Mind the Gap - In the Toy Market

To-day is the first day of Toy Fair 09, an industry trade fair that takes place in London's ExCel exhibition centre. Many, but by no means all, of the suppliers to the toy trade will showing their wares for the forthcoming year. I shall be attending so I can report back to you dear readers, see some toys before they're in the shops and to enjoy a train, tube and Docklands Light Rail journey.

This opportunity to make a sales pitch to thousands from the retail trade is what the fair is mainly about, however, gossip will also be traded in a way that will make, as with much of life, "being there" an important added bonus.

This year much of the talk will be a continuation of conversations started by the closure of Woolworths. Many of the major suppliers will have had a sharp decrease in orders. Woolworths was the second largest toy seller in Great Britain and not only is that a major company no longer placing orders, many other toy retailers had a decline in customers as bargain hunters flocked to Woolies' "Biggest Ever" and last ever sale.

The puzzle now is: where are the Woolworths toy shoppers going to buy from now?
In the immediate future I suspect Argos (which sells the most toys) will be the main beneficiary. Toys R Us (sells the third most toys) and The Entertainer will certainly benefit too, however, these companies operate out of far fewer stores.

One of the outcomes I would like to see is a rise in the fortunes of the independent toy shop, especially the ones that make an enormous effort to keep that little bit of special magic alive that is so sorely missing from the aisles of departments in those vast chains of shops.

In all likelihood, though, it will be the major supermarket chains that will be picking up new custom in run up to Christmas 2009. This could see many smaller toy shops that have survived the last few years (an achievement in its own right), finally extinguished.

A slightly better outcome would be old giants returning to glory; WH Smith and Boot's were some decades ago among the largest sellers of toys. These chains do still offer a limited choice of toys and games in their larger branches, maybe a comprehensive toy department in WH Smith will be a perfect complement to the children's books, DVDs, art products, comics and sticker books. Yes, WH Smith would certainly be wise to get in on this.

There is a remote but delicious possibility that a new or vastly expand existing toy retail chain may take advantage of the current availability of shop space.

Hamley's have been popping-up in various parts of the world recently and have hinted that they intend to open more branches. The Entertainer will probably only want relatively small stores and may prefer to take over established but struggling shops. Toys R Us are highly unlikely to open new branches in town centres and will insist on steady slow growth. Smyths, the Irish raiders that opened their first store in England in 2007, will only want large out of town stores and will be carefully minding their savings for a rainy few economic years at home.

Could there be a totally new player in the toy market? Never has there been such an opportunity for someone that'll do the thing right. Yes, it'll be hard going to sell stuff over next few years - any stuff. However, Christmas will happen and so will birthdays; and pocket money may become a little limited, it will still remain as disposable as ever.

Obamania for Obamabilia

The morning when Barack Obama's presidential election victory was announced I remarked to the first two people I spoke to that: "The way the news is being reported you'd think the whole world has changed over-night." Well, one person immediately respond with: "The world has changed; at least just a little bit." Only in recent days I have begun to agree with him.

On BBC Radio 4's (Home Service) children's programme Go 4 It, broadcast on Sunday, all the children knew about Obama and what was special about his forthcoming presidency. Young children from the USA were interviewed, articulately speaking about the US's first black president enthusiastically. There some expectations for Obama to fulfill especially from those who normally have little interest in traditional politics.

Even the toy market has been involved in the hype. Firebox have been selling a six inch tall Obama action figure. Although currently sold-out, Firebox are accepting pre-orders. The makers of Beanie Babies have produced dolls of the 44th President's daughters. Legoland California has built a model of the inauguration proceedings which is worth viewing, if not for real then try the Daily Telegraph website. 

So here's to hope and change, and the fulfilment of great expectations; whether it lasts or not.

Argos Announce Toy Design Competition Winner

The winner of the Argos Toy of the Future has been announced. Aine Gallagher, age 5 form Northern Ireland, won with the "Tooth Fairy Doll".

Argos state that "Aine's entry received an exceptional response in the voting stage, despite tough competition from the other 9 finalists."

Aine's idea is for the doll to include a small pouch for a tooth that's fallen out to be placed in, and for the doll to go under a pillow ready for the Tooth Fairy to find.

The winning invention should be on sale by Christmas at Argos. Aine wins £500 to spend at the catalogue store, while the 9 runners-up will receive an Argos Gift Card.

Argos Toy of the Future website

New Look at The Toy Detective Agency

If you've taken a look at TheToyDetectives.com recently, you'll have noticed that we've had the decorators in.

There's still more organisation and presentation work to be done but I do hope you like it so far.

The new website will allow The Toy Detectives to investigate more toys and speedily report news and toy recalls quicker than before.

If you want to take a peek, click this link.

Happy Birthday to a Most Famous Belgian

The boy reporter, Tintin, never did get any of his own work into print. However, the stories of his adventures have sold over 200 million copies worldwide over the last 80 years.

Tintin first appeared on January 10, 1929 in a Roman Catholic weekly paper, Le Vingtieme Siecle, published in Brussels. Since then 24 comic books have been published and they have been translated into more than 50 languages.

Despite his enduring popularity in many parts of the world, Tintin remains relatively unheard of in the United States. This is set to change though, with Steven Spielberg planning to produce a trilogy of animated films; the first of which is due for release next year.

Although Tintin always tried to do right thing, accusations of racism, colonialism and anti-semitism have all been put to Tintin's creator Georges Remi who used the alias Herge.

Egmont, which publishes Tintin books in Great Britain deliver their editions of Tintin In The Congo and The Land Of The Soviets to shops with a band of paper around the outside warning about the offensive content and stating: “bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period — an interpretation some readers may find offensive”.

Hergé has since apologised saying “Concerning Congo as well as Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the fact is that while I was growing up, I was being fed the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me,” he said. “It’s true that Soviets and Congo were youthful sins. I’m not rejecting them. However, if I were to do it again, they would be different.”

January 14, will see the unveiling of a fresco in honour of Tintin at the Brussels-Luxembourg train station. During June, the Herge Museum will open its doors in Louvain-la-Neuve, which is south of Brussels.

Snow!

I do love snow. When it's fresh that is. We've just had our first real dusting of snow here in Surrey for about four years.

I've seen lots of sledges in use already. However, I'm sure there be some panic buying of sledges somewhere.

So, if stocks are gone at your local toy shops and garden centres, it may be worth trying Cotswold; a chain of outdoor activity stores. They sell the sledge pictured, it's wooden and has a traditional look, however, it can be folded flat for storage; price £78.30 (gosh! think of the VAT you're saving).

Cotswold also sell some reasonably priced plastic sledges, prices start from £4.89.

Only Monsters Can Save The Earth

Dreamworks, who brought Shrek to the big screen , have a new animated film due for release on the 27 March 2009: Monsters Vs. Aliens.

Reece Witherspoon and Hugh Laurie provide character voices and the movie is being produced in 3-D.

I'm looking forward to this one, the trailer is tremendously funny. Enjoy.

Back Online

The Toy Detectives website is back online again.

On The Blink

Apologies to anyone trying to access the main site. It is, as you will have most certainly gathered, offline at the moment.

This interruption is due to the work currently being undertaken to bring the new and improved website. Hopefully normal service shall resume shortly.

Yes, I have my fingers crossed too!

Ringing In The New

With far fewer toys being bought during January, The Toy Detectives shall be busying themselves behind the scenes with a thorough refurbishment of their headquarters, which readers will know as TheToyDetectives.com website.

We hope to have the redesigned website before the end of January, if all goes to plan. It's not a case of change for the sake of change; we plan to make it easier to find the information important to you and also allow you to add your own comments to our toy reviews and news articles. We shall try and make it easier to find the toys you want to buy online by improving access to the most reputable online retailers.

It's also time to make a New Year's resolution: this year we'll update the blog more frequently and serve up a healthy portion of opinion to go with our news reporting.

Thank you for the many kind comments and the constructive criticism we take delight in reading. If you do have any comments or suggestions on what you would like to see on the TheToyDetectives.com website, do please contact us.

A happy and prosperous 2009 to all our readers!