Toy Fair in New York this past week was excellent. So many new products from large and small brands and so many insights from individual retailers to key partner brands.
This really is an important show for any retailer relying on toys for a key portion of revenue. I say this for a few reasons: you’ll see products well ahead of Australian release, you’ll get context that does not often travel, you can see broader trends beyond single brands.
While seeing new products is a delight, it’s the insights I appreciate the most, and sometimes it is not the most obvious insights that land the best. These can be small insights through to bigger.
Booth to booth and talking in the aisles, this trade show was terrific. US retailers are open to talking to folks from out of the country. They share terrific insights.
I have been for a few years and found this years Toy fair particularly useful.
It was good seeing more Australians there than I’ve seen in the past.
One frustration is arrogant brands that don’t let you in if you are not an existing customer and have not made an appointment. While there aren’t many of these, there were enough to annoy me.
There were a few small makers at the trade show, which was interesting. A family making child products because of personal experience, a couple of game makers trying to pitch their games, and some slime . dough type products made in small batches with interesting stories.
While my key insights will be for newsXpress members, I’d note that there is a trend for indie retailers for small batch more locally made products, to differentiate from the mega brands that love big retailers so much.