FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adrienne Appell
Toy Industry Association
646.520.4863
aappell@toyassociation.org
American International Toy Fair – Largest Toy
Trade Show in Western Hemisphere – Grows in 2012
Numbers Spike for Buyers, International Guests,
Licensors and Entertainment Execs
New York, NY | February 21, 2012 - The 109th American
International Toy Fair opened its doors to colossal crowds last
week as nearly 27,000 industry professionals from more than 100
countries converged in New York City to scout 100,000+ fun and
innovative products at the largest and most successful U.S.-hosted toy
trade show to be held in recent years.
Owned and operated by the Toy
Industry Association (TIA), Toy Fair 2012 welcomed increased
attendance across nearly all categories, including a 3% increase in
buyers, a 5% increase in international participants, a 14% jump in
licensors and a 23% surge in entertainment executives. Total
attendance during the four-day show was 26,730 … a 2% increase
over last year.
Locking in Toy Fair’s spot as a gateway to global toy markets,
this year’s iteration of the annual event welcomed 10,592 buyers
from more than 6,000 retail outlets worldwide. Nearly 1,100
exhibitors from 24 countries covered 366,489 net square feet of exhibit
space – the largest exhibit area since 2000 – at the Jacob
K. Javits Convention Center with displays of the most exciting toys,
games and youth entertainment products destined for store shelves in
2012.
“Toy Fair has evolved into one of the greatest shows on earth,
attracting powerful players from the $83 billion global toy
industry,” said Carter Keithley, TIA President. “Our show is
proven to be a critical stop on the global toy circuit and a magical,
exciting experience for all who come.”
“The rapidly increasing international interest we’ve seen
over the past few years has made Toy Fair more dynamic and successful
than ever before,” added Marian Bossard, TIA vice president of
meetings and events.
The top five countries identified with the highest attendance numbers
at the show were Canada, the U.K., Japan, Mexico and Australia.
Significant year-to-date increases in visitors came from Colombia
(+33%), Japan (+17%), Australia (+13%), Mexico (+11%), Canada (+10%) and
Panama (+200%).
Buyer delegations from Target, Toys”R”Us and Walmart saw
unprecedented increases of 39%, 24% and 90%, respectively. Twenty
four (24) of the nation’s Top 25 Toy Sellers were
represented by buyers.
The diversity of retailers at Toy Fair 2012 spanned traditional toy
sellers ranging in size from specialty toy stores to big box and
warehouse retailers to drugstores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, as
well as alternative toy and game distribution channels such as book and
clothing stores, pet shops and travel-themed retailers.
“Toy Fair 2012 was a huge success!” said Eric Levin,
division head of Techno Source, a division of LF Products (a Li &
Fung company). “The amount of press coverage we were able to
generate was fantastic. It was the perfect way to build momentum
for our key new product launches for the upcoming holiday season. Our
team was energized and our customers were impressed!”
More than 1,000 press flocked to New York to report on this
year’s top toy trends – which include Generation App,
Glowing Wild, Little Learners, Many Ways to Play!, Save ‘n’
Splurge and Young Maestros – and to predict which toys and games
will be on everyone’s radar come fourth quarter holiday shopping
season. Major media outlets covering Toy Fair this year included The
New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated
Press, USA Today, MTV, ABC News, CNN, Fox News, WPIX,
TMZ.com/AOL Entertainment, and HBO Latin America Networks.
“This year’s show was far and away the best we’ve
had in our 26 years of exhibiting. The booth traffic was incredible,
with fantastic feedback on our new products pouring in from buyers and
press,” said ThinkFun communications manager Charlotte Fixler.
“This has been one of the most successful Toy Fairs in
Imperial’s history,” agreed Imperial Toy co-president, Peter
Tiger.
“We had an amazing first experience exhibiting at Toy
Fair,” commented Julien Sharp, president of Funnybone Toys, one of
the 228 companies exhibiting this year for the first time. “We
loved our location and traffic. I am in discussions with two buyers this
week about orders that would literally be two-thirds of the initial
order we made from the factory.”
Reflecting on the show, TIA’s Bossard said: “Both
big-name companies and exciting new start-ups indicated to us that they
experienced four jam-packed days of order-writing and deal-making across
a diverse and powerful sea of global buyers. We are thrilled that
Toy Fair 2012 was such a positive event for all of our
audiences.”
The 110th American International Toy Fair will be held February
10-13, 2013, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York
City.
About the American International Toy
Fair (www.toyfairny.org)
Toy Fair is an annual event that is owned and operated by the Toy
Industry Association (TIA). The largest toy trade show in the Western
Hemisphere, the show brings together more than 1,000 exhibiting
manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents from over 100
countries to showcase an estimated 100,000 toy and entertainment
products to the 8,000 unique retail outlets scheduled to attend.
About the Toy Industry Association (TIA)
(www.toyassociation.org)
TIA is the not-for-profit trade association for producers and importers
of toys and youth entertainment products sold in North America,
representing 550 companies who account for approximately 85% of domestic
toy sales. Toy safety is the number one priority for the toy
industry. TIA has a long history of leadership in toy safety including
development of the first comprehensive toy safety standard more than 30
years ago, and working with government, consumers and industry on
ongoing programs to ensure safe and fun play.
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