It’s been a busy week at Toy World Towers. It feels like things are returning to normal levels of busy / crazy after the gentler pace of summer. The weather has turned (and how), and the number of out of office auto replies has slowed considerably – at least until next week when a rather large group of people will be heading out to LA for previews.
The volume of news stories has picked up too: having finished writing this Blog yesterday, two big stories came in – the first announcing that The Entertainer is about to embark on a new partnership with British Garden Centres, which becomes the latest addition to its growing brigade of Toy Box partners. A six month, six store trial will see BGC outsource the delivery of its toy offering to The Entertainer. The second was confirmation that after working as a consultant for Heathside since February, Nic Aldridge will be joining the company on a full-time basis, taking on the roles of global head of Khadou and group head of Marketing. No doubt more big stories to come as the toy community swings back into life.
The start of the month always sees a new issue of Toy World landing on desks – and September is always a special month, as it’s the anniversary of when our very first issue was published. This year marked our 14th birthday edition, and as we enter our 15th year, I wanted to say a huge thank you to the companies who have made all this possible. Your support and loyalty mean the world to us, and we truly appreciate all the people who have helped us along the way and those who continue to be part of our journey.
You can read the September birthday issue online, and also the two supplements which accompanied it – our annual deep-dive into the Games & Puzzles category, and our latest Mattel Licensing supplement. Q4 is peak season for Games & Puzzles, so what better time to be shining a spotlight on the category with a comprehensive look at the best new games and puzzles hitting shelves in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Mattel supplement showcases some of Mattel’s enduring properties and also offers a sneak peek at the new Masters of the Universe content coming next year. In many respects, our September issue encapsulates where the toy community sits right now: all guns blazing to make the most of our peak season, but with one eye firmly on next year already.
If you are heading out to LA next week or the week after, I hope you have a successful, productive trip. I’m sad not to be joining you, but I have plenty of people who have offered to be my eyes and ears over the coming weeks… and if you hear or see anything I should know about, do feel free to send it my way. We have also featured the LA Previews in our September issue and you can read more here.
Read the rest here.
