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ASTRA Reveals 2022 Excellence and Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
With ASTRA’s 2022 Marketplace & Academy set to open in Long Beach, California this weekend, the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association has revealed the winners of its 2022 Excellence and Lifetime Achievement Awards. Read more…
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Just Play Releases Ukraine-Inspired Slinky to Support Relief Efforts
Just Play partnered with The Toy Foundation to release the Ukraine Relief Special Edition Slinky. Through this collaboration, 100% of the proceeds from each purchase of the blue-and-yellow Slinky will be donated to the Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund. Read more…
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FAO Schwarz Names PlayWise Partners as PR Agency of Record
The iconic FAO Schwarz brand has a new team overseeing its global communications. ThreeSixty Group‘s MerchSource tapped PlayWise Partners to serve as the official public relations agency of record for its FAO Schwarz brand, including the full portfolio of FAO Schwarz toys and the flagship retail store located in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza. Read more…
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Fisher-Price Joins Mattel’s PlayBack Program
Under the Mattel PlayBack program, the company seeks to recover and reuse most materials for use in future products. For materials that can’t be recycled and repurposed, Mattel will either downcycle them into other plastic products or convert the materials from waste into energy. Read more…
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Playmobil to Launch Its First Sustainable Line with Wiltopia
The new theme Wiltopia is the company’s first eco-friendly product range and was designed to teach kids about animals, nature, the environment, and the importance of sustainability. Items in the line will be made from an average of 80% sustainable material, including PCR (plastic that has already been used and fed back into the recycling loop) and bio-based plastics that give the collection a pastel color palette. Read more…
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TOMY, Paramount Launch Crowdfunding Campaign for Die-Cast Star Trek Enterprise
The U.S.S. Enterprise is beaming into the crowdfunding galaxy. TOMY International and Paramount have partnered to produce a variety of crowd-funded Star Trek products across several collector categories. The first in the line of projects? A large-scale Star Trek NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise. Read more…
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Osmo Launches Reading Program with LeVar Burton as Chief Reading Officer
Multi-hyphenate LeVar Burton enters a new role as chief reading officer for Osmo from BYJU’s, an international STEM and edtech brand. In this new position, Burton will provide insight for educators on how to inspire kids to prioritize reading. Read more…
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The Genius of Play Drops Its Summer Playbook
Summer is just around the corner and with it comes new opportunities for families to bond and play together. The Genius of Play, The Toy Association’s non-profit initiative that is dedicated to helping parents raise healthy and happy kids through play, launched its Summer Playbook. The guide is bursting with fun activities to keep kids engaged and occupied all summer long. Read more…
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‘Ghostbusters’ Animated Series in the Works from Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation
Who ya gonna call? In Netflix’s case, Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan of Ghost Corps Inc. The duo behind last year’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife will executive produce a new Ghostbusters-themed animated series that Sony Pictures Animation is developing with Netflix. Read more…
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Global Toy Sales Grow 1% as Unit Sales Decline
As the industry reaches the halfway point of 2022, it’s clear that two years of explosive grown have begun to stall. According to The NPD Group, global toy sales grew by just 1% in the first four months of this year. Compared to pre-pandemic, 2019 levels, sales are still up, but overall unit sales are down 5%, offset by a 7% increase in the average selling price. Read more…
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'Ada Twist, Scientist' Celebrates the Wonders of Everyday Science
Why is the sky blue? What is a bird’s nest made of? How does electricity work? The world is full of mysteries, but as the Ada Twist, Scientist theme song says, “a mystery, a riddle, a puzzle, or a quest, there are wonders to discover and hypotheses to test!” Read more…
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New in Town: [Modi]fying The Toy Aisle
Growing up in the U.S., Modi Toys Co-Founders Avani Modi Sarkar and her brother Viral always felt connected to their South Asian roots and their Hindu heritage. It wasn’t until they both became parents that they realized something was missing: There were no resources to cultivate that same link to Hinduism for their kids. Read more…
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Unpacking the Prevalence of Mystery and Deduction in Tabletop Gaming
Many of the newest games hitting store shelves and gamers’ too-full storage closets can be boiled down to a simple, three-word question: Who done it? Or, more colloquially, whodunnit? Read more…
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ASTRA’s Insights: Harnessing the Power of Classic Play
ASTRA President Sue Warfield takes a look at the power of importance of classic play in this special feature from the Toy Book’s 2022 Classics issue. Read more…
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Licensing Expo 2022 Hosts a Record Number of Retailer Attendees
Licensing Expo 2022 was a major success. The event, organized in partnership with industry trade association Licensing International, led its in-person return with a 42% increase in retailer attendance compared to the 2019 event. Held live at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas from May 24-26, the event featured nearly 5,500 meetings on the show floor. Read more…
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In Memoriam: Beacon Media Celebrates the Life of Marilyn Feoranzo
With great sadness, Beacon Media Group shares news of the passing of media specialist Marilyn Feoranzo. The veteran media executive had retired to focus on health and family in her final year. Read more…
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ASTRA Welcomes 5 New Members to Its Board of Directors
Each board director will serve for a three-year term. They will also be recognized at ASTRA’s annual meeting at Marketplace & Academy in Long Beach, California on June 13. The new members will replace outgoing board members Lisa Orman, Betty Skoke Burns, Corey Funkey, Amy Saldahna, and Brad Ruoho. Read more…
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