Talking Shop
Fair play
This month Toy World asked indie retailers about their experiences at Toy Fair this year - what they saw, what they enjoyed and what they’ll be ordering.
Maurice Doyle - Banba Toymaster, Dublin
I
t was an interesting Toy Fair. We go for the full three days, from the crack of dawn on Tuesday to close on Thursday. It’s a great time to regroup after Christmas and meet with reps and agents, as well as seeing how the previous year went. I go in wanting to know if the items and characters that suppliers thought were going to be big for the year actually performed as expected, what’s being continued on and what’s new for 2024. It’s good to hear the inside info about these things. My visit was very productive. I liked Hasbro’s new Nerf lines, with new Nerf darts that are more accurate and even faster. We’re looking forward to stocking those in the future. Playmobil is celebrating its 50th birthday and we discussed working together on holding a celebration in our shop. We also talked to other suppliers about hosting in-store events and demos to drum up a bit of interest and business, and ways we can support trade via our online platforms.
As well as stock for our own store, we were also looking for items that might be suitable for the Toymaster Catalogue; Banba Toymaster is on the selection committee. We deal with most of our suppliers via Toymaster but, as our online side of the business has really taken off since Covid (we’re up 85% on the previous year and are shipping all over Europe). Things like TMNT that aren’t available in all European countries are popular and a significant chunk of our business now comes from these overseas orders, so we’re looking to add to that with items that aren’t too price sensitive. We are quite tight on time when we visit Toy Fair. We’re booked into appointments across the entire three days, and we don’t normally get the chance to just walk around and ‘freelance’, so I would love it if the organisers could bring back an extra day. A fourth day to be able to make extra appointments would make such a difference.
Carol Glennan - Fagan Toys, Mullingar
W
e attended Toy Fair on the Tuesday and Wednesday and found it a lot busier than the last couple of years. There was a lot more hype compared to just after Covid when the atmosphere was a bit subdued. This year, the buzz was back. We attended the Toy Industry Awards where we were delighted to end up winning the Independent Toy Retailer of the Year. We were thrilled just to be nominated; we’d never been nominated before and to attend the ceremony was a big deal in and of itself. But we weren’t expecting to actually win it at all. Fagan Toys is a family run business, and although I’m not a part of the family, it was a great moment for everyone and feels like recognition for all the years of hard work. That was obviously the highlight of our trip. When we go to Toy Fair, we like to look out for something new and exciting that’s going to create a bit of a buzz. We’ve started to use our social media a lot more, and so we look for lines that will work well on there. Last year, we made a couple
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of Tik Toks that were extremely effective, one for Soccer Bot from Golden Bear and one for Biggies, the inflatable plush from Eolo (Click UK). Those lines had four and a half million views and over two million views respectively. The hype that they created was fantastic, translating into increased footfall and sales. Lego was one of our favourite stands; there was a lot of new Lego this year and I think it’s going to appeal to all ages, with a bit of nostalgia involved. Just Play had a fantastic new interactive range for later in the year that I loved. There were a couple of new games from Golden Bear that the whole family could get involved with. I also thought Hasbro’s new version of the classic Monopoly was a great idea. It’s a different take, and a quicker version. There were plenty of lines that had a lot of potential, a lot of interactive and techy things. Toy Fair will continue to be our primary source for new ideas and freshness. We’re always on the hunt for something different that will captivate all ages and all audiences.
