April 18, 2024, New York, NY In memory of our dear friend and colleague Richard Gottlieb, the University of Richmond has announced the Richard Gottlieb Toy Entrepreneurship Grant. Attracting more young people to this dynamic industry was one of Richard’s passions. Working with the Toy Foundation, this program will kick off next year. Richard’s family friends announced the program in an open letter, which follows: Dear Industry Friends: The world of toys and play was Richard Gottlieb’s passion. Sadly, he passed away in October 2023 from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. As a family, we ..read more

Back in 2019, Dr. Sami Schalk contributed a piece to Inside Higher Ed titled “Lowbrow Culture and Guilty Pleasures? The Performance and Harm of Academic Elitism.” The article was in response to Times Higher Education reporter Jack Grove’s tweet, which put out a call to “some scholars who would write for THE about their guilty cultural pleasures/unashamed love for supposedly ‘lowbrow‘ subjects/activities.” Dr. Schalk argued that the uncritical use of term “lowbrow” ignored the biases embedded in such a word, as did the term “guilty pleasure.” Instead, Dr. Schalk reframed the question as “what ..read more

It’s been an interesting week, full of contrasts. I’ve spent a wonderful few days in Florence with Italian content studio Diaframma, watching first-hand how a modern media ad is created. It’s a fascinating process, infinitely more technical and complex than I suspect many people realise (if you thought green screen was cutting edge, think again), and I’ll be sharing everything I saw in a future issue of Toy World. The Diaframma team were marvellous hosts, and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the beautiful city that they call home. There’s been plenty of good news back home too – the wea ..read more

American Girl’s rebrand is full of clever, doll-sized details TOMY International Promotes Julie Gwaltney to Vice President, Toys JAKK Goes On Sale After Posting Bigger-Than-Expected Loss Disney And Pixar Will ‘Lean On Sequels’ In Near Future, Says CEO Bob Iger TikTok sues to block US law which could ban app Creator and influencer trends, marketing trends ..read more

An arcade store in Shenzhen On my recent trip to Shenzhen, it’s clear that lifestyle retailing may have the potential to seriously change how people shop. Just as in the 1970s when the enclosed mall became a main focus for communities and shopping, what’s being called “experiential retailing” is set to change it all up again. First, what impressed me in Shenzhen was the number of upscale areas where shopping, restaurants, bars, and other types of entertainment were integrated into one dedicated area. We cruised through the Huawei store (I didn’t know they made cars, too!), ducked into the coll ..read more

They were beloved by kids, neglected by parents and banned by schools. Here’s how a Toronto club is helping keep Tamagotchis alive Disney Streaming Comes Close to Profitability in Latest Quarter, Disney+ Subscribers Surge Weigel to launch a new US network for classic animation Scopely expands Stumble Guys consumer products programme Exclusive: Exploring the toy market in IndiaToy YouTube Sensation MrBeast Is Parting Ways With Management Company Night Media: Report ..read more

Sometimes we have some readers that are mainly interested in specific areas of the Toy Industry (for example, board games) so we have decided to curate a select few articles in various categories that you may be interested in. You have may seen these “News” sections in our email newsletter and now you can see them on our website as well. If there are any categories that you want to see added, please let us know! DreamWorks Strikes New Deal in Quest to Turn Popular Video Games Into Animated Movies and Shows Nintendo Gives Update on the 10 Best-Selling Switch Games Microsoft Closes Redfall Dev ..read more

Tuesday 7th May, 2024. London, UK: Following the incredibly successful UK launch of Orchard Toys’ new THE WORLD OF PETER RABBIT collection, Penguin Ventures, the licensing and consumer products team at Penguin Random House Children’s UK, is extending the licence to cover 20 additional global markets. There has been phenomenal interest in THE WORLD OF PETER RABBIT collection of games and jigsaws since its launch at Toy Fair, and Nuremberg has created amazing interest and demand from the overseas market.  The licence extension granted by Penguin Ventures on behalf of Frederick Wa ..read more

Sambro International Ltd. has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade. The global toy supplier is one of 252 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise. Announced today (Monday 6 May), Sambro has been recognised for its excellence in International Trade. A total of 257 Awards are made, with five companies being recognised with two Awards. Employing 87 people from its Greater Manchester UK headquarters and EU offices, Sambro was established in 1996 as a supplier of toys, stationery and back-to-school products to U ..read more

Got an Idea for a Toy? Toymakers Want to Hear From You. Star Wars was the first Lego license — 25 years later, it’s stronger than ever Children’s advertising watchdog CARU takes aim at AI Banned ‘Bluey’ episode makes its YouTube debut. How the lovable children’s show continues to break TV rules. Roblox to Sell Video Ads Targeting Users 13 and Up Following Trial Testing With Walmart, Warner Bros. Pictures Disney: Finding Bob Iger’s successor is still a chief priority ..read more