Toy Fair Highlights by Jim Silver of Time To Play Mag
Thursday, March 18, 2010 Posted by Jolly Mom
As you guys probably already know, the Toy Fair was last month. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend, but Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TimeToPlayMag.com kindly offered to give us a recap. Without further ado...here's Jim Silver!
Guest Post Written By Jim Silver
Editor in Chief, TimetoPlayMag.com
My Toy Fair Recap
People have talked about the demise of the American International Toy Fair, the industry’s annual trade show, over the past several years, but that definitely was not the case this year. It was the busiest Toy Fair I've been to over the last five years. Companies like Mattel, Hasbro, SpinMaster, Jakks Pacific, Lego along with over 1,000 toymakers were there showing their latest and greatest for 2010. Thousands of retailers attended, from the small independent toys stores to the larger retailers like Toys”R”Us, Wal-Mart and Target.
There was a lot to be excited about. Cepia Toys, the maker of Zhu Zhu Pets, had a small hidden private room on the 4th floor where they showed Kung Zhu, the new battling hamsters for boys.
Mattel was following a strong 2009 Barbie year with many new Barbie introductions. In the I Can Be Barbie line, they announced her 125th career, as voted on by the public. Drumroll please.......Barbie is now a computer engineer!
Toy Story was prevalent as creator John Lassiter from PIXAR came to New York to talk about the new movie. There are new Toy Story 3 toys from Mattel, Thinkway, Lego, Hasbro, Technosource, just to name a few. Kids will be asking for lots of Woody and Buzz this year…
If you are a Scrabble fan, Scrabble Flash looks like it will be a hit. The game includes five digital cubes that have the Scrabble dictionary built in. Simply, you have 75 seconds to put the cubes together to make as many 3-5 letter words as possible, the cubes light up for each correct word. There are multiple ways to play.
For the doll collector, there were some terrific new dolls from Madame Alexander, Tonner, along with many of the other doll companies.
For me, it was a week of meeting with many different companies – both big and small - looking at all types of toys, from tech to basic, trying to decipher what kids will want this year, and wishing I was seven years old again.
{Editor's Note: If you haven't visited TimeToPlayMag.com--trust me and head over there right now. It is an awesome site, brimming with all things TOYS and much more.}
Guest Post Written By Jim Silver
Editor in Chief, TimetoPlayMag.com
My Toy Fair Recap
People have talked about the demise of the American International Toy Fair, the industry’s annual trade show, over the past several years, but that definitely was not the case this year. It was the busiest Toy Fair I've been to over the last five years. Companies like Mattel, Hasbro, SpinMaster, Jakks Pacific, Lego along with over 1,000 toymakers were there showing their latest and greatest for 2010. Thousands of retailers attended, from the small independent toys stores to the larger retailers like Toys”R”Us, Wal-Mart and Target.
There was a lot to be excited about. Cepia Toys, the maker of Zhu Zhu Pets, had a small hidden private room on the 4th floor where they showed Kung Zhu, the new battling hamsters for boys.
Toy Story was prevalent as creator John Lassiter from PIXAR came to New York to talk about the new movie. There are new Toy Story 3 toys from Mattel, Thinkway, Lego, Hasbro, Technosource, just to name a few. Kids will be asking for lots of Woody and Buzz this year…
If you are a Scrabble fan, Scrabble Flash looks like it will be a hit. The game includes five digital cubes that have the Scrabble dictionary built in. Simply, you have 75 seconds to put the cubes together to make as many 3-5 letter words as possible, the cubes light up for each correct word. There are multiple ways to play.
For me, it was a week of meeting with many different companies – both big and small - looking at all types of toys, from tech to basic, trying to decipher what kids will want this year, and wishing I was seven years old again.
{Editor's Note: If you haven't visited TimeToPlayMag.com--trust me and head over there right now. It is an awesome site, brimming with all things TOYS and much more.}
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