Page 26 - Toy & Hobby Retailer Magazine June-July 2020

INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIRS
NEW YORK 2020
A different game
NBA star Shaquille O’Neal opened the 117th New York Toy Fair to 25,000 toy professionals. COVID-19 awareness is high. This show is a different one, Imogen Bailey reports.
BY late February, the awareness of COVID-19 had ramped up. Travel and two-week self-isolation restrictions were being introduced and China had Wuhan on lockdown. World governments were cautious of bringing in cases from overseas and had placed travel bans on those entering from China, and later Iran and Italy – eventually banning most forms of international entry.
Responding to these conditions in the lead up to the show, The Toy Association – organisers of the New York Toy Fair – jointly came to the decision with the China Toy & Juvenile Product Association to cancel the China Pavilion at the show. The Association also implemented other health and
safety protocols to ensure attendee safety, including making sanitising and disinfection materials widely and readily available for public use. With these measures in place, the show was ready to get underway. And boy did it begin with a bang.
NBA great, Shaquille O’Neal helped open the 117th New York Toy Fair to 25,000 global play professionals. He then went on to showcase the latest Tonka products as the Basic Fun! stand.
The show, spanning eight football fields,
is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and highlights thousands of new products set to hit the shelves in the coming year.
“Over the past 117 years, Toy Fair New York
has evolved from business meetings in New York City's iconic Toy Building to a crucial global hub for play professionals seeking the hottest new trends, new business opportunities, access to New York's finance and media communities, and unrivalled educational programming," says Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Toy Association.
“This year's marketplace unveiled fresh product lines, innovative twists on classics, exciting new tech and interactive playthings, and licensed toys driven by digital and traditional media IP – all competing to top kids' wish lists and vital to driving the $27 billion US toy market and US toymakers' integral role in the $90 billion global toy industry,” he says.
Funrise launched its collection of new toys at the show including new CAT machines – the licence
of which the business acquired in June 2019 – as well as it’s new girl’s collectible Bright Fairy Friends. The 12 magical fairy dolls come with six surprise accessories and are packaged in a ‘fairy home’ that features bright, motion activated twinkle lights.
Meanwhile, Spin Master unveiled updates to
its own girl’s collectible Hatchimals. Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Cosmic Candy is a brand-new treat to collect. The toy features a new way to hatch; peel off the heart to find a hint as to who is hidden inside; hatch the heart and open the reusable egg
26 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER MAY / JUNE / JULY 2020