Hopefully the incessant rain that is hammering down as I write this is a temporary blip – although after the driest and warmest spring / early summer for some while, at least Art & Craft and Puzzles suppliers will be happy with a few rainy days’ respite.
We’ve definitely reached that mid-year stage where everything has settled down slightly. Many of the new lines for Christmas are on their way – there may not be an Argos catalogue to arrange new launches around anymore, but a lot of new products still arrive for that traditional end of July period anyway.
Before then, there are plenty of new ranges hitting shelves based on this year’s crop of summer blockbusters: I have been reading encouraging reports that sales of Lilo & Stitch merchandise have picked up nicely since the movie’s release, and we should see a similar reaction when How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World Rebirth, FI The Movie and Superman hit theatres in the coming weeks. The Hollywood Writers’ strike might have had a detrimental effect on last year’s crop of movies, but the reverse is true this year: 2025 really is a vintage year for family and toy-friendly films. These should see us nicely through summer and into the autumn, before the festive heavy hitters start to jostle for position. So, all in all, despite the shenanigans across the Atlantic, we should hopefully be in for a respectable year this side of the pond.
The other positive of the steadier summer period is the chance to get organized and prepare for forthcoming events. Registration for October’s BLE event opened this week: visitors can click here to register to attend the show for free. Do it now while you’re not crazy busy.
It won’t be long before we have to start planning for next January’s Toy Fairs too – the earlier you book those hotels and flights, the more likely you are to get what you want. 2026 will see Nuremberg celebrate its 75th anniversary, so I am sure there will be some great activity going on to mark the occasion.
And by the time January rolls rounds, it sounds like parts of the revamped Olympia complex will be open. I was reading about some of the new facilities this week, and they sound fantastic – including Britain’s largest Italian restaurant and a two-level 15,000 sq ft bar (Arbour), plus additional hospitality outlets. Even if the impressive rooftop bar may not be quite the draw in January that it will be in summer, the whole venue sounds amazing. These new outlets are due to open in phases between late October ’25 and June ’26, so we should hopefully get a taste of what’s to come next year before everything is in full swing by the time of the 2027 event.
I think this will give a tremendous boost to the show. Licensing Expo in Vegas has seen the benefit of keeping many visitors under one roof from morning to late night – and we all know how popular Harrogate is for trade shows for the same reason.
Read the rest here…
