The Toy World team returned to the office last Friday just to put a few things straight – and I am glad we did, because this week has proved to be surprisingly busy for a first ‘proper’ week back. We often have to scrabble around to find good news stories for the first few days of the year, but this year major breaking news pieces have been coming thick and fast all week.
The announcement that Judd and Laura Zebersky will be stepping down from their roles at Jazwares in March certainly came out of the blue. The company Judd founded almost 30 years ago remains a true powerhouse in the toy market, and with the sale of the business to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway group a few years back, the foundations have been laid to enable the pair to move on. David Neustein, currently chief Operating officer, will be assuming the role of CEO, ensuring continuity and a smooth transition. We wish Judd and Laura all the best with whatever comes next.
I’d also like to congratulate Lucy Wynne-Jones on her new role as head of Licensing at Wow! Stuff – it’s lovely to see Lucy back in the toy arena, and her tremendous experience in the toy and licensing markets will no doubt be a great asset to Wow! Stuff as the company expands its licensing portfolio.
Perhaps the biggest news of the week came from Lego: the company’s January launches are always eagerly anticipated by retailers, as they are a great footfall driver in the first few days of the New Year. Many kids (and adults for that matter) hit the stores with money or vouchers to spend, and Lego’s new introductions are a perennial draw for consumers. I hear that the new Lego Speed Champions lines, especially Lightning McQueen and the Back to the Future Car, are already flying out, as are the ever-popular Lego Collectible Minifigures.
But this year, Lego had another major announcement up its sleeve – the launch of the groundbreaking new Lego Smart Play platform. First products won’t be arriving in stores until March, but the range made its public debut at the CES show in Las Vegas and will be available to pre-order from today. The new range certainly made waves at CES – it has been many years since a toy product was one of the main headlines from the show, but Lego secured major global coverage on the back of its presentation in Vegas. And to help those of us for whom a trip to Nevada isn’t feasible, Lego helpfully arranged a presentation the following day in London, so journalists could see the product being demonstrated at close quarters and hear more about the patented technology and why Lego believes it represents the future of play.
Read the rest here.
