Editors Note: Apologies for the late posting.
While the Nuremberg Toy Fair is still going on today and tomorrow, many UK and international visitors made their way home last night or are heading back today. Based on the many conversations I had waiting for last night’s ‘toy flight’ back to the UK, most people were exhausted, but extremely happy with the week’s proceedings. Voices were hoarse, most were looking forward to catching up on sleep over the weekend. And whatever you do, don’t mention the step count…
Was it the mildest Nuremberg ever? It was certainly the warmest I can remember – the gloves and scarf never even made it out of the suitcase. After an excellent London Toy Fair last week, there was a discernible feeling of confidence in the air. All of the usual caveats apply of course, but I got the impression that people are feeling genuinely positive, not just ‘hopeful with a lot of fingers crossed’. As one of my Italian friends put it, “there’s less sadness this year.”
Naturally, promises were up, but several people pointed out that after meetings in London, orders followed almost immediately this week, which hasn’t always been the case in recent years. Let’s hope that continues.
Once again, I am not going to speculate on footfall numbers. Many exhibitors seemed to believe that there were fewer visitors around, but it didn’t feel like that at times in Hall 12.2, and certainly not when trying to catch a train to the show each morning. And let’s be honest, after mergers, acquisitions and post-pandemic natural selection, there are probably fewer individual retail buying points than there used to be. The global toy community may be shrinking, but it still converges en masse in Nuremberg, and that’s all you can ask for. Busy aisles don’t validate a show – the quality of meetings and the mood of attendees is a far better litmus test (how many meaningful meetings can you realistically have across the week – 50?).
Read the rest here.
