Nuremberg
International invitation In just a matter of weeks, the global toy industry will once again be bound for the ‘ToyCity’ of Nuremberg for Spielwarenmesse 2024, which takes place from 30th January to 3rd February at NürnbergMesse GmbH. Toy World takes a look at this year’s international event and ponders what affect recent changes to the trade show calendar and the show’s format may have.
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ffering five packed days of networking, entertainment, product inspiration, trade deals and much, much more, Spielwarenmesse 2024 is widely considered an unmissable event within the toy industry trade fair calendar. The second iteration of the hugely popular European show since lockdown, and the 73rd since the show began, this year’s show will welcome almost 400 new exhibitors across its 18 halls and a very strong turnout from across the globe. No less than 13 different countries will be represented on international pavilions that will host over 250 businesses from Australia, China, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, Ukraine and the USA. Indeed, the scrapping of the 2024 New York Toy Fair (the result of much to-ing and fro-ing
over dates and locations, hopefully now settled) is predicted to result in many more American visitors to Spielwarenmesse and the unveiling of far more new toy ranges that may ordinarily have been held back for launch in New York. Christian Ulrich, spokesperson for organiser Spielwarenmesse eG, also expects to welcome many more Chinese and Japanese visitors at the upcoming show, after lingering post-Covid travel restrictions impacted attendance last year. A rise in numbers from these countries will be a nice boost for Spielwarenmesse 2024, which is shaping up to be a much busier event than the already excellent 2023 iteration. Spotlighted trends this year include toys for kidults, a major focus for Mattel this year (as you can read in our exclusive article on page 14). In Hall 3A, the Life’s a Playground theme will be brought vividly to
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life through relevant product examples from its four core categories - Collectibles, Premium Collectibles, Creative Fantasy and Tabletop Games – while experts will be on hand to shine a light on new perspectives and ideas that could help retailers who already offer kidult products, or those looking to get into the space, maximise on their selections. Anyone with a little time on their hands is also strongly encouraged to pay a visit to Ultra Comix on Vordere Sterngasse 2, which offers four floors of comic-books, games, fantasy- and science fiction-literature, and kidult toys. Speaking exclusively to Toy World, Christian explains that older children and adults are turning to toys and games for a kind of escapism and a positive outlet for their expressionism. He says: “Often we see that those outlets are social too: games bring people together round a table so we can spend time with
