Allegedly

Having spent several days at last month’s Distoy event in London, let’s put one ridiculous rumour to bed: I don’t think it is any great secret that there were ‘mutterings’ in advance of the show, with some concerned about a gradual drift towards LA. Some people even went so far as to claim this would be the last ever Distoy. I can quite confidently say – without fear of contradiction – that this suggestion turned out to be complete and utter nonsense. In my experience, shows don’t die because of what one or two keyboard warriors say on LinkedIn – they die because they stop fulfilling the objectives of exhibitors and visitors. The primary focus of Distoy is for toy companies to show new lines to potential new distribution partners from across the globe. So, did distributors find new lines to add to their portfolios? Yes they did (confirmed by some of the largest UK and European distributors I spoke to). Did exhibitors get the opportunity to engage with potential new partners? Yes they did. As the show delivered on these two key metrics, I would deem that a success. While exhibitor numbers were similar to last year (although, admittedly, a few big names were missing), visitor numbers were down. Usually, when that happens, it results in a lot of very unhappy exhibitors. But here’s the funny thing…. just about everyone I spoke to didn’t really mind. Many told me that they had longer, more productive meetings – the ‘speed-dating’ craziness of previous years gave way to less frantic, more meaningful discussions. People also suggested that the visitors who came were ‘serious’ – and we are back to the ‘quality over quantity’ argument. Indeed, some of the original exhibitors have complained to me in recent years that the show had got too big and had lost its roots – so presumably they are happier with a more selective audience? One final observation on Distoy: there were a few companies piggybacking (the kind way of putting it) on the official show this year. I find that a bit disappointing, and I know that many people I spoke to this week feel the same. But while setting up round the corner could be construed as a bit naughty, booking a ‘hooky’ room at St James Court (one of the official Distoy hotels) is another level of brazen entirely. I hope the few quid they saved was worth the reputational damage the company in question suffered after it became known what they had done…

Talking to many international visitors at Distoy and in Las Vegas, there is a growing belief that the January trip to Hong Kong is very much back on the agenda. More on that in the weeks to come, but one point to ponder – is there any real reason why everyone has to jump on a plane the minute Big Ben’s bells have stopped ringing in the New Year? The Hong Kong Toy Fair runs from 8th-11th January – would it make sense to focus showroom activity along a similar timeline (especially now fewer Americans are likely to make the trip) …

I also bumped into Jo Hall in Las Vegas, who tells me that she will be ‘retiring’ from Toys R Us Asia at the end of September and relocating to Phuket. However, I suspect it won’t be the last that we see of Jo in the toy arena – I am sure there will be no shortage of advisory / consultancy offers for someone with her considerable knowledge and experience. But after 39 years in the corporate retail world, she has certainly earned the chance for a change of pace…

To kickstart a summer of blockbuster toy movies, we recently went on a Toy World team outing to a preview screening of the new Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie, which was a real thrill ride. Tremendous energy, bags of exhilarating action, some smart humour, a few clever hat tips to other toy brands (including one very intriguing set up of another Hasbro spin-off towards the end…) and a banging rap soundtrack. It felt like this is the Transformers movie that Hasbro has been trying to make for a while. A great opportunity to reset the brand, get a whole new generation of kids excited and sell plenty of toys. Judging by the strong box office performance, many people agree, although Toymaster’s Paul Reader made a very pertinent point on my LinkedIn post about the movie merchandise: “Why do retailers decide that the best way to launch the brand in-store is to take 20% off? Before even attempting to give the brand a run for its money. The investment to bring a brand to market is huge. Mr. Retailer - give the brand a chance. Mr. Supplier - partner up with retailers that want to grow your brands.” I wasn’t initially sure who he was referring to, but only hours later I received an email from the Mr. Retailer in question, highlighting the discount it was offering across the entire range. A smart way to capitalise on the movie launch, or an unnecessary erosion of margin from a retailer which is well-known for having very particular margin requirements? I’ll leave you to decide…

Ravensburger has been rightly excited about its upcoming Disney Lorcana trading card game launch, only to find out a few weeks ago that it may now have to fend off a proposed lawsuit from Upper Deck, which is alleging that Lorcana is based on a game that it had paid the designer to create while he was working for them. Ravensburger has issued a robust denial, saying that it will fight the claim vigorously. With the launch scheduled for August and a full programme of support activity already in place, this is definitely one to keep an eye on over the coming weeks…

We announced the dates for both Licensing Expo and BLE for ’24 and ’25 online recently – and for those who like to plan ahead, there are some notable changes from this year's dates. Licensing Expo returns to a mid-May timeslot for both years (unfortunately for us, clashing with the Toymaster May show at least for next year, and potentially both years), while BLE moves from early October this year to late September next year and then mid-October the following year. It can’t be easy finding suitable dates that work across so many different industries without there being clashes, while country and religious holidays, as well as venue availability, only exacerbate the situation. So, there is always going to be one group of people or another for which the date presents challenges – just one of the joys of putting on a cross-category, multi-territory event.