

As with every My World product, My Farm Animals was created in conjunction with child psychologist and play specialist, Dr. Amanda Gummer, meaning it is perfect for teaching children all kinds of skills, such as vocabulary, logic and motor control.

Visit Funberry Farm SUNCREST 0116 232 8800 www.suncresttrading.com This year, Suncrest is showcasing a great new range of soft toys, including The Funberry Farm range. Inspired by the beautiful British countryside, the range includes Sunny Jim and his animal friends. Sunny Jim features soft sounds, baby safe mirror and a variation of textiles to encourage stimulation and interaction.

There’s lots of fun to be had with the Penny Pig Musical Toy. This small musical activity toy can enhance baby’s senses with contrasting colours, teething ring and popular nursery rhyme Old McDonald Had A Farm. The Reggie Rooster Activity Toy is a small activity toy to help enhance baby’s senses with its contrasting colours, varied textures and exciting soft sounds.

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FEATURE E FARM TOYS S

Foam farm GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543221 www.ggtrade.co.uk

Pony up ZAPF CREATION 0845 0533 333 www.baby-born.com BABY born is celebrating its 25th birthday this year with new product launches and PR initiatives. The newest theme launching this autumn will be BABY born Pony Farm, introducing new interactive role play toys and accessories.

For the first time ever, BABY born will have two multifunctional ponies, BABY born Sunny and her Baby.

Further product additions will include the all new BABY born Horse Stable. Created to look just like a real wooden stable, it comes with saddle and bridle hooks, feeding troughs, and sticker sheets for customisation.

The cute BABY born Deluxe Riding Outfit will add dress up play to the range. BABY born Pony Farm will be backed by entertainment and TV support, plus a major PR campaign. All products are suitable for children aged three years and above.

Great Gizmos has the perfect range of bath toys for budding farmers from popular Meadow Kids, designed to enhance family interaction and stimulate cognitive development.

The Build A Farm Bath Set comes complete with 28 colourful pieces so little ones can mix and match the blocks to build a farm and add plants and animals. The included bath stickers are great for children’s imagination.

Kids will have lots of fun with the Farmyard Floating Activity Bath Set, while learning all about animals, farmers and tractors. The set includes 12 foam pieces that float and stick to the tub. The set comes complete in a clear drainage bag with shower hook for easy storage.

Horse lovers will love the Build and Play Horse Stables Bath Toy, made of chunky, fun and colourful foam, this simple bath time construction can be assembled again and again. The kit includes two ponies, a stable and a horse and rider.

The Bath Time Build And Play Tractor comes in two sizes, small or large. Little ones can construct their own tractor, complete with turning wheels and have fun driving it around the bath. Both sets come with animals and a farmer to play with.

Fun on the Farm with Schleich in 2016!

Large farm with animals and accessories is a centrepiece for Farm World.

Key new launch for Christmas!

Further figurines, playsets and advent calendar available.

42333 Large farm with animals and accessories

For more information please contact your Schleich sales representative or visit www.schleich-s.co.uk

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VIEW FROM THE TOP

Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set

LEARNING RESOURCES

In learning we trust Some companies may claim they have learning at their core — but with a former teacher at their helm, and plenty of ex-teachers on their staff roll call, Learning Resources really do what they say on the tin. The company’s MD Dennis Blackmore gives TnP an insight into how they operate Dennis, you started Learning Resources from your home in Norfolk more than 20 years ago. What was your background before that?

Originally I trained to be a teacher, finishing my education with a degree in Education at the UEA. I was unsure about a future in the staffroom so I drifted for a while until my first job at a company called Learning Development Aids (LDA). I stayed a long time rising from product development work to becoming a director of the company. My move to Learning Resources came about because LDA was an importer of Learning Resources products and I was made aware that they wanted a European operation based in the UK. I did start up in my dining room but pretty soon moved out – much to the relief of my family and especially, the cats. My journey into toys started with my move to Learning Resources.

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“

I did start up in my dining room but pretty soon moved out – much to the relief of my family and especially, the cats

”

What has been your key to continued success?

Three things; the first is education, education, education.

Education is in our company’s DNA. At Learning Resources every new product starts life as a way of giving a child an educational experience; we identify the learning aim and then design the toy around it. Secondly, we have always benefitted by having an American older brother; in our market trends and developments that happen in America wash up on our shores a a little while later. We look to the States and learn from what they do and how they respond. Finally it’s down to my team; I have great people who work with me and share our company culture.

What makes you products uniquely Learning Resources?

We’ve worked hard on this lately, pulling our many products into some brand propositions that customers will access easily. The educational DNA that ties Learning Resources products together comes back into play. That and the fact

Dennis talks retail…

How do you help retailers expound the virtues of educational play in-store - and in turn, sell your products? Where possible the best way is through demonstration, either by in-store staff or one of our sales team.

We’ll always support retailers who want to take this approach.

Contact with local schools is also very valuable.

Do you welcome retailers reaching out to you if they have an idea or want to host an educational play event in-store? Yes, yes and yes! It’s a great way of adding value to the in-store experience for customers.

What should retailers be excited about from Learning Resources for the rest of the year? Come to us to benefit from the enormous interest in STEM. Our 2016 new products in this range are actually leaving the shelves at great speed! And there are more in the pipeline.

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Learning Resources’ School Set

Top three ranges 1. Pretend & Play 2.Primary Science 3.GeoSafari that our products are, and always will be, hands-on. We believe in the power of learning by doing, by physically interacting My role with the product. We believe is primarily in high-quality design and strategic; to manufacture, and we add value with easy-to-follow instructions quote an ice that emphasise learning. hockey

“

How do you stay ahead of the curve to offer kids real learning in a fun package?

Our product development is transatlantic in that our teams in King’s Lynn, Chicago and Los Angeles work together on new ideas. We pool our research, observations and hunches. All our companies employ former teachers in a number of roles to make sure we are at the fore of developments in educational thinking and practice.

STEM Simple Machines

metaphor, my job is to get us skating to where the puck will be, not where it is right now

”

Tell us about your STEM ranges, why should retailers stock them?

Learning Resources range of STEM products have been created with both the classroom and the home in mind so they translate perfectly into retail. With eye-catching packaging, bright colours and easy to follow instructions our STEM range is already proving a hit on the high street. This is a huge opportunity for retailers because STEM is increasingly becoming a hot topic in primary schools, so children and informed parents will be already primed with at interest in it. The biggest trend by far is in the interest in simple coding products. Learning Resources Code & Go Robot Mouse is a perfect example and it has already been awarded the 2016 Educational Resources Awards for the Primary Curriculum – it gives a simple introduction to step by step coding.

Is this a growing sub-sector?

It’s huge for us both in retail and education. We are the experts in producing STEM products for primary school aged children in both markets. STEM is more than just an amalgamation of four areas of learning; it’s about how children learn. Real STEM products must engage the user in the engineering process which is: Define the Problem, Plan Solutions, Make a Model, Test the Model, Reflect and Re-design. It’s this problem definition and problem-solving process where the value of STEM learning can be found.

Describe an average day in the life of Dennis Blackmore.

We’re still a pretty small team (30+) and so there are few average days.

I am lucky enough to live only a couple of miles from my office so weather, and commitments, permitting I can walk to work, which improves my Fitbit score no end! My role is primarily strategic; to quote an ice hockey metaphor, my job is to get us skating to where the puck will be, not where it is right now.

Each day there’s usually a number of issues or projects for which I will have overall responsibility but otherwise my teams are highly empowered. We have an annual strategic plan so they are only likely to want my attention if they have a problem or want to discuss ideas. I try to stick to one cafetière of coffee (Guatemala Elephant) per morning. By the afternoon my colleagues in Chicago get to work followed a couple of hours later by the team in Los Angeles, so my day definitely has two distinct parts —UK and Europe in the morning and the USA in the afternoon. It’s crucial that we maintain a high degree of communication with our US colleagues. Currently a group of us are training for a 25-mile charity walk so one evening a week we climb into our walking boots and head off towards Sandringham; more steps for the FitBit!

Top three STEM lines 1. STEM - Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set 2. STEM - Force and Motion Activity Set 3. STEM - Magnets Activity Set

AUGUST 2016

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Harry in action with Tottenham Hotspur.

Pic courtesy of Tottenham

INTERVIEW

HARRY KANE

Kicking with Kane If you were to put any footballer’s name to a toy line — Harry Kane is a good bet.

Tottenham Hotspurs’ star striker talks to TnP about the importance of keeping kids active and why he opted to put his name to his successful toy line with Vivid Imaginations Harry, why team up with Vivid on this range of outdoor toys?

Firstly it’s been a really great experience working with Vivid. They understand the market and their success with similar ranges for Alan Shearer and Michael Owen made them a great partner.

How did this relationship come about?

It was a joint effort, I’ve always been

passionate on encouraging young football fans to keep active in sport and Vivid were looking for the right partner to work with on a new range of outdoor toys. After a number of meetings and ideas we all decided to get working on the range and here we are!

You could have endorsed virtually any product – male grooming and skincare seems to be big with Premiership footballers right Is there more to come from you working now – but you with Vivid on the toys? chose to put your “I hope so. I’ve really enjoyed the name and face to experience! I’m sure we’ll be sitting down something that soon and seeing what other ideas we have to expand the range together.”

We asked

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“

It’s been a really great experience working with Vivid. They understand the market and their success with similar ranges for Alan Shearer and Michael Owen made them a great partner

”

is aimed at getting kids playing football. Is this an important issue to you?

It’s something I’m very clear about.

We need to encourage kids to get into sport and stay active. I was always playing football when I was younger and learning different skills.

If I can use my position to get more young fans into the sport and give them a reason to get out there and practice then that’s great.

Do you think British kids are active enough and can this help them?

I think obesity is a global concern. It is a worry, which is why the more we can do as role models to encourage sport and promote the benefits of keeping active the better.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Did you know Vivid are launching three products within the Harry Kane range. The Skills Ball, the Volley Blaster and the Goal Blaster — and all have been approved by Harry himself.

Harry says…

“I tested everything when developing the range, and gave my opinions on the things I liked and didn’t like! There were some fun feedback sessions! We all shared in the design of the product as I wanted it to appeal to young football fans from every club or country, not just Spurs and England fans.”

Could you give us a little overview of the toys in the range?

We’re launching with three products. The Skills Ball, which is a soft mini ball to help with your first touch and control. Then there is the Volley Blaster, which is all about improving your striking of the ball and your timing. Finally, we have the Goal Blaster which is a great toy for your bedroom - it is about accuracy and scoring the perfect goal.

How do the products improve and sharpen skills?

All three toys can help you with different skills and techniques.

Football is about getting the basics right, and the more you practice the better you get.

Touch, control and accuracy are all key skills to learn and perfect.

Nothing must be more thrilling than scoring a goal in front of a home crowd, but it must have been pretty cool to see your name and face on the packaging and in shops around the country, right?

I don’t think there is anything better than scoring in front of your fans at a packed stadium, but it’s great to see the toy range out on the shelves, I’ve actually seen them in one of my local stores and it was a great feeling to see them.

ED TO WE NE KIDS TO RAGE ND ENCOUTO SPORT A AN N I I GET CTIVE… IF CO STAY A POSITION T Y USE M RE YOUNG RT O M SPO T GE TO THE A Do you think playing with N I S N FA HEM UT something like this when you T E V I AND G N TO GET O ICE were a kid would have made REASO AND PRACT T you an even better footballer?

THERE HAT’S GREA I practiced all the time when THEN T I was growing up. Anything

“

football-related I loved, so I’m sure if the toy range was out on sale when I was younger I’d be out there with the Skills Ball or Volley Blaster practicing my shooting.

When you started playing at Ridgeway Rovers in Chingford did you ever think or even dream that one day you’d be one of the Premiership’s top scorers, be wearing an England shirt and have a toy range to boot too?

I’ve never forgotten my roots and the journey I’ve been on to get to where I am today. To play in the Premier League at Spurs and to play for your country is a dream come true. I always had belief in myself and knew that if I kept working hard and kept practising then I could make it. To see a toy range with my name on it is still pretty surreal!

Onto football, briefly... other than White Hart Lane, what’s your favourite ground to play at and why?

I would have to say Wembley Stadium. It’s a special stadium and I scored my first goal for England at Wembley on my debut.

And lastly, what toys or games were you absolute faves as a kid?

I was into anything sporty. I was always dragging my brother and dad to the local park to play football or cricket.

AUGUST 2016

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PREVIEW

AUTUMN FAIR

The rise of Fall Gre G reen en Board dG Gam a es am e wil willl be at at A Autu u mn ut m Fai a r with h th their eirr ow own n rang rang an e (Halll 5: C50) 50),, and d Fl F igh hts of Fan Fancy cy y (Ha (Hall ll 3: 3 Y37 7) on a sep para arate stand nd

S

eptember means one thing in the industry — Autumn Fair at the NEC. There, you will find familiar faces and some new ones, novel lines and products spread across a dozen sectors.

The first Autumn Fair was held way back in September 1990 and has since gained a reputation as a must-visit show, whether you are a long-established wholesaler, a newbie retailer or a neophyte online trader.

We spoke to a number of companies exhibiting at Autumn Fair to get their take on the event.

Sarah Dayus, Brand and Marketing Manager at Great Gizmos, told us the company always meets a mix of buyers. “We love Autumn Fair. The atmosphere is always upbeat and gets us geared up for the busy Christmas period.”

It is that festive time that is to the forefront of Christine Mausolle’s mind. She is a National Account Manager with Le Toy Van and says Autumn Fair “is a great time to reconnect with existing stockists and to meet new customers face to face to answer any questions that they might have.”

And while Mark Jones, Head of UK Sales at Cheatwell Games, also takes advantage of the

With thoughts turning to Christmas 2016, many retailers are heading to Birmingham’s NEC next month to finalise their festive season buying plans. TnP looks at why the timing and mix of exhibitors make Autumn Fair a must-visit proximity to the festive season, he says the show offers more than just good timing.

“This is our 30th year in the industry and we’ve been doing Autumn Fair for about 27 of those years. As I’m sure a lot of suppliers will say, it’s the last opportunity to show your range to independents before the Christmas rush,” he says. “We also find that we see a lot of our larger customers. It’s a good opportunity to keep in touch, talk about what’s coming for next year and offer some sneak previews for 2017.”

“

It’s always been a great success and we are looking forward to meeting existing customers to show them what new collections we are launching Peter Lockey, The Puppet Company

” The Bigjigs stand, Hall 5: A39, is always busy at Autumn Fair

“It’s always been a great success and we are looking forward to meeting existing customers to show them the new collections we are launching, and also to meeting with potential new buyers as we continue our mission to ensure there is a puppet in every family home.”

That is certainly a possibility as Autumn Fair is expected to attract 27,000 visitors who will be browsing the wares of 1,400 exhibitors. In addition, there are free seminars addressing key topics and common challenges retailers face including omni-channel retail, in-house PR, SEO, and ecommerce and retail with Facebook and Twitter.

“We always look forward to seeing our existing buyers and to get their feedback on our current and new ranges,” Sarah adds. “We have some great new toys launching at Autumn Fair so we hope these are well received.”

Equally, Peter is looking forward to sharing his passion for the magic

Win! Meeting customerss in a relatively relaxed atmosphere is an option that appeals to Peter Lockey, ckey, Director of The Puppet Company. pany. He says: “Autumn Fair provides a fantastic platform to showcase se our wonderful gift offerings in front of a whole host of UK and international buyers.

Great Gizmos is giving away a beautiful Classic Red Pedal Peda Car to celebrate becoming a preferred supplier to pref the Cardgains Group in 2016. For G your chance to win, w simply visit the Cardgains (Hall (Ha 4, E20/F21) or Great (Hall 5, D60/E61) stand Gizmos (Ha drop your business card to and dro the designated area. The winner will be drawn w and contacted on the a final day.

H. Grossman 50

toysnplaythings.

Birmingha ham’s m NEC plays host to Autumn Fair

“We’ve been doing a lot of work of puppetry and encouraging on new product development people to see why they should this year with some different invest in puppets and all the packaging designs and different benefits they bring. product selections, so as well “We will be launching our allas writing lots of business we’ll new Dressed Animal Puppets, be looking carefully at people’s a striking collection of eight reactions to the hard work our new characters, who are sure team have put in.” to bring playtime to life in an Le Toy Van’s Christine adds: instant,” he says.

“We want more and more of As is to be expected, Autumn the baby boutiques, toy and Fair is an ideal time to launch gift shops to benefit from new product. Great Gizmos are the wonderful adding to their range of popular 4M, Kid O This is our Le Toy Van and Meadow Kids 30th year in the products and ranges. Meanwhile, industry and our customers Cheatwell Games to leave feeling will be showcasing we’ve been confident and the results of the doing Autumn ready for the team’s hard work Fair for about 27 busy season.” this year, and will of those years Make sure to be making the pop by to see most of the high Mark Jones, the ranges. footfall to get some Cheatwell Games valuable feedback.

“

”

Meet the Cheatwell Games team in Hall 5: A05

AUTUMN FAIR 2015 What: Autumn Fair 2016 Where: NEC, Birmingham When: 4-7 September Register for free: www.autumnfair.com

AUGUST 2016

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PREVIEW

AUTUMN FAIR

Top that WINNING MOVES 0207 298 9500 www.winningmoves.co.uk

Hall 5: D51 Winning Moves’ highly anticipated Top Trumps Quiz will be on display at the show. Players can test their knowledge and twist their memory in this instant knockout battle game that’s fun for the whole family.

Fans can feel the force from all seven Star Wars films and enter the dark side with the Star Wars Top Trumps Quiz, or if players are sport mad then The World of Sport Top Trumps Quiz is for them! If they consider themselves an animal expert and are creature crazy, then they can venture into The World of Animals Top Trumps Quiz and test their knowledge in a long or short game. The super Top Trumps Twist will have players’ minds twist and turn on round two as they try and remember what they heard just moments ago.

Avengers Assemble Top Trumps Match and Disney Princess Top Trumps Match will also be on display at the show. In the new Crazy Cube Game, players are tasked with being the first to match five of their favourite Disney Princess or Avengers characters in a row to take the match. But opponents can take back the match with their special Top Trumps card! Try your hand at both Top Trumps Quiz and Top Trumps Match games on the Winning Moves stand.

Eco-friendly fun BERTOY +32 3 777 05 33 www.bertoy.com

Hall 5: B36 It’s a toy, it’s a puzzle, it’s a playset! The Crocodile Creek Puzzle & Play is an innovative three-in-one product with a 24-piece, interactive puzzle and several cardboard play pieces.

With the Crocodile Creek Tower Puzzle, stacking all the farm animals from large to small gives kids the chance to learn the names of farm animals, numbers and sizes.

Meanwhile, Krooom 3D Farm Playset and Krooom Farm Life Playset, are must-sees.

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Flying high GREEN BOARD GAMES 01494 538 999 www.greenboardgames.com Hall 5: C50 & Hall 3: Y37 Green Board Games will be showcasing its magnificent range of family and educational games at Autumn Fair. It is the perfect opportunity for them to display their raft of accomplishments, including their new pre-school products.

BrainBox - Alphabet Jigsaw, and BrainBox - Numbers Jigsaw, are fantastic products that extend the BrainBox phenomenon, combining the gameplay of BrainBox with the satisfaction of completing a puzzle. Each card jigsaw piece shows an illustrated letter or number, with three questions on the back about the image shown.

Story Cards is a brand new GBG concept for children aged three and above. Children can create their own unique stories using the 55 flashcard-sized cards, which include such topics as people, places, animals, objects and weather.

Every Green Board Games game has been designed to encourage children and families to Play Together, Learn Together, enjoying the benefits of absorbing facts while exercising existing knowledge.

Don’t Miss!

This year GBG will also be exhibiting its new nature and nostalgic gifting product range, Flights of Fancy, which can be found in the gift area in Hall 3: Y37. Visit the team to see a unique range of gift products.

Cheeky!

GIBSONS 020 8661 8866 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk

Hall 5: B33 Gibsons returns to Autumn Fair for the first time in a number of years.

The company will be showcasing a selection of games including family favourites 221B Baker Street and Pass the Pud, as well as two new launches in the Iconic Brands Collection. Pringles and Vintage Kellogg’s join a great line up of jigsaw puzzles including Marmite, Mr Men and Love Hearts, presented in quirky containers that are perfect for the gift market.

Gibsons will also be introducing Plop!, its brand new, cheeky game for those who like a good laugh. With tongue-in-cheek game play, this toilet-themed game sees players pick up one of the deposits and score points by aiming at the hilarious flushing plastic toilet by means of their own derrière as transport.

With 40 challenge cards to mix-up the game play, Plop! will bring endless fun and is due to arrive in September. Customers to the show will be invited to play and answer the all important question: are they a squatter, a ballerina, a moonwalker or a shuffler? Prizes will be awarded!

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Introducing Over

Gift 2016

60 new

arrivals

w e n r u o g n i d inclu e g n a r s k c o s silly

Come and see our great lines at the Autumn Fair 4-7 September

Stand 5D10-E11

NEC, Birmingham

Get in touch with us to make an appointment: 01603 397105 sales@tobar.co.uk www.tobar.co.uk

PREVIEW

AUTUMN FAIR

New launches galore GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543 221 www.ggtrade.co.uk

Hall 4: E20-F21 This Autumn Fair, Great Gizmos is introducing a number of new and exciting products from Kid O, 4M, Bead Bazaar and more.

New from Kid O is the Limited Edition Glow In The Dark Magnatab. The jumbo glowin-the-dark toy brings an exciting new dimension to night time play, as kids can draw their own creations and erase with the tip of their finger to start all over again.

The Whale Squirt Toy draws the water in and then squirts it out through the spout. This active water toy introduces children to the basic principles of water pressure. The best-selling 4M range is expanding with new crafty editions this autumn. Make Your Own Woven Watch Kit allows kids to braid three colourful paracord bracelets with unique patterns.

Kids can follow simple steps to learn basic French knitting techniques and make their very own cute fox doll with the French Knitting Fox Doll Kit. Children can decorate their own money bank with Paint Your Own Mini Owl Bank and Paint Your Own Mini Cupcake Bank.

Crafty minds will love the jewellery making kits and craft sets from Bead Bazaar, an American company that specialises in bead, craft and jewellery kits.

The Juicy Bead Chest is beautifully handcrafted for the perfect gift or for storing little treasures. It comes with beads, charms and rope for kids to make their own jewellery too.

Big choice BIGJIGS TOYS 01303 250400 www.trade.bigjigstoys.co.uk

Hall 5: A39 Visit the Bigjigs stand at Autumn Fair to see the Bigjigs Rail wooden train sets.

These provide hours of creative and imaginative play. With a broad range of themes from the Fire Station Train Set to the Fairy Town Train Set, the range offers something different for young inquisitive minds.

Bigjigs will also present four new distribution brands at this year’s Autumn Fair: Rubbabu, Gigi Bloks, Petit Collage and Playcolor. The latest addition, Rubbabu, has a range of handmade natural foam toys in simple shapes and bright colours. Petit Collage is a bright and beautiful range that includes puzzles, pop-out scenes, memory games and nesting boxes. The building possibilities are endless with GiGi Bloks. Combining playing and learning, children can draw and write on blocks as well as play out endless scenarios.

They work brilliantly with Playcolor’s mess-free paint pens.

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When gifts and games combine...

Cheatwell Games 02392 524 098 www.cheatwell.com

Hall 5: A05 From family to festive, pocket to pick-up, Cheatwell’s Games range make for great gifts.

Tell-a-Tale Pirates was recently awarded the gold medal for Best Literacy Game in the Imagination Gaming Awards 2016. The Tell-a-Tale range is a guided storytelling game, complete with a play area, four chunky wooden dice and a selection of characters. Available in Fairy Tale, Farmyard and the award-winning Pirate Editions.

Something to get the whole family playing together is Pass The Pen. Players set the pen timer to 10 or 15 seconds and try to draw the challenge on the card before the pen nib completely retracts. Don’t forget Cheatwell’s flagship family game Tension Family Edition. It’s still the company’s most popular board game, even without TV advertising. The cards vary in difficulty and areas of expertise depending on which colour players choose to draw from orange for younger players and purple for the grown ups. A truly intergenerational game that continues to delight and excite customers.

Debuting in style THAMES AND KOSMOS 01580 212 000 www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk

Hall 5: D50 Thames and Kosmos is bringing fun and games to Autumn Fair for the first time.

The newest additions to the Nature Discovery range, Animal Anatomy and Animal 3D Puzzles, will be launching at Autumn Fair, and are available to pre-order now! The next big kit to be launched at Thames and Kosmos is Code Gamer, the fun and simple way to learn how to code for kids. For all those passionate board gamers, there will also be a mixture of Thames and Kosmos’ board games, such as new arrivals The Rose King, Tally Ho and Steam Time, to best sellers like Imhotep.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

PREVIEW

AUTUMN FAIR

Feeling festive TOBAR 01603 397 105 ww.tobar.co.uk

WE’VE FOUND DORY! Marbel 0845 6000 286 www.marbel.co.uk

Hall 5: C82

Hall 5: D10-E11 As a leading wholesale supplier of toys, games, gifts and gadgets, Tobar has an exciting range of products for Autumn Fair, including some favourite new items for Christmas.

A festive twist on Mr Grasshead, Santa Grasshead is one of Tobar’s best sellers that’s sure to be extremely popular over Christmas. With a striking red hat, beard and other decorative accessories, just add water to the base to create a fine mane of grassy hair – then style away.

Christmas Building Blocks is a festivethemed building kit with more than 135 brick pieces that can be built into a festive snowman or a cheery Father Christmas. Kids can follow the simple instructions to create a toy that makes for a fantastic decoration, whether to take pride of place on the mantelpiece or sit beside the Christmas tree.

The Christmas Music Makers are sure to be a hit this year.

Available in both Father Christmas and Snowman designs, this festive-themed music box plays Jingle Bells when the figure’s head is pressed down. Crafted from wood and plastic, it stands at 8cm tall.

NEW from

...

Displayed on the Marbel stand at this year’s Autumn Fair will be items from the gorgeous new Hape railway range.

From a musical xylophone track to a pop-up monkey track accessory, there will be something in the range for all wooden railway fans.

Other ranges on display will be Nanoblock, Bullyland and Kinetic Sand. New to the Bullyland range for autumn/winter are the characters from the Disney-Pixar movie Finding Dory, plus new gift sets and a Finding Dory advent calendar for Christmas. Other new licensed figurines being released later in the year will include Disney’s Moana and The Lion Guard.

Available Now!

Piece Piec P Pie iece iec ece ce ttoget together, tog og o oge gether, g ge ethe eth th her er, Learn er, Lea L Lear eear arn arn rn to toget ttogether. tog oge oge geth ethe th her e er

Visit us at Autumn Fair - H Hall a all l 5 ll 5, Sta S Stand tand and C C50 50 50 See S ee o our ur fu ur ffull ull ll rrange ange a an at: t: www.greenboardgames.com t: ww ww ww. w.greenb w. enb nboardg dgame ames mes. es.c .ccom ssales@greenboardgames.com sales@g sal ales ale es@g es@ @green @g eenb enbo boa oaardga dg dgame gam amees.co ame .com com 01494 538999 AUGUST 2016

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PREVIEW

AUTUMN FAIR

Ideal for gifting LE TOY VAN 020 8979 2036 www.letoyvan.com

Hall 5: B30

Dressed to impress THE PUPPET COMPANY 01462 446 040 www.thepuppetcompany.com

Hall 5: C20-D21 The Puppet Company is thrilled to be exhibiting at Autumn Fair again this year.

The team are absolutely passionate about the magic of puppetry, and will be exhibiting their extensive collection of over 750 puppets with lots of new lines. Make sure to visit to discover the all-new Dressed Animal Puppets, a striking collection of eight new characters sure to bring playtime to life in an instant.

Each puppet has been suited and booted in a beautifully designed outfit to reflect their individual personality.

The Puppet Company is also excited to be presenting the all-new Large Creatures collection. This collection includes a Crocodile, Iguana and a Chameleon, with a Shark, Octopus, Turtle and Dolphin on the way. With their striking appearance and up to 105cm in length, the team are sure these huge puppets will be popular with little ones. They are easy to manipulate, have excellent mouth movement and are made from fabulous, bold-printed fabrics.

Together with new lines in Honeybake, Daisylane and Transport collections, Le Toy Van is very excited to showcase the extended early years range at Autumn Fair this year. The Petilou collection has 27 quirky wooden toys, gifts and puzzles, with a fun woodland theme has been carefully designed in-house to delight toddlers from 12 months to three years old. With attractive retail packaging throughout, and a range of retail price points to suit all wallets, the collection is ideal for gifting.

Eyes to the skies FLYING GADGETS 0844 209 2626 www.flyinggadgets.com

Hall 5: B57

Hot right now!

ESDEVIUM 01420 593 593 www.esdevium.co.uk

Hall 5: D23 Esdevium will showcase a wide range of exciting brands at this year’s Autumn Fair. None more so right now than the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which has seen a surge in interest across 2016, with 101 per cent growth (NPD Q2 data) even before the release of Pokémon Go. Now major toy retailers are tipping Pokémon to be one of the top toy brands for Christmas 2016. Following on from a fantastic launch in February and back in time for back-to-school is the second series of Star Monsters. The pocket-money priced collectable introduces 72 brand new characters, with new transparent colours and Shadow Star Monsters. Backed by a new and extensive TV and marketing campaign, Star Monsters Series 2 will launch on 1 September. Special launch offers will be at Autumn Fair. In addition to collectables, Esdevium will also exhibit a wide range of board games including new licensed versions of Dobble, with Star Wars Dobble and Cars Dobble, and the recently launched brain-busting game of speed, Cortex Challenge. Launching at Autumn Fair will be the British History edition of the Timeline Card Game, developed in-house by Esdevium. It showcases some of the finest moments of British history, along with some entertaining images. Rory’s Story Cubes, Ticket to Ride, Fisher-Price Classics and show special offers will also be on the stand.

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One of the strongest line-ups seen from Flying Gadgets offers retailers some fantastic opportunities. With a proud heritage of sourcing some of the most innovative quadcopters on the planet, its new X-cam flying machine has an array of features usually found on high-priced drones, such as return-to-home mode, the ability to flip, and a high-quality camera, yet retailing for a fraction of the price. Visit to see the stand to see full line-up.

Who you gonna call?

H. GROSSMAN LTD 0141 613 2525 www.ozbozz.co.uk

Hall 5: D20-E21 If you don’t know who to call about the summer Ghostbusters movie – call Grossman! Autumn Fair will see a great line up of licensed scooters, skateboards, pogos, helmet, bike and a spectacular range of pocket money items from whoopee cushions to wobblers.

Continuing the movie theme for 2016 is the Secret Life of Pets, the hilarious summer box office smash from the studio behind Despicable Me. HGL has the license for wheeled goods and pocket money toys. Check them out!

toysnplaythings.co.uk

COME SEE US AT AUTUMN fair!

CUTE CHARMS, BRACELETS AND JEWELLERY MAKING KITS ALONG WITH HUNDREDS MORE gifts and toys

Hall 5 D60-E61

www.ggtrade.co.uk w..ggtrade.co.uk 01293 543221

GREAT GAMES make GREAT GIFTS

Award Winning Games

www.cheatwell.com

F more information and a copy of our latest catalogue For please contact mark@cheatwell.com or call 02392 524098

RETAIL

OPINION

Trade talk

TnP loves to hear your views. This month we speak to key wholesalers and suppliers to learn what’s on their minds. We explore this month’s hottest topics.

This month, Team TnP catches up with some of the industry’s finest to ask about their bestselling products, which ranges are impressing them from other suppliers, and more MARTIN GROSSMAN SARAH HOLDEN,

MD, H. Grossman Limited

Marketing Communications Manager, HTI

What are your current best-selling products?

Without a doubt it is Ghostbusters Slime — we knew it would be popular, but it’s proved to be a real winner.

What are your current best-selling products?

At retail we have a number of lines in the market that are selling really well. The My Little Pony Rainbow Dash styling head was supported by a TV and multi-platform PR campaign last year and it continues to fly off shelf. Another top-selling line at retail is the Mamas & Papas Armadillo dolls stroller which has also been promoted with TV advertising and PR activities.

In terms of the wheeled toys category, HTI’s Disney Frozen Inline Scooter and 3 Wheel Scooter were the market’s top selling non-powered scooters of 2015 and continue to fly, as do Blaze and the Monster Machines scooters this Spring/Summer.

For Autumn/Winter 2016 we have some fantastic new product developments across key categories.

We’re expecting strong sales from our Teletubbies Tea Set and we’re enjoying good growth with our licensed bubbles portfolio and are anticipate strong sales from new battery operated lines such as the PAW Patrol Rotating 3D Bubble Blowing Ball and Bubble Lawnmower. In the mini vehicles and play sets category, HTI’s own Teamsterz brand continues to be the number two brand with continued growth YOY. What opportunities do you offer retailers to boost the in-store marketing of your products - and how can they take advantage of them?

HTI offers retail partners, UK and internationally, a tool kit of artwork for promotional and POS materials, as well as demo videos that can be used to support product displays in store and online and help to drive sales. In addition, we recognise the importance of SEO to maximise online sales opportunities and work with retailers’ digital teams to optimise search to sales opportunities.

What toy, other than your own, has impressed you most so far this year?

Num Noms from MGA seems to have taken the collectables market by storm! I love the innovative packaging and the mix and match element which really gives the range a point of difference.

58

“

We do a great deal of promotional work throughout the year to make customers aware of what’s on offer and where they can buy it.

What opportunities do you offer retailers to boost the in-store marketing of your products?

All of our product ads are available on our YouTube channel to show in-store, and we do a great deal of promotional work throughout the year to make customers aware of what’s on offer and where they can buy it.

”

What toy, other than your own, has impressed you most so far this year?

I am impressed by the interactive kitchen range from Plum Products. It shows real imagination.

What one thing can retailers do today that will contribute towards a smooth Christmas period?

I wish we could go back to showing how products work, actually demonstrating them in-store and not relying on the packaging to explain everything. I think hands-on experience really sells products.

LIZ IRELAND Director, Bigjigs Toys Ltd What are your current best-selling products?

Bigjigs Rail is continuing to sell very well — the additional lines for autumn delivery have been very well received. A new brand Rubbabu, acquired by BigjigsToys for distribution, is due to start shipping this week and we are very optimistic given the orders we have received thus far.

What opportunities do you offer retailers to boost the in-store marketing of your products - and how can they take advantage of them?

Bigjigs Toys have always supported retailers with good quantities of POS — from 4’ sections and ceiling hangers to window stickers and wishlists — we offer a great selection of branded merchandise to boost sales. We have recently added extra resource to our marketing department and new ideas will be rolled out for the last quarter.

What toy, other than your own, has impressed you most so far this year?

I am a great Playmobil fan — they have never disappointed with any theme they deal with!

toysnplaythings.co.uk

The gift of play Never ones to miss an opportunity to reach new retailers, the toy industry was out in force at this year’s Home & Gift Buyers’ Festival in July. Housed in the Harrogate International Centre and the grounds of the nearby Majestic Hotel, the show attracts retailers from up and down the UK, all on the hunt for the latest and greatest launches for the home and giftware markets.

TnP was at the show to discover how toys are taking the gift market by storm, and why gift-givers are making a beeline for toys that mix family-friendly play with cute and funky styling

Ty The fabulously-collectable iwako Puzzle Erasers from Ty are becoming a must-have for every school kid’s pencil case. One teacher who visited the show described them as “like playground currency”, according to National Account Manager, Steve Lane, pictured taking a slurp from the funky shake-shaped eraser.

Green Board Games Green Board Games Sales Managers Ash Raja and Kay Harris were buzzing for the launch of Flights of Fancy at Home & Gift. “Retailers are loving both of our ranges,” said Kay.

Tobar

Gibsons

Tobar Sales Manager, David Airey, and Karen Parkinson, Business Development Manager were pulling up their socks and getting stuck in to their first Home & Gift Buyers’ Festival.

The Gibsons stand was the place to be for Home & Gift visitors hungry for some puzzling fun. Marketing Executive, Samantha Goodburn and Midlands Sales Agent, Stu Nicholas, were on hand to deal up the details on the brand new Pringle and Vintage Kellogg’s licensed jigsaws.

Sluban Owner René van de Geer took Sluban on its maiden voyage at home and gift with the launch of several new lines, including the 1012-piece Titanic that took René six hours to build — now that’s play value!

Le Toy Van The Le Toy Van team brought the popular Petilou range, which launched an extended collection earlier this year, to Home & Gift.

Cheatwell Games Cheatwell Games’ newly appointed North West and Midlands area rep, Chris Smith, was at Home & Gift. He showcased the Tell-a-Tale Pirates game.

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TNP

AMBASSADORS

Ship ahoy!

TnP Ambassador Austin captain’s Playmobil’s My Take Along Ship for its maiden voyage! Grandad Antonio tells us if it ran aground or if he and his brothers ran amok with it!

Being the youngest of three boys means my little grandson, Austin, rarely gets his hands on a toy that isn’t instantly snatched away from him by his two big brothers even lovingly.

So when he got his first little Playmobil toy he was cock-a-hoop! The My Take Along Ship is for pre-schoolers who are yet to develop a taste for all those TV shows with goodies, baddies and fighting, so perfect for our little treasure.

Austin was instantly drawn to the animals which come with the ship – a gull, an orca and two fish. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish when he is playing with them and then puts them straight in his mouth – of course! I don’t mind that so much as the animals, and in fact none of the characters or parts, come apart — so nothing to swallow there.

The ship is bright and a tough bit of kit — no flimsy last five minutes toy here.

Austin gave the little boat and the little characters quite a beating. He has also bought it into the bath where it delights him to note that everything floats – he squeals with happiness!

But before long his big brothers turn up and start playing with the toys too.

At first, I thought they would be bored, but actually they have enjoyed playing

with the ship and their little brother. They play loads of little games using their imaginations: the orca can talk and helps the Captain when he gets lost at sea (the boys aren’t up to speed with GPS yet), or the gull swoops down and takes the family’s suitcase and flies off with them.

It’s nice that Austin can get into Playmobil at such a young age — some of the ‘big boy’ toys don’t have a younger, different range for the little ones, but Playmobil do. It’s sturdy, fun and good for his learning — if only the range was bigger!

What the web says: A positive Amazon review can be make or break for many toys nowadays. We take a look at what Amazon customers are writing about Playmobil’s 123 My Take Along Ship Cathode says: “Bought for my son’s 3rd birthday, I can’t recommend this high enough the pieces are lovely just right for toddler hands and there is enough variety for him to make up lots of stories about the people and the fishes. The boat is nice and sturdy and holds all the pieces when bath time is over.”

Jessica Stevenson says: “My daughter loves this. She is 14 months and plays for 30 min with this boat in the bath! This has become my down time after a busy day. She loves peopling the 3 people in all the people slots all over the boat.”

THE FACTS!

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Features a Playmobil 123 ship that floats on water

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Convenient carry handle between ship’s chimneys

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The entire contents of the set can be stowed inside the ship

•

Includes two fish and a whale that can float on water

•

Includes three Playmobil 123 figures and five 123 animals

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Superstar wars!

Five and four year old brothers, Harrison and Teddy are Jedi Knights and also huge fans of Star Wars (let’s face it, who isn’t?). Along with mum Heather, they headed to the recent Star Wars Celebration at London’s Excel. Here the family tells us why the Bladez stand was a real showstopper “My boys are Star Wars-mad. We watch it, act it, dress it, play it and talk it all day long, each and every year. So, as a special treat for them, I took them to the ExCel centre to experience fandom like no other — the Star Wars Celebration.

There was a lot of product aimed at adults, but my boys gravitated to the Bladez area. What lured them to it? Well, the remarkable products — the characters are superb, great faces, great quality, they run around a treat! The fact is, as a family, we really like Bladez — it’s nice to have the inflatable toy — which means low impact when they drive it into

their little sister, but it is a fast and fun toy.

Perfect for this age, and I can’t lie — my husband likes to give it a run too!

My kids love the Yoda too but the stand out for them is the BB-8 — perhaps because it is the newest and currently the coolest character from the series.

I think part of the appeal of the Bladez inflatables is that to my kids they are virtually the same size as them, so they feel like they have something huge and really valuable.

But at less than £40 the value is exceptional!

KIDZCOOLIT.COM The website which features reviews by kids for kids gives Bladez BB-8 an astounding 16,000,000,000 0,000,000 ourtof five stars!

Reviewer Bex says the family love all things hings Bladez and call this toy the ‘must own’ Star Wars rs toys — a ringing endorsement!

AUGUST 2016

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LICENSING

NEWS

Propel’s Star Wars range takes off A new licensed range of Star Wars quadcopters from Propel, which it says has huge potential, went down a storm during a preview at Star Wars Celebration 2016 at London’s ExCel recently.

Over 24,000 units of the quadcopters were reserved by visitors to the event in just three short days, with an attachment rate of more than three units per customer.

“I have never seen attachment rates like this before,” says Propel CEO, Darren Matloff. “But I suspect due to the fact that these laser

battle with one another coupled with the added collectability factor, consumers won’t be able to buy just one.”

The products are due for release in EMEA, most of Asia and Latin America, but are currently not available in North America. The range features four craft and all have three speed settings, pushbutton ariel stunts and laser battling technology.

The company will be releasing more details later in the year, with an expected first ship date in late September.

Powering to the top

Ice Age spreads across Europe

Bandai’s Power Rangers line is, quite literally, powering ahead. The company has enjoyed double-digit growth in 2016, and is up 26 per cent YTD. On top of that, June saw them reach number five in the Boys Action Figures category, according to NPD. New episodes of the TV series Dino Super Charge will be airing on POP from 5 September, and there is also the launch of a new range of action figures, Zord Builder and role-play toys that are now available at retail nationwide. To celebrate the launch, Bandai are undertaking a marketing campaign which includes a collaboration with the highly Gorgeous, and the popular YouTube channel Gorge Dino Super Charge Rangers will wi have a temporary home on the ever-popular Bin everWeevils website in a six-week six-wee online campaign. The Dino Super Charge toys will Ch also be supported with a heavyweight TV and cinema a campaign, PR and ca press pre activity as well as w dedicated d licensor support l from Saban fr across acros the season.

In its biggest licensing partnership with 20th Century Fox, Lidl stores across Europe have been brought back to the Ice Age. The retailer is stocking over 90 Ice Age products — from DVDs to apparel — in 10,000 shops across 29 European countries.

The move comes in the run-up to the opening of Ice Age: Collision Course in cinema.

The promotion will include TV advertisements as well as support in print, in-store, circulars, social and digital media in several countries while additional markets will offer free Ice Age movie posters as well as host competitions to win tickets either in store or on social media.

We are absolutely delighted with the brand’s performance this year... With the exciting launch of Dino Super Charge this summer, coupled with the halo effect of the movie, we are confident that this fantastic success will continue to grow as we head into 2017.

It’s all go Prepare for a Thunderbirds Are Go range of Cartamundi card games.

The company has teamed up with ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) to introduce a licensed range of Snap and Happy Families, with the dotted line being signed at Licensing Expo in Vegas.

Launching in early 2017, the price for both will be £2.99.

Trudi Hayward, SVP Global Merchandising, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, says: “The Thunderbirds Are Go licensing programme has enjoyed great success already and demand is growing. Products that reflect the visual appeal of the show are always in demand, and Cartamundi has brilliantly adapted the show’s visuals to a pair of family card games that we are sure will be enormously popular.”

Tess Parsons-Broome, Power Rangers Product Manager, Bandai 1

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Brought to you by

licensing W O R L D W I D E

A real hero programme

Cover star!

Warner Bros. Consum Consumer Products (WBCP), in partnership with DC (DCE), has announced its global retail licensing and Entertainment (DCE programme in more than 35 countries around the world. merchandising progr master toy partner Mattel (pictured), the global launch of Anchored by mast DC Super Hero Girls merchandise crosses more than 30 categories from apparel to accessories, publishing to stationery, and more. toys to costumes, ap The impressive roster rost of licensees supporting the worldwide launch also includes Random House Children’s Books as master publishing Ran partner, The LEGO Group as the exclusive construction partner, partne Rubie’s Rubie Costumes, Hallmark, American Greetings, Funko , Crayola, Crayo and many more.

All-new content for fo DC Super Hero Girls includes TV specials, made-forvideo releases, anima animated webisodes and digital content, debuting locally in each market, as well as publishing. throughout the EMEA region include IMC for youth electronics Licensees through D’Arpeje with an outdoor collection of scooters, skates, inand role play; D’Arpe line skates and prote protective gear; Sambro with pocket money and creative play items; Character World with fun bedding; Pyramid bringing posters and gifting accessories; and Airval for personal care products including fragrances and bath gift sets; among many others.

The first issue of Egmont Publishing’s Finding Dory magazine hit newsstands on 3 August.

The new Finding Dory magazine is aimed at children aged three to six years and is packed with funny comic stories, fishy facts, underwater puzzles, colouring, cut-outs and posters. Plus, each issue includes stickers and comes with a free Finding Dory gift.

Jo Doubtfire, Publisher of Egmont’s Disney Magazines portfolio, says: “I am very excited about the launch of Finding Dory magazine. It gives young fans an opportunity to engage with all the adventure and humour of this magical underwater world in print.”

Sia ready to serenade My Little Pony Singer-songwriter Sia has joined the cast of My Little Pony: The Movie, and will write two original numbers for the soundtrack.

The star casting was revealed by Hasbro and Lionsgate during the official My Little Pony panel at San Diego Comic-Con recently.

This will represent Sia’s first foray into acting as the pony pop star Songbird Serenade.

She will play an integral role in the first big screen adventure of the Mane 6 from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic TV series.

My Little Pony: The Movie is scheduled to land in cinemas globally on 6 October, 2017.

Not just a pretty face Barbie has jumped on board the STEM bandwagon with the help of Thames & Kosmos.

The company has teamed up with Mattel to create the Barbie STEM kit which is available to pre-order now with stock ready for autumn.

The kit includes plastic building pieces and science materials along with a Barbie doll, allowing kids to discover biology,

AUGUST 2016

chemistry, physics, engineering, and art and design. All the models and accessories are compatible with the Barbie Dreamhouse. “We are thrilled to have partnered up with Mattel to create the Barbie STEM Kit, it’s added a twist that reinvents her in a more educational way.

Teaming up Barbie and STEM is perfect to get kids eager to learn,” says Jo Drage, Sales Director at Thames & Kosmos.

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LICENSING OPINION KELVYN GARDNER

We’ve got Seoul I Fresh off the plane from the Korea Character and Licensing Fair, Kelvyn is impressed by government support for the industry – but would we get the same here?

was fortunate enough to visit Seoul recently to speak at the newly renamed Korea Character and Licensing Fair. The change of name is important, for once, as it was very much influenced by government agencies KOCCA and its offshoot project, CreateNew. These two agencies are charged with supporting both existing companies and new ventures and are specifically dedicated to the creative industries. Importantly, licensing is seen as a key sector of such industries.

The support for their commercial sector is exemplary.

How wonderful would it be if we could get the UK government to realise what support for new licensing content, and new licensing products, could do for our own exports?

However, I see no prospect of the vision that the Koreans’ have. At various points during the exhibition, heads and deputy heads of these government organisations made speeches, networked and exchanged contact information with the local and international business community who were visiting Korea.

The chances of getting their equivalents, ministers in the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to participate in BLE or

a LIMA seminar are thin, to say the least!

If you spend time in the exhibition halls of the Korea Character and Licensing Fair what you see, for the most part, are very local, Korean characters.

There is a sprinkling of international players, and a reasonable presence of Japanese characters. The latter, being near neighbours to Korea, are reflecting the large number of anime programmes broadcast in South Korea. The world has yet to see a true breakthrough in international terms, of a Korean licensing IP. We did, a few years ago, have Pucca Club

“

The world has yet to see a true breakthrough in international terms, of a Korean licensing IP

”

(Happy Love), which occupied a similar space to Hello Kitty, but even Pucca’s success was patchy internationally.

Properties like Line Friends coming from a digital platform - are growing outside Korea already and one or two Korean animated shows have also now sold into multiple territories. The spadework has been done, ably assisted by KOCCA, and the ground is prepared.

On the second day of the conference overlapping the exhibition, a group of four LIMA execs, headed by Charles Riotto and including your correspondent,

gathered to listen to seven short licensing pitches (not dissimilar to License This! at BLE). All but one of these companies had received financial support from the Korean government. We all know how few properties actually break through, but you can’t help but admire how these creative, entrepreneurial businesses are backed-up by state authorities.

Incidentally, this was my first international trip since the Brexit vote. While in Korea the story about the International Court of Justice in The Hague and its verdict on China’s claim to territorial sovereignty and marine rights in waters within the South China Sea broke. A licensing exec from The Philippines showed me a cartoon in a national newspaper, showing China withdrawing from this marine region under the slogan Chexit. It may be that Brexit, or variants therefore, will now become the ‘leaving something’ shorthand equivalent of Watergate. Those of us old enough will remember when ‘-gate’ was applied to many a scandal emerging out of the US, such as President Carter’s brother Billy’s dealings with the Libyan government, which was fondly remembered as Billygate!

LIMA the trade association for the licensing business www.licensing.org/uk email rbeaird@licensing.org

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Spotlight on Flair Things that make you go BOOM! Meet Flair’s humanoid robot, Boombot

Pick up Boombot by his hands and watch him perform front and back somersaults while yelling like Tarzan in Tarzan mode

Punch him in the gut and he will pound his arms on the ground, growl and fight with you!

Press and hold both shoelaces to make Boombot start tumbling forwards and backwards

Press the button on his back and watch Boombot throw lots of punches, smashing anything in its way

Press any three combinations on his shoelaces to activate Room Guard mode and Boombot will protect it from intruders

TNP

LOOKS S BACK

Step back in time A rather personal look back through time beginning with July 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011 by TnP Founder and MD Malcolm Naish August 2011 Volume 30 Number 11

AUGUST 2011

AUGUST 1996

• We celebrate 30 years of continuous publishing charting the ups and downs of our industry.

• Ex-BHS buyer John Owen heads up a team to open a totally new concept of large out of town Craft only products. A huge success in the States, they plan to open up to 200 in the U.K.

• Sharing our 30th anniversary is none other than Postman Pat proving that the two of us have staying power.

• In addition Gary Grant’s Entertainer group are also celebrating their 30th year.

• We welcome a new contributor ‘Toy Watcher’. A well-known personality within the toy trade. It appears on the last editorial page commencing with this edition.He/she intends to air some very contentious issues in forthcoming editions such as ‘Does your factory in the Far East pay tea money to allow them to receive authorization to ship goods to you?’

• LEGO unveil plans to build a 250 room hotel on the grounds of their theme Park in California. Such is the power of the brand!

• After just one week on the market Leapfrog’s LeapPad tablet enjoys brisk sales with Tesco naming this item their most innovative toy of 2011.

• Global Media Services launch their comparison figures in Toys ‘n’ Playthings comparing the viewing figures of boys aged 4-9 and 10-15. Houswives + children 0-4 are also charted.

AUGUST 2006 • The MGA acquisition of Zapf has now been confirmed. I suggest that the ‘Major’ buyers should perhaps talk amongst themselves when deciding on what September dates they decide upon for their trips to Hong Kong. Back in 2006 some were there in early/mid September and a number later in the month. This meant that some suppliers had to stay in Hong Kong for three weeks, which seems ridiculous to my thinking.

• There is a distinct lack of ‘hot’ product at retail to whet the appetite back in 2006.

• Humbrol call in the Receivers – a sad end to a British company that sees 31 people losing their jobs.

• Corgi mark their golden jubilee with a big celebration at their Leicester HQ. • With on-line sales on the increase Amazon remain at the top of the toy list with Argos moving into second place on the back of a 19% increase in the number of visits since April. Tesco drop to 5th.

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• We publish a 60 page Disney supplement emphasizing that company’s dominance in the field of licensing.

• Sadly, Boot’s ‘Childrens World shops are disappearing and I drive to Nottingham to mourn their passing with the ex-Childrens World team.

• We publish an 8 page ‘Playmates’ feature. They have recently set up in the U.K. owning brand such as ‘Tiny Tears’ and a big licensing presence particularly with Spiderman product.

• In just 20 years here are a few of the companies who advertised with us in 1996 who are no longer trading as individual companies, Waddingtons, Meccano, Tiger Toys, Julip, BV Leisure, Bestoy, TSR , Goliath and Systema.

AUGUST 1986 • Having just returned from my holidays I find that Hamleys has been sold to Harris Queensway, and Hasbro buy the ‘Sindy’ brand.

• I suggest that there should be a legal document created to protect agents from unscrupulous suppliers and that it would also protect suppliers from equally dodgy agents.

• As they say “It came to pass” some years later.

• We highlight the growth of ‘Corgi’ following their 1984 management buyout. Now based in Swansea they are employing over 750 staff with all of their products produced in Swansea – how times have changed moving on to 2016!

• I’m sad to record the death of a toy trade legend – Steve Harper – none of today’s younger readers will know the name, but I’m sure that some of our more mature readership will remember him. He was a most successful Midlands agent with a work ethic to work hard and play hard that very few of today’s toy fair visitors could live with.

• I run a spread on Matchbox’s hush-hush launch of ‘Rubik’s Magic’. Their then marketing and sales director a certain Mr. Nick Austin waxes lyrical about the product that’s receiving the five-star treatment in terms of advertising and marketing.

Malcolm Naish

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DON’T MISS… We bring to the fore a selection of the hottest and newest products that will help you sell more.

Buyers and retailers, get in touch with your sales contacts!

Product: Twozies Company: Character Options Tel: 0161 633 9800 Web: www.character-online.com

Product: New Express Yourself kits - ABC Beads Company: Galt Toys Tel: 0161 428 9111 Web: www.galttoys.com

Product: Finding Dory 4pcs Gift Box Company: Marbel Ltd Tel: 0845 6000 286 Web: www.marbel.co.uk

AUGUST 2016

Product: X-Cam Company: Flying Gadgets Tel: 0844 209 2626 Web: www.flyinggadgets.com

Product: Furby Connect Company: Hasbro Tel: 020 8569 1234 Web: www.hasbro.com

Product: PLAYMOBIL Space Rocket with Launch Site Company: PLAYMOBIL Tel: 01268 548 111 Web: www.playmobil.co.uk

Product: Tonka Metal Company: Funrise Tel: 01908 555 640 Web: www.funrise.com

Product: Fuzzikins Craft Cottontail Cottage Company: Interplay UK Tel: 01628 488 944 Web: www.interplayuk.com

Product: Nocto Company: Vivid Imaginations Tel: 01483 449 944 Web: www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

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