Feature - Nuremberg Preiview

According to its organisers, Spielwarenmesse eG, the 72nd iteration of Spielwarenmesse is the place to be for the international industry at the start of 2023. Taking place from 1st-5th February at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center, the show will let retailers discover a multitude of trends and innovations for the new year. Both the industry and the organisers are said to be ‘delighted’ to return to the physical fair and its live events after two years away, while the associated new online platform, Spielwarenmesse Digital, will continue to support the event by providing valuable additional services.

Announced by a rousing marching band that promises to blow away the cobwebs at 8.55am on 31st January – the day before the show officially opens - PressPreview returns to Spielwarenmesse in 2023, this year with a particular focus on start-ups and young businesses. Participants will be afforded the opportunity to give presentations about their companies and product ranges to an engaged audience on the hunt for new products. Exhibitors will be able to attract media attention by bringing their products to life at their own stands with street theatre acts, demos and celebrity appearances. This will give journalists, bloggers, influencers and YouTubers from around the world a unique overview of the depth and breadth of products and trends on display at the 72nd Spielwarenmesse. Alongside well-known exhibitors and brands, particular attention will be placed on young businesses, as newcomers and start-ups present their innovations alongside one another in a compact space all of their own.

A broad supporting programme will bolster what’s on show, a highlight of which will be the presentation of the 2023 ToyAwards. The internationally recognised ToyAwards are presented annually to the best new products in a total of six categories: Baby & Infant, PreSchool, SchoolKids, Teenager & Adults, Startup and Sustainability. The selection is made by an international jury of experts, who base their decisions on how fun the toys are to play with, their originality and the potential for success at retail. The ToyAward winners will be announced at 11:30am in the Sydney Hall. Ahead of this, press representatives be given the opportunity to take a closer look at the three products nominated in each of the six categories.

Other PressPreview day highlights include the original Spielwarenmesse Selfie-Spot and a ToyCocktail competition, which for the first time will be taking place as part of the PressPreview. Nuremberg bartenders will be mixing their creations in person, from which three winners will be selected.

Once the show gets officially underway, visitors will be able to peruse a selection of manufacturers across 13 distinct product groups: Lifestyle Products (with its strong focus on licensing); Dolls and Soft Toys; Baby and Infant; Wooden Toys and Toys made from Natural Materials (an ongoing strong focus among consumers); School, Stationery and Creative Design; Technical Toys, Educational Toys and Action Toys; Electronic Toys; Model Railways and Model Construction; Sports, Leisure and Outdoor; Festive, Carnival and Fireworks; Games, Books, Learning and Experimenting; Services for Trade and Industry and the Multi-Product Group.

Perhaps the biggest departure from the norm at the 2023 show is the fact the organisers have taken the unprecedented decision to open part of the show to consumers next year. While the whole Nuremberg Toy Fair will run as usual from 1st-5th February, consumers will be given special access to the Model Railways and Model Construction Hall 7A over the weekend of 4th-5th February. Christian Ulrich, spokesperson of the Executive Board of Spielwarenmesse eG, says the move is in accordance with the ‘long-held wishes of exhibitors from this sector of the market’. The decision has generated a lot of discussion and will certainly be something to keep an eye on.

Another first, the Game Inventors Convention will be taking place in Nuremberg on 3rd February 2023, bringing games inventors together with developers from both national and international publishing houses in Hall 11.1. From 9am-6pm, games inventors will be able to present their prototypes to experienced games developers on individual tables. Tom Werneck, founder of the International Game Inventors’ Fair and chair of the Board of the Bavarian Games Archive, and his colleague, Christian Fürst-Brunner, will join the Spielwarenmesse team to make up a panel of experienced game and trade fair professionals to offer advice and support. The day will end a joint networking party for the games sector taking place from 6-9pm. The DuAli award will be awarded as part of the gathering: this will be presented by the Nurembergbased Ali Baba Games Club for the best two-person game.

In October, the Spielwarenmesse TrendCommittee, on which Toy World’s own publisher John Baulch sits, announced the three trends it believes will drive toy sales next year: Discover!, Brands for Fans and MetaToys. The Discover! trend revolves around the opening up of new worlds and themes, encouraging children to explore other countries, cultures and languages, the wonder of nature or unknown galaxies. The focus of the second trend, Brands for Fans, is licences and retro products, while innovative approaches and technologies for play are the focus of the MetaToys trend. The redesigned ToyTrends experience covers some 400m² in Hall 3A, where relevant products will be available to assess and try out.

Special themed areas will also help visitors to Spielwarenmesse 2023 make the most of their time at the international trade fair. Hall 2 places sustainability in the spotlight under the title Toys Go Green, with eco-friendly toys and further information displayed on four on-topic islands. Made by Nature, Inspired by Nature and Recycle & Create each focus on specific materials, while Discover Sustainability explains environment and climate issues through play, with added educational value. The Tech2Play interactive action area in Hall 4A, meanwhile, will once again highlight innovations in Robotic Toys, RC Toys, Virtual Play and Electronic Learning.

Alongside innovations and new ideas, knowledgesharing is a core tenet of Spielwarenmesse. At the Toy Business Forum, which also takes place in Hall 3A, carefully chosen experts will present on topical industry and retail subjects such as trends in retail and toys, digitalisation, sustainability and diversity. The presentations will take place between 1-3 pm on each day of the fair, and real-time translation will be available for all attendees. The presentations will also be shown on the Spielwarenmesse Digital business platform. From Wednesday to Saturday in the Toy Business Forum, the final event of each day will be the Trends presentations containing further information on the 2023 ToyTrends. LicenseTalks will also take place each morning from Wednesday to Saturday: these cover the latest trends in licensing, valuable examples of best practice and tips for newcomers to the licensing landscape.

Over the next pages, we present the first raft of exhibitors who have chosen to highlight what will be on show to the readers of Toy World. Look out for the second part of our Spielwarenmesse preview, which will be published in the bumper January issue.