#210: An Insider Look at A National Toy Trade Show in Las Vegas
Episode Description
Have you heard about the Toy Trade Show that happened in Las Vegas? It’s called Toy Fest and I just dropped an episode all about it in case you missed it! In this episode I’m sharing quotes from the diverse range of attendees, breaking down emerging trends and highlighting innovations showcased on the floor and in the showrooms.
Discover why Toy Fest should be at the top of your list if you're considering bringing a new toy line to market. With insights from exhibitors, buyers, and seasoned toy veterans, you'll gain invaluable knowledge about what's hot in the toy and game space right now. From plush toys to fashion and tween products, arts and crafts to building kits, you'll learn about the top-selling categories and the latest innovations driving the industry forward.
But Toy Fest isn't just about products—it's also a hub for networking and collaboration. In this short podcast episode hear stories of connections made, advice exchanged, and opportunities locked in during the event. Whether you're a newcomer seeking to make your mark or a seasoned professional looking to expand your network, Toy Fest offers a relaxed and friendly environment where industry experts come together to share successes and learn from each other.
Don't miss this insider's look at Toy Fest 2024 and the valuable insights it offers for anyone making their way in the toy industry.
Episode Cliff Notes
Learn why Toy Fest should be at the top of your list for bringing a new toy line to market.
Discover the top-selling categories and emerging trends showcased at Toy Fest 2024.
Gain insights into the power of networking and collaboration in the toy industry.
Hear stories from exhibitors, buyers, and seasoned veterans about their experiences at Toy Fest.
Find out how to make the most of your time at industry trade shows and build valuable connections.
Explore innovative products and exciting developments shaping the future of the toy industry.
Uncover the secrets to success in the competitive world of toy manufacturing and retail.
Get inspired to take your toy business to new heights with the knowledge gained from Toy Fest 2024.
Learn about the importance of staying ahead of trends and adapting to changing consumer preferences.
Discover how Toy Fest offers a unique opportunity to connect with industry experts and stay informed about the latest developments in the toy industry.
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
Learn more about ToyFest by visiting their website here.
Shop products mentioned in today’s episode below!Shop Scrunchems on Amazon here (affiliate link) or learn about all their products by visiting their website.
Learn more about Tiny Easel by clicking here.
Learn more about BrightLines by clicking here.
Learn more about Bright Stripes by clicking here
Shop SMOKO by clicking here and meet Tayto Potato.
Learn more about Hypertiles by clicking here.
Shop Mobi’s Tummy Time mirror on Amazon by clicking here.Check out the retail stores mentioned in this episode below:
Meet the team at Kidsnips by clicking here.
Check out Totally Thomas Toy Depot here.
Check out Rick Derr’s store, Learning Express Lake Zurich by clicking here.
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[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to Making It In The Toy Industry, episode number 210.
[00:00:05] Because they have many brands and many SKUs within their brands, it's actually a lot easier to show the breadth and depth of their assortment of 2, 500 SKUs in a showroom Then it would be to show it on a trade show floor. They don't have to pick, they can show everything and find the perfect pieces for certain buyers. Hey there toy [00:01:00] people as gel Wade here. And welcome back to another episode of the toy coach podcast, making it in the toy industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by the toy coach.com.
[00:01:10] This week's episode is a review of Toy Fest a trade show that recently happened in Las Vegas, Nevada. So we're going to cover who attended, what they said about the show, my experience at the show, and why if you're just starting out to bring a new toy line to market, Toy Fest should be at the top of your list. Now, on our way out of day one, I ran into a toy store owner, Kim Stoltz, of Kid Snipps, Minnesota, and asked her why she chose this show.
[00:01:42] Kim said, quote, we came here because New York didn't have a show, end quote. Look, by the end of this episode, you're going to hear a lot more quotes from people who have attended this show. You'll learn who attended Toy Fest, what they thought of the show, what's changed in the show from the [00:02:00] past, And what's trending in the toy and game space right now. Plus we are going to highlight some of the products in those categories as well. So first up, we got to just do a quick overview of what is Toy Fest.
[00:02:12] Now Toy Fest was built as the first national show of the year. It was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, to connect industry professionals with Manufacturers, retailers, reps, distributors, and beyond. The event is organized by the Western Toy and Hobby Representatives association, and this year was its 10th year.
[00:02:32] Traditionally, this show was called Toy Fest West, but now it is rebranded as a national show. It is also known as a manufacturer's representative show or sales rep show. But the move to the World Market Center saw an increase in manufacturer participation.
[00:02:51] Now, the trade show this year featured over 500 manufacturers. And in addition to toys, there were other categories there to gift. [00:03:00] infant, toddler, game, education, book, STEM, museum, hobby, costume, beauty, and novelty products. Toy Fest is known for its laid back, friendly environment. In fact, while I was at the Toy Fest gala, Cindy Wyatt of Totally Thomas Toys told me this quote. I love this show. It's a very relaxed show We all know each other and respect each other. We all share our successes and learn from each other. So that's the vibe of this show
[00:03:31] In 2024 toy fest took place between March 3rd and 5th I want to highlight some unique events that this show held that you don't get at every show. One of such event was the Morning Masterpiece Kit Session. This was an opportunity for manufacturers that had craft kits to have their products on display
[00:03:50] in a meeting room for buyers to play with and experience. They also had a event called the best of toy fest. So essentially buyers [00:04:00] would go around the show and at the end of the show they would select which products they thought were the best of toy fest and that list created by buyers would be broken down by category and then emailed to attendees and exhibitors after the show.
[00:04:15] Toy Fest also held a welcome gala, which featured delicious food and drinks with drink tickets for every attendee. Okay, but let's dive in to what we learned at the actual show. The first thing I want to address is the attendees and their impressions of the show. Toy Fest 2024 attracted a diverse range of attendees from industry experts who have been attending the show for six years or more to newcomers seeking to make their mark.
[00:04:46] in toys. The first person I bumped into was Jennifer Nolley of TinyEasel. She reflected on journey, noting that her attendance at ToyFest in 2023 marked the beginning of her [00:05:00] entire retail journey. Prior to ToyFest, Jennifer only sold direct to consumer and in attending her first show, she only expected about two orders each show day.
[00:05:10] But, armed with a strong show special, a low minimum, Tiny Easel secured nine stores in Toy Fest 2023, her first show ever . She averaged about three orders per day in that show. Now that experience led the founder, Jennifer, to do other shows in the industry. And Jennifer said this, quote, last year was my first show to sell retail.
[00:05:35] It was my first experience that inspired me to go to other shows. I went to Astra and Atlanta. I've gotten into toy stores and it all started here. As I sat down and spoke with Jennifer, she shared that good booth neighbors really made the shows work for her.
[00:05:53] Which made me think How can toy organizations foster friendships or [00:06:00] relationships between neighboring booths prior to the show for a better show experience? Something to think about.
[00:06:07] Another manufacturer that I met at this show was Bright Brand. For Bright Brand, it was their first time at Toy Fest. And as a newcomer to the event, they were focused on showcasing and introducing their revolutionary line of pencil designs and patented paper tailored to help younger children with its ergonomic features and educational value. So they've got this patented paper with raised lines. And it's role is in facilitating handwriting development.
[00:06:39] They've got wide line paper with these raised bottom line guides, and they've got narrow line paper and standard. So it's fit for all different ages. You've got to see their assortment of pencils as well. most toy industry trade shows, there are vendors who display their products on the trade show floor in booths [00:07:00] and there are vendors who display their product in showrooms, sometimes located within the show or at an external location from the show. Now at Toy Fest West, there were vendors.
[00:07:12] that were doing the show floor or the trade show booth, but there were also vendors like Bright Stripes that were showcasing their products in both spaces. So I went around to ask a few questions about the benefits of showrooms versus show floor displays.
[00:07:29] The showrooms at Toy Fest were on the 10th floor, and brands like Bright Stripes and Smoko are some of the brands you could find in there.
[00:07:38] Now, Bright Stripes did have a space in a showroom, but also had a space on the trade show floor. And when asked why, what was the benefit of having those two spaces, well, they shared that they have their rep representing the region. In the showroom and the trade show space was a great opportunity to find new [00:08:00] non regional business.
[00:08:01] When I walked the showroom floor, I did meet a cute little brand called Smoko. Smoko is Aussie slang for short break from the daily grind of work, a little moment away from the keyboard and the cubicle to just be yourself. And these little plush that I saw from Smoko were super cute.
[00:08:18] They're pop culture, Japanese inspired food influences they are part of this cute, huggable trend, not just plush, but so many other things. Their key character is called Tato Potato and he's so cute and he's often dressing up as other characters. The midsize plush is a 25 retail
[00:08:37] now Smoko is a brand underneath the larger company, Master Toys and Novelties based in LA.
[00:08:45] And when asked why have a showroom versus having a trade show booth on the floor,
[00:08:51] Because they have many brands and many SKUs within their brands, it's actually a lot easier to show the breadth and depth of their [00:09:00] assortment of 2, 500 SKUs in a showroom Then it would be to show it on a trade show floor.
[00:09:06] They don't have to pick, they can show everything and they can find the perfect pieces for certain buyers.
[00:09:12] . So there you have it, that's a little peek inside the attendees and their impressions of the show. So we can see the overall impression is there is a great opportunity for reps to manage the regional, regional local business, but there's also an additional opportunity for brands to find new business at this now national show.
[00:09:34] So, let's move on to our next topic about Toy Fest, Emerging Trends and Innovations. Okay, so on Saturday, March 2nd, Rick Durr, the owner of Learning Express Lake Zurich, gave a talk on trends.
[00:09:47] And during this talk, Rich shared his top five categories based On store sales. And that is what I'm going to look at with you right now. These categories pretty well aligned with the trends [00:10:00] uncovered throughout the show.
[00:10:01] As we talk to different manufacturers and ask them what their top sellers were, a lot of them fell within these categories as well. And Rick also highlighted opportunities within some of these already top five categories. So let's share what those are.
[00:10:15] These are the top five categories based on store sales of a learning express in Lake Zurich. Number one for Rick's store. was plush. Number two for his store was fashion and tween, including charms, jewelry, lip products, all that selling very well rick specifically said that the fashion tween segment has been seeing tremendous growth in recent years, a great opportunity.
[00:10:41] Number three is arts and crafts.
[00:10:44] There is a big opportunity here because big players like Alex Brands aren't in the game as much creativity for kids actually typically used to have a big hit. They could count on two to three times a year, but there hasn't been that happening lately. [00:11:00] So, Rick called out that there is a big opportunity to innovate and do a big refresh of the craft aisle.
[00:11:07] No one's really kind of innovated or shaken up that aisle in quite a while. Number four on the top five list is compounds, and that is things like dope slime and other slime kits. Number five, building kits, mostly Lego is driving this, but there is clearly a consumer interest in building toys.
[00:11:30] Now Rick's talk went on to give a trend in retail as far as retail changing from just being experiential to being focused on engagement. There were also conversations around what edge do retailers have over, over places like Amazon? How do we compete?
[00:11:50] And it's with engaging our customers and understanding them. But Rick's talk was so extensive, we are going to have to do either another blog post or [00:12:00] podcast just about that for right now. I want to refocus on those five popular categories and see if they match up with the trends of. Best selling products that we see while walking through the show.
[00:12:13] So the top five categories were plush, fashion tween, arts and crafts, compounds, and building. All right, let's dive into what I discovered. While walking the show, the very first. trend that I uncovered was Impulse.
[00:12:29] Mike Sluzars of One for Fun said, quote, why Impulse does well at retail is because there's no competition from Amazon based on the price point. That's the key driving factor. It's too expensive on Amazon. End quote. So One for Fun is based out of the UK and they had a full line of cool impulse products to show me.
[00:12:52] One for Fun showed me a line called scrunchums and it had. Things from squishy dumplings to a fortune teller's squish ball, [00:13:00] which I really, really loved a moon and star squish ball and a micro fidget toy, all for under 4.99 retail. And that's the price point for impulse, usually 5 or less. Mark and I talked more about how impulse in store products can compete with Amazon.
[00:13:18] And he said, often you'll see items on Amazon at this low price point are bundled to make it worthwhile to ship, you know, but if you want to buy these impulse items and you just want one, the place you're going to find that's in store. Mark went on to say this impulse is not a planned purchase, and it's also the one price point that kids will spend their own money on.
[00:13:40] A lot of the impulse items that Mark was showing me that worked really well Fell underneath the compound category from what Rick's original top five categories were .
[00:13:51] Now, let's move on to the second trend that I discovered at the show, and that is mini. I mean, we know mini is in, we've been seeing many [00:14:00] things come out, but
[00:14:01] I did get a chance to chat with Johnny Hernandez from Gen X Fun. Gen X Fun is a toy distributor. And I stopped by their booth because I saw that they were showcasing MGA's Miniverse.
[00:14:12] Johnny said this, quote, Mini is in. LOL used to be our number one toy but Mini is slowly but surely taking it over. It's the first day and we're already placing orders. That's a quote from Johnny Hernandez from Gen X Fun. And Johnny also went on to say he did see a lot of national representation at the Toy Fest.
[00:14:34] Let's move on to the third trend that I saw at the show, kawaii. First up that hits this really well is the smoko pop culture brand. That I'd mentioned earlier inspired by food influences They got their cute tato potato key character who dresses up as other character But there was also another brand hot focus But
[00:14:57] there was also another brand hot [00:15:00] focus a brand out of Ontario, California they've been 20 plus years and they had a They had a cute mini crossbody bags and mini backpacks all decorated with cute kawaii charms from retail price points of 10. 99 to 14. 99. These were adorable, adorable assortments.
[00:15:22] Both Smoko and Hot Focus's mini bags fall under, fall under one of the top five categories that Rick had mentioned in his talk. Number one the number one category plush obviously fits in with Smoko and the fashion tween category, which is growing is where the hot focus mini bags fall into.
[00:15:48] Okay, let's move on to trend number four. All right, so Rick also mentioned compounds, right? Compounds were huge. And that is where dope slimes is taking it [00:16:00] over. Dope Slimes is a handmade, high quality, and super affordable slime shop. They've got all types of slimes for sale. They've got 60 slimes in their catalog. It's a team of two brothers and a good friend who started this brand. And it took off a year and a half ago, last year, Dope Slimes was Learning Express's number two overall vendor over Hot Wheels, Barbie, Lego. They were over every brand except for Squishmallows. These guys are doing amazing with their Dope Slime line. Now their slimes retail for 15.
[00:16:38] 99. I personally fell in love with the Cookies and Cream Slime and subsequently found out it's one of their best sellers.
[00:16:45] With 2. 5 million followers on TikTok, the Dope Slimes team is really their own marketing machine. They release five new slimes every two weeks, and whatever shows up as a bestseller [00:17:00] is what they roll out into wholesale.
[00:17:02] One of the top five categories that Rick mentioned was building, but we hadn't mentioned any products that fall into that category that can align with that trend, but we did find one.
[00:17:12] So. Fun in motions hyper tiles. Yes. Fun in Motion's hyper tiles are a radically fun new construction toy based on a mathematical shape called a hyperbolic paraboloid. Basically it's a set of tiles. They've got a dip in them almost like a Pringles chip, right? So it comes with the colorful tiles and clear snap joints. So you snap the joints onto the tiles and the tiles take on a shape that is flexible and changeable and movable. It's a 24. 99 retail I am so looking forward to seeing how HyperTiles does in this building category that we already know is one of the top fives. Now, I did talk to Todd Mullins, Director of Specialty Sales for Fun in Motion, and he said, we at Fun in [00:18:00] Motion make toys that help you move and groove. The play pattern is All about movement.
[00:18:05] And boy, do these hyper tiles have such movement within them. It's really interesting to see something static come to life by your own hands. So if you want to grab the links to hyper tiles or any of the toys we've mentioned so far, head over to the toy coach. com forward slash two 10 to grab those links.
[00:18:24] Now the last category that we did not address that was in the top five is arts and crafts. For this, we're going to focus on bright stripes.
[00:18:34] Bright Stripes has introduced a line called iHeartArt. IHeartArt offers premium quality art supplies at a great price. Not only that, iHeartArt donates 5 percent of profits to ArtFeed's international program.
[00:18:52] While speaking with Saber Merkva, she said iHeartArt is committed to creating screen free activities for kids to unleash their inner [00:19:00] creativity that's already there to promote problem solving, dexterity, and hand eye coordination, and Develop social, emotional learning through doing arts and crafts.
[00:19:10] End quote. Saber said that buyers love the mission of I heart art. They love the arts and crafts in the line as well as that charity give back component. Their big market difference is that this brand is a brand with a purpose
[00:19:26] and buyers are loving supporting that while bringing in a high quality art product into their shop. And as we heard earlier from Rick Durr, this is a category that is in need of innovation. And I think Bright Stripes has done that.
[00:19:41] Okay, our last topic for today is going to be focused on the power of networking and collaboration at Toy Fest. Toy Fest provided a conducive environment for networking and collaboration. There were events that happened before the show opened and I only went for one day [00:20:00] and I was able to partake in their opening day gala. I was able to attend seminars. There are so many opportunities to connect with people.
[00:20:09] in this industry. As long as you put yourself out there and you make an effort to connect. ToyFest offered shuttles from the Expo Center to the host hotel, which was also a natural opportunity to connect with colleagues and meet new people, which is where I actually ran into one of the founders of Moby.
[00:20:32] When I sat down to speak with Mark Ellingson of Moby, he shared that he had attended five other toy shows in the span of six weeks, but still found the value and opportunity in Toy Fest. Mark said this, quote, what I've learned is getting even one new store, because they're going to make repeat orders, it's worth it. Mark is emphasizing the value of making that initial connection and then [00:21:00] building upon it down the line. In my final moments at Toy Fest, I was sitting at a table at the gala across from Cindy Wyatt from Totally Thomas Toys, and we spoke for a bit, and Cindy shared her experience with this show in the past,
[00:21:16] and she gave a wonderful quote that I will use to close out this show. Cindy said, I love this show. It's a very relaxed show. We all know each other and respect each other. We all share our successes and learn from each other. That was a quote from Cindy Wyatt of Totally Thomas Toys. Before I jump into my summary of today's episode, I've got to give a quick shout out and thanks to everyone that provided a quote for today's episode. I've got to give a special shout out to Jennifer Noly of TinyEasel. Jennifer, you were the first face that I saw when I walked in the door, first person I talked to, and you gave such positive energy and you were just a joy to get my first quote from. [00:22:00] So I truly, truly appreciate you and thank you for starting the show off on the best possible foot for me. And I hope you had a phenomenal show after I left your booth. So conclusion of what we have learned today.
[00:22:16] Let's do a quick recap of what we learned today. So the first thing we learned is what is Toy Fest? We know that Toy Fest used to be called Toy Fest West. It went from being a regional show to being a national show. And I would recommend this as a great first show if you are just starting to
[00:22:35] launch a line.
[00:22:36] Then we got into some emerging trends and innovations from this show. We learned that plush, fashion, tween, arts and crafts, compound building, all are very well selling categories, according to the talk that Richard Durr gave and then we compared that experience that, and then we compared those categories to what we found on the show. And we did find a lot of [00:23:00] similarities, the brands that we did speak to did outline and share with us the products that were selling particularly well and they did all align.
[00:23:08] And the final point I want you to remember today to take advantage of the networking opportunities at a show like this. Keep in mind that a shuttle ride could be your opportunity to connect with a buyer you hadn't met before.
[00:23:21] A gala, while you may think it's not necessary to attend, could be a phenomenal opportunity to sit down and talk to a manufacturer and get some advice or find yourself a sales rep if you're looking for one. There are so many opportunities to do business in different ways. at these events. So I want you to make sure that you don't take for granted the schedule of events at the next toy show you go to and make every effort to attend as many of the events as you can because that is a big part of the networking and business opportunity at the show.
[00:23:55] Your action item to do for next week is to head over to the toy coach.com [00:24:00] forward slash 2 1 0. Where you will find the links to all of the products that I mentioned here today, but you will also find a link to the toy Fest west website, where I want you to enter your details into their mailing list. Join it so that you can be among the first to know when it's time to register for toy Fest 20, 25.
[00:24:20] I don't want you to miss it. I hope to see you there.
[00:24:22] Azhelle Wade: As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one. Until next week, I'll see you later, toy people. [00:25:00]
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Episode Breakdown
What is Toy Fest?
Toy Fest, formerly known as Toy Fest West, was built as a regional toy trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada and organized by the Western Toy and Hobby Representatives Association (WTHRA).
The show originally featured industry professionals with manufacturers, retailers, industry representatives, distributors, and more. Now, the show is on its tenth year and has been rebranded as Toy Fest, a national toy trade show where the industry has opened up to the world market, allowing over 500 manufacturers to showcase their incredible products. These products range in themes from toys, gift, education, hobby, costume, novelty, beauty, toddlers, and more.
This year, the show was held from March 3rd to March 5th. It featured a multitude of events such as the Morning Masterpiece Kit Session where craft kit manufacturers put their kits in a meeting room for buyers to play with, the Welcome Gala where attendees got a chance interact with one another, and more! They even had a "The Best of Toy Fest" list where buyers had a chance to go around the entire show and then select which products they thought were the best at Toy Fest. These products were compiled into a list and sent to the attendees once the activities for the day were over.
Attendees Impressions
The toy trade show consisted of both industry experts who had been attending the show for six or more years and new comers trying to make their mark in toys. Someone who greatly benefitted from these shows was Jennifer Nolley of Tiny Easel. The year 2023 was the start of her retail journey, and it all began at Toy Fest. Prior to the toy trade show, Jennifer sold directly to her consumers and, in attending her first show, only expected a maximum of two orders each show day. Instead, Tiny Easel managed to secure nine stores and averaged three orders per day in that show.
"Last year was my first show to sell retail. It was my first experience that inspired me to go to other shows. I went to Astra and Atlanta. I've gotten into toy stores and it all started here." - Jennifer Nolley, Tiny Easel.
Another manufacturer at the show was Bright Brand who were joining this toy trade show for the first time. They introduced their new line of pencil designs as well as their patented paper that would serve to help teach children through its ergonomic features and educational value. For example, the paper features raised lines to help facilitate handwriting development while the varying assortment of papers serves different needs in children.
An interesting point to Bright Brand's display was that they showcased their products in both showrooms and trade show floors rather than sticking to one. In the showrooms, they had their regional representatives walking around whereas the trade show space gave them a chance to find non-regional business.
A brand with a different strategy is SMOKO, an Australian slang that means "a short break from the daily grind of work." They create various pop culture and Japanese inspired toys including their main mascot, Tayto Potato. This brand belongs under Master Toys and Novelties based in LA and they decided to have a show room rather than displaying select toys in the Toy Fest trade show booths. This was because they have so many brands and so many skews within their brands, so it was easier for them to show the breadth and depth of their assortment of 2500 skews in a showroom rather than picking and choosing certain items for the trade show floor. Regardless, they also found it to be a great opportunity to manage regional business but to also find national business.
Fostering Relationships with Neighboring Booths
Jennifer Nolley mentions the importance of good booth neighbors towards having a progressive time at the show. This leads to the all important question of, what can toy organizations do to foster relationships with neighboring booths prior to the show to have a better experience during the show? There are some steps toy organizations can take to foster relationships with neighboring booth members prior to toy industry trade shows. The first step is to attend the various seminars and events being offered by the toy trade shows. The second step is to put yourself out there in a friendly and warm manner to make a stronger and faster connection with your peers. Lastly, it is always a good idea to research on brands attending and, if possible, neighboring brands before the toy industry trade shows in order to sends them a kind message in advance so they will remember you during the shows.
Toy Trends 2024 by Rick Derr
On March 2nd, Rick Derr, the owner of Learning Express Lake Zurich gave a talk on trends. He mentioned that there are the following top five categories based on the store sales of a Learning Express in Zurich. These categories are:
Plushies
Fashion and Tween, including charms and lip products
Arts and crafts
Compounds, such as slime
Building kits
The Toy Coach's Top Finds at Toy Fest West
IMPULSE TOYS
"Why impulse does well at retail is because there's no competition from Amazon based on the price point. That's the key driving factor. It's too expensive on Amazon." - Mike Sluzars, One for Fun
The first emerging trend is impulse. Impulse is defined as something that is not a planned purchase and, according to Mike, it is the one price point that kids will spend their own money on. The impulse trend relates directly to the compound category above. Examples of toys in this category are Scrunchems from One for Fun. This brand includes a variety of toys such as dumpling squishes, a fortune teller squish ball and more. According to Mike, Amazon often sells these kinds of items in bulk to make it worthwhile to ship them but in order to just one, you would need to buy them in store, therefore making them part of the impulse trend.
MINI
"Mini is in. LOL used to be our number one toy but Mini is slowly but surely taking it over. It's the first day and we're already placing orders." - Johnny Hernandez from Gen X Fun.
KAWAII
Kawaii is a term in Japanese pop culture that refers to something that is seemingly cute. Now, kawaii toys are all the rage. One example was stated above, SMOKO, whose characters are largely inspired by Japanese pop culture. Another example is Hot Focus, a brand based in Ontario, California that sells mini cross body bags and backpacks for $10.99 to $14.99, all decorated with cute or kawaii charms. These products all fall under Rick's category stated above- Plush and Fashion Tween.
COMPOUNDS
The overwhelming winner of this trend is Dope Slimes, a slime shop with 60 slimes in their catalogue, increasing by five every two weeks. They took off one and a half years ago from a dream between two brother sand their friend and evolved into an incredible brand. Last year, they were Learning Express' number two overall vendor over Hot Wheels, Barbie, and Lego. They sell their slimes for $15.99, including one of their best sellers, the Cookies and Cream slime. With their 2.5 million followers on TikTok, they have been able to turn their best selling slimes into wholesale.
BUILDING
"We at Fun in Motion make toys that help you move and grove. The play pattern is all about the movement." - Todd Mullins, Director of Specialty Sales for Fun in Motion.
The toy that aligned with this trend is Fun In Motions Hyper Tiles. These tiles are based on a mathematical shape called a hyperbolic paraboloid and create flexible, changeable, and moveable toys through colorful tiles and clear snap joints. They're retail for $24.99 and are the perfect way to get your creativity flowing.
ARTS AND CRAFTS
Finally, the last trend is arts and crafts and the brand that captured this trend best is Bright Stripes. Bright Stripes launched a new line called iHeartArt which is dedicated to creating screen free activity to promote problem solving, dexterity, and social emotional learning development in children through premium quality art supplies. The best part is that iHeartArt donates five percent of profits to Art Feed's international program to help finance art lessons to those who cannot afford them. This brand is one with a purpose that buyers love supporting as much as they love the incredible products.
The Power of Networking and Collaborating at Toy Fest
Toy Fest was one toy trade show that created an incredible, conducive environment for networking and collaborating with other industry specialists. Not only during the show, but the events before the show opened provided great opportunities to network with others. These included seminars, the opening day gala as well as the shuttles going from the Expo Center to the host hotel which provided a natural opportunity to connect with colleagues and meet new people.
Of so many existing toy trade shows going on, this one still manages to stand out. Mark Ellington of Moby shares that though he had attended five other toy trade shows in the span of six weeks, he still found the value and opportunity in Toy Fest. It allows inventors to make an initial connection with industry members that they can build up in the future.
Overall Take on Toy Fest
Toy Fest is an incredible toy trade show and gives the perfect opportunity for those new in the toy industry to make their mark, create new connections, or to get a grasp of the way the industry is leaning. Toy Fest is specifically known for its laid back and friendly environment. As Cindy Wyatt from Totally Thomas' Toy Depot put it: "I love this show. It is a very relaxed show. We all know each other and respect each other. We all share our successes and learn from each other."