Toys n Playthings

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5 er 201 b m e Nov 2 5 No. Vol. 3

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CONTENTS Regular 7 Leader - with Mirella Anstey

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8 News - hot off the press

15 ber 20 Novem No.2 5 Vol. 3

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

11 Quick Coffee Break - with Michele Marziliano, Clementoni’s UK and Ireland Country Manager 12 People News - checking in on the movers and shakers 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 20 What’s New - new products that you need to get your hands on 22 Toy Talk – the retailers have their say

Editor Mairead Wilmot mairead@lemapublishing.co.uk

64 Trade Talk - we give suppliers a chance to talk business 71 Don’t Miss – unmissable products for all buyers and retailers 72 Licensing News – the hottest news from the toy licensing industry

Writer Rhys Thomas rhys@lemapublishing.co.uk

75 Step Back In Time – a slice of toy history from the industry’s longest running magazine

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Features Group Advertisement Manager

30 First Quarter Ranges – the hottest toys launching in the new year 44 Plush – cuddle up with the softest, fluffiest toys on the market

Ryan Horwood ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk

52 Safety – the companies solving the latest toy safety concerns

Media Solutions Manager

58 Kids TV Channels – The leading names in kids’ TV broadcast, properties and content

Bradley Mason bradley@lemapublishing.co.uk

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

Circulation Manager Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

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

Special Report 16 Cover story - Vivid lifts the lid on two innovative new collectable ranges, Fungus Amungus and PIXL 24 Retail Interview - Head of Buying, Ben Redhead reveals what drives Firebox’s unique toy line-up 66 Toy Fair 2016 - Head of Toy Fair Operations and Sales, Majen Immink, shares her tips for visiting retailers 68 BLE review - We wrap up Europe’s premier annual licensing event, the biggest in its 17 year history

Columnists 18 Media Whisperer – Marketing excellence means Christmas comes early in the UK, and thats ok by Clive

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27 High Street Highs – The Entertainer’s MD Gary Grant explains why DreamToys is a sales opportunity for every toy retailer 28 The Independent and Secret Supplier – Black Friday is here to stay, but is that good for small retailers? Our duo think not 29 Shop Talk – John Ryan is impressed with The Toy Store’s opening gambit, but foresees hard work ahead 67 TnP Ambassadors – our ambassadors test the toys you stock on your shelves 74 Licensing Opinion – James Bond is no stranger to licensing, but Kelvyn finds the toy market still eludes him

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At the heart of retail A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,123 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015

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LEADER Mirella Anstey

T A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,195 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013

eam TnP spent a good portion of our time at BLE in October. We say good portion, it was the regular three days, but it probably felt like a more substantial time frame because we were prepping for the launch of our sister title LTW’s first foray into the world of online TV. Yes, LTW TV was launched at the show and much like TnP TV, it will focus on all that is new and current in the fascinating world of licensing. We sat down with a stellar line-up including Entertainment One’s Andrew Carley, BBC Worldwide’s Licensing Director Rikesh Desai, Zodiak’s You might recall a VP of Licensing Claire Shaw we take a closer look at which few months ago when and many, many more. To say TV series are inspiring young it was a fascinating show is Firebox.co.uk hit the consumers through the doors. an underestimation – okay, we Turn to page 58 to find out news in a major way didn’t see anything that we after Sphero’s Star Wars more. thought could rival the dizzy Our cover story this month BB-8 was a huge hit for heights once reached by the is dedicated to our friends likes of Frozen, but what we the online retailer – at Vivid Imaginations – they did see was a steady, solid flow have two great ranges they are well, our writer Rhys of properties which we will all particularly excited about. PIXL caught up with be keeping an eye on. and Fungus Amungus (our Firebox’s Head Buyer We’ve got our roundup of editor Mairead’s favourite name both LTW TV and BLE in our Ben Redhead to get the for a toy line, apparently!) are November issue – you’ll find hitting shelves in Q1 and we lowdown on all that is LTW on page 19 and our BLE think they are pretty special. new in the world of review on page 68.

You’ll find out more on pages Speaking of November, online retail 16 and 17. it is DreamToys time on 4 You might recall a few November. We really love months ago when Firebox.co.uk hit the news in a DreamToys here at TnP. Its value to the toy major way after Sphero’s Star Wars BB-8 was a industry is absolutely vital at this time of the huge hit for the online retailer – well, our writer year and our regular columnist Gary Grant Rhys caught up with Firebox’s Head Buyer Ben of The Entertainer is chair of the DreamToys Redhead to get the lowdown on all that is new committee. Gary’s column this month focuses in in the world of online retail. Our features this on how DreamToys can benefit the industry and month focus on First Quarter Ranges, Plush and I was particularly taken with Gary when he said: Safety so make sure you turn to pages 30, 44 “Even if you are a retailer and your personal and 52 to find out more. Finally, we’re turning list is 100 percent different to ours, you can our attention towards London Toy Fair and once make DreamToys work for you. I would urge any again we are very proud to be publishers of the retailer to piggy back on the back of DreamToys fair’s official daily paper. in anyway they can. Ring you local newspaper To get involved, contact Ryan Horwood by and tell them how wrong we have it. Tell them emailing ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk your list and make the story about you, your local area and what you know as the best place to buy toys locally.”

He’s right – the aim of DreamToys is to get people talking positively about toys and the toy industry so use it to your advantage.

Back to the magazine, this month we have a special focus on two key TV channels and their properties. Nickelodeon and The Cartoon Network are key when it comes to setting toy trends so

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NEWS

LION KING ROARS ONTO DISNEY JUNIOR

The Dads’ votes are in!

The results are in for the third annual Dad’s Choice Awards, with hundreds of entries whittled down to the winners categories. The unique awards task dads with across 15 categories deciding which toys cut the mustard while celebrating dads and their kids playing and spending time together.

David Ross, founder of the Dad’s Choice Awards said: “Our Super Dad testers across the UK have certainly been put through their paces, hundreds of products were entered so every winner should feel proud to have made it through the toughest of critics - the dads and of course their children!

“We appreciate all the manufacturers who entered and hope those who’ve won will join us in celebrating their success. Hopefully it will inspire other dads who are struggling for what to buy this Christmas!”

David Mordecai, MD of multi-winning Tobar added: “Winning the Dad’s Choice Awards Vehicle category with the Maisto RC Lewis Hamilton 2014 F1 World Championship Car is fantastic! We love these models and it’s brilliant to see that the dad testers agreed with our team.”

To get a full list of the Dad’s Choice award winners, make sure you log onto the website, www.dadschoiceawards. co.uk, where you will find the complete list.

Disney UK has unveiled two new TV series for pre-schoolers that will launch on Disney Junior in 2016. Both will feature loved characters that will inspire licensees and create incremental opportunities for retailers across multiple product categories.

The Lion Guard, an animated TV movie and series coming in early 2016, will continue the story introduced 20 years ago in the acclaimed Disney animated film The Lion King. It will star Kion, the second-born cub of Simba and Nala, as he assumes the role of leader of the Lion Guard.

Goldie & Bear will also debut on Disney Junior UK in early 2016.

Set in the magical world of Fairy Tale Forest, the animation reunites Goldie and Bear, after the renowned porridge incident of Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

Colour me surprised!

Nostalgia and the quest for eternal youth is fuelling one of the biggest publishing trends in decades, as adults switch from smartphones to colouring books. Adult colouring books are selling in the hundreds of thousands, dominating the best-selling book lists from Amazon to the New York Times, and the trend continues to draw in the crowds.

To meet this growing demand, Crayola is launching a range of Adult Colouring Books and stationery in the UK next spring.

Venturing into the adult arts and crafts market for the first time, the initial adult-targeted collection will include a 12-pack of dualsided pencils with 24 colours, 50 pack of pencils and fine line markers all being released in January 2016.

Crayola’s own range of Adult Colouring Books will also be available, featuring beautiful, intricate designs created by artists at Hallmark.

TREND SPOTTING: MINI MADNESS TOYS Kristin Morency Goldman of the Toy Industry Association tells us how this trend makes playtime portable – and affordable The US Toy Industry Association’s (TIA) last 2015 trend is dubbed Mini Madness, and speaks to a growing number of small toys that make playtime portable and affordable. These toys include smaller versions of popular products already on the market, as well as new standalone minis – all of which are great for collecting, trading and families who are on the go.

Parents will gravitate to these toys for their generally low price tags, making them fantastic picks for Christmas stockings and birthday party loot bags. Kids will appreciate

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These toys include smaller versions of popular products already on the market

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minis that don’t sacrifice detail and quality materials for size.

First spotted at TIA’s 112th North American International Toy Fair last February, the following Mini Madness toys include innovative playthings and classics that are engaging and appealing to children, despite being small in size.

Little Live Pets Tweet Talking Owl and Baby (Moose Toys) Little Live Pets Owl and Baby sing and talk to each other. The mother owl feeds, nurtures, and even teaches baby bird how to sing. The closer they are, the happier they become. There are three owl families to collect.

DigiPenguins (Spin Master) These small collectible penguins flap, dance and sing up to 50 beautiful

toysnplaythings.co.uk

All children need play

Safe and sound

The BTHA has produced a leaflet in partnership with the National Deaf Children’s Society to raise awareness of the importance of toys and play for young deaf children. This is the fourth in a series of leaflets produced by the BTHA aimed at improving the lives of children with additional needs.

The BTHA recognises the importance of supporting different children’s charities to encourage parents to incorporate more play into their child’s day and have been delighted to team up with the National Deaf Children’s Society to share expertise for parents of children with hearing impairments.

This leaflet informs parents on how play and toys can help with their children’s development, as well as being lots of fun. The information includes tips for parents and carers on play activities and the types of toys that are best in enhancing the learning of young deaf children.

Kerri Atherton, Communications & Public Affairs Officer at the BTHA said: “It’s such a great opportunity to be able to work with the National Deaf Children’s Society to help parents and carers of young deaf children get the most out of playtime. Play is critical to child development and we hope our tips and advice will help make playtime easier.”

“As over 90% of deaf children are born to parents with no experience of deafness, it’s so important that parents understand how to make play accessible and beneficial for their deaf child,” added Emma Aldridge, Head of Information at the National Deaf Children’s Society. “From communication games to listening games to singing games, there are plenty of activities in this leaflet that will ensure parents can help their deaf child to thrive.”

The BTHA play series, can be found on the BTHA and Make Time 2 Play websites.

melodies. Kids simply blow into the included whistle ring to watch their Digi Penguin come to life.

When two or more are placed close together, they even sing together and harmonise. The free app allows kids to unlock additional songs.

Cabbage Patch Cuties (Wicked Cool Toys) Standing at just nine inches tall, Cabbage Patch Cuties are sweet little plush characters based on the original classics, dressed in a variety of animal costumes.

Mini Construction Vehicles (Green Toys) Made in the US from

NOVEMBER 2015

100% recycled plastic milk jugs, these chunky, pint-sized trucks can scoop, mix, and dump. Each vehicle comes with its own construction worker.

Mini Monsters (International Arrivals) A set of six fun, bright mini markers featuring different monster faces.

Markers are scented with melon, banana, orange, strawberry, grape and blueberry.

Mega Marbles (MegaFun USA) Classic marbles that come in themed

Just a few spaces remain for Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services’ free safety event this month. Those involved in the safety of toys are invited to visit the company’s testing laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire on Tuesday 24 November, to engage in a series of short presentations from toy technical consultants Malcolm Horner and Claire Franco, and visit the laboratory. Attendees will be enlightened on the hot topics this year include the recently updated acoustic requirements, the issue of flammability of disguise costumes, and the importance of product technical files.

Agenda: 09.30

Registration & Refreshments

10.00

An overview of the latest regulatory updates in Toy Safety

10.30

Product Recalls and the importance of Product Technical Files

11.10

Spotlight on Acoustic Requirements

11.25

Issues around the Flammability of Disguise Costumes

11.40

Tour of the Toy Laboratory and Time with our Experts (Don’t hesitate to bring your toys or product technical file with you)

12.30

Networking Buffet Lunch

14.00

End of the day

There will be plenty of time to network and to ask specific questions to the toy safety consultants and is free for those in the toy industry. To book a place (two max per company) email Bvsales@ uk.bureauveritas.com or complete the online booking form at www.bvcps.co.uk/openday/.

packages. Great for collecting and old-fashioned marble play.

From “Maker Movement” toys that allow kids to build creations that are unique to them, to “OpenEnded” playthings that promote child creativity and problemsolving skills, TIA’s top trends of 2015 encompass a wide range of products that span multiple categories, age groups and interests. Want to catch a glimpse of next year’s hottest toys and games? Be sure to visit the TIA’s 113th North American International Toy Fair, taking place in New York City from 1316 February 2016. Visit www.

ToyFairNY.com to learn more.

Brand-new toys and games of all kinds will be on display as far as the eye can see at TIA’s 113th North American International Toy Fair, taking place in New York City from 13-16 February 2016.

Visit www.ToyFairNY.com to learn more.

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NEWS Charity challenge fills up

New UK sales team UL has a new-look UK sales team who were out in force at the recent Brand Licensing Europe.

The team includes (from left to right) Mark Johnson (Senior Sales Executive), Stephen Laundon (Sales Manager) and Nik Hallam (Senior Sales Executive).

Positions for next July’s Toy Trust Big Cambridge Challenge are running low. With nearly all positions filled for the annual fundraiser, more than 250 entries have been logged across the various challenges, including an 80 mile bike ride, 10 mile walk, run or family bike ride, and even a tandem sky dive.

Fundraisers from across the industry will all put themselves to the test on Saturday 2 July 2016, all with the common objective of raising £200,000 for children’s charities supported by the Toy Trust. The walking and running events will take place at Grafham Water, located near Bedford with the cycling ride starting and finishing at the nearby Wyboston Lakes Hotel. The day will culminate in an evening party for those involved in the event, which will feature a drinks reception, three course dinner and DJ. “We are thrilled by the really positive response to next year’s Big Cambridge Challenge,” said Foye Pascoe, Toy Trust Chair. “More than 30 toy and licensing companies have committed to take part in the event which includes some that are new to our annual summer fundraising event. Next year looks like the Big Cambridge Challenge will be our best supported event to date.”

With only a few places remaining, those interested are urged to secure their places without delay. Contact Matt Jones at the BTHA now at matt@btha.co.uk.

It all STEMS from this

LATTJO: IT’S IKEA FOR TOYS!

The Entertainer has released an exclusive licensed STEM range in partnership with Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products.

The range comprises 14 science kits including Nickelodeon Glowing Gunge, Nickelodeon Explore The Body and the Nickelodeon Exploding Booms and is available exclusively in all The Entertainer stores and and online. The agreement initially comprises 26 licensed products.

The Entertainer is looking to champion the four STEM disciplines and support future generations in developing life-long skills across science and technology, engineering and mathematics. The retailer has created a character for each of the STEM categories, including Kevin Fry the Science Guy and High Tech Hannah, who feature in the online marketing activity.

Furniture and home interiors specialist Ikea is bringing its leading designs to the world of toys this month with the launch of its new Lattjo range.

The new collection includes various games, toys and costumes, including indoor and role-play toys, plus a recipe book packed with play ideas.

The retailer says the new range has been designed with the aim of “inspiring young and old to play together, all the time, everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you’re 7 or 97.”

To promote the Lattjo range, Ikea has teamed up with DreamWorks on a series of 25 short films that feature the new toys as characters.

Refreshed with flair GP Flair and Hasbro are collaborating to bring two beloved brands up to date for 2016. Flair has received a licence from Hasbro for Stickle Bricks and Mr Frosty, with new lines launching next year with refreshed branding and packaging. Stickle Bricks was created in 1969 and has enjoyed decades of success as a top construction toy for toddlers, while Mr Frosty first launched back in 1980 and fast became the must have toy that topped every kid’s Christmas list for the whole of the decade.

“We are very excited about this new venture for 2016,” said GP Flair Marketing Director, Nic Aldridge.

“Both brands present excellent play value and are just the type of properties that Flair likes to include in its portfolio. Many will remember that Flair has already experienced great success with the Stickle Bricks brand… With the Mr Frosty brand, however, this will be a new experience for us. But the heritage of the brand speaks for itself and we aim to take it to the top of its category once again.”

Grant Gie, Licensing Director, Hasbro Inc added: “GP Flair has an undeniable history of success when it comes to re-launching classic brands and we look forward to this future partnership knowing two of our most loved brands are in safe hands.”

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EXHIBITION

NEWS

COFFEE BREAK

Barnardo’s volunteers from last year’s Trolley Dash

Get set for the trolley dash!

On your marks, get set, dash. Yes, the annual Trolley Dash will return to close the show at Toy Fair in January. This year, the BTHA has partnered with children’s charity KidsOut, who will send volunteers around the stands to collect donations or excess stock from exhibitors.

“We’re delighted to welcome KidsOut as our official charity partner for Toy Fair 2016,” said Majen Immink, Head of Toy Fair Operations and Sales.

“The Trolley Dash is always a fun way to mark the end of Toy Fair for another year and it’s a fantastic opportunity for our exhibitors to support a worthy cause.”

All the toys donated will go to the KidsOut Toy Box programme which supports children who are victims of domestic abuse, providing them with a box of brand new toys to help bring stability and fun into their lives.

Julian Margolin, Chief Ambassador of KidsOut said the partnership would allow the charity to support even more children.

One firm supporter of the initiative, Phil Cassidy, Joint MD of Casdon Toys, said: “After a hectic three days of business, it is always amazing to see the industry as a whole contribute to a worthy cause… Casdon Toys will certainly be supporting this again, like we do every year.”

NEW YORK TOY FAIR REGISTRATION OPENS Registration for the North American International Toy Fair 2016 is now open for visitors and exhibitors to secure their place. The show will take place between 13 and 16 February, 2016, and is expected to draw buyers, retailers, reps, manufacturers, inventors and other industry professionals from more than 100 countries.

The New York-based Toy Fair also jumped two spots to number 40 on Trade Show Executive magazine’s Gold 100 List, a run-down of the largest and most accomplished trade shows in the US. The new ranking indicates that the 2014 show was the 40th largest industry trade show in North America, based on net square footage of exhibit space. Since the Gold 100 List’s debut in

NOVEMBER 2015

2008, Toy Fair has continued to climb the chats from a debut at 64th place.

“We are proud to take home this honour for Toy Fair and to be counted among the top 100 shows that set the gold standard for the trade show industry,” said Marian Bossard, TIA SVP of Global Market Events. Visit www.ToyFairNY.com to register.

Michele Marziliano, UK and Ireland Country Manager at Clementoni UK Ltd sat down with TnP to give us an update on how the company has performed so far this year How has 2015 been for Clementoni as we reach the latter stages of the year?

So far we are in line with our expectations, a really positive surprise is the sell out of our Baby Clementoni range which is now available in many retailers and these numbers can only improve when the TV adverts go live.

How has Clementoni been received since entering the UK market three years ago?

The retailers gave us a chance to enter in the market with our unique concepts and strong products. Of course, being part of an international company with strong positions in many European markets helped us in the beginning.

Are you pleased with your progress with independent toy retailers?

I’m really pleased, we started this year with strong and experienced sales agents who are really delivering. They are full of suggestions and passion for their work and the results are coming. All the Clementoni team is convinced that the independents can help us learn more about the needs of the consumers.

What are your top three selling products?

Currently our top sellers are Minnie Talking Plush, Create your own Crystal and our Frozen Glitter Puzzle.

You have quite a lot of licensed product, what is your top selling licensed range?

I can say without a doubt that the Disney Baby range is really strong in the market also because is an evergreen licence. We are really pleased to have a strong collaboration with Disney on these lines.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

That’s a difficult question but I love the baby T-Rex from our Baby Clementoni range, it’s a really a great product and I’m sure children will love it too.

toysnplaythings.co.uk11

PEOPLE

NEWS

Fresh faces at GBG Green Board Games has welcomed new people to its company, boosting its sales and production teams.

In sales, Will Stewart joins as National Account Manager from the gift industry where he previously worked at Peers Harding. He is tasked with managing all major retail accounts, focusing on further growth and progress for the company throughout the UK. Ash Raja also joins the sales team as Area Sales Manager. Previously at Marbel, Ash brings invaluable independent account management experience to GBG, and will help to invest further into the company’s existing customer base, with a view to increasing it.

Coming from a background of customer service, Debbie Channer comes aboard as International Sales Support, where she will help Sarah Winter grow the international side of the business. Her support will prove invaluable in assisting continued YOY growth in the international sales arena.

Catherine Cragg rounds out the new starters, joining as Production and Planning Controller. Catherine brings significant production capability, including experience gained at Oxford University Press, and is excited to support GBG in taking the awardwinning BrainBox and its extensive range of product to new heights.

Hasbro UK appoints new Licensing Director Holly Oldham has joined the Hasbro UK team as Licensing Director. Holly will play an integral role in the company’s continued expansion, while driving its mission of creating ng the world’s best play experiences, and innovative lifestyle products.

She will be responsible for managing both the category ory team as well as the retail franchise team to continue building strategic relationships with licensees.

Holly says: “I am thrilled to be joining Hasbro at such an exciting time. They have a rich portfolio of great brands, and exciting plans for the future teamed with an n inspiring attitude to develop and evolve. I am very excited for the future and look forward to driving the UK K business, and building on the successes of recent years.” .”

“We’re delighted for Holly to join us at Hasbro,” added Katherine Buckland, Senior Licensing Director of Hasbro. o.

Re:creation bolsters sales team Re:creation has welcomed a new addition to its sales team. Hannah Pike joins as Key Account Manager, bringing more than five years experience in the retail sector, including working with major brands such as World Duty Free where famous names in her remit included Christian Dior, Estée Lauder and Chanel.

“Hannah is joining us at an extremely exciting time,” said General Sales Manager, Adrian Mayes. “2016 is a big year for us and Hannah’s enthusiasm and experience will certainly add value to our team.”

KD UK welcomes Seth as new MD KD UK has expanded its UK team with the appointment of Re:creation co-founder Seth Bishop as its new Managing Director.

Seth has an abundance of experience and knowledge within the toy industry, starting Re:creation in 1998 1998, where he held several positions including MD and Sales & Marketing Director, and oversaw various functi functions including strategic planning, budgeti budgeting, brand management, supplier relations, marke marketing strategies and product development. IIn his new role, Bishop will oversee the UK team and work alongside the KD Group Dire Directors, COO and President. pl “We are pleased to welcome Seth Bishop to the group at what is an exciting time for KD. The remainder rema of 2015 will see the group diversify into new fields and Seth’s experience will w be instrumental in working alongside the sales team to introduce the range, drive growth gr and ensure success,” said P Dr Luis Bravo, President of Group KD.

US TIA Hall of Fame welcomes Bob Iger The US Toy Industry Association (TIA) has inducted The Walt Disney Company’s Chairman and CEO into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame. Robert Allen ‘Bob’ Iger was selected by members of the US TIA in recognition of his significant contributions to the industry and the impact his work has had on the e has lives of children worldwide. He grown Disney’s portfolio with the nd acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, and w Lucasfilm, and embraced new e technology to deliver creative nd Disney content across new and multiple platforms. und “Just about every child around the globe has been touched by A the magic of Disney,” said TIA sierb.

President and CEO, Steve Pasierb.

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MOVIE

NEWS

10 years of Transformers Strap in Transformers movie fans, because “Transformers 5 is on its way and 6, and 7, and 8.” That’s what Stephen Davis, Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President at Hasbro told a Q&A audience at MIPJunior in early October.

Talking after his keynote speech, Stephen revealed that, in what he described as “an incredible experience”, he and a team of writers have already plotted out the next decade of Transformers content.

“We decided that we wanted to plot out the next 10 years of the Transformers franchise, and so we got together in a room over a threemonth period of time - nine of some of the most creative writers I have ever worked with,” he said. “Similarly we’re doing the same in television and in digital, so stay tuned.”

Hotel Transylvania 2 checks into record books Sony’s monster comedy Hotel Transylvania 2 checked in at the top of the US box office in its opening weekend, taking a place in the record books in the process. The CGI animation debuted on 25 September, scoring $48,464,000, to make

NOVEBER 2015

it the biggest September opening in the US to date. This performance saw it beat its predecessor and previous title holder Hotel Transylvania by a cool $6m.

The film stars Adam Sandler and an all-star voice cast.

And here it is!

We’re all waiting for Star Wars to hit our screens but in the meantime, the official poster for the upcoming flick was released recently, alongside the third trailer which garnered a whopping 27 million views in 24 hours on the official Star Wars YouTube channel.

Playmobil movie In case you didn’t know, Danish toy company Playmobil has been developing their own feature film in an effort to duplicate the success of Warner Bros. Animation’s hit The LEGO Movie, and the movie has just been given a title. Playmobil’s first big screen venture will be called Playmobil: Robbers, Thieves & Rebels, and this is just the beginning of the toy company’s plans to bring their figures and playsets to movie theaters. Playmobil: Robbers, Thieves & Rebels is set for a tentative late 2018 release date.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

MEDIA

NEWS SCHOLASTIC BUILDS ON LEGO DEAL

Eyes on the skies Umbrellas at the ready, because the forecast spells Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on TV screens around the world. DHX Media has signed a far reaching deal to bring a TV series of Sony Pictures Animation’s hit movie franchise to Turner Broadcasting’s Boomerang channel across EMEA, AsiaPacific, and Latin America.

DHX Media is producing the 26 x 22’ animated series with Sony Pictures Animation, and also holds global television, licensing and merchandising and non-US home entertainment rights.

Josh Scherba, SVP Distribution at DHX Media said: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has a huge global fan-base following the successful movie franchise and we are confident that the equally whacky and wonderful TV series will resonate with children and families globally.”

The series is set before the events of the first movie, and follows the adventures of Flint Lockwood, a tween unlike any other in town, and Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and his best friend, who share the same dream of inventing the perfect gizmo.

Rick Mischel, executive producer at Sony Pictures Animation, added: “We’re really excited to see the comedy and heart of Cloudy packed into a TV Series. This brand has fans worldwide, and now they get to go back and see all the adventures of Flint and Sam as teenagers.”

Blasting off on mobile

Anything is possible Funny, irreverent, bite-sized content from some of Cartoon Network’s best known properties hit mobile devices in EMEA last month with the launch the new Cartoon Network Anything app.

The app gives fans a new way to experience the Cartoon Network characters and content they love, in a way that makes sense on smart devices.

Broken down into 10-15 second chunks, users can enjoy an evergrowing stream of games, activities, trivia, and clips. Cartoon Network will also use the platform to trial and debut original properties.

14

Thunderbirds Are Go is making the move to mobile in a new game from ITV Studios Global Entertainment and game company Miniclip.

Launching on iOs and Android devices in early 2016, the free-to-play game will feature explosive action, adventure and stunning visuals from the successful new TV series.

“Establishing a brand in the digital and online arena has become a vital part of franchise development,” said Steve Green, EVP Kids’ Content and Distribution at ITVS GE.

Scholastic has extended its publishing relationship with LEGO until 2019, and will expand its programme to produce new types of books. Under the new agreement, Scholastic will continue to publish books based on some of LEGO’s best known brands, including City, Friends, LEGO Star Wars and Elves.

The two companies have enjoyed a successful partnership for 12 years, with more than 45million book in print to date. Scholastic will add to this with the introduction of new LEGO Nonfiction books, a line of informative, fun nonfiction books, as well as the first ever LEGO pop-up book, which will come from award-winning paper engineer Matthew Reinhart in Septmerb 2016. Movie tie-in books based on LEGO feature films will follow during the term of the agreement, and will come in a variety of formats.

Andrea Ryder, Licensing Director, The LEGO Group said expanding the partnership was a “natural thing,” adding: “We are looking forward to exciting children around the globe with more inspiring and innovative books coming out of this collaboration.”

Miriam Farbey, UK Publisher and Global NonFiction Publisher, Scholastic UK added: “The LEGO Group and Scholastic are completely aligned in encouraging kids to be creative and imaginative.”

Rainbow acquires Bardel Italy-based family entertainment specialist Rainbow has acquired animation studio Bardel. The Canadian studio is one of the country’s biggest, employing around 650 artists across three divisions, and working with major players including Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, and Disney. Rainbow’s investment highlights its strategic focus on quality content, technological innovation, and ability to build a strong presence on a worldwide level.

“You can’t stand still in this industry,” explained Iginio Straffi, President and CEO of Rainbow Group. “At Rainbow we know this, which is why we are dedicated to innovation and creativity.”

toysnplaythings.co.uk

MEDIA

Boys are on the up

CHARTS

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500

W

elcome to the September media report, the first month of the autumn period. We are reporting on Boys and Girls 4-9 years and Housewives with Children.

The boys viewing levels for September are showing an increase of 2.3 percent up on the previous September, nothing too exciting, but better than being down 2.3 percent. As the chart shows, The Cartoon Network is market leader, showing an increase of 30 percent over September last year.

Other stations such DisneyXD have increased viewing by 46 percent, ITVB is up by 40 percent, Tiny Pop figures have gone through the roof, mainly due to going onto the freeview platform. So for some stations the boys viewing levels are going well, others have lost out such as, CiTV, Pop, Disney and Nickelodeon.

Moving onto the girls viewing levels we can clearly see this market is down, in fact, by 15 percent. The stations such as Nickelodeon, Disney, CiTVB and Channel 5 are all down. There are, of course, a few exceptions such as Nick Junior, The Cartoon Network, Disney Junior, Disney XD and Tiny Pop, so it’s not all bad news. The problem is there are more stations doing badly than there are doing well.

Housewives with Children, in the main, it’s good news as the total market is up by 5.6 percent and more good news is ITVB is holding it’s own, as the chart shows. This implies that its new programming format is working well, it would be nice to see an increase in viewing levels at some point in the future, but still good news.

Looking at the expenditure for the top ten players, this is up by a massive 87 percent when compared to September 2014. This would imply that the autumn is off to a flying start. We saw in August and September some stations turning late money away and I can see this happening again in October and November.

The TV market, in terms of revenue, is up by 11.5 percent and this represents £35.8m. Our estimates for October are up two percent and November down by three percent, with December breaking even.

In the next issue we will look at the older end of the Kids market.

0

Housewives & Kids TVR’s September 14 vs September 15

Sep-14

Sep-15

9000 8000 7000 0 6000 0 5000 0 4000 0 3000 0 2000 0 1000 0 0

Boys 4-9 TVR’s September 14 vs September 15

Sep 14 Sep-14

Sep 15 Sep-15

7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

Girls 4-9 TVR’s September 14 vs September 15

Sep-14

Sep-15

Sept 2014 Toy Company Sept 2015 Toy Company TV Expenditure TV Expenditure Company Name

TV Expenditure

Company Name

TV Expenditure

Hasbro (UK) Ltd Character Options Ltd John Adams Leisure Ltd Flair Leisure Prod Ltd Mattel UK Ltd VTech Electronics Ltd Spin Master Toys Ltd Fisher Price Toys Ltd Vivid Imaginations Ltd IMG Toys UK Ltd

£1,689,127 £1,005,597 £976,677 £814,989 £625,574 £537,018 £423,335 £421,084 £348,344 £292,815

Hasbro (UK) Ltd Mattel Uk Ltd John Adams Leisure Ltd Character Options Ltd Flair Leisure Prod Ltd Spin Master Toys Ltd Golden Bear Prod Ltd Vivid Imagination Ltd Zapf Creations UK LEGO UK Ltd

£3,157,149 £1,771,325 £1,786,535 £1,634,430 £1,379,714 £1,133,230 £911,930 £544,654 £505,694 £481,456

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 SE S EP PT TEMBE EMB EM BE ER 2013 2013 20 13

15

COVER FEATURE VIVID

A vivid range of toys Vivid Imaginations is launching two fantastic new ranges to retail. PIXL is a revolutionary new digital toy with a low price-point, while the comically named Fungus Amungus will bring microscopic mayhem to retailers across the country.

Place your orders now!

S

omething exciting is about to hit the shelves of toy stockists and we’re taking notice. Step forward Vivid Imaginations who are bringing two in-house developed collectable toys to retail – and you can place your orders now.

So what are we talking about? PIXL and Fungus Amungus (we love the name here at TnP!) are two of the toy company’s most hyped and inventive products for 2016 and we’re about to tell you all about them.

Focus on fungus First from Vivid comes Fungus Amungus, an in-house developed collectable which the company says they have high-hopes for.

In a nutshell, Fungus Amungus is a new collectable range of germs, bacteria and microbes which launches in January 2016 and is aimed at five to seven year olds.

Vivid’s Marketing Director Mary Wood explains more: “Fungus is in-house developed with a strong rong proposition for both retailers and consumers – we have high h expectations! It’s a fantastic m to opportunity for our brand team be innovative and whacky in how the eople brand develops and I think people e’ve had will see just how much fun we’ve ear.” when Fungus launches next year.”

The Fungus facts cts ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

18 16

Launching in stores January ry 2016 Available to order now Over 100 figures to collectt Will stick to almost anything ing Aimed at five to seven year ar olds Supported with webisodes, s, digital, TV and PR

Some Fungus Amungus characters actually look like their Describing the real-world counterparts as seen through a microscope product, Mary says: “There are over 100 figures to collect, made from a We posed the question to stretchy, sticky plastic. In addition Mary who told us that to the collectables there is storage aside from the unique chambers and accessories so kids brand backstory, Fungus can capture their ‘Funguys’. It’s a Amungus collectables all collectable craze like you’ve never have a fun feature. seen before!”

“Each figure is made from a sticky material, so they can stick to almost anything and kids will love to throw Funguys on the ceiling and windows and then peel them off,” reveals Mary.

“The stickiness also creates a fantastic unravelling feature in the characters, almost like watching them come alive.”

Hero product The hero product in the Fungus Amungus range is The ExGERMinator with an RRP of £19.99.

“It’s ideal to catch and trap your Funguys,” says Mary, “and it comes with loads of gross sounds and a flinger to launch your Funguys!”

Mary adds: “Although with all the figures to collect – the two-figure Petri-Dish Collection and five-figure Vac Pack will be pretty popular too.”

We all know that there are collectables on the market at the moment, but what makes Fungus Amungus different?

“

Retail reaction

Fungus is in-house develo developed with a strong propos proposition for bot both retaile nd retailers and consu consumerss

If you’ve not seen Vivid’s Fungus Amungus range just yet, you will certainly see it on TV as Vivid tell us the line will be supported with a strong TV campaign, designed to get little consumers very excited.

Retailers who have seen the range are particularly excited about it, say Vivid.

” toysnplaythings.co.uk

PIXL will have limited edition colourways of the twin pack characters, “Flip & Flop” - Flip will be flopped and Flop will be flipped!

PIXL: The facts ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

pixelated emojis and animations.

Kids can create and upload over 100 of their own designs via the accompanying app and then bump their characters together to share and swap with friends.

Launching in stores February 2016 Available to order now Six characters to collect App-supported Allows kids to create their own designs Supported by TV and digital campaign

“

The concept “The reaction has been fantastic and we anticipate strong support for launch in the UK and internationally,” Mary adds.

Digital and online with all be a key focus for the brand with an interactive website and a strong presence on YouTube and Instagram. But that is not all, Mary says that as well as the TV and brand website, Vivid is producing its first ever webisodes!

“We’re launching the series in December and January and they’ll give kids the chance to see where all their Funguys really come from. It’s not to be missed!”

You’re about to be pixelated Next up from Vivid is PIXL which is due to hit shelves in February 2016 and like Fungus Amungus, you can place your orders now! The lowpriced digital toy is really one to watch. There are six PIXL characters and each has an 8 x 8 grid screen which displays a wide range of pre-loaded,

NOVEMBER 2015

PIXL originally stemmed from the everincreasing popularity of the emoji language which has recently been in the news as the UK’s fastest growing language

The idea behind PIXL is fascinating and Mary explains that it “originally stemmed from the ever-increasing popularity of the emoji language which has recently been in the news as the UK’s fastest growing language”. Mary explains that this combined with an idea from one of Vivid’s important inventor partners led to the creation of PIXL. “With the proven play pattern of creation and the popularity of pixelated worlds, such as Minecraft, we believe this product has fantastic potential to capture kids’ imaginations and become the next must-have playground toy.”

”

grid, then placing their PIXL onto the designated area of the screen for the in-built photo sensor to receive the design.

“It’s essentially a simplified form of coding which kids are very familiar with nowadays as its part of the national curriculum,” says Mary.

“However, there’ll also be instructional demo videos and a selection of readymade designs that kids can upload straight away, in order to cater for different ages.”

TV advertised Retailers who have seen the toy absolutely love it, says Mary.

“We have received a brilliant response across the board already and have secured strong distribution across key accounts.”

PIXL will be TV advertised from launch too and will also be supported with a digital campaign.

“We’ll be launching an incremental digital campaign in addition to strong PR support through the likes of product sampling to get PIXLs into kids hands and kick-start the creation craze.”

It is all ‘appening PIXL is an app-centric toy and the free app will allow kids to create and upload their very own designs by simply tapping the squares on the 8 x 8

CONTACT If you are interested in Fungus Amungus and PIXL, there is only one company who can help you out. Give Vivid’s sales team a call on 0148 344 9944 or log onto www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

17 19

MEDIA

OPINION

That festive feeling Monty the Penguin made an impact for John Lewis

B

ack in July, the Argos catalogue kicked off the flurry of new Christmas product for sale.

As good and effective as Argos obviously is, others have followed both tactically and strategically.

Over recent years this creative field came ablaze when John Lewis introduced The Bare and the Hare to push toys and games, alongside TRU, Smyths and not forgetting the grocers, who blend a toy range into their Christmas commercial season.

Pre and post October half-term viewing for toy commercials is like the formation warmup lap of a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Pristine product, a spectrum of colour, technology and creativity all roar away and compete.

However, unlike F1 where the Mercedes Silver Arrows lead the field for Germany, the UK advertising industry has outstripped Germany in size for the first time last year (Source: ZenithOptimedia).

The advertising landscape has changed dramatically. Clients want social media linked to their offline advertising and the UK was the first European country to really capitalise on creating digital media solutions.

The skills in developing this technology alongside a commercial message has served to enhance the advertising experience. This development of digital technology found new ways to enhance the experience by delivering at both the messenger and the receiver end of advertising.

For example, following the success of The Bear and the Hare in 2013 for John Lewis, the store introduced Monty the Penguin in 2014. Sam was Monty’s best friend and children could view more content and explore Monty’s world online. In addition, the John Lewis campaign included an early example of causerelated marketing - Tom Odell’s Real Love was the soundtrack to Monty’s World and online viewers could buy the CD, with 89p going to World Wild Life Fund.

As you read this column, the big Christmas campaigns will be underway. Advertising spend in Q4 is forecast to exceed £5bn this year as products and brands fight for their share of consumer spend which is forecast to exceed £90.8bn.

The toy industry traditionally ups advertising

“

spend in Q4, but the toy category is not alone. With Q4 representing 25 percent of the year’s spending, traditional seasonal advertisers are spending more on advertising than at any other time of year. Just think, 56 percent of total fragrances, 48 percent of total children’s toys, 48 percent of total jewellery and watches and 35 percent of total supermarket advertising is spent in Q4.

While these estimates show toys and games sitting in between the top and bottom levels, the other categories do not experience the same relative hike in cost per thousand that happens in kids’ airtime costs. Even in the digital market place the economics of supply and demand maintain the relative cost position for adult and children’s airtime; there are many more hours of adult airtime available.

Within the total market, The Advertising Association says Q4 advertising has increased 24 percent in the last five years (£3.97bn in Q4 2009, to £4.93bn in Q4 2014).

The majority of preChristmas advertising for children is spent during dedicated kids shows; unlike the other seasonal categories who have a 24hour digital spectrum to reach their adult audiences. The internet, mobile and social media platforms also offer digital technology to reach children, in addition to broadcast commercials.

Furthermore, children tend to behave differently and generate interest in toys through word of mouth. Two year olds spend about 10 percent of their time with other children. This rises to 40 percent between ages seven to 11 and the impact of this young social behaviour should not be overlooked. This does not happen in markets for Christian Dior or Rolex!

As the race for Christmas gets underway allow me to return to my Grand Prix comparison. The UK may be behind Germany on track and field but in marketing we lead the way.

The advertising landscape has changed dramatically. Clients want social media linked to their offline advertising

”

Clive Crouch can be contacted on: www.clivecrouch.com, info@clivecrouch.com, mobile: 078 31 670 453

18

The UK leads the way when it comes to marketing, and this means Christmas

TV

Introducing LTW TV

TV

TnP TV just got a whole lot better with the launch of its sister title LTW’s own TV show called, you guessed it, LTW TV. This is a new show dedicated to the dynamic world of licensing...

I Y UAREL Q S D AIME LY HUGE ORLD OF E H T T A IS TIVE W LUCRA ING, LTW TVOUR LICENS XT STEP IN , G E THE N RY-LEADIN T INDUS EDIA MULTIMAGE COVER

“

talks y, MD of eOne Andrew Carle lly Ho d an n Be Peppa and

f you were at BLE in October, chances are you saw something very exciting on our stand. As ever, we were busy filming, talking to some of the brightest minds in the business to bring you unparalleled access to our industry - but something was a little different.

As TnP TV continues to go from strength to strength, we’re excited to unveil LTW TV. In partnership with our sister title, Licensing Today Worldwide, LTW TV is the latest launch from the Lema Media network. Aimed squarely at the hugely lucrative world of licensing, LTW TV is the next step in our industry-leading, multimedia coverage.

TnP TV will continue to cover toys of all shapes and sizes, but for the savviest retailers and industry professionals, LTW TV is your new window on the ever evolving world of entertainment, lifestyle and character licensing.

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NOVEMBER 2015

ates 70 years n team celebr The Saltkråka ng ocki of Pippi Longst

“You asked for it, and we’re delivering it,” said Group Editor and presenter of TnP TV and LTW TV, Mirella Anstey. “We simply could not have planned for the success of TnP TV. The support has been overwhelming, and LTW TV is the exciting next step.

“As the only multimedia meeting point for the interconnected toy and licensing industries, we’re proud to extend our coverage beyond the ordinary.

Alongside our print magazines, daily news flashes and social media reach, TnP and LTW TV keep you ahead of the crowd, wherever you are, however you prefer.”

The first episodes of LTW TV are being rolled-out this month so visit www.ltwmag.com and register for free to receive the first episodes directly to your inbox.

The only way to be a part of TnP TV and the brand new LTW TV is to get in touch with Ryan Horwood now on 01442 289930 or ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk.

planned with Mr Maker has Discover what re Shaw ai Cl g, in ns Lice Zodiak’s VP of

stalk MD, s up with Bean Mirella catche Lisa Reiner

19

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

Talk of the town

Let it rip

CHARACTER OPTIONS

TOY STATE

0161 633 9800 www.character-online.co.uk

Clever Keet from Character’s Little Live Pet’s range is the talk of the town and he is already making waves on many retailer’s top ten lists.

“Who’s a clever boy?” will be call of the autumn with the introduction of the most intelligent and interactive Little Live Pet to date – Clever Keet.

His impressive list of features set a new high in the world of interactive pets. This pretty boy sings, moves, talks, flaps his wings and even pushes along his very own cart. He’s a cheeky Parakeet who comes with his own playground and accessories and not only has pre-loaded phrases, but the ability to speak, repeat and mash up his owner’s words too. With such an impressive toy in the portfolio, Character has an equally impressive marketing strategy that will ensure this talkative bird remains the talk of the town.

www.toystate.com The latest from Toy State’s Road Rippers brand stays true to the company’s mission of being at the forefront of imagination and innovation. The Toy State Road Rippers Dancing Car does just that – it dances! This product will make you want to break out your dancing shoes and hit the dance floor while the lights, music and realistic engine sounds will get you moving and grooving.

Having just recently hit the toy shelves, the Dancing Car is already receiving rave reviews, most notably being honored with a Tillywig Award for excellence in its class. Toy State’s Nikko VaporizR 2, Hot Wheels Flipping Fury and Road Rippers Wheelie Bikes were also recognised with the Tillywig Awards. The Tillywig Awards Programme evaluates products based on quality, efficacy and entertainment value to provide consumers and retailers information on the best toys.

Toy State’s products are known throughout the toy community for quality and innovation and the Dancing Car is no exception. Following in a long line of highly-stylised lights and sound vehicles, the Dancing Car promises an endless amount of fun for children ages three and up.

A good game JUMBO GAMES 01707 260 436 www.jumbo.eu Jumbo Games has launched a new range of puzzles based on Disney Pixar’s upcoming film, The Good Dinosaur.

Jumbo has five brightly coloured and entertaining tertaining puzzles, including a Giant Wall Puzzle, 100 and 50 Piece Puzzles, 4 in 1 Puzzle Box and a Giant Floor Puzzle.

The Good Dinosaur 35-Piece Giant Wall Puzzle measures a colossal 100x70cm when complete while the 4 in 1 Puzzle Box comes with an eight,10,12 and 14 piece shaped jigsaw puzzle for four times the fun. The Good Dinosaur 50pce and 100pce Puzzles featuring Arlo and friends will brighten up the dark winter nights while The Good Dinosaur 50 Piece Giant Floor Puzzle is easy to assemble with extra-large pieces. Jumbo Games’ current Disney licences include Frozen, Jake the Neverland Pirate, Toy Story, Cars and Planes.

20

toysnplaythings.co.uk

NEW Pen to paper in 3D style

You really are e an amungus fungus

FLAIR

VIVID 01483 449 944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk

0208 633 0320 www.flairplc. co.uk New to retailers this month is IDO3D, a revolutionary pen that has been inspired by 3D printing technologies and allows kids to draw in 3D. IDO3D contains a unique patented compound in a range of colours that allows kids to transform 2D templates to 3D multi-colour masterpieces.

The UV light included sets the ink in seconds and allows kids to draw straight in the air. GP Flair is investing significantly in the launch of this new creative concept with DO3D contains a heavy unique patented weight TV advertising, compound in a range digital of colours that allows campaigns, kids to transform 2D key awareness templates to 3D multievents plus kids colour masterpieces. competitions.

”

Breaking out for spring 2016, Fungus Amungus is a brand new collectable range, like nothing you’ve ever seen before. With over 100 figures to collect from launch, these icky, sticky, stretchy, squishy characters are sure to cause mayhem wherever you might find them.

Fungus Amungus is a unique feature-driven collectable brand developed around a rich and exciting backstory.

The product range will be led at launch by collectable items; including the Batch 1 Specimen Collection Petri-Dish containing two figures with a collector file and the five-figure Batch 1 Vac Pack Collection, which also includes the rare super-mouldy and toxic figures. Supplementing the range will be the Toxic Chamber, ideal for trapping and storing all figures and The ExGERMinator which is the main defence against the Fungus break out.

Fungus Amungus will be supported by a comprehensive marketing programme, with a heavyweight TV campaign from launch and a strong focus on digital/online platforms including a brand website, a series of webisodes, digital advertising and social media.

Innovative PR activity will round off the marketing plans, with various activities and events taking place through spring 2016.

Get digging BRUDER www.bruder.de www.brud e The JCB 5CX eco backhoe loader is truly multi-talented.

In addition to the tilting, locking and changeable front loader bucket, the backhoe loader is also equipped with a fully ba functional rear bucket excavator featuring two outriggers to stabilise ex the vehicle and enable any an excavating task. The front loader arm is linked to a one-handed operation mechanism and features a cleverly op positioned trigger button. Thanks to the swivelling driver’s seat and the opening rear window, the available BRUDER construction workers t can control all the backhoe loader’s functions. There is full control of the JCB, even after having positioned the construction worker using one of two opening cabin doors, thanks to the additional BRUDER d drag link, fitted through the th roof hatch. Four-wheel steering also ensures a tight turning circle.

In addition to tread tyres, the JCB 5CX circ eco backhoe loader is also equipped with an off-road front axle to safeguard traction on almost almo any surface. Simply store the additional drag link in the vehicle underbody once the job is done. und 21

NOVEMBER 2015

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 is selling well and how they are finding consumers on the ground

CHARLOTTE CROSER Jollys, Thrapston, Northamptonshire,

GARY GLASSON Fun Filled Toys, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Fun Filled Toys is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Manager Gary has been with the shop since the start, and has a strong background in retail What’s selling well for you currently?

Everything’s selling really well, but more specifically Power Rangers Dino Charge figures from Bandai are doing great. Star Wars is also doing really well - I wonder why that is?!

Just how important is Christmas to your annual business? Is any other period close?

Christmas is massively important for us, accounting for around 50 per cent of our annual business. It really can be crazy, and already we’re seeing shoppers gearing up for Christmas. The only time of the year that comes close is Easter, as we’re finding people now like to buy their children a toy, rather than chocolate or sweets.

What are your top three picks for Christmas?

Shopkins, which is selling incredibly well across the board.

Spirograph is another one that I have high hopes for: it’s always popular and will get a boost with the release of the new sets this autumn. I also think Pet Parade from Flair will continue to be a big hit this Christmas, especially with the new cat extension.

What’s your biggest challenge over Christmas? Could suppliers do anything to help with this?

It’s all about logistics: ensuring we have enough stock coming in at the right time. Our suppliers are quite good in this respect, and as long as the communication is there, we can plan around any potential issues.

Jollys has been open two and a half years, after finding success online. The bricks and mortar store has really taken off and has become the main focus for Charlotte, who handles the shop all on her own!

What’s selling well for you currently?

I’d say activity crafts and science kits - all the messy hands on stuff. Hama Beads are always popular for us, and the Earth Science range from Tobar, such as the Gold Panning Kit and excavation kits, are doing great. I’m still doing well with outdoor as well surprisingly. That’s probably down to me making an effort to keep that in stock and up front in the weeks after summer ended.

Just how important is Christmas to you? Is any other period close?

Probably about 30% of our business is done over Christmas. Easter and the summer term block in the run-up to the school holidays are also popular, with people buying for birthdays and travelling. When the summer holidays end it tails off until Christmas, so you really have to move stuff around the shop to capture shoppers’ attentions.

What are your top three picks for Christmas? What will sell well?

Orchard Toys always does well at Christmas. I’m expecting Usborne’s sticker and activity books to do well also. Other than that, anything festive-themed in the Christmassy colours and patterns is always a winner.

What’s you biggest challenge over Christmas? Could suppliers do anything to ease this?

Just keeping up with having enough stock of the kind of things that people are after. Our store is only the size of a large living room, so we have to be nimble and keep on top of things. Suppliers are very helpful in this regard.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Tweet Talk Share your thoughts with us and keep up to date with all things TnP on Twitter @toysnplaythings

ADAM ALLTON-NEE Fergus and Foggs, Tamworth, Staffordshire Fergus and Foggs has been open for nearly two years, and Adam is already looking at a second location to expand nearby What’s selling well for you currently?

We had a Jurassic Park themed window over summer, so all things dinosaur related sold well. The wooden dinosaur sets from Bigjigs is a good example. Pirate Ships and Castles are doing well now with Halloween.

Just how important is Christmas to you? Is any other period close?

Last year October, November and December accounted for at least a third of the year’s takings. We run a Christmas club, so shoppers can pay a deposit and complete it over five payments. It’s really popular for our big Le Toy Van doll’s houses, and all the accessories That all kicked off properly at the end of September.

What are your top three picks for Christmas? What will sell well?

People are always taken by the Giant Giraffes from Melissa and Doug.

We also have some cool igloo playsets, which have wooden figures with a soft carry igloo. I’m sure the larger wooden playsets from Bigjigs and Le Toy Van will fly out the door, too.

What’s your biggest challenge over Christmas? Could suppliers do anything to ease this?

We’re not a massive shop so it’s keeping stock in order and getting more of the toys that are running out. Timing is key too; we may have put some customers off by starting with Christmas a little too early last year.

NOVEMBER 2015

SALLY WESTERMAN Toys n Things, Cardiff What’s selling well for you currently?

Sylvanian Families, the new LEGO Star Wars, Top Model, Thomas and Friends, everything.

Our Toymaster catalogue has just come out and that is really driving business.

Just how important is Christmas to you? Is any other period close?

The majority of our business take place over October to December. We do Halloween make-up, and a full range of costumes, and fireworks for Bonfire Night, so things really start speeding up now. This year has been one of our biggest years for costumes. All the schools are doing World Book Day. We can’t order fast enough!

What are your top three picks for Christmas? What will sell well?

Got to be LEGO across the board, with Star Wars and CITY leading the way. Playmobil and Sylvanian Families will also do well. We have a huge Sylvanian range, from the largest Grand Hotel, to the little baby sets, and all the furniture.

What’s you biggest challenge over Christmas? Could suppliers do anything to ease this?

Keeping up to date on the stock intake, its so fast and busy that toys come in one door and out the other. We’re Toymaster though, so everything is done by them and they’re fantastic.

Have you had any surprise hits this year?

Shopkins. It really picked up this year and just disappears within seconds of hitting the shelves!

23

RETAIL INTERVIEW FIREBOX.CO.UK

Putting fire into toy buying Firebox.co.uk hit the headlines recently when Sphero’s Star Wars BB-8 was the online store’s highest grossing toy in 24 hours. TnP caught up with Head Buyer Ben Redhead to find out about why Firebox is different, and how they are becoming the go-to place for toys and gadgets Ben Redhead

First off, your tag line is ’shop for the unusual’. How would you describe Firebox, because it isn’t a toy shop in the ‘traditional’ sense?

The aim of the ‘Shop for the Unusual’ tagline was essentially to capture everything Firebox is about as a brand and we chose it because it can be interpreted in a number of ways.

Shopping for someone unusual?

Come to Firebox. Looking for a range of products that are unusual?

Come to Firebox. Are you someone that would class themselves as unusual? Come to Firebox.

We build our product selection, PR communications, marketing

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materials, office culture and everything we do around being unusual to position ourselves in such a way that we’re a category of one, set apart from other retailers that may once have been classed as our competitors.

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We sell the majority of Toys and Games during Q4, Is there a typical Firebox customer, because your we’re toys aren’t squarely aimed expecting at children? Who do you 2015 to be have in mind when making one of our buying decisions? strongestThe simple answer to that is ever years no! When we first started out in business 17 years ago, our core focus was the ‘boys toys’

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demographic and that continued to be the case up until four or five years ago when we shifted in line with changing consumer habits. We’ve never really claimed to be a children’s retailer and that’s probably truer today than ever before as we feel the brand, tone of voice and our product offering have grown up just as the company has since first starting out in 1998.

Our aim today from a product selection perspective is to bring the best and coolest products to

toysnplaythings.co.uk

Sphero’s Star Wars BB-8 has been Firebox.co.uk’s best-selling toy so far in 2015

the UK (and sometimes global) market before any other retailer, to appeal to ‘early adopters’ of the latest tech, toys and gadgets, to offer products that customers have never seen before and to entertain our visitors instead of just being a clinical, boring online retailer with no obvious personality.

Roughly what percentage of your overall sales are toys/ games?

For the whole of last year, our Toys and Games category contributed about 10 percent to overall turnover. But personally, I thought 2014 was quite a weak year for the toy trade in terms of new launches.

Showing perhaps that was the case, we’re already tracking at 25 percent contribution to overall revenue from Toys and Games in 2015 thanks to a phenomenal performance from Sphero’s BB-8 as well as some very strong launches in the category like Obama Llama, Game of Thrones Monopoly and the Immerse Virtual Reality Headset. Considering we sell the majority of Toys and Games during Q4, we’re expecting 2015 to be one of our strongest-ever years for that category specifically.

The majority of products you sell are quirky, so what qualities does a toy have to have to fit in with the rest of your offering?

No matter the category, every product needs to fit in with our selection criteria and our ultimate goal of being the home of the Coolest Things you can Buy and a Shop for the Unusual. We base our decision on whether a product is right for the range or not using

NOVEMBER 2015

criteria like: Is it unique? Would we be the first / exclusive UK retailer? Is it shareable / PR-able?

Is it funny?

Provided it ticks the majority of those boxes and makes commercial sense, it’s reasonably likely it will make its way onto the Firebox site.

Best-selling toys over the past year: Sphero BB-8 Immerse Virtual Reality Headset Game of Thrones Monopoly

Board games make up a good portion of your toy offering. What’s currently popular?

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Licensing is very important to us, especially when it comes to licenses that we’ve always had a reputation of getting behind

Monopoly has had a real resurgence in the past couple of years with the Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Star Wars The Force Awakens licenses among our bestselling lines in the Toys and Games category. We’ve also got high hopes for Back to the Future Monopoly, which is pencilled in for launch just before Christmas. Aside from Monopoly, Eyetoons made by Ginger Fox is a new release for the second half of 2015 which has proved to a surprise hit so far.

Certainly one we’re tipping to be a Christmas hit this year.

Tell us about your partnership with Obama Llama - are these kinds of ‘indie’ games popular for you?

Absolutely. It was brilliant to work with Big Potato a few years back to bring Linkee to the UK market and

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provide them with a platform to not only sell the game, but to get it in front of journalists, bloggers and subsequently, other retailers.

Having and maintaining good relationships with indie suppliers like Big Potato mean an awful lot to us as it helps us stay ahead of the curve and launch new releases (like Obama Llama) before anyone else.

As a business, although we have a relatively modest product count compared to a lot of other retailers in our sector, our supplier database is actually quite large. We tend to take our time and source just one or two products from independent suppliers rather than just ranging lots of products from just one vendor. Working this way makes sourcing products a bit of a longer process than most retailers but more often than not it yields the best results as it allows us to find products that no other retailer has and gives us the opportunity to build lasting relationships with exciting indie suppliers.

A good chunk of your toys are pop culture related. How important is licensing to you?

Licensing is very important to us, especially when it comes to licenses that we’ve always had a reputation of getting behind. Star Wars has always been the runaway winner for us, but aside from that we tend to follow our gut and go after products that have featured in

BEN SAYS… “We tend to use social media as more of a brand tool to get across our tone of voice, to build a rapport with our customers and to keep them entertained.”

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RETAIL INTERVIEW FIREBOX.CO.UK

“

Our aim today from a product selection perspective is to bring the best and coolest products to the UK

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films and TV shows that employees here in the office like. Worldwide smash hits like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead have been some of the most popular for us in recent years in terms of licenses. But we also love to tap into timeless pop-culture favourites.

How do you identify a winning licensed product?

Unearthing products that customers haven’t seen before or bringing licensed products to the UK first is a much harder task than those that aren’t licensed so it’s certainly a trickier process when it comes to sourcing. Obviously it’s not always going to be possible to secure exclusive or UK first periods on products with popular licenses, so that’s when, as buyers, we need to work hard to identify the best-inclass of the particular license we’re looking at.

Star Wars is a prime example for 2015 given the launch of the new film and the hype surrounding Force Friday. The temptation for us, as a retailer with a reputation for the stocking Star Wars products, was to flood the site with all of the new lines released for the new film.

But ultimately if we did that, we wouldn’t really be staying true to our goal of bringing our customers the coolest things money can buy. So with that in mind, we made a deliberate decision to get

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behind what we believed to be the best four to five new Star Wars lines and pour all of our sales, merchandising, marketing and PR resources into making the biggest impact possible. It was our way of trying to cut through the noise of Force Friday and given the sales we achieved on those products, we feel as though we made the right call.

Twitter or Instagram. But what I would say is that as a retailer, you need to be far more intelligent than just promoting products through these channels and hoping the sales roll in. The public are far too savvy to that lazy way of selling.

Instead we tend to use social media as more of a brand tool to get across our tone of voice, to build a rapport with our customers and to keep them entertained. It’s also fast becoming another important method of customer service with followers often asking questions about products or orders they’ve placed.

You sell a good number of drones and remote control gadgets. Is this a trend you see continuing?

Yes, for sure. The last few years has seen the RC market evolve and undergo a bit of a resurgence with the introduction of commercially available and affordable drones as well as the shift towards connected toys that can be controlled from your smartphone. This added convenience of being able to control a toy from an item you have in your pocket everyday is only going to see this section of the market boom in the coming years.

The Sphero BB-8 was a big hit for you on Force Friday, and a total sell out.

Did you anticipate this performance?

We’re taken by surprise on plenty of occasions with products that we don’t anticipate to be smash hits that then go on to perform brilliantly. But where Sphero’s BB-8 is concerned, we always knew we had a number one product on our hands. That said, the sales numbers we achieved were unlike anything we could’ve dreamed of and given there was a worldwide shortage, I’m fairly sure it took Sphero themselves by surprise too!

Is social media a big part of your messaging? How do you use it?

Most popular licensed toys:

Social media is a big part of the way we do things and we’ve built up a fairly sizeable and loyal following over the years. I wouldn’t say there’s an exact science to the way we use sites like Facebook,

Sphero BB-8 Game of Thrones Monopoly Star Wars 3D Metal Earth Model Kits Wilson (from film Castaway)

toysnplaythings.co.uk

HIGH STREET

HIGHS

Dreaming of a bright Christmas Love them or loathe them, The Entertainer’s MD Gary Grant says every retailer can benefit from the public attention generated by Christmas prediction lists. With DreamToys upon us, Gary tells us why everyone in the industry should get behind it

I

t’s November, and that means Christmas is sweeping the High Street. Gift lists, best-seller predictions and what’s hot charts fill the news.

Some of the best-known names in toy retail have already weighed in on this topic, and while their predictions and top 10 lists are good indicators of what is likely to be popular for them, sometimes they don’t tell the full story. This is where DreamToys comes in. DreamToys is an annual media event revealing what a selection committee made up of representatives from the TRA and BTHA believes will be the best-selling toys for Christmas. The Entertainer’s MD, Gary Grant, has been involved in DreamToys since the beginning, and believes the list has an important role to play in the pre-Christmas conversation.

“What we endeavour to do each year is predict what we, as an industry, believe will be the best-selling toys for Christmas.

Every section of the industry has a voice, and we use all the information and experience we have between us to predict what we think will be the best-selling toys for Christmas on behalf of the entire industry. The result is a list of the year’s stand-out toys that is independent, unbiased and well informed. We are predicting the future, not trying to shape it.”

Building the list With so many fantastic toys on the market each year, the selection process is a long and tough one. But how exactly do they choose?

“We start with around 300 toys that are likely candidates for the top 72,” Gary explains. “It is quite simple to cut that list in half, but things become a lot trickier from there. We begin

NOVEMBER 2015

fine tuning, squeezing and refining, and then comes the job of selecting the stand-out DreamToys Top 12.”

Gary says while the toys on the list are the stars of the event, the real winner is the toy industry at large.

“Our objective is to promote toys,” he explains. “The press always wants to know what the year’s number one toy will be, and while we all know that’s an impossible thing to predict, we can give the media the best prediction possible and generate noise for the whole industry in the meantime.”

The idea, Gary says, is to get people talking about toys in general. The longer toys are in the spotlight in the run-up to Christmas, the more the industry stands to gain.

“That money that was going to go to the sports equipment sector now comes to the toy industry. That spend that was going to the confectionary sector now might end up in the till of a toy retailer instead,” says Gary. “That’s what I mean by doing this for the whole industry. We are talking on behalf of the toy industry, for the benefit of the entire industry.”

Make the most of it DreamToys costs around £150,000 0,000 to organise each year, and Gary reveals this leads to about out £1.5 million of rate card activity.

While that’s a sizeable return on investment, he believes this could quite easily rise to £2.5 million n - if everyone pulls together, that is.

“Even if you are a retailer and nd your personal list is 100 percent different to ours, you can make ke DreamToys work for you. I would urge any retailer to piggy back ck on the back of DreamToys in anyway they can. Ring you local ocal newspaper and tell them how wrong we have it. Tell them your list and make the story about you, your local area and whatt you know as the best place to buy toys locally.”

And Gary says this same mentality should be picked up by manufacturers as well.

“If you are a manufacturer or supplier at DreamToys this year, step forward and take ke control. Craft your story in advance, create an angle ngle and take it to the press. They are there for a story, ory, so give them one; don’t just hover on your stand.” d.”

So is Gary looking forward to this year’s event?

“Absolutely. On the day, there’s e’s lots of adrenaline flowing, and a few tight hourss to do the very best for toys this Christmas, so you u need to be on your game. Me and the team - and d it truly is a team effort - will be working the hall all as best as we can, linking people, connecting spokespeople pokespeople with press and promoting the industry ustry as best we can.

It’s certainly draining, but the benefits far outshine that.”

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We can give the media the best prediction possible and generate noise for the whole industry in the meantime

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THE INDEPENDENT

OPINION

A black mood Black Friday might be great for the consumer, but what about smaller retailers - who thinks of them?

I

sit at my desk and wonder if anyone else out there gets a slight sense of trepidation as Black Friday closes in on us. I hate this day!

Every year the mayhem increases and it makes me scratch my head and wonder what it is all about.

In my humble opinion, when Black Friday first arrived, the big boys got their guns out and jumped on the bandwagon looking for that ever-important market share. There were real deals out there for people to find and be proud of snatching. From what I know it seemed to work for everyone because you got big chain retailers looking at their stock and discounting well-known branded products in an effort to move items they seemed to have enough volume of.

Correct me if I’m wrong but over the past

Best sellers VOLUME: 1) Monster Minifigures – LEGO 2) Shopkins 2 Pack – Flair 3) Match Attax – Click Distribution VALUE: 1) Monster Minifigures – LEGO 2) Shopkins 12 Pack – Flair 3) Sing Along Elsa – Jakks Pacific

number of years it seems that they are purposefully buying in unknown branded items and discounting them massively, but people are still walking about with trolleys containing four flat screen TVs! It just seems to be total madness to me, am I really alone in thinking this?

And it seems to be just another day where people sell large volumes of product at very low margin so the consumer wins, leaving us smaller guys looking expensive.

Santa comes every year, and as far as I am aware, he arrives at the same date every year, so why do we feel the need to discount our products during this key period of the year?

Why don’t we, as a trade, instead of gradually increasing the amount of discounting that we do at key times of the year, actually just call it Black Winter?

Let’s discount from October onwards, no point in making any profit at all, surely it is better to just pass on any profits to our customers and hope that they feel all warm and bubbly in the run-up to Christmas?

Oh wait, that won’t work because we would all be out of business. So why do we continue to increase the amount we offer discounts on an annual basis in the hope that it benefits our business?

I have had a rant about this before and the Secret Supplier says that it is tricky to get right but there are retailers out there who seem to be able to offer key promotions and

still trade well enough to make a profit.

To be honest we are one of those retailers, but it is the secondary effect of having customers come into my stores and give abuse about how expensive we are on lines compared to others, and us then explaining that these retailers probably don’t have any stock as they are selling below cost price. The main issue is that if I have ordered a quantity of a top line, I never seem to get enough of it even selling at full price, and my only thought can be that there is a larger demand than the supply available, so why would a supplier allocate goods to a retailer who is going to decimate their brands for their own market share, rather than simply lean towards the little guy who will be happy to sell at full RRP and support them?

Is it because the big boys have so much influence that they can make demands? I would certainly hope not! I am selling toys all year to support my family and the staff we employ and their families, that is a very important task and it annoys me when I see 24pcs of a top line in a big retailer at 25% off when I haven’t any left and am outstanding most of my orders.

I would hope that there is a better way to do business and support the indies, but from past experience and from what this year seems to be tracking as, I don’t think so.

THE SECRET SUPPLIER

It’s mad and it’s bad!

Black Friday puts us all in a dark mood

I

n an industry as fiercely competitive as retail, occasionally things happen that just defy logic and Black Friday might just fall into that category.

Perhaps there is an argument to say Black Friday takes the pressure off the logistical nightmare of consumer demand being compressed into just a few shopping days before Christmas, but at what cost?

The irony of this retail festival is that in the US (home to all dubious ideas!) Black Friday allegedly marked the day after Thanksgiving when retailers started to turn a profit and got themselves out of being in the red for 11 months a year.

Here in the UK we had comfortably escaped this tradition, until US retail subsidiaries and online retailers decided it might go down well with deal-hungry British consumers. They were right! But as most retailers have now discovered, it is mainly another way to give away desperately needed margin. So far from being a date to start turning a profit, Black Friday has had precisely the opposite effect.

Argos has just pointed the finger at Black Friday as a probable cause of lower forecast profits, and doubtless other retailers will

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follow likewise.

Some astute retailers will have figured Black Friday into their annual strategic buying plans and will have acquired little-known branded stock specifically for the occasion which they can discount and still win a decent margin. Other retailers, fearful of losing market share will, lemming like, follow their competitors while preparing their profit warning notices.

So what is the good news? Well Black Friday is just one day so The Independent can use smoke and mirrors to give the impression of being part of the retail crowd thus avoiding the wrath of his abusive customers. The other key factor is that after 27 November there is everything to play for as, contrary to expectations, Black Friday does not significantly hike demand forward. Instead it has become the starting gun for that chaotic period known as the Christmas season.

Suppliers generally sympathise with the dilemma so aptly described by The Independent as equally there is no upside for suppliers who are put under pressure as retailers seek margin redress because of the actions of a few when it comes to illogical pricing of product in short supply.

Sadly Black Friday is yet another difficult challenge for The Independent and all retailers to handle. The frontline battle for the consumer’s toy expenditure has never been tougher for all types of retailers. Good luck Mr Independent!

toysnplaythings.co.uk

RETAIL

OPINION

The Toy Store’s wild West (End) adventure I

n Toyland, probably the biggest event in the last month or so has been the arrival of The Toy Store on Oxford Street. This is an operation that has its headquarters in the Middle East and has decided that not only can it do business in the UK, but that it can take on all comers while doing so.

For its debut, the retailer has chosen a site midway along Oxford Street at the front of the West One shopping centre. In its former life, this two-floor location was a branch of Dorothy Perkins.

Now a big sign reads The Toy Store and the windows are crammed with much of what you’d expect of a high profile toy shop on the UK’s busiest shopping street.

The question however is not whether it is any good it will be owing to the cost of entry to this market - but whether it is better than others in the area. Oxford and Regent Streets are highly competitive places in which to trade – even for toy retailers. Consider the fact that there is a Disney Store flagship pretty much across the road from The Toy Store, and then think about the toy departments to be found in John Lewis and Selfridges, Inside The Toy Store and a titanic trading struggle becomes apparent. And all of this before ingress is made into Hamleys, considerably less than a couple of coffees or half a mile away.

So is it worth the effort? A quick nose around The Toy Store is sufficient to confirm that all of the right things are in the right places. There’s the Sylvanian Families area, tick, there’s Barbie, tick and oh yes, there’s Thomas & Friends, big tick. Few opportunities, it would seem, to plaster the space with branded point of sale have been passed up.

Toy shops are destinations. Those who frequent them, parents or children, are there because they have made a shopping trip with this particular store in mind.

This state of affairs prevails in towns and cities where toy shops are in short supply – which tends to be the norm – there are only so many potential toy-shoppers.

When, however, there are multiple stores offering similar items and all within a relatively short distance of each other, the dynamic changes. Having the right stock will be insufficient and as Christmas approaches, it’s an oddson certainty that Oxford and Regent Street visitors will comparison shops.

This is particularly the case where bigger ticket toys are involved. If a few pounds can be saved then it might at least add up to the price of using an Oyster card on the underground. On the plus side, The Toy Store is well-financed and its position on the street means that as a brand it will become well known very quickly. The challenge it will then face is to take this recognition to other locations where it can trade.

All of which is a long and somewhat roundabout way of asking whether the UK toy-buying public is in the mood for another palace featuring items to amuse, and occasionally educate, children. If it is not, then this new arrival’s tenure could be short-lived as shoppers head to that which they know and love. Toy shops are not always easy to operate above a certain scale. Toy demonstrators are required, theatre and change should be a given and a highly competent offering should be the starting point. It may be that The Toy Store has all of these things and will indeed thrive. It is however, up against some well-established players and the chances of one of them failing are slight in the current climate.

Shoppers are a fickle lot however and we all thrive on novelty. There can be little doubt, therefore, that this one will be looked over, rather than overlooked.

The story of The Toy Store in London remains to be written but it will be certainly interesting to read.

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.

NOVEBER 2015

Retail expert John Ryan takes a look at the opening of The Toy Store and considers what it needs to do to make an impact in an already crowded market

FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

Meet the newbies It is that time of year again, new product is being rolled out by suppliers to whet consumers’ appetites and retailers are hedging their bets on what is going to shake the shelves to life. TnP takes a closer look at what to expect in Q1

O

kay, so 25 December has come and gone.

The rush is over and we start a new year with new product.

So what happens at retail when the bells and whistles of Christmas are done? How do we drum up new business and inspire the customer to walk back through the doors of our toy shops? New, carefully marketed product, that’s how.

Traditionally, add-ons and products with a lower pricepoint work best in Q1 as Mookie’s Marketing Manager Gemma Lewington points out.

“Generally, that is because of spend over Christmas and we normally don’t see an average price increase until the Easter holidays. As a result of this we have to be mindful and ensure we offer the consumer what they are

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Ranges with multiple price points do well after Christmas and into the New Year Sam Ireland, Bigjigs Toys

” Bigjig

looking for, with lower price point items.”

But Gemma says that doesn’t deter the company who still see great sales at this time of the year, especially, she says if a line is supported with TV advertising.

Agreeing in principal, Golden Bear’s Commercial Director Barry Hughes says that NPD data clearly shows the average price at the start of the year is typically lower, however more recently, Golden Bear has noticed a trend for higher priced items “to perform very well in the first half of the year” – which can only be seen as a good thing for the industry.

Make it worth it So what does a toy have to have to make an impact at this time of year?

What tricks of the trade need to be employed to get consumers through the door?

Value for money is key, says Bigjigs Toys Operations Manager Sam Ireland who adds that an educational aspect tends to work too. “More and more we see consumers looking for an educational aspect of the products to further that value for money,” says Sam.

In the first quarter we carry over a lot of our Christmas and end-of-year lines, and usually sell around half of it. The key though is to keep things fresh, and invest in new lines to reinvigorate the store Adam Allton-Nee, Fergus and Foggs, Tamworth

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Mookie’s Gemma says that addons to larger items like expansion packs or additional software tend to perform well in Q1 as children spend their own pocket money to boost what they already have.

“We are expecting to see this with our 3D Magic range, the 3D Magic 3D Maker starter pack has had a fantastic start over the past two months, so we have high hopes that January and February will see a huge uplift in sales on the expansion sets as children want to collect more of the range and build even more 3D models.

With expansion set costing between £5 and £20 they are perfect pocket money items,” says Gemma.

Bigjigs back this up, Sam says: “We find that ranges with multiple price points do particularly well after Christmas and into the New Year, because people can keep coming back for additional items to add to the original purchase, for example, Bigjigs Rail which goes from £3.99 up to £129.99.”

It doesn’t stop Even with the hype of Christmas having died down, it doesn’t mean that sales of product suddenly stop, they just refocus.

“We tend to find that our top Christmas lines continue to sell well in the New Year especially with toys that have created a buzz like 3D Magic, Pebli and Skwooshi,” says Gemma. “We see these having a longer appeal then just a Christmas toy.”

Lindsay Hardy from Trends UK says that for them, collectable ranges or accessories that complement a main Christmas present do well. Encouragingly, Lindsay says: “January can be a pretty decent month for toy sales as children spend money or

toysnplaythings.co.uk

“

You have to be flexible and adapt to what customers want in January. You are less likely to have customers in on a day-to-day basis, but those that do come in are often in to spend with purpose. You don’t want to over do it, but ordering big ticket items isn’t a bad idea, because they’re ideal as birthday presents or for children to spend their Christmas money on.

Charlotte Croser, Jollys, Northamptonshire

vouchers they received at Christmas.”

Golden Bear’s Barry agrees that ranges that are popular at Christmas carry momentum into the New Year.

“We are definitely seeing this. Kids have their Christmas money to spend on the things they didn’t get from Santa.”

Inevitably, that money is going to go on new Q1 product too, so when should retailers, depending on their warehousing facilities of course, get the stock in for Q1, if you have not already done so.

As soon as you can, suggests Sam: “We say it is always best to order as early as possible to guarantee stock. We always have some good deals in December so that retailers have access to great priced product ready for January sales.”

Likewise, Gemma says Mookie are already seeing strong sales for post-Christmas.

Supporting the lines We all like to hear the words “TV advertising” or “supported by a strong marketing campaign” – the more hype suppliers can build up, the more footfall for retailers. And that is as important as ever in Q1.

Like others, Bigjigs place importance on drumming up excitement for their ranges. Sam tells us: “Every year we launch a host of new lines across many categories. Marketing is planned around these launches well before the turn of the year to ensure our trade customers and consumers are aware of the great new lines that we have coming in.”

Golden Bear has something exciting planned too, as Barry reveals: “We are launching our fantastically fun Run Along Fun Sounds Twirlywoos, which will be supported by significant TV advertising.”

Mattel

WE ASKED… What can retailers do to help beat the post-Christmas penny pinching?

“Buy into end-of-line product at great prices so they can offer great value offers to consumers to help them through the January blues. Promoting great new lines is also a tried and tested way of appealing to consumers in the early part of the year.”

Sam Ireland, Bigjigs

Mookie also TV advertise, and will continue to do so into Q1, as Gemma explains: “We continue to support all of our top brands in the first quarter. The vast majority of our brands which were on TV in the build-up to Christmas will continue to be on TV at the start of 2016. It’s vital for us to keep all of our brands at the forefront of our consumers’ minds, and this means pushing our brands throughout the year. We also have TV campaigns that start in the earlier part of the year including TP Toys, Swingball and ScuttleBug /ScrambleBug.” So there will be no shortage of support from suppliers eager to start 2016 with a bang. Browse through the following pages of TnP to really get to grips with new launches for Q1 and beyond from some of the key suppliers.

“We have high expectations for the 3D Magic expansion sets and see these as a great pick up line for consumers. This as well as the lower price point items including Skwooshi and our general outdoor lines mean we can still create sell through in a quieter post Christmas market. As well as this we hope that by offering brands that parents trust and have already bought into in the past like Swingball and ScuttleBug / ScrambleBug they feel they are investing their money wisely.”

Gemma Lewington, Mookie

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The vast majority of our brands which were on TV in the build-up to Christmas will continue to be on TV at the start of 2016 Gemma Lewington, Mookie

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Lego

“As a Toymaster member that takes advantage of the monthly window displays, it’s actually quite easy to know what to order in. We know what the displays will be themed upon up to six months before, so we can order the right products to take advantage of that well in advance. I’ll start my buying for the first quarter now. There’s a Toymaster show in Swindow this time of year, so you can get hands on and see the samples nice and early - it’s great!”

Sally Westerman, Toys n Things, Cardiff

NOVEMBER 2015

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FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

Hit the ground running GOLDEN BEAR 01952 608308 www.goldenbeartoys.com Golden Bear is heading into 2016 with exciting new additions to its Twirlywoos collection. Inspired by the popular TV programme created by children’s TV legend Anne Wood, the new toy range will be headed up by the hilarious Run-along Fun Sounds Twirlywoos. Mimicking the adorable Twirlywoos run from this unique TV programme, the Run-along Twirlywoos will be available in all four characters - Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy and Chick - with each character saying their signature sounds as they run along.

Designed to reflect the core focus on laugh out loud childcentric humour and slap stick comedy found in the programme, the Run-along Twirlywoos will come in try me packaging for a hands on approach in-store. The line will launch in January and

will be supported with an extensive campaign across TV and digital platforms as well as PR activity. The Twirlywoos range will also see new introductions in the form of the Quacky Bird Soft Toy, which has funny flapping wings and fun quacky bird sounds, just like in the show. The mischievous Fun Sounds PeekaBoo is sure to provide lots of fun and giggles with its cute warbling sounds and textured fabrics.

The company’s Hey Duggee range will also see new additions including a Talking Duggee Soft Toy, which features Duggee’s signature Woof Woof sounds from the CBeebies TV programme based around Squirrel Club leader, Duggee and his squirrel club members. Enid, Duggee’s pet cat, will also join the soft toy assortment in the spring.

Say Eh-Oh to 2016 CHARACTER OPTIONS 0161 633 9800 www.character-online.com The new year sees Character Options launch brand new properties for pre-schoolers while an array of new pets in all shapes and guises bring a spring-like feel to the collection.

Next year gets off to a flying start with the much anticipated launch of the Teletubbies master toy range.

The World of Teletubbies collection of playsets, figures and accessories is perfect for small children, with a range of novelty toys, as well as a full line up of plush toys that everyone will be eager to get their hands on.

A hero of the range will be the Superdome Playset while the Custard Ride is brand new to the show and children will be able to enjoy a pull along toy version too. Building on the Peppa Pig portfolio is a stunning new construction range, made up of larger bricks for small hands. There are 11 SKUs to choose from at varying price points, including a 3D Peppa’s House with Peppa and George figures, a School House Set with four articulated figures and even a free-wheeling Grandpa’s Train.

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Bratz so cool!

MGA 0845 0533 333 www.mgae.com Following a highly successful relaunch in summer 2015, Bratz is most definitely back! Spring 2016 will see a number of new themes added to the range, inspired by the current trends in technology and style that influence today’s tween. Many products within the range will also have a create-it-yourself feature, allowing children to express their inner creativity, personalising their dolls and accessories.

Project Mc2 is a team of four super-smart and seriously cool girls who use their love of science and their spy skills as they go on missions for secret organisation, NOV8 (that’s innovate to me and you). They’re real girls with real skills ready to take on anything. New spring ‘16 lines will continue the brand focus on STEM subjects and encouraging tweens - especially girls - to take an interest in science.

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FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

You’ll love these RE:CREATION 01189 736222 www.recreationltd.co.uk

Building brands LEGO 01217 www.lego.com In the first half of 2015 sales for the LEGO Group were driven by double-digit growth across all geographical regions and strong product innovation on themes such as LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Elves and LEGO Creator.

For 2016, the introduction of new independent properties and exciting licences have been developed to further increase sales and drive both the construction category and growth within the business.

LEGO CITY is the largest and longest running brand for The LEGO Company. Now entering its tenth year, it has secured its standing as the number one property in the boys’ toys market and number two property across the total toys market for 2015. For the first half of 2016, LEGO CITY will see expandable playthemes including Fire, Prison Island, and the Great Vehicles concept to target treats and loyalty purchase opportunities.

A major staple since 2011, Ninjago is a leading LEGO brand supported by a hugely successful TV series on Cartoon Network and Netflix. Now an evergreen property within the portfolio, 2016 will see the introduction of a new Skybound storyline and playsets reflective of this plot.

New IP, NEXO Knights will bring a new way to play by bridging the gap between physical and digital. The concept and character-rich adventures of the futuristic knights will be brought to life through playsets, a TV series, digital content and a free app game.

Pocket money collectable brand Minifigures will continue to launch three range waves throughout 2016 to further drive purchase and frequency. Themes will include own IPs along with a new licensing deal for the Minifigures brand.

Somewhat differentiated from the core brands, Technic is a classic evergreen that caters for the slightly older boy delivering some of the most iconic real-life vehicles with authentic features and functions. Spring/summer 2016 introduces widely appealing models across varying price points including a Heavy Lift Helicopter, and pull-backs Police Interceptor and Getaway Racer. Build to play or display, this is the premium LEGO range where vehicles actually work like the real thing. Q1 will see more of the low price point pullback action vehicles, which use pull-back motors to create a fun, simple function and build for a quick, achievable success.

The ever popular and hugely successful LEGO Friends brand is introducing a whole host of new playsets in 2016, making Heartlake City the go-to destination for girls aged five to nine for full immersive role-play. These sets will allow girls to follow the new stories as well as create their own.

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Re:creation will build on the powerful foundation laid down in 2015 next spring, with continued commitment to strong TV support backing up musthave brands and products. Key news includes the launch of the latest innovation in electric scooter technology from Razor and building on the Necknapperz plush range with Emojis.

This year has seen Razor driving strong results, securing three of the top five spots in Scooters, Ride-ons (NPD Scooters, Skates and Skateboard value in pounds to June). The brand’s E90 and E100 electric scooters will be in the spotlight with TV advertising showcasing the winning Electrify your Ride messaging. In late spring the brand will once again demonstrate its credentials in leading the charge in outdoor with the launch of PowerCore 90.

Big brands HTI 01253 778888 www.htigroup.co.uk From the Disney Frozen phenomenon, HTI’s pocket money range offers young fans a selection of wintry wonders, including Glitter Putty, a Mega Sports Set, Sparkle Tubes, Neon Ball, and more new lines for spring 2016. New in wheeled is the Olaf Move n’ Groove Scooter, plus a full range of Disney Fairies wheeled toys.

Puzzler’s delight GIBSONS 020 8661 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk

88 8 8866 866 66

January 2016 sees the launch of many exciting Gibsons products, including over 40 traditional jigsaw puzzles, a new addition to the Iconic Brands Collection, and all-new The Puzzle Roll jigsaw accessory.

The iconic Volkswagen Campervan is treasured by young and old, and arriving in January 2016 is Gibsons’ 500-piece VW jigsaw puzzle. Joining the other quirky products in the Iconic Brands collection, the VW jigsaw is a montage of classic Campervans and is presented in a beautiful tin replica of the much loved Campervan.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

MY PUSH & LEARN THOMAS

Peppa’s Play & Learn Smart Watch

TAB 2

© HIT Entertainment Limited

Peppa Pig© Astley Baker Davies Ltd/ Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003

© 2015 Kurio™

© 2015 Gullane (Thomas) Limited.

T: 01727 827 194

KD UK, First Floor, The Annexe, Salisbury Hall, St Albans AL2 1BU

www.kdplanet.com/uk

FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

Steaming ahead BIGJIGS TOYS 01303 250400 trade.bigjigstoys.co.uk The Bigjigs Rail range is expanding in 2016, with two exciting new themes joining the increasingly popular range of railway toys. In 2015 the fantasy Dino and Farm themed railway sets and accessories were a huge success, with the Dino Train Set winning a Gold award from the Independent Toy awards in the Best Overall Classic Toys and Games category.

Owing to the success of these themes, Bigjigs Rail will introduce more themes for 2016, which are set to be just as successful. Without further ado, one of the new themes in 2016 will be Fire and Rescue! The themed range will include an exciting new railway set, train and various Fire and Rescue accessories. Bring the railway and their imagination alive with all action rescues.

Eye on the prize GREEN BOARD GAMES

Powering into 2016 MATTEL 01628 500 000 www.mattel.com In 2016 new feature film, Barbie: Spy Squad, will be showing girls that with Barbie, You Can Be Anything. A fantastic toy line, including the Secret Agent Lead doll, will be supported by an extensive marketing and retail programme including a TV, PR and POP. Barbie will also be able to move in more ways than before.

Barbie Made to Move are able to mimic realistic actions and have 22 joints. Barbie fairytale sees a new hair segment including Barbie Twist ‘N Style Princess, Barbie Unicorn and Long Hair Chelsea dolls, and Rainbow Light Mermaid.

Fisher-Price continues to lead the way in infant, preschool and early childhood development with innovative product lines and hot new licenses. Q1 sees the exciting new pre-school license Blaze and the Monster Machines. Based on the Nickelodeon CG series, the Fisher-Price range will focus on the show’s breadth of characters through vehicles that will drive collectability and bring the characters’ unique personalities to life. The introductory line including hero item The Transforming Blaze Jet, will deliver on the speed, stunts and the storytelling of the show.

Hot Wheels will empower kids to Make It Epic by challenging them to go bigger, faster, higher and cooler. The product range includes Split Speeders Blade Raid Trackset, Track Builder Starter Set and new licensed Diecast Car Assortments. Hot Wheels Star Wars range has an iconic selection of Diecast Vehicle and Starship Assortments. New from Disney Pixar’s Cars is the TV advertised Drop and Jump Gray Transporter.

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01494 538999 www.greenboardgames.com The BrainBox Predators title coming new for next year has been developed to appeal to and encourage children through play, while teaching them about animals in the natural world. For a less scary insight into nature, GBG is also adding Life Cycles Snap to its portfolio, which covers both plants and animals. Materials Snap will also be introduced to focus on helping children understand why certain materials have specific benefits and uses for particular jobs. Many children, and even parents, struggle with maths, so new additions to the GBG maths range will include two snap games, 3D Shapes and Irregular Shapes, and the new Times Tables Plus Snap, extending to times tables up to 12. Following the launch of the BrainBox First range of titles for nursery and pre-school, new versions will launch including animals and habitats, with more titles to follow.

Online stars JAZWARES 0203 598 5119 www.jazwares.com After a hugely successful launch this year, The Tube Heroes are still high on the agenda for Jazwares next spring, with collectables being added to the already popular range of figures and plush inspired by the most popular stars of YouTube.

ttoysnplaythings.co.uk oysnplaythings.co.uk

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

1ST QUARTER RANGES NGES

Shine bright CHICCO 01623 750870 www.chicco.co.uk 2016 promises to be another magical year for Chicco. New in the Disney Princess range is the Princess Magical Wand, an electronic rattle toy featuring some of Disney’s best-loved princesses, including Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

Two new Cinderella and Snow White stroller dolls are also being added to the growing range. The dolls clip easily to strollers and prams and feature key themes from the classic fairytales.

The Disney Princess range also signals a move into the plush sector for Chicco with the launch of three iconic electronic soft textile princess dolls. Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel all feature real fabric princess dresses for sensory stimulation. Chicco is also building on its incredibly successful First Dreams sleep time range with the introduction of two new soothing light projectors. Next2 Stars is a versatile crib projector, featuring a soft, plush teddy bear. Designed to comfort and reassure, First Dreams Baby Bear has a soft projection tummy that when pressed activates a goodnight message for baby.

Finally, the 360 Sit ‘n’ Ride-On is ideal for developing motor coordination skills and forms part of Chicco’s popular Move ‘n Grow range.

Swivel wheels ensure total freedom of movement and guarantees lots of fun for mobile little ones. The 360 can be used as either a Push ‘n Go thanks to a removable handle or a Sit ‘n Ride, making it extremely versatile.

Augment your offering

Oven fresh EPOCH MAKING TOYS 08435 574062 www.epochmakingtoys.com Sylvanian Families is ready for a head start in Q1 as Epoch making toys plans to expand the Sylvanian Village Life range. The Brick Oven Bakery is a key new product in this range. This is certain to be a firm favourite among second generation fans who collected Sylvanian Families in the 80s and are now introducing it to their own children. The original bakery was one of the most iconic early products.

Connectability continues as a core selling point for all new Sylvanian Families products.

The Brick Oven Bakery connects with the Cosy Cottage, Toy Shop, Country Tree School, Beechwood Hall, Forest Nursery, and the new Boutique. Accompanied by the Hedgehog Mother figure, this product comes complete with 52 pieces including various kinds of bread and baking utensils.

Additional furniture and accessory sets are also new for 2016. The new Classic Furniture Set contains extra furniture for the Cosy Cottage Starter Home, continuing the company’s strategy to focus on recruiting new fans to the brand via this popular entry-level playset.

MOOKIE TOYS 01525 722722 www.mookie.co.uk Mookie Toys is set to launch a range of new brands next spring/summer, with one of the stand out brands being Kazooloo.

Kazooloo allows players to battle and fight against creatures and monsters in a virtual reality versus real life cross over. Children scan the Kazooloo disc with a phone or tablet to open up the Kazooloo world. The game then uses augmented reality to immerse players in a fantasy world which blends seamlessly with our own reality, blurring the lines between what is real and what isn’t!

Kids must battle through a range of different levels destroying evil creatures while ensuring they stay alive by ducking a diving to avoid any enemy fire. As kids complete more levels and collect gems they are able to unlock a range of different weapons.

Kazooloo targets children aged seven plus and will be heavily supported with TV advertising as well as in-store POS and demonstrations. To build a buzz around the brand, Mookie will also be giving away demo disks in magazines and in-store, which allow children to play the first level for free.

Download the Kazooloo app on your tablet or smartphone and scan the image of Kazooloo on this page of TnP to play the first level of Kazooloo.

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www.twirlywoos.co.uk

Subtitle

FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

Up periscope!

LEARNING RESOURCES www.LearningResources.co.uk 07872 377 30

Bang on-trend for 2016 TRENDS UK 01295 768078 www.trendsuk.co.uk Building on the fantastic success of the Puppy Surprise brand, Trends UK is introducing the new Pony Surprise and Bunny Surprise plush toys into the range. Puppy Surprise is the 90s phenomenon featuring a mummy dog with a surprise number of puppies in her litter which was re-introduced this year and is selling like hot cakes. The new Pony Surprise and Bunny Surprise will be available from spring 2016. Featuring a surprise number of adorable foals in its pouch, Pony Surprise has already proved to be a big hit in the US. Bunny Surprise with cute baby bunnies will launch in the UK in time for Easter.

For spring 2016, Trends UK is introducing an exciting new Gloss and Glam innovation into the popular Color Me Mine range. The new Color Me Mine Gloss and Glam bags come in a glittery see-through material, and can be decorated with the four colour pens included for a gorgeous paint effect that is unique to the Color Me Mine brand.

Also launching is a new Haynes First Tech Build Your Own range. Colourful and captivating, the products help young petrol heads understand how basic engines and car parts work, while having lots of fun. The range launches with two sets featuring easy to assemble models and bigger parts for small hands to build with.

The Haynes First Tech Build Your Own Engine comes with 20 parts and accessories to build a motorcycle engine, with working pistons operated by turning the crank and an ignition key that activate lights and sounds. The Haynes First Tech Build Your Own Racing Car set comes with 24 parts to build a race car or a street car, features a drill and a selection of cool wheels, spoilers, performance accessories and bolts.

The Discovery Channel science toys range is available through Trends UK. New for spring 2016 are the sophisticated Digital Walkie Talkies. With an outdoors range of up to three km, three channels, ringing tone alert, and LED screen, exploring while keeping in touch has never been more exciting.

Dinosaur fans who are eagerly awaiting the cinema release of Disney Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur movie will love the cute and huggable Arlo feature plush. The Walkin’ & Talkin’ Arlo is more than 15” tall and comes with 15 sound and phrases that he says while he walks - simply squeeze Arlo’s body and watch him go.

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Learning Resources is introducing exciting new additions to its GeoSafari Jr. Range, which will see official launch in January 2016. The GeoSafari Jr. range provides colourful, functional tools and activities that have been designed to satisfy children’s natural curiosity of the world around them. New for 2016, My First Telescope lets little ones explore their natural interest in the moon. Also launching in January, the Subscope provides 2x magnification of underwater worlds with a wide field of view.

Suitable for ages three and above the Subscope features three powerful LED lights for underwater discovery and can be used on land for magnified viewing of bugs, plants, and other garden finds. The set is complete with two large eye pieces, comfy goggle and nose cut out guide, sturdy water-resistant body, and a multilingual instruction guide.

Super start to the year SCHLEICH 01279 870000 www.schleich-s.co.uk Schleich’s distinguished play worlds will once again be extended from January starting with new heroes being added to the DC Comics line up, the exciting announcement of one range becoming two and the introduction of some of the earliest prehistoric creatures.

For DC Comics, the battle will commence from January with new characters presented as single figures, but also available in a selection of scenery packs. Batman v Superman will lead the way in the first part of the year, along with Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg. Farm Life is one of Schleich’s most popular collections and next year it will receive a major overhaul. For the first time, the horses will move out of the Farm Life collection and becomes its own range. Both collections will see new animals and accessories added for January, with newly designed playsets following later in the year.

The evergreen Dinosaur range shows impressive sales season after season and following the success of the new Mini Dinos that were introduced for 2015, Schleich will now offer a Mini Dino range with puzzles to expand the play experience further. In addition, there will be 10 new Small Dino figures to collect.

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Available now

Bella and Bruno range of plush activity toys

www.trade.bigjigstoys.com

bigjigstoys

bigjigstoysltd

To place an order please contact: +44 (0)1295 768078 salesadmin@trendsuk.co.uk www.trendsuk.co.uk For Media/PR enquiries, please contact Ane Olesen: ane@wirepr.eu PONY & PUPPY SURPRISE is a trademark of Ed Kaplan Associates, LLC the licensor of the IP rights herein. All Rights Reserved. Š 2014 Haynes Publishing Š2014 DCL.

FEATURE

1ST QUARTER RANGES

Bright start VIVID 01483 449944 www.vividimaginations.co.uk Fungus Amungus is the brand new feature driven collectables set to cause mayhem in S/S ‘16! The product range includes over 100 figures to collect across the two-figure Petri Dish pack and five-figure Vac Pack. Kids can store, squish and fling their Funguys with the Toxic Chamber and The ExGERMinator playsets. Fungus will launch with marketing support through heavyweight TV advertising, online, digital and PR. PIXL is the new digital toy brand launching with a bump in S/S16!

There are six unique characters to collect, each packed with preloaded emojis and animations. Kids can use the app to upload over 100 of their own creations to the character, then bump together to share and swap with friends. Create, animate, bumpinate in the world of PIXL! Vivid is launching all new Batman v Superman Laser Battle this spring ahead of the Dawn of Justice film release in March. Kids can slip on the chest plate, arm their hand blaster and attack their opponent as either Batman or Superman. The light-up chest plate counts down the number of lives left, and makes battle sounds when hit.

Kitty Club are the stylish kitties launching in S/S ‘16, with flocked fur, blinking eyes and interchangeable hat accessories. Collectable figures come in blind bags and accessory packs, and the range also includes the Kitty Convertible and Heart Lane Café playsets.

The Thunderbirds Are Go range will be expanding in S/S ‘16.

Introductions include a Brains and Max Figure Twin Pack, a 9.5cm articulated Kayo Figure with bespoke accessories, Thunderbird S and FAB 1 Vehicles with sounds, Diecast vehicles and the International Rescue Puzzle.

Crayola has teamed up with US leading lifestyle brand for tween girls, Fashion Angels, on a new exciting Creations range. This includes Marble Jewellery Kit, Tapfetti Banner Kit, Sticker Lookbook, Nail Marble Kit, Temporary Tattoo Kit and Message Bracelet Kit. Crayola has also developed a fantastic adult colouring books and stationery range, with colouring tools and books from the artists at Hallmark, Elegant Escapes, Whimsical Escapes and Patterned Escapes.

Jumbo brands JUMBO 01707 289 289 www.jumbo.eu Jumbo Games are set to kick-off 2016 with a host of new product launches from Wasgij. New additions to the range include the Wasgij Imagine…? 2: If The Wheel Wasn’t Invented, that also includes a free mini Wasgij Colouring Book, featuring ten black and white Wasgij Box images for fans to enjoy colouring in. Expanding the range further, a will see the launch of the new Destiny 16: Old Time Rockers! and Mystery 12: Unusual Suspects 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles, that remain a puzzlers favourite in the first quarter of the year.

New lower-piece counts for Wasgij will also be launching and these are ideal to get new puzzlers trying a Wasgij puzzle and are perfect for gifting ideas.

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Blasting into 2016 K’NEX 01189 497000 www.knex.co.uk K’nex enjoyed strong sales growth in 2015 and doubled turnover to reinforce the brand as a heavyweight in the construction category. In 2016, K’nex will combine genuine product innovation with a 360 degree marketing programme including TV advertising, kids press campaigns and online activity.

Now established as a firm favourite in both the construction and blaster categories, K-Force will be refreshed in spring 2016 with a brand new buildable, customisable blaster. The K-Force K-5 Phantom will blast up to 75 feet and features a blaster chamber, quick fit grip and preload ring to load and blast quicker than ever. Spring TV campaigns and marketing activity will also build momentum in advance of summer launches that will see 2016 becoming the year of the Thrill Ride, with K’nex due to reveal five brand new coaster inspired Thrill Rides building sets.

Key collections and creativity FLAIR 0208 633 0320 www.flairplc.co.uk Following a successful launch in autumn, Pet Parade will see kittens join the collection, plus six new puppies! This TV advertised collection will have a Play Garden Playset for the kittens in addition to the Play World and Train and Treat Kits for the puppies.

Shopkins, the phenomenal girls collectable that is now a full cross-category property will move from Series 3 to Series 4. Garden and party time themes can be discovered, plus the new Shopkins pet shop aisle will introduce new Petkins collectables. Playsets and accessories will add to the fun including a Sweet Spot playset with working gumball machine.

Big news for Shopkins fans will be the roll out of the Shoppies Dolls. The Shoppies are mini fashion dolls, each with their own personality, outfit and accessories.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

TOY TRUST

UPDATE

Ready, steady, bake!

Christmas is all about cake – well, is it if you work in TnP! And it is all about cake for the Toy Trust too. This year, the Big Toy Trust Christmas Cake Bake takes place in December and here is how you can get involved

Mattel

Are you preparing for the Big Toy Trust Christmas Cake Bake? Well, you should be! This year, the Cake Bake takes place from 7 to 11 December and it is in aid of a very worthy cause.

Following the roaring success of the Easter Cake Bake, the Toy Trust has taken its baking inspired fundraising challenge and given it a Christmas twist.

It’s a fun way for colleagues to get together, enjoy some pre-Christmas baked treats and raise funds for the trust’s good causes.

Here, we bring you all you need to know for you to take part and set up a company cake sale, and you must make sure to enter your creation into the four category challenges to be named Toy Trust Christmas Master Baker!

Christmas Cake Bake categories

Getting started!

The Ultimate Corporate Christmas Cake:

Ingredients – makes 12 heat in an oven to 170c

A chance to earn some brownie points and make a branded Christmas cake that will make the bosses glow in pleasure.

Yule Be Loving This:: More than just your traditional yule log, this can be anything that is chocolate inspired.

All Present and Correct: Christmas cupcakes that take inspiration from what will be on the wish lists this Christmas. We’re looking for a perfectly wrapped group of identical mini cakes!

Hasbro

Seasons Eatings: Cookies and biscuits of any flavour – the perfect eats with your Christmas tipple - savoury treats are allowed.

Upcoming Toy Trust diary dates Big Toy Trust Toy Sale - 16-20 November Christmas Card Initiative - December 2015 Media Auction - January 2016 Big Cambridge Challenge - 2 July 2016

The perfect chocolate cupcake recipe from Schleich’s own cupcake queen, Laura Bull ■

100g self-raising flour

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

20g Cocoa Powder 140g Caster sugar Pinch of salt 40g unsalted butter 120ml milk 4 drops vanilla extract Decorate with any frosting that takes your fancy

Laura Bull

Golden Bear Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in bowl and using a mixer beat on slow speed until everything is combined.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture, beat to combine and turn the mixer up to high speed to get rid of any lumps.

Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).

Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool before decorating.

Reasons to bake a cake for charity ■

If just £1,000 is raised this will still allow the Toy Trust to support one of its smaller charities with equipment or funds and all of which will go to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children.

■

Baking for a team brings everyone together and ensures news of the Toy Trust is spread through your organisations.

■

If you’re a baker – it’s the chance to show off your skills!

■

The categories give everyone a chance to have a little fun with their brands this Christmas.

For more information about the upcoming events and how to take part in the Big Christmas Cake Bake check out www.btha.co.uk/toy-trust. Follow them on Twitter @thetoy trust

NOVEMBER 2015

toysnplaythings.co.uk 43

FEATURE SOFT TOYS

Soft touch Plush is an all-time favourite with children, and it’s a year-round seller too. TnP finds out more…

P

lush and soft toys can hold great relevance for children – just read the comments below from our mum Aoife who drove over 100 miles to find a missing plush zebra!

They give comfort and confidence, they are a sleep aid and importantly for retailers they are a year-round seller.

“Plush tends to be popular all year round,” agrees Posh Paws Group Brand Manager Lauren Shipman.

“But as with most toys we always see a peak of sales in the lead up to Christmas.”

And Chicco agree with Product Manager Holly John telling us: “Plush is popular all year around but we have seen a spike in popularity around Christmas as they make ideal gifts and in the case of Disney Princess, sales seem to increase around the time of any significant movie releases, such as the new Cinderella film recently.”

So while it may be a year-round seller, which is music to the ears of retailers, how have plush lines been performing over the past 12 months?

“

We have added some big brands to our plush line-up this year… demand for our licensed plush product has been unprecedented. Lauren Shipman, Posh Paws

Quite well for Posh Paws with Lauren saying the company is “tracking at +60 percent against year to date 2014 sales”, this Lauren says is due to some big-ticket licenses which have helped to boost sales.

“We have added some big brands to our plush line-up this year in addition to some of our staple selling pre-school lines, we expected to see a growth in sales this year on the back of this but the demand for our licensed plush product has been unprecedented.”

On the other hand, Chicco says plush is a relatively new sector for them.

“We felt ready to enter based on the strength of our Disney Princess

My favourite toy Mum Aoife knows the importance of plush – she tells us why it matters so much so her boys “Plush is extremely important in our house! My son Tadhg refuses to sleep without his favourite toy, Mr Zebra. Mr Zebra has been with Tadhg since the day he was born, so he is pretty battered but adored. My younger son Cian has his own version of Mr Zebra – although his is a blanket! They give the boys such comfort and companionship. We once lost Mr Zebra in a shopping centre when on holiday and had to drive over 100 miles to get him – I don’t think we’d do that for another toy.”

44

Posh Paws

”

Chicco

range,” reveals Holly. “It is such a competitive and overcrowded market, we wanted to make sure our offer stood out on the shelf, something we have achieved thanks to the Disney licensing agreement.

We are also building on the success of our popular First Dreams range by introducing new plush products in 2016. We are looking forward to see how both these new lines perform over the next 12 months so watch this space!”

Licensed glory Both Chicco and Posh Paws benefit from having a strong licensed plush portfolio, so what are their thoughts on adding a licence to a plush range? “While traditional plush is still popular, particularly in the gifting market, it is licensed product that is definitely driving sales in this category,” says Lauren. “Kids want to play and cuddle up with characters they know from the latest TV, film or book and that hasn’t changed for some time.”

Holly adds: “Adding a licence to a toy range can really help to drive sales by introducing a brand to a new market. Disney Princess in particular is an iconic brand. It also helps our product stand out on the shelf in what is a very crowded market as they are very recognisable characters.”

Chicco’s Disney Princess range features three iconic electronic soft textile princess dolls. Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel all feature real fabric princess dresses for sensory stimulation and each doll has three different melodies and sound effects.

toysnplaything toysnplaythings.co.uk

FEATURE SOFT TOYS

Welcome to The Furchester Hotel!

HASBRO 020 8569 1234 www.hasbro.co.uk

Social media superstars

The Elmo Taking Plush is ready to welcome friends to The Furchester Hotel with furry arms. Little ones can giggle together with the Elmo plush as he says 10 familiar phrases from The Furchester Hotel television program, or they can imagine a day packed with monster ideas. Featuring phrases and laughter, this Elmo plush can deliver a playful message or emit silly giggles with each squeeze of his tummy. He might say a phrase about tea time or a furry dilemma at the hotel -- or maybe he’ll just get a case of the giggles. After 20 seconds of no activity, this Elmo plush will say goodbye, then wait for the next adventure!

The Furchester Hotel is an almost world-class hotel owned and operated by a close-knit family of cheerfully incompetent monsters, including Elmo’s Aunt Funella, Uncle Furgus, and cousin Phoebe. In addition to the Furchester-Fuzz family, the series welcomes Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.

Trudi magical

ENESCO 01228 404022 www.enesco.co.uk With a name like Boo, you’re sure to get attention, and that’s certainly what this innovative new animated, musical version of the world-famous Pomeranian has done. Social media can’t get enough of The World’s Cutest Dog: Boo has over 16 million fans on Facebook not to mention his millions of fans on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media.

To appeal to fans of this pooch phenomenon, GUND has expanded its popular Boo product line with Dancing Boo for 2015. GUND’s range of dogs make the perfect companion for both plush and dog lovers alike, but Boo is definitely in a league of his own! This animated plush walks and wiggles his way through the American Authors’ song Best Day of My Life. Constructed in GUND’s trademark style using soft and tactile plush, this latest GUND version of Boo is far too cute to resist.

Two new huggable plush toys featuring internet sensation Pusheen the cat dressed in her festive finery, are also available from GUND this year. Pusheen, a chubby grey tabby cat who loves cuddles, snacks, and dressing-up, originated as an animated web comic, and has become a social media phenomenon. One of the original seven Facebook sticker sets, Pusheen now brings brightness and chuckles to millions of followers in her rapidly growing online fan base.

Pusheen Christmas is dressed in a soft bright red collar, trimmed with white fur and fastened by a red bow.

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JOHN CRANE 01604 774949 www.john-crane.co.uk

Plush pups FLAIR 0208 633 0320 www.flairplc.co.uk Dottie has turned her attention to healing toy animals in the new Doc McStuffins Pet Vet series. Spring 2016 will see the introduction of the Findo Vet Kit, which contains everything any budding vet could need. Kids can carry their plush Findo in his own glittery carry bag and make him feel better using the accessories, which include a pet vet tag to personalise Findo.

Trudi is synonymous with style, quality, history and lashings of Italian flair. Providing children with quality cuddly toys for over 60 years, and renowned throughout the world for creating innovative and curious creatures with an expression full of emotion and wonder, it’s a world waiting to be explored. Trudi toys start from birth up - you can’t put an age limit on plush toys!

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GOAL LEAGUE When a goal is scored fun lights and sounds are set off.

MINI GOLF CLUB An electronic mini golf game tailor made for a child.

2 electronic game modes: Training and hit the mole With encouraging sound effects and lights.

NEW Discover the fun of moving with

MONKEY STRIKE Use as a push scooter.

Take the lane.

Aim for a colourful strike or get creative and build towers.

The

encourages children to play and have fun with sports

BALANSKATE 3 games in 1

Use it as a Balance Board.

An active lifestyle starting from early childhood is essential for our children’s growth.

Children nowadays tend to lead a more passive lifestyle; real play is limited – they don’t move around or run freely.

Fit&Fun combines motor development and new skills with social play allowing children to not only improve balance and coordination, but also enhance their self-esteem and self-confidence too.

to gradually develop the child’s balance.

At 3 years, a first skate board.

w w w.c h icco.co.u k

range

For information on these products, contact us at orders.uk@artsana.com, or please call 01623 750870

FEATURE SOFT TOYS

Character cuddles POSH PAWS 01268 567317 www.poshpawsinternational.co.uk Disney’s movie Zootropolis will launch in the UK at the beginning of 2016, and Posh Paws licensed plush line-up includes an assortment of small plush, as well as a large choice of 10” characters from the film. Out in cinemas in March 2016, the animated animal comedy-adventure is a film for all the family and with DVD release in July, there are two great opportunities at retail for this license.

Following on in quick succession, Disney brings a classic movie back to life in April with the all new CGI-live-action release of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Posh Paws will be releasing a plush range of favourite Jungle Book characters including Baloo, King Louie, Kaa, Shere Khan and Bagheera.

The much anticipated release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Good Dinosaur at the end of this year, will see strong demand for product continue in January and throughout S/S with the respective DVDs set to be released early spring.

Posh Paws’ range of classic Star Wars, Episode 7 and The Good Dinosaur characters will be available to retailers throughout 2016. A new Kung Fu Panda is also due out in cinemas in Easter, and Posh Paws’ evergreen collection offers retailers a choice of DreamWorks’ most successful properties and includes Kung Fu Panda’s favourites – Po and Shifu.

Moving from the big screen to the small screen, Posh Paws is excited to be launching its brand new Miles from Tomorrow plush product. A range of small plush and 10” items will be available at retail for S/S 2016. Posh Paws will also be introducing new bag and backpack lines from its current best selling licenses: Minions, Care Bears, The Furchester Hotel and Thunderbirds.

The princess and the plush

Welcome to Wilberry

CHICCO 01623 750870 www.chicco.co.uk A new Disney Princess range signals a move into the plush sector for Chicco with the launch of three iconic electronic soft textile princess dolls.

Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel all feature real fabric princess dresses for sensory stimulation and each doll has three different melodies and sound effects. Chicco is also building on its incredibly successful First Dreams sleep time range with the introduction of two new soothing light projectors. Next2 Stars is a versatile crib projector, featuring a soft, plush teddy bear, in pink or light blue. The projector can be attached to a cot or travel cot with an easy to use universal attaching system, and has three functions for use as a ceiling projector, atmosphere lamp or a nightlight at the touch of a button. It also features three soothing melodies to help baby self settle.

A sound sensor also picks up baby’s crying and automatically activates the music and light projector or nightlight according to preference.

Designed to comfort and reassure, First Dreams Baby Bear, available in pink and light blue, has a soft projection tummy that when pressed activates a goodnight message for baby. A button on the bear’s tummy activates the soothing melodies and light show, and after 20 minutes of playing the product automatically turns to stand-by mode. Parents have control over the settings too.

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THE PUPPET COMPANY 01462 446040 www.thepuppetcompany.com The Puppet Company uses the registered brand name Wilberry for any non-puppet products such as the fabulous wooden Puppet Theatres or Wilberry Fun Ragdolls. This autumn sees the launch of the European Wildlife and World Wildlife soft toy collections. These beautifully designed and produced soft toys come in a full colour, counter top display box, or individually.

Smooth sailing JOHN ADAMS 01480 414361 www.johnadams.co.uk John Adams has moved into the pre-school sector with a collection of new plush items in its Pip Ahoy! toy line. The company is the master toy partner for the popular TV programme, currently airing on Channel 5’s Milkshake and Cartoonito.

The toy range reflects the fun characters and themes from the TV series.

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™

Enesco Limited, Head Office & Customer Services, Brunthill Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 0EN Tel: 01228 404022 Fax: 01228 404041 email: uksales@enesco.co.uk Overseas Customer Services: Tel: +44 1228 404066 Fax: +44 1228 404080 email: eurosales@enesco.co.uk ©GUND 2015. © Frederick Warne & Co., 2015. EN5307

FEATURE SOFT TOYS

Fluffy stuff!

MOOKIE 01525 722722 www.mookie.co.uk Creative craft plush range Fluffimals is set to launch spring/summer 2016 with a range of create-your-own cuddly animals. Fluffimals combines soft toys with creative imagination as children can design their very own soft toy’s personality.

The Fluffimals Starter Pack provides children with all they need to create their own teddy bear. The pack includes a fluffy bear, Fluff Factory, glowing heart, glittering personality pompoms, birth certificates and personality ingredient cards, ready for children to design and create their soft toys.

Children can enjoy designing the personality they want their fluffy friend to have using the personality ingredient cards, placing the glowing heart into the fluffy bear, mixing together the pompoms using the Fluff Factory, and then bringing their Fluffimal to life. Finally, children can complete the adoption certificate to make their fluffy friend officially theirs to love forever.

Fluffimals expansion packs will also be available allowing kids to collect the whole set to make their own Fluffimals family. The expansion packs will include Snuggly Puppy, Lovable Bunny and Cuddly Kitten. This will help to extend the brand offering children even more play value. Fluffimals will be supported by an extensive marketing campaign with heavyweight TV advertising throughout spring/summer as well as full online and PR support.

Cuddle up this Christmas BIGJIGS TOYS 01303 250400 www.trade.bigjigstoys.co.uk Bigjigs Baby is home to Bella and Bruno, two friendly characters, both available in a variety of shapes and designs in cute pastel shades, with squidgy centres and wonderfully soft fur.

Bella the rabbit is an adorable companion and Bruno the dog is sure to become a lovable best friend. The range includes comforters, activity toys, cot rattles, baby gyms, squeakers, seatbelt covers and of course cuddly toys in a variety of sizes.

The complete collection of plush activity toys have a big impact in-store, creating a contemporary and eye-catching display with attractive pastel shades, which inspire parents to collect all of the matching accessories for their baby.

The range is also due to expand in 2016, with more plush activity toys to be released.

50

Plush lot GOLDEN BEAR 01952 608308 www.goldenbeartoys.com Well known for its high quality plush portfolio, Golden Bear has a wide selection of plush lines across its licensed ranges this autumn/winter. Golden Bear’s Twirlywoos range includes super soft plush versions of characters Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy, Chick and Peekaboo. Also airing on CBeebies is the animated pre-school series Hey Duggee.

Golden Bear’s plush offering includes collectable characters and talking Squirrel Soft Toys, each complete with its own child-safe feature badge. Woof Woof Duggee Soft Toy with textured fabrics and pushactivated badge icons. The popular In the Night Garden range also sees new introductions in the form of Peek-a-boo Igglepiggle who covers his eyes and plays signature phrases when his tummy is pressed.

Bedtime buddies CHARACTER OPTIONS 0161 633 9800 www.character-online.com Pre-school licensed toys and plush go hand in hand at Character Options with classic Peppa Pig, Ben & Holly, Clangers and now Teletubbies to choose from!

January’s launch of the Teletubbies master toy collection is eagerly awaited and top of every fans list will be their favourite character as a plush toy.

The must have will be the 8-inch Talking Soft Toy that comes with the softest of bodies, flocked vinyl faces and classic sayings from the show - press their tummy to hear them speak!

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Bear-st of friends VIVID 01483 449944 www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk My Friend Freddy Bear is ‘The Bear Who Really Knows You’. Simply download the app and type in answers to questions about a child, such as favourite film and foods, and Freddy Bear incorporates this information into the things he says. It’s a truly magical play experience. The app also includes three picture books and three types of activities which can be made trickier as the child advances. This spring an app add-on will be released to include a new story book and the opportunity to pay to unlock additional games and stories, ensuring Freddy Bear’s best friends are kept entertained!

Care Bears continues to go from strength to strength. Each of the assortments will be refreshed for spring with a mixture of new characters to the range, such as Surprise Bear and Champ Bear, and firm favourites Cheer Bear and Grumpy Bear.

Story-Telling Peter Rabbit recounts his adventures from his dad’s journal. With a light-up book and a different story each time he’s a perfect bedtime companion.

Alfie my Training Puppy is just like a real puppy: he’s cute, mischievous and needs lots of training.

NOVEMBER 2015

No business like snow business GREAT GIZMOS 01293 543221 www.ggtrade.co.uk This year’s Christmas range from NICI, Let It Snow, features a cuddly Rabbit with big floppy ears and a super cute Penguin wearing a yellow stripy scarf.

Both characters are available as plush soft toys in a variety of different sizes.

The Penguin Backpack will melt hearts, shaped just like the real thing with wings that flap for that extra touch. The Penguin and Rabbit Soft Toy Gift Box is the perfect Christmas present, featuring both characters in a charming display box.

The popular Dragons range is expanding with the addition of three new exciting Creatures. Each colourful character comes in soft plush with matching accessories. The Creature Cushions are a fab addition to any child’s bedroom.

51 5

FEATURE SAFETY

In safe hands Safety is paramount in this industry and there is a select group of specialists who know how to make life a lot easier for manufacturers and retailers – TnP talks to them

W

e can talk about product as much as we like, but frankly, nothing happens in the toy industry if it is not signed, sealed and delivered by the safety testing houses.

They are an integral and vital part of the industry, and as the rules and regulations guarding the safety of toys change and evolve – so too does the needs of manufacturers and suppliers. While we may not understand the intricacies of compounds, there are a very select group of businesses and people who do, and these people are here to keep the products emanating from our industry safe for consumers.

What’s making an impact?

So what safety regulations are really impacting the toy industry

today? We asked some experts in the field to fill us in. Malcolm Horner, Toy Technical Consultant with Bureau Veritas Consumer Product Services, is a man who knows his stuff. He tells TnP that safety regulations are constantly evolving and so it is important to keep an eye on regulations and standards updates.

Operations Manager at Eurofins Product Testing Judith Russell says that for the toy industry, safety regulations are always UL in focus. There is, however, an impending change to a crucial piece of safety legislation of training courses that are that has had an impact on toy manufacturers. From 21 Retailers do useful for retailers to get an understanding,” says Keith December, certain chemicals not need to Richards, Technical and will have restricted use – there Innovation Manager at UL has been a change to Appendix understand the Consumer Products. technical details C of Annex II which will restrict B.V’s Malcolm Horner agrees the use of Bispherol A, TCEP, but they certainly that retailers need to be TCPP and TDCP. need an aware of the “certain marking But what does that mean appreciation of requirements and other in layman’s terms? Judith responsibilities under the Toy explains: “Appendix C of Annex the main issues and really ought II of the Toy Safety Directive and the standards Directive to understand the basic has been designed to provide to which they principles of the directive.” the mechanism for specific need to comply legislation for those toys that are intended for children under Keith Richards, UL 36 months or in other toys intended to be placed in the mouth. These categories of toys are obviously high risk for chemical exposure and so these The BTHA tell us why they specific requirements address take toy safety very seriously this risk.”

“

Safety first

Bureau Veritas

Retail awareness So is it necessary for retailers to know the ins and outs of the regulations?

“It is probably not necessary for smaller retailers to understand the technical details but they certainly need an appreciation of the main issues and the standards to which they need to comply.

Most test houses offer a range

52

“The first, and most important area of work for the BTHA is in the area of toy safety. The association strives to promote best practice and to support its members in attaining the high safety standards expected of a responsible toy industry. The Technical Committee, chaired

by Jerry Burnie, has played an essential role in helping interpret new requirements and determining the impact of overly burdensome and detailed legislation on members.”

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FEATURE SAFETY

Keep standards up UL 0118 927 3340 www.UL.com.

UL is a premier global independent safety science company that has championed progress for more than 120 years. Its nearly 11,000 professionals are guided by the UL mission to promote safe working and living environments for everyone.

UL uses research and standards to continually advance and meet ever-evolving safety needs. The company partners with businesses, manufacturers, trade associations and international regulatory authorities to bring solutions to a more complex global supply chain.

Contact UL for more information on its certification, testing, inspection, advisory and education services.

Safety first BUREAU VERITAS CONSUMER PRODUCTS SERVICES UK 01925 854 360 www.bureauveritas.co.uk/cps

Put to the test SATRA 01536 410000 www.satra.co.uk

Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services is a leading global provider of compliance and quality assurance services to the toy and children’s product industry. The company has more than 12,000 employees worldwide – including qualified engineers, technicians and industry specialists - located across 140 laboratories and offices in 40 countries.

With a presence in every major sourcing and selling territory around the world, BV’s supply chain solutions help companies making, distributing, or selling toys to improve their product quality, safety and compliance, sourcing flexibility, speed-to-market, profitability and sustainability as well as brand security throughout the supply chain. It provides a complete solution to the toy industry from product concept to store-shelves, including product testing, safety assessments, regulatory consultancy, product inspections, chemical supply chain solutions, social and factory audits, sustainability services and global market entry solutions.

Bureau Veritas’ UKAS accredited laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire, has been offering reliable and fast service delivery, friendly customer service and recognised technical expertise for more than ten years. Here in the UK, it can perform a wide range of compliance, performance and safety testing - physical, mechanical, flammability and chemical for many types of toys including dress-up, premiums, trampolines, outdoor play equipment, acoustic toys, electric toys or children’s cycles. The company’s laboratory offers a large range of analytical tests with chromium VI, azo dyes, phthalates, allergenic disperse dyes, cadmium, lead and nickel all performed in-house, meaning there is no sub-contracting, ensuring a fast turnaround time for clients. Bureau Veritas has one of the strongesy technical teams in the UK toy industry, with its Technical Consultants, Malcolm Horner and Claire Franco, sitting on several UK and EU toy and juvenile products technical committees. This ensures the company is always being kept up to date with the latest changes in regulation and test methods.

Technicians and technologists in the UK laboratory have decades of experience in the field of quality assurance for toys.

SATRA is also a Notified Body for toys, and can undertake an EC type-examination directly against the European Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC).

54 3

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SATRA conducts a wide range of toy testing to ensure they are safe to use and fit for purpose.

The SATRA laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited by UKAS for toy testing procedures and can also assess toys against retailers’ specifications and to the requirements in the Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC) SATRA can undertake toy testing to determine whether a product meets the requirements of European Standard EN 71. The three main parts applicable to most toys are: ■

■

■

EN 71-1 – Mechanical and Physical Properties, which includes an assessment for sharp edges, sharp points and choking hazards.

EN 71-2 - Flammability properties of toys, particularly for fancy dress costumes, soft filled toys and mask/wigs.

EN 71-3 – Migration of Certain Elements, which assesses a product for restricted heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.

At Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, we support a wide range of toy clients, from start-up companies to large importers, well-known brands to global retailers, with their safety, compliance and sustainability needs. Through our UK testing laboratory and global network, we have the scope and capabilities to support your business wherever you need.

Product Testing: Physical, Analytical, Flammability

Safety Assessments

Technical & Regulatory Consultancy

Seminars

Chemical Management Solutions

Supply Chain Management Solutions

Inspections & Audits

Our UK laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire, has in-house testing capabilities for chromium VI, azo dyes, nickel, cadmium, lead, phthalates and allergenic disperse dyes. No sub-contracting, ensuring you a quick turnaround time.

Contact our UK testing laboratory: e: Bvsales@uk.bureauveritas.com t: +44 (0)1925 854 360 w: www.bureauveritas.co.uk/cps a: Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services UK, 31 Kingsland Grange, Woolston, Warrington, WA1 4RW, UK

FEATURE SAFETY

Your complete safety solution EUROFINS 0161 868 7600 www.eurofins.co.uk/product-testing Eurofins Product Testing is part of a global network of laboratories with annual sales of more than one billion USD, and 12,500 employees across 170 sites in 33 countries.

The company works hard to balance this global facility with the need to work individually with its customers and tailor the offering to each customer’s needs. It does not believe in one approach fits all, and understands that each product and each customer has specific needs.

Eurofins’ business is set up so that customers can always talk to someone technical with their queries. The team understands that customers sometimes need help to understand the implications of the toy legislation and it partners with its customers to become an extension of its quality departments to aid in all testing and legislation queries. The Eurofins consultancy service is key to this and something that its customers appreciate. A team of knowledgeable and approachable personnel can help with guidance, interpretations and general advice.

With Eurofins’ background in the scientific

sectors, it is ideally placed to offer assistance on the chemical parts of the toy safety directive. In the ever-evolving world of chemical legislation, Eurofins provide an unparalleled range of testing and support services, in both Europe and in China. It also has specialist facilities for the microbiological testing of toys, which is required for toys containing water.

Testing to the toy directive and the related legislation can be an expensive process, but Eurofins assesses each product to look for cost effective ways to ensure compliance. It can give guidance on the risks associated with toys and produce test plans based on those risks. Eurofins works in a variety of ways with its customers, from component testing with some clients, to evaluating the need to test on the basis of a Bill of Materials/Bill of Substances with others. Options are discussed with clients with all pros and cons of different ways of working explained. The Eurofins team also works with customers to devise quality protocols that ensure they are effective in catching any batch-to-batch variations in production, while keeping costs to a minimum.

The unique way Eurofins is structured means it works with other product areas such as craft items, cosmetics, chemicals and food contact items. The team can therefore offer advice not only on these categories, but on the overlap or grey areas between toys and many other goods. The company’s experts have a wealth of experience to draw from, with retail and manufacturing expertise, as well as many years within the laboratory testing world.

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LTW TV is ďŹ nally here!

TV To be part of LTW TV call either Bradley or Ryan on 01442 288930 or email bradley@lemapublishing.co.uk or ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Independently audited ABC circulation of 5,123 1 July 2014 20 014 4 tto 30 June Jun un ne e 2015 015 15

Helping everyone sell more

FOCUS ON TV

Channel hopping Despite the rise in online content and social media, TV remains one of the best ways to engage with a widespread kids’ audience. TnP finds out how the leading kids’ TV channels are shaping the future of content delivery

U

ntil fairly recently, the only way for children to catch up on the adventures of Comedy their TV heroes was at a set time, through a small box in the is a big part of corner of the living room. That’s how our DNA and we kids were first introduced to the know that secret world of Danger Mouse in the humour and early eighties, but flash forward to 2015 and a new-look, Alexander laughing is such Armstrong-voiced Danger Mouse an important can be found sneaking his way part of a kid’s elsewhere. life. Patricia The newly rebooted series broadcasts on the CBBC channel, Hidalgo, Turner but kids can also catch up on the Broadcasting latest escapades through BBC System EMEA iPlayer on laptops, mobile devices and games consoles; they can interact on the official website with games, quizzes and behind the scenes clips; and if they want to see where it all began, it’s not hard to find clips from the original show on YouTube. Keeping up with the demand for more content in more places is one of the biggest challenges facing kids’ content creators today. But it also opens up new ways of entertaining and

“

”

CONSUMER COMMENT Suzanne, mum to Sadhbh and Cliodhna: “Like any little girls, mine love watching TV. They’re both big fans of Ben and Holly, Peppa , Barbie’s Dream House and Dora, and now they’re getting a little older, the Nick Junior site has been a great way for me to introduce the girls to the internet. Having those characters wherever and whenever is great.”

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DreamWorks Animation

engaging with kids, and building an audience. Keeping kids entertained is not an easy task, and Turner Broadcasting know this.

“The first questions we ask ourselves when creating content are; will kids like this show?, will they care about the characters?, will they laugh?,” says Patricia Hidalgo, Senior Vice President & Chief Content and Creative Officer, Kids, Turner Broadcasting System EMEA. “Comedy is a big part of our DNA and we know that humour and laughing is such an important part of a kid’s life. Good characters are also key to making a show relevant. We create characters that kids can identify with or want to have as their friends – our comedy isn’t just laugh out loud, we make shows with heart; where you laugh with our characters and immerse yourself in their world.”

In the UK, 17 kids’ channels broadcast daily, comprising 15 commercial channels - counting Channel 5 and ITVB - plus BBC’s two childrens’ channels.

For these broadcasters, getting the balance of programming right is key. They are no longer just in competition with one another, they have strong competition from touchscreens and smart devices, and seemingly infinite online content, available at a tap.

Mike Penfold from Global Media Services says investing in new content is a must in drawing the audience to the airwaves, because “kids get fed up if they keep seeing the same old, same old.”

For those channels that do get the balance right, TV remains one of the strongest ways to build and maintain a dedicated audience.

“The most popular station for the boys are Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Pop,” Mike reveals.

“For girls, it’s Tiny Pop, Nick Junior and Nickelodeon,” which Mike also identifies as the market leader for the older age profile because of its live-action programming, such as Carly and Victorious.

With this ability to draw dedicated audiences, TV is still one of the best places to advertise toys.

Mike says it can be “extremely lucrative”, but the level of return on investment does depend on picking the right airtime on the right channel. “As I mention in our monthly reports in TnP, the viewing figures are moving from one station to another depending on the profile.”

Over the next few pages, TnP takes a look at some of the leading names in children’s TV to find out how they are shaping the future of kids’ content delivery.

IN FOCUS

CARTOON NETWORK

You know what time it is…

Cartoon Network is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with and with an abundance of fantastic shows, Adventure Time stands out for its creative prowess

C

artoon Network is currently riding high as BAFTA’s Children’s Channel of the Year, leading from the front with a colourful and truly unique portfolio of brands lead by the irreverent and playfully anarchic Adventure Time. Over the past year the company has worked hard to transition the franchise from a niche cult property to a mass-market must-watch show and consumer products bestseller, signing up a swathe of licensees across a wide range of categories along the way.

“

Cartoon Network’s multi-BAFTA awardwinning show is drawing record audiences

”

As the EMEA licensing programme closes in on its 100th licensee and the broadcaster celebrates over 46 million fans tuning in to watch the show in the first half of 2015, the commercial power of comedy is not to be overlooked.

Full of character What time is it? It’s Adventure Time! Cartoon Network’s multiBAFTA award-winning show is drawing record audiences as kids and young adults seek escape in the crazy post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo with best bros Finn the human boy and Jake the shape-shifting dog.

The series is globally renowned for the depth of its characters with adults expressing as much appreciation for Adventure Time as children. Appealing to both girls and boys, the Adventure Time characters are incredibly unique

with Finn, Jake the Dog, Princess Bubblegum, The Ice King and Marceline the Vampire Queen all fan favourites.

Let’s talk products Given that Adventure Time has such a variety and depth of characters, the series is, of course, supported by a fantastic toy range with Jazwares acting as master toy and key products include plush, figurines, role play. Winning Moves is also on board and following on from the success of Adventure Time Monopoly, Winning Moves will be expanding its range of Adventure Time products in 2016.

There will also be a roll-out across EMEA of high-end collectables, a key chain series and blind boxes from Kidrobot which

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launched the product in the US in 2015, and has had such success that a roll-out across EMEA follows. Other Adventure Time partners include PMS with a range of Finn and Jake plush, gift, and inflatables accompanied by all of the supporting characters like the Ice King, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen.

As mentioned, Adventure Time’s licensing programme has close to 100 licensees and as well as a buoyant UK market, Adventure Time consumer products drives are also paying dividends in Russia, Poland, Hungary and Spain, while Italy, France, Germany and Benelux are due to launch imminently.

A global partnership with Spanish design house Desigual was announced recently with girls’ apparel hitting shelves in Q1 2016. In a follow on from its 2015 collaboration, there will also be a seasonal collection of footwear with Dr Martens featuring some of the show’s favourite characters which is due to launch during S/S and A/W in 2016.

Russian retailer TVOE is getting ready for the roll-out of its A/W 2015 Adventure Time collection too supported by an innovative marketing campaign aimed at driving consumer engagement with the brand.

The retailer’s first fashion collection featuring the property became its fastest selling fashion license ever when it launched back in April. It included apparel for men, women, boys and girls. The programme is also growing through activations with other soft line licensees and in other categories. Primark, Springfield, Defacto in Turkey and Polish retailers LPP, House and Reserved Kids are currently pushing their collections for young adults and kids.

Polish e-retailer Mr Gugu also enjoyed a successful roll-out of vibrant apparel for young adults, while summer 2016 will see Smyk launch a wide apparel range for kids following the success of its boys t-shirt line in September 2015.

In addition to all of this, a video game - Finn and Jake Investigations - which is on shelves now - from Little Orbit and Namco Bandai and, next year, the brand will feature in one of its most exciting adventures yet: a specially-designed Cartoon Network zone within IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai.

You gotta watch this!

Adventure Time is not the only fantastic show on Cartoon Network. Check these out!

The Amazing World of Gumball The multi-award winning The Amazing World of Gumball, created and developed in Europe, has become a global favourite among Cartoon Network viewers. The show follows the misadventures of Gumball, a 12-year-old cat who, with the help of his best friend Darwin, his former pet goldfish that grew legs and joined the family, gets into all sorts of antics.

We Bare Bears We Bare Bears is Cartoon Network Studios’ newest original animated comedy series, created by Daniel Chong. It follows the adventures of Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear, a trio of bear brothers and their awkward attempts at assimilating into human society in San Francisco.

It premiered in the UK in September 2015 with EMEA roll-out to follow.

And new for 2016…

The Powerpuff Girls The original ambassadors of girl power, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are back to save the world before bedtime in a reboot of one of the channel’s most enduring series, The Powerpuff Girls. Spin Master will lead the charge at retail with a full and fantastic product line including plush, figures and playsets, dolls and role play, select electronic, activity and remote control toys, and novelty and impulse items.

The range will launch in 2016.

Ben 10 is back!

Broadcast partners Created by Pendleton Ward and produced by Cartoon Network Studios, Adventure Time season six is currently airing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Season seven will launch in 2016 and terrestrial partners are in place including CiTV in the UK.

NOVEMBER 2015

A new version of Ben 10, the popular animated series that debuted in 2006 has been confirmed. Playmates is the new global master toy partner, leading the global licensing and merchandise programme for Ben 10 that has generated an incredible $4.5 billion to date.

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IN FOCUS

In a blaze of glory

Nickelodeon is a powerhouse when it comes to kids TV and consumer products. TnP takes a closer look at the key properties within Nickelodeon’s remit

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ickelodeon prides itself on being one of the world’s leading entertainment brands for kids.

Over the past year the network has continued to lead on air as the UK’s highestreaching commercial kids’ network. With a broad selection of new live-action and animated shows to engage and entertain a multitude of demographics, the brand also drives a robust consumer products programme.

Available in 11.6 million homes across the UK and Ireland, the Nickelodeon channels

“

Through its digital partners, shows can now be found on a number of platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play & ViaPlay

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have attracted nearly 20 million viewers so far this year.

Since the acquisition of Channel 5 and Milkshake!, Nickelodeon’s key properties have received a boost in both reach and awareness. At the forefront of changing consumer behaviour, Nickelodeon pioneers research and delivers content to kids in a multitude of new, accessible ways. Through its digital partners, shows can now be found on a number of platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Google Play. The Nick app goes from strength-to-strength as it wins

lf as a nted itse e m e c s a ol h tly it is PAW Patr it. Curren h h s s a m s ol rty in toy pre-scho ew prope n e n n o o s r a e e s d the numb h the thir , and wit racters, a h c w in the UK e n h it w 2016 e pups airing in ntures, th e v d a d n a down. vehicles f slowing o s n ig s show no

subscribers and awards. As well as this, the Nickelodeon official You Tube channel and Instagram page have just launched to engage with fans even further.

Pre-school prowess In the world of consumer products, Nickelodeon’s preschool portfolio is really at the heart of business growth over the past year with PAW Patrol, Dora and Friends, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Half Shell Heroes and Lily’s Driftwood Bay creating a diverse and exciting offering. What sets its pre-school properties apart is not just Nickelodeon’s commitment to

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toysnplaythings.co.uk

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t girls s has kep d n e ri F d ging and Dora an untry sin o c e th has just s acros Product r. a e n y is th nd seaso dancing the UK a in h it re w e wh la l unched ext year e to air n h her it w e it tw t o is du n ora reu D e e s pack. l k c il we w and Ba ts o o B , s o old amig

weaving progressive educational curriculums into great story telling but curri also the growing roster of much-loved characters. char

Nicktoon-tastic!

Nick In ad addition to its pre-school powerhouses on Nick Jr., 2016 pow welcomes the global release of the welc brand new live action Teenage Mutant bran Ninja Turtles movie sequel. Green will the new black as a huge above-thebe th line marketing campaign kicks into gear with brand new fashion collaborations and an exciting new product range for fans of all ages to go Turtle-y crazy for. well as the new theatrical movie, As w

NOVEMBER 2015 NOV

f magic? rinkling o p s a t ow u o ab d new sh Now, how e, a bran in ing h S th d ry n a is eve Shimmer ovember, es on N tr n is e c th w g The sho launchin . s u e, who ro in o glam and Sh r e m im girly and h ,S in sisters s in their genie tw use chao a c y ll a n o r unintenti wishes fo to grant t p m e . tt a eah t friend L their bes

season four is due to air in 2016 with the Turtles transported into Dimension X, the home of the Kraang. With incredible new imagery and the Turtles trying ninja moves in space suits, the new product line will perfectly complement season 4.

As if that wasn’t enough, to celebrate the launch of new SpongeBob SquarePants episodes, including the 200th show, there will be an incredible year-long marketing campaign that will ensure you Laugh Your Pants Off! Alongside this on air activity, fashion collaborations will continue with streetwear brand Hype, and acclaimed UK designer, Beatrix Ong.

And there is more...

A stand-out event of the year so far was the opening of the first flagship Nickelodeon Store here in London’s Leicester Square on 30 May. Offering kids a breadth of product and unique in-store experience with numerous interactive touch points, the store has been warmly received by UK fans and tourists. Over the summer, Nickelodeonstore.co.uk launched, making owning your favourite exclusive Nickelodeon item even simpler!

So with an ever-growing portfolio of incredible shows attracting both new licensees and product innovation, 2016 is undeniably set to be an exciting time for Nickelodeon.

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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 ear has industry’s finest to discover which how the year been so far, their stand-out products in terms of value and support for retailers GUY ORR Director, Mookie Toys As we come to the end of 2015, how has your company been tracking year-on-year?

We have had a great year so far, with several al successful launches as well as growing our existing brands. 2015 has been a big year for Mookie Toys as we have entered a number of new ew categories including Arts & Crafts afts with 3D Magic and Skwooshi and Electronic Learning Aids with Pebli.

This is part of a company focus to have an all-year offering.

What’s been your stand-out product from a volume point of view?

Swingball has had another recordbreaking year with sales continuing to grow year on year. The highlight for Swingball this year was when the All Surface Swingball topped the charts as the No.1 toy for July.

3D Magic, our new craft brand for this Christmas has been performing exceedingly well. We always expected the brand to be a success; however we are overwhelmed by how well the expansion sets are selling so soon after launch, with consumers already buying into the whole range.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

Everyone at Mookie is really excited about our entry into the ELA market with Pebli Town. We truly believe in the revolutionary educational benefits and play value it offers.

Once children start playing with Pebli they love how it allows them to explore their creativity and have full control of the game play.

Pebli is being heavily supporting with Mookie’s biggest-ever marketing campaign, which includes Amanda Holden being the brand ambassador. The campaign has been a great success and due to this we are seeing a nice uplift in sales. Pebli Safari and Pebli Vehicles are already in development and due to expand the range in 2016. We also have long term plans to continue these expansion packs with top licenses in 2017.

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JOANNA DRAGE Director, Thames and Kosmos As we come to the end of 2015, how has your company been tracking yearon-year?

This year our sales have increased by very nearly 60 percent. We are, naturally, really pleased with this increase, but our sales have fallen in the independent sector, which is a cause for concern.

What’s been your stand-out product from a volume point of view?

From a volume perspective, Neon Light Writer has been our stand-out product for this year and last year, despite not being released until A/W last year. Crystal Growing took more revenue though, and has been a best-seller across all territories.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

I’m really enjoying the new board games that we have released this year. Dimension is my favourite, as it is so different to any other board game I have seen before. Each player stacks up different coloured spheres according to the six different task cards that have been dealt. It’s definitely not a game of chance, but still can be a family game, so it appeals to everyone.

Do you ramp-up support for retailers nearing the key buying season?

We have supported smaller retailers this year by lowering the MOV for carriage paid to £150 + VAT, and also by offering 60 day payment terms up until 5 November, in order to help customers with cash flow.

toysnplaythings.co.uk

HOLLY JOHN

MICHELLE LILLEY

Product Manager, Chicco

Marketing Manager – UK, Little Tikes, MGA Entertainment UK

As we come to the end of 2015, how has your company been tracking year-on-year?

We have experienced exceptional growth in 2015. In particular, in the UK we are delivering an outstanding performance in the infant and preschool toy market, bucking the trend in a generally flat market, with a 19 percent increase for the first half of the year.

As we come to the end of 2015, how has your company been tracking year-on-year?

Year-on-year we have seen growth across all key categories. Our new autumn lines, including the Infant Preschool launches of Lil’ Ocean Explorers and Tumble Train, have seen us grow our second half significantly. Plus developments in Outdoor with our key lines such Sand and Water and Trikes has further helped drive the overall years growth.

What’s been your stand-out product from a volume point of view?

Both the Fiat 500 RC and the Disney Princess range are really driving sales for Chicco. The pre-school market has proved to be a real area of strength for Chicco, thanks in part to these hugely popular licensed products. They have been so successful in fact that we are significantly increasing our range of Disney licensed products next year.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

This is a really difficult question - I love all of our toys! However, like every little girl growing up I longed to be a Disney Princess so the Disney products are bringing back wonderful memories of my childhood.

From a logistics stand point, do you make any changes in the approach to 25 December?

We know that our key hero lines will be in greater demand at this time of the year as they make ideal Christmas gifts.

Therefore, it is vital we that we ensure products such as Fit ‘n Fun Mini Golf, Fit ‘n Fun Goal League and Move ‘n Grow Balance Bikes are readily available for distribution across the UK in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Do you ramp-up support for retailers nearing the key buying season?

Support for retailers is important all year round. However, we do work very closely with our retailers in the lead up to Christmas.

What’s been your stand-out product from a volume point of view?

The Cozy Coupe continues to be our icon, with three new characters joining the family this year alone. Aside from this our new Lil’ Ocean Explorers line is driving volume in the IPS category.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

It has to be ‘Catch Me Crabbie’ from Lil’ Ocean Explorers. When you meet him you’ll understand why!

From a logistics stand point, do you make any changes in the approach to 25 December?

With an evergreen brand like Little Tikes, logistics remain a core focus for our business all year round.

Do you ramp-up support for retailers nearing the key buying season?

Again, as an evergreen brand with a wide range of products across all categories, Little Tikes full year is a key buying season as such. What we do look to do is support our retailers wherever we can, so for example, this year we made a significant additional investment in TV advertising to support our autumn lines.

EMMA FRYER Head of UK Marketing, TOMY Toys As we come to the end of 2015, how has your company been tracking year-on-year?

2015 has been a really exciting time for TOMY. Not only have we continued to build our product innovation on key brands including Lamaze and TOMY Infant and Toddler, but we’ve also welcomed new ranges including Disney Pixar’s Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur.

2015 has also been a year of change and allowed us to re-launch the Impulse range which was formerly known as Pocket Money.

This is a range of collectable toys that showcase legendary licenses including Disney, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars and Hello Kitty.

NOVEMBER 2015

From a logistics stand point, do you make any changes in the approach to 25 December?

Christmas is of course a top priority in terms of sales and we make sure that we work closely with our retailers as it ensures that everything is in place ahead of product launches. We also keep a close eye on sell through during the winter period to make sure that we are achieving our best possible sales.

What is your own personal favourite product from your range?

There is a lot of excitement ahead of the release of Disney Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and TOMY have just launched its creative play range for the film. A highlight for me is Galloping Butch.

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FOCUS

LONDON TOY FAIR

Stand out from the toy crowd Toy Fair 2016 is fast approaching, and we hope you are as excited about it as we here at Toys n’ Playthings are! To whet your appetite, Head of Toy Fair Operations and Sales, Majen Immink gives visiting retailers some tips on how to make the most out of Toy Fair 2016

F

or small and medium-sized exhibitors, standing out from the crowd can sometimes be difficult at Toy Fair. With more than 280 exhibitors spread across the grand and west halls at Olympia, it is easy to focus on the larger or household name exhibitors. However, by blocking out some time to see some of the lesser-known names, there is the potential to find some real gems.

Here are a few tips on how to plan your day and find new products.

Majen Immink

NEWS DAILY

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Toy Fair Daily News is a must

Read Toy Fair’s Daily News. Put together by the editorial team of this very magazine, Toy Fair’s Daily News is a show newspaper produced for each day of the event. The paper is jam packed e with information from exhibitors of w different sizes to the products they d are showcasing at Toy Fair. ar

1

Explore the floor Spend some time watching Toy Fair TV and the Demo Zone.

Hosted by Anna Williamson and Gavin

Register for Toy Fair!

You can register for a visitor pass for free now at ww.toyfair.co.uk

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Wednesday , January

Y2 DA

Go green!

The Toy

Spend some time in the Greenhouse e Area. After high demand, 2016 will see the highest number of exhibitorss in the Greenhouse. This section of Toy Fair is designed for start-ups and small companies looking to make a break into the industry.

Over the years a number of exhibitors currently on the show floor started in the Greenhouse such as Micro Scooters, JNH Europe and Accentuate.

Inskip and in its fourth year, Toy Fair TV shines a spotlight on the exhibitors in the hall. It is a great shop window to see some stands visitors can’t always get around to see, or to unearth a product on the show floor. Equally, the Demo Zone is a fantastic opportunity to see a number of toys in a chosen category.

The Demo Zone is aired at the top of every hour, or can be caught live next to the press office on the gallery.

21/01/201

5 03:00

Toys, toys everywhere Check out Toy Fair’s Best New Toys.

Situated on the gallery level outside the press office is Toy Fair’s Best New Toys, selected by an independent panel of retailers, these are the toys they believe will be the biggest hitters throughout 2016. Last year's winners included Greenhouse exhibitors Anagranimals and their toy Anagranimals Interchangeable Plush toy.

Making the move The Greenhouse area of Toy Fair is a fantastic base for those GREEN making inroads in HOUSE the industry but Accentuate Games are one of the companies making the move away from the Greenhouse.

Toy Fair 2016 sees Accentuate Games graduate from the Green House into the main throng of Toy Fair London.

CEO of Accentuate Games Ltd, Dr Graeme FraserBell, explains more: “The Greenhouse worked brilliantly for us in 2015. We really appreciated being part of that area but our decision to move out of the Greenhouse for 2016 is due to the fact that we need greater visibility and – as we expand our plans for the business – so too should we grow our presence at important events like this.”

toysnplaythings.co.uk

TNP

AMBASSADORS

Don’t bury your head in the sand Never to let the side down, our TnP Ambassadors were a busy bunch as Spin Master kindly provided the fun this month. First up, they got their hands on the Wacky-tivities Kinetic Sand and then they gave Hedbanz a try...

Feel the fun Six-year-old Frank and little sister Ruby tried out Wacky-tivities Kinetic Sand and it went down a treat. Mum Sonia tells us how they got on Every parent is aware that messy play is an important part in their child’s creative development, but that doesn’t make it any easier to bear. If truth be told, we all tend to put it off, or leave it to a nursery or school activity to let them get their hands dirty. When you do allow messy play at home, it is usually a short-lived attempt building and patting and reshaping, over and that leaves tensions high, and furniture and walls over again. We stopped for tea, and carried on multi-coloured. So when I saw the word sand and playing, we went out and came back, but out indoors, I thought… ‘here we go!’. came the sand again. My But wow, I am very, very impressed. son amazingly said that My two children played for hours! he didn’t want to watch The sand is amazing, it was solid The sand is TV so we turned the one moment and the next it flowed amazing, it was TV off and played with thorough fingers like liquid metal. solid one moment sand for another hour.

The larger box set came with a tray and the next it flowed This is unheard of in our and seaside shapes; similar to the thorough fingers like house and we have since type you take to the beach. My two liquid metal played with the sand children sat calmly side by side every day. and were in a world of their own

”

It’s all in your head Lucy, 10 and Emma, seven, played with Spin Master’s Hedbanz game and dad Mark tells us how they got on Firstly, we were impressed with the packaging, which is bright and colourful.

The rules are clear and easy to read for children, and the game is not complicated to understand. The headbands are comfortable to wear and fit the children well and we thought it was nice that the game starts with the youngest player. The clue cards are helpful, especially when your mind goes blank and the timer gives you ample time to try to guess what you are.

Some cards are more tricky than others, which made the game interesting and we liked

NOVEMBER 2015

that you can make the game as long or short as you choose depending on how many cards you decide to use.

The cards are easy to read and the text is good for children, the pictures really help with identification for the children.

Lucy and Emma really enjoyed the game. However, we do have one suggestion - once the game is open there is nowhere to store the cards and counters, so it would be useful to have some sections or packets for the dice and cards. In saying that, we enjoyed playing Hedbandz and had lots of laughs.

toysnplaythings.co.uk 67

REVIEW BLE

Minion madness at BLE

Bart and Homer take five

Brands of plenty Europe’s premier licensing show has come to a close for another year, but the business done across BLE’s three action-packed days will shape the future of the toy aisle for years to come

B

“

LE 2015 has passed us in What we a whirlwind didn’t of costume anticipate characters, kids’ entertainment brands and was the drying ink. The doors to an number of unmissable show may have very closed for another year, but many more open up ahead, promising as the deals, agreements walk-ons. and partnerships forged We’re really under Olympia’s barrelexcited to see vaulted roof fire into action. where they Thousands of lead professionals from all Cassie Chandler, corners of the everOutfit 7 evolving world of licensing filtered into the show this year to map out the future of some of the world’s premier brands. Whether it was licensors looking for consumer product partners, retailers seeking exclusive in-store magic, or manufacturers on the hunt for the next big licensed toy range, there was something for everyone.

More than 300 exhibitors made this year’s BLE the largest yet, and with such breadth in the properties represented, it was clear to see that

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the event was a stand out in the show’s 17-year history.

In the world of children’s entertainment and characters - the most vibrant and exciting section of the venue’s ground floor - both brand new and returning favourites from the past brought their best.

The hotly anticipated return of Teletubbies, Danger Mouse, The Simpsons, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned out in style, drumming up excitement in the aisles. Perhaps more than ever, suited and booted licensing executives stopped to take a snap with life-size costume characters of their childhood heroes.

Toy time As well as the stand out names in kids’ movies and TV, some of the world’s biggest toy companies were at the show. BLE Show Director Darren Brechin revealed that toys, games and hobbies is the second biggest area of interest to show visitors, and its not surprising given the special partnership toys and licensing share. “They provide the perfect brand extension which allow the audience to connect with, and own, part of the property they

love,” Darren said, and household names Mattel and Hasbro were both in attendance to represent that.

One property hoping to secure a Master Toy partnership at this year’s show was Boj. Co-creators David Hodgson and Claire Underwood told TnP that although lots of opportunities were still open for the creative CBeebies character, a toy partner would be the “perfect result”. The team used BLE as an opportunity to officially unveil a number of brand new licensing initiatives for the brand. A new feature soft play area is coming to West Midland Safari Park, and a stand-alone magazine series will hit the shelves in partnership with top kids’ publisher Redan.

Bringing something entirely new to BLE this year was Italian kids’ entertainment specialist Rainbow.

The company’s new animation Regal Academy was drumming up a lot of excitement from the crowds, with its unique spin on the characters and worlds of everyone’s favourite fairy tales.

“With Winx, we’re a leader in entertainment and consumer products for a younger audience, but Regal Academy allows us to

toysnplaythings.co.uk3

Jake, Princess Bubblegum and Finn

Shaggy and Scooby say hi

The OiDroids team with License This! judges

target a slightly older audience and open it up to new partners.

Already we have partners in place around the world, and we are hoping to expand this into new categories such as party products and plenty more,” said Rainbow’s Silvia Conti.

Going digital Social media and digital content is a hugely important part of any modern brand, and in the Licensing Academy, some of the world’s leading names in this space shared their insight with attendees.

Presenting the keynote address on day one was social media fitness entrepreneur Cassey Ho, who flew in from Los Angeles to give insight into the new frontier of social and digital brand building.

“Just keep sending out good vibes,” said Cassey, who built up her own fitness brand Blogilates on YouTube and other social media channels. “It’s so important for any brand to be social online and interacting with your audience.

You can be creative and do things that just aren’t possible elsewhere.

Anyone can grab a camera and start communicating with people, and there are no rules like you find in traditional media: no limits on time, cost or content.”

Casey says that established brands, and often those that come from traditional media channels, are

OiDroids triumphs at License This!

2015

SpongeBob had a great show

Championing new brands and fresh ideas is a big part of BLE. Perhaps nowhere else is this more evident than at the annual License This! competition, where new brands can pitch to a panel of expert judges for a spot at next year’s show. This year’s winner was OiDroids, a name you may already be familiar with thanks to its success in the pocket money sector. The collectable robot brand from Jonathan Klemenz beat off some tough competition to secure a stand at next year’s BLE, plus a one year membership to LIMA and one of its premier events.

“I’m so excited to have won against such strong competition, and am looking forward to bringing the property to Brand Licensing Europe 2016,” said Jonathan.

three billion downloads, Cassie really beginning to embrace Chandler said this year’s BLE was social media, bringing brand incredibly exciting. new and valuable content to It’s so “We’ve actually had to change the market. “You don’t just important for the layout and tables and chairs to see marketing and adverts any brand to be allow more people on the stand,” online anymore, and that’s social online she told TnP on the show floor. great. Brands that use social “Of course, we’ve had plenty of media and use online in and interact pre-planned meetings, which is exciting ways stand to do with their great. But what we didn’t anticipate super well, and we’re seeing audience was the number of very promising more and more of that. I walk-ons. We’re really excited to think we will see even more Licensing Academy see where they lead.” in the future; it’s all very keynote speaker, exciting.”

Cassey Ho One exhibitor that has built up a hugely successful property in the digital space is Outfit 7.

What: Brand Licensing Europe 2016 With its Talking Tom and Friends apps rocketing past a phenomenal When: Tuesday 11 to Thursday 13 October, 2016

“

”

Next year

Where: Olympia, Kensington, London

NOVEMBER 2015

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Your Toy Fair Media 2016 –

make it count!

For unrivalled media solutions before, during and after toy fair, including TnP Magazine, the OfďŹ cial London Toy Fair Daily News Paper and TnP TV, talk to Ryan or Bradley now on 01442 289930 or email them at ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk or bradley@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Helping everyone sell more

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: Kid O Mix and Match Animals Company: Great Gizmos Tel: 01293543221 Web: www.ggtrade.co.uk

Product: Sylvanian Families Christmas Set Company: EPOCH making toys Tel: 08435 574062 Web: www. sylvanianfamilies.net/uk

Product: Doctor’s Bag Company: Le Toy Van Tel: 0208 979 2036 Web: www.letoyvan.com

Product: 1:14 R/C Car, Mercedes AMG Lewis Hamilton World Championship Car - 2014 Company: Tobar Phone: 0844 573 4299 Web: www.tobar.co.uk

Product: Disney’s Frozen Ice Palace Karaoke System Company: Sakar International Tel: +44(0) 2476 518500 Web: www.sakaruk.com

Product: Robo Jellyfish Company: Zuru Phone: 01604 204 01719 Web: www.zu www.zuru.com zuru.com

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

Product: Shopkins Stationery Company: West Design Products Tel: 01303 297888 Web: www.westdesignproducts.co.uk

P d t W Product: Walkin’ lki ’ & T Talkin’ lki ’ A Arlo l Company: Trends UK Tel: 01295 768078 Web: www.trendsuk.co.uk

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LICENSING

NEWS

Princess in focus Disney are planning plann to reinforce their Princess ncess franchise with a slew of new content.

There will be an animated TV series,, Tangled, currently in production and a new livewhich is cu movie, Beauty and the Beast, action mo st, both will premiere in 2017. premier Disney Studios has also announced Disne nced the release date for the live-action release elease of Beauty and the Beast. The much-anticipated ated feature film stars Emma Watson as Belle as the Beast/ and Dan Stevens St The retelling of the classic Prince. Th fairytale fairytal will hit cinemas in the UK on 17 1 March 2016.

There will also be new Frozen products coming up, with Disney saying they th expect the franchise to be a hit at retail this Christmas.

Simon Simo Philips, Executive Vice President and General Presid Manager, Consumer Mana Products, The Walt Disney Pro Company EMEA, says: Co “Our “O Disney Princess franchise is going from fr strength to strength and str this varied portfolio of content va and initiatives demonstrate how in w our world renowned storytelling wo g still goes hand- in-hand with aspirational strong characters which will appeal to children and charac parents alike.”

Having a jewel of a time EPOCH making toys has announced that arts and crafts brand Aquabeads will release a new range of licensed Disney products just in time for Christmas. The range includes a Frozen Playset and to complement the Frozen set, EPOCH has also introduced a Disney Frozen Character Set, containing over 400 classic and jewel beads and a further two design templates. There is also a new Cinderella set and a Minnie Mouse Playset which has over 600 beads and comes complete with the iconic red and white polka dot bow and various templates. Speaking about the range, Sally Carnall, Marketing Manager at EPOCH making toys, says: “We’re delighted to be able to expand the Aquabeads range with these licensed Disney products and are looking forward to working with more popular licensed characters and properties during 2016.”

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Revell reveals Star Wars lines Revell has unveiled new Star Wars model kits, just in time for the release of the muchanticipated film. First up is the Build & Play range which includes the Millenium Falcon, the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter, ace resistance pilot Poe’s X-wing Fighter; and the Resistance X-wing Fighter, the signature combat craft of the Resistance forces.

Fans can also feel the force with Revell’s new Easykit Star Wars models for kids aged eight plus. Authentically pre-painted kit parts are simply clipped together with no gluing required.

The Easykit range includes even larger versions of the Build & Play model kits plus Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle.

Revell also introduces the Star Wars Model Kits for ages 10 and up. These challenging model kits in various scales require gluing and painting and are perfect for beginners, hobbyists and any Star Wars collectors.

More clang for your buck As Clangers continues to grow in popularity, rights owners Coolabi, announced three new licensees at the recent BLE. Portico Designs, Things 3D and Unique Party, all join the strong portfolio of licensees in stationery, 3D printing and partyware.

Portico Designs, publishers and designers of premium stationery, gifts and dated products, will develop a range of diaries and calendars. The new products are due on shelves in September 2016.

Adding further weight to the range of licensees, Things 3D will develop a range of limited edition 3D printed figurines and digital 3D stickers, available worldwide from Autumn 2015. In addition, Unique Party, a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of party goods, is signed as a key partner producing bespoke party ware including tableware, favours and piñatas. The range will be on shelves in the UK and Ireland in September 2016.

Pictured at BLE were (left to right): Chris Byatte (Things 3D), Joe Wee (Things 3D) and Valerie Fry (Coolabi)

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licensing T O D A Y

W O R L D W I D E

Kane it!

England and Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has partnered with Vivid Imaginations to produce a range of football related products, launching in April 2016.

Harry Kane had a stellar season with Tottenham Hotspur in 2014/15, achieving top goal scorer status at the London club, as well as the second top goal scorer in the Barclays Premier League. Emma Weber, International Licensing Director at Vivid says: “We are extremely excited to be partnering with such an iconic football player and we are fast tracking development of the range to ensure we get out into the market while the football season is at one of its most entertaining periods with the build up to the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.”

Harry adds: “It’s great to be working with Vivid on a range of outdoor toys which I hope will inspire all my young fans out there to pick up a football and practise their skills. I think 2016 is going to be a very exciting year!”

Igniting curiosity Discovery Consumer Products has teamed up with Paladone Products Ltd to bring a range of Discovery Channel-branded interactive gifts and gadgets to be sold in the UK and European markets.

The new line is inspired by Discovery’s core DNA of igniting curiosity and encouraging adventure and exploration.

Launching April 2016, the partnership will introduce a science and nature range, including product tied to Discovery Channel’s pop culture phenomenon Shark Week.

The Discovery Channel themed products include a variety of gifts such as a vibrating robot, a smartphone microscope, kinetic sand, blow rockets, a stunt plane set, and gadgets including a quadcopter. The line also contains several fun build-your-own items including a 3D space shuttle, a balloon powered hovercraft, a globe, and a rubber band dragster.

ONE FOR THE KIDS Panini has partnered with Cartoon Network Enterprises to launch a new Cartoon Network magazine. The 36-page title launched on 15 October in the UK with further plans to roll-out in EMEA territories during 2016.

Featuring entertaining content about the channel’s favourite shows including Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, Ben 10, Regular Show, Uncle Grandpa, Clarence and Steven Universe, each issue will include puzzles, stories and activities.

OiDroids triumph at BLE A collection of collectable cardboard robots has scooped the honours at this year’s License This! award at BLE. Created by Jonathan Klemenz, OiDroids are aimed at the pocket money sector, each with quirky detail and full of personality.

Chair of judges, Kelvyn Gardner, Managing Director, LIMA UK, says: “It was hard to pick a winner, but we took into account the competitive nature of the sectors represented and felt that OiDroids had the edge. Congratulations to a worthy winner.”

A jjumbo helping of The Simpsons Jumbo Games has partnered with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products for The Simpsons puzzles and games range, launching in 2016.

Speaking about the pan-European deal, Stewart Middleton, Managing Director at Jumbo Games says: “We are thrilled to announce The Simpsons as our newest licence. Not only is it fun and loved by adults and children alike, the brand is also recognised on a worldwide scale and we anticipate it will be a strong addition to our portfolio due to its huge popularity.”

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LICENSING OPINION KELVYN GARDNER

Licence to play...

The great Bond franchise has a long history with toys, says LIMA MD Kelvyn Gardner, but what about today

T

a case of the unknown or forbidden being attractive he month of October is once more to be to a younger audience. This always guarantees close enlivened by the release of a new James interest from kids.

Bond movie, Spectre.

Now that youngsters can see James Bond films, James Bond has a long history with the the toy range has shrunk, and the brand tends to toy business. There can be but few more iconic concentrate on lifestyle products for licensed items. single toys than the uber-famous Corgi model of Fragrance, cosmetics, accessories are the order the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5, complete with of the day in this twenty-first century. One field ejector seat, tyre shredders, bulletproof rear shield of entertainment, if not strictly and firing front-end missiles. In speaking a toy, where Bond has an fact, the model is almost more intriguing history is video games. famous than the original.

One field of There have been several over A recent BBC TV entertainment, if not strictly the years. The first official Bond documentary about Aston Martins, presented by Great speaking a toy, where Bond video game, James Bond 007, was released in 1983 by Parker British Bake-Off star and proud has an intriguing history is Brothers. Since then, many of the Aston owner, Paul Hollywood, video games. There have Bond films have had dedicated featured the Corgi model in a been several over video games titles. However, the key sequence. (Incidentally, was most successful of all, and the best there ever a more appropriate the years known, is 1995’s GoldenEye. The name for an Aston Martin owner movie, GoldenEye, was the first to than Hollywood?). You can also feature Pierce Brosnan in the title role, and followed be certain that a lot more Corgi DB5s were sold a break of several years after the films had appeared than the original vehicle. to stall somewhat at the box office. Brosnan proved An intriguing aspect of this Bond/toy a popular Bond, and GoldenEye broke some Bond history is that there were more toys box-office records at the time, so the developer Rare, around in the years of the early movies got in at the right time. The GoldenEye game is also than there are today. Hot Wheels still incredibly well regarded and respected by the video produce cars to this day, but in the games community. It is, in fact, one of few games ever 1960s there were playsets, action made based on a movie which can be regarded as figures and roll-playing kit of all successful both commercially and critically. The game kinds. The irony is that today’s Bond was such a hit, in fact, that a sequel was planned. For movies are generally rated PG-13 whatever reason, no licensing deal could be struck for or equivalent. As readers of my a sequel, but the game did make it onto shelves under generation will recall, the first few the title Perfect Dark, with any and all Bond references Bond films were X-certificate, the removed. Ask any gamer over twenty and they’ll tell equivalent of an 18-certificate you that this, too, is an all-time classic. Fast forward today. If you also consider to 2015, and Spectre’s game is for mobile phones, not that there was no DVD, games consoles or PCs. Well, Bond always is up-tonor even video cassette date on the gadget front, so media back in those we should not days, children simply be surprised. would not have seen those films.

This is probably

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

toysnplaythings.co.uk

TNP T

LOOKS S BAC BACK

Step back in time TnP’s MD Malcolm Naish looks back at some of the events and news stories that made the pages back in November 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2010

November 1985 • We receive our longest letter ever - it’s still never been topped to my recollection - from Bristol toy retailer Ian Dawson. It begins on page 16 - and ends on page 20! We needed more than 140 characters to vent back then.

• The first ever Barbie magazine launches, bringing a 32-page glossy to the newsstands for fans of Mattel’s glamorous doll.

• Monopoly celebrates its 50 year gold anniversary. Thirty years on its still as popular as ever at 80.

• Joyces Toys’ Frank Brenton is unconvinced that opening on Sunday is a good idea. The jury’s still out on that one, Frank.

November 1995 • Mattel’s marketing department goes through change as longtime Marketing Group Manager Sandra King leaves after 17 years.

• Mind you this staff shake-up also comes after Mattel recently acquires a number of companies including Fisher-Price, a move that 20 years on seems a very sound investment indeed.

• Goliath Games kicks off its first City Rummikub Competition, a popular leg to find a British champ to send to the 1997 World Championships. Flash forward to 2015 and John Adams is continuing the tradition, as we wish Paul Hebden good luck as our champ in the Berlin World Cup. • We look at the first quarter ranges for 1996. It’s good to see some featured toys like Bandai’s Power Rangers and Mattel’s Hot Wheels are still driving sales on the High Street today.

• The public still hadn’t started Christmas shopping in 1995. Our modern issue with Christmas coming earlier each year seems a better class of problem to have.

November 2005 • DreamToys has become a must-attend for national press, with then popular morning show GMTV filming live from the show.

• I was very sorry to learn of the passing of Charles Neufeld, a well respected man in the industry with many friends.

• We breathed a sigh of relief as our first venture online went off without a hitch. I’m happy to report that the hundreds of visitors to www.toysnplaythings.co.uk I was so proud of then has risen well into the thousands.

• We’re glad to hear in Toy Talk that “business is brilliant at the moment” for Totally Toys’ Paul Carpenter. A true toy industry veteran, he’s still there on Bristol’s Gloucester Road today.

November 2010 • LEGO takes Disney’s coveted Disney Global Toy Licensee of the Year Award 2010. The companies have built on this and maintain a strong relationship to this day.

• NPD reports that toy sales are up 8% for the first eight months of the year, encouraging news given the recent demise of Woolworths.

• BLE broke attendance records, a trend that continues this year with its biggest show to date last month.

• Argos shifts two million units in its week long three-for-two promotion.

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