For everyone in the UK toy community – and quite a few people from the global toy community – this week has been all about the London Toy Fair. And what a show it was.
We all know that 2024 was anything but an easy year – but up, down or flat, wherever you ended up, it’s all in the past. Toy Fair gives us a chance to draw a line under last year and look forward to (hopefully) brighter things on the horizon. Just as a rock band being interviewed about their latest album always says it is their best yet, so toy companies inevitably start the year revved up about their new launches and their “best range ever”. No surprise then that everyone arrives at the show energized and full of enthusiasm.
I also think that the very act of the UK toy family coming together brings its own sense of communal well-being. We may have got a little battered and bruised in October & November especially, but we survived it, and we’re here to fight another day. And we are like a family in so many respects: yes, there may be a few weird relatives and some distant cousins that you’re not quite sure how they’re part of it, but in the end we support each other through thick and thin, and that helps us all to get where we need to go. I got asked about my granddaughter everywhere I went (and showed her picture many times) and many people enquired how we are getting on in our new office. Yes we’re there for business, but we are part of a close-knit group and people care. That’s a really nice feeling.
Most importantly, we saw a lot of great new products. Sometimes a tough year can lead to less innovation and risk taking, but I think most toy companies have worked out that approach becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, so thankfully there was plenty on show to get excited about. I also get the sense that retailers are becoming more open to new ideas that diverge from the traditional definition of ‘toy’. We know we’re losing girls from the market at an increasingly younger age to fashion and beauty, so it’s good to see toy companies trying to address that. Unsurprisingly, ‘kidult’ products also continue to proliferate – and toy retailers are embracing them. There was undoubtedly a point in the past when many toy retailers were unsure if these kind of products would fit into a traditional toy store, but in 2025, what exactly constitutes a traditional toy store? Retailing is about giving the people what they want, and toy customers have never been a more diverse bunch of people – which is surely a good thing (especially given the declining birth rates across the developed world).
Our top-read story of the week was the announcement of the Toy of the Year and Retailer of the Year awards. In the Retail Awards…
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