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Thread: Bits of toy info from AUS Toyfair 2013

  1. #1
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    Default Bits of toy info from AUS Toyfair 2013

    Not a lot of info, or any photos, as the exhibitors here aren't very comfortable about other people promoting their products without their control.

    Hasbro
    Have a big range of Avengers toys, focussing on the characters of the next two movies this year, plus a few to cover the rest of the Avengers characters.
    Star Wars is still limping along (with a very small display this year), probably due to the cancellation of the 3D versions of Ep2 & Ep3 (according to Hasbro... probably a decision by the new owners, Disney, to focus on their own new movies). The new packaging style coming out later this year is called "The Black Series".
    No sign of any GIJoe toys for the upcoming (delayed) movie.
    Furby, My Little Pony, Littlest Petshop, Beyblade, Nerf were all on display as well, along with Playskool and boardgames.
    No Kreo Star Trek on display (which was a surprise), but they did introduce a new Kreo theme, based on some App-game that is apparently popular at the moment.

    Mega Blocks
    More Halo sets coming (and very nice looking too).
    New Skylanders, Hot Wheels and Barbie Mega Blocks this year, as well as more Smurfs (for the second movie) and Warcraft.
    Smurfs have a couple more mushroom-hut sets to help build up a village... and more focus on Smurfette, which was lacking last year.
    I got the impresion that Warcraft was on the decline, but still some big sets coming out this year.

    HeadStart
    Obtained the licence for the New Turtles toys, that are already out in stores last month. The main line is available to all retailers, but they will be producing "reissues" of the classic 80s toys (like Star Wars have been doing), which will be exclusive to ToysRUs until the end of the year (it is a global deal between TRU and Nickelodeon). The first season of the current cartoon is on Foxtel, but the second season is already signed up to Free-to-Air, to get better exposure. The Shellraiser (turtle-van) is being re-released for the mid-year toysales, with a bonus figure that is being released separately... as a value pack item.
    (They had a nice booklet covering the history of TMNT, the characters of the current cartoon, merchandising items, and a timeline of the promotions and launch of the new toyline)
    They are also producing toys for the second Monsters Inc movie (Monster University), plus do K'nex, Little Tikes, Baby Born and Bratz.

    Modern Brands

    The new Combat Creatures toyline (electronic, remote controlled battling droids) are now available to retailers to order, but they will be exclusive to Toyworld and ToysRUs until the end of April.

    Mattel
    Their first appearance at Toyfair in several years (before my time going to Toyfair), but were not a full-range exhibit. They were only showing off their newly acquired Thomas the Tank Engine license, to be sure that Retailers were aware of the new owners.

    Hunter Leisure
    Have a number of new slime products for Nickelodeon's TMNT Brand, that feel wet and slimy, but actually aren't.


    Lego
    Couldn't get in.


    As noted in one of the Transformers news topics, there was a big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme at Toyfair this year... including a pizza vendor being hired to sell pizzas outside, with Turtle themes to his tent, and free stickers and posters for the kiddies. (it was outside the Exhibition Center, for the public)
    Another interesting promotional item available was a 32 page booklet covering the 50th anniversary of Dr Who, detailing the 11 (main) Doctors, some of the more famous villains, the Tardis & screwdriver, plus interviews with some of the people behind Dr Who, as well as a lot of the merchandise we can expect for the anniversary. Some of my favourite items shown are a set of 11 t-shirts, one for each Doctor, with their years as the Doctor and a nice collage of images within a silhouette of their head... as well as a book done in the style of "Where's Wally", called "Where's the Doctor?".... and a sonic screwdriver that is a "Universal Remote Control", you can program to then use on your various devices like the TV, DVD player, etc, to do simple things like turn them on or off, or adjust volume or channels.

    (One Direction was everywhere this year, which isn't surprising - Hasbro, Hunter Products, Goldie Licensing all had toys and/or videos playing of their music... it was like non-stop One Direction music in the Exhibition Hall )
    Last edited by griffin; 4th March 2013 at 03:55 PM.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by griffin View Post
    ...
    Hasbro
    Star Wars is still limping along (with a very small display this year), probably due to the cancellation of the 3D versions of Ep2 & Ep3 (according to Hasbro... probably a decision by the new owners, Disney, to focus on their own new movies).
    To be honest, the cancellation of the 3d versions of eps 2 & 3 is a sound financial move. Not only did ep1 perform rather poorly at the box office, it was most underwhelming in 3d. I fact some scenes I saw I couldn't even tell if it was 3d or not. Recently the movies that have been converted to 3d haven't done all that well (Nemo, Lion King, Minsters Inc. for examples). Monsters Inc ended up with a limited release based on the performance (Or lack thereof) of Nemo.

    So all up, only 7 companies distribute all of Australia's toys? That explains a fair bit.

    Just out of curiosity, who had the biggest/best looking set up in your opinion?

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    There are about a hundred exhibits, from all sorts of toy, hobby and licensed merchandise companies... those were just the main ones that I try to prioritise, based on the main interests here.

    Best exhibit? None stood out. They all pretty much just put their products on shelves and decorate the walls a bit. They don't need to put much effort into the exhibits, as the major retailers don't care, as they are there for a job to do, and they just want to get it done and get out of the Toyfair as quickly as possible.
    (to me though, the best displays are ones with the most actionfigures on display )

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    I take back that comment about none standing out.
    I went back in today to look for licensed Transformers items, and the Theatrix exhibit was definitely the standout of the Fair. Every half hour they had a 10 minute magic show (by an actual magician), and even have in the magician Consentino a few times throughout the day to promote his line of magic trick sets.
    The magic show was simple but a lot of fun, and they even gave out free popcorn for the show.
    I was very impressed that they went to so much trouble being creative.

    I also found an exhibitor showing off "nanoblocks", which are small-scale lego-style construction bricks, about a quarter scale... making some tiny little models (animals, buildings etc).

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by griffin View Post
    I take back that comment about none standing out.
    I went back in today to look for licensed Transformers items, and the Theatrix exhibit was definitely the standout of the Fair. Every half hour they had a 10 minute magic show (by an actual magician), and even have in the magician Consentino a few times throughout the day to promote his line of magic trick sets.
    The magic show was simple but a lot of fun, and they even gave out free popcorn for the show.
    I was very impressed that they went to so much trouble being creative.

    I also found an exhibitor showing off "nanoblocks", which are small-scale lego-style construction bricks, about a quarter scale... making some tiny little models (animals, buildings etc).
    That is pretty cool.

    nanoblocks?? Are thyey making their way here? Ooooh! I have a suspicion they are related to Diabloks for some reason. I spied a bunch of Nanoblocks when I was last in Japan and they looks nice. and for no reason, some pics from the 2009 tokyo toy fare with diabloks.\

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy View Post
    That is pretty cool.

    nanoblocks?? Are thyey making their way here? Ooooh! I have a suspicion they are related to Diabloks for some reason. I spied a bunch of Nanoblocks when I was last in Japan and they looks nice. and for no reason, some pics from the 2009 tokyo toy fare with diabloks.\
    Yeah, saw them at Myers during the xmas period.

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    Thanks for the info, Griffin.
    Disappointing to see that GI Joe won't be coming into retail.
    I guess poor sales for the last movie is to blame.

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