Page 24 - Toy & Hobby Retailer Magazine May-July 2019
P. 24

INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIRS
NEW YORK TOY FAIR 2019
Fun in focus
With eight football fields worth of product, the New York Toy Fair brought the latest toy trends and innovations to the Western Hemisphere. Imogen Bailey reports.
NEW York, New York! After landing in the Big Apple, my mission was to get to the Toy of The Year Awards on time – I was cutting it very fine. You'll be pleased to know I made it!
After the awards ceremony and dinner, myself and the other international journalists finished off the night at a karaoke bar, with a fabulous rendition of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance being belted out by one of us
– I will let you speculate on who that was.
This year, the New York Toy Fair (NYTF) welcomed over 26,000 toy professionals from 98 countries over the four days of the show. With eight football fields of products on show, attendees certainly had their work cut out for them. Making up the top five countries from where visitors hailed – outside of the
US and Canada – were China – interesting given President Trump's current trade war with China – the UK, Hong Kong, Mexico and Japan.
Beginning my journey into the show,
I noticed a sense of ease and playfulness on many stands. I think this is due to less closed stands compared to other fairs, although according to regular NYTF visitors, there were more closed stands than usual. At
the New York fair, playing and having fun seemed to take the driver's seat, while at other shows, the frivolity is had after
show hours.
For example, as I was wandering the
halls, I was invited to slide down a ramp
on a makeshift toboggan. Now, I will say,
I thought that it would be the toy sliding down the ramp and not me, but it was fun nonetheless. I also made a sock puppet with the other journalists, while at another stand we were given some crazy glasses – mine were rainbow poop emoji glasses, in case you were wondering. We also had a great time
playing with Wow! Stuff's Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak.
Out on the show floor, I came across
the Modarri deconstructable, customisable cars. Kids build the cars up from the
chassis – which feature turning wheels and real suspension – using different car body layers, making each finished car a unique combination of elements. What I found
even more interesting was the DIY paint version of the kits, which combine craft with construction play.
The True Balance STEM toy also caught my eye as I was roaming. Helping coordination, concentration and fine motor skills, players must stack up a system of magnets placed within each layer of the twisty toy and balance each layer on top of the next. Developed in partnership with occupational therapists
and physiotherapists, the True Balance coordination toy actively engages the brain and captures the attention of players.
Bringing technology to water play, the WhiteShark Mix portable underwater scooter from Sublue looks like something from the future.
24 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER MAY / JULY 2019


































































































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