The brain fog lifted today. First proper day since the Covid week where my head feels like mine again, and I’m absurdly, almost embarrassingly full of energy. Ready to conquer the world. Again. Turns out the rest of the industry didn’t wait for me to recover. This week landed like Christmas came early, a glut…
Four very different bets on why adults buy toys, and Konomocha is placing all of them. Momo Toy is pure original character design. No licence, no franchise behind it, just figures built to be likeable on their own terms. Sold blind box, refreshed each season, the current line is the 2026 Spring Collection, built around…
Tariffs are reshaping the toy industry’s supply chains, and the direction of travel is clear. Hasbro told investors this quarter that it’s taking China down from roughly 50% to 30% of total sourcing by the end of the year. That’s not just a Hasbro story, it’s the whole industry’s story. Everyone wants a factory that…
New data from Circana confirms something we’ve felt in the market for a while: adult women are now driving more than half of toy industry growth in the US. Not children, not gift-buyers shopping for children. Women buying for themselves. The category doing the heaviest lifting is sensory. Squishy toys posted triple-digit growth in both…
The appointments for LA are coming in, but I will be honest, they are slower than previous years. Not dead. Just slower. And as someone who has enjoyed a full diary every year so far, I notice the difference. The reason is not a mystery. There are well over 300 vendors on that floor, and…
Picture the buyer at a major trade show. Three days on a concrete floor, several hundred stands, sore feet by lunchtime on day one. Do the arithmetic and it is bleak. There are not enough hours in the show to see everything properly, so most of it gets a polite glance and a business card…
We get asked to help with inventory problems more often than you might think. A line that overran, a buyer who pulled out, a warehouse that needs clearing. It is part of the job, and most of it is straightforward. What is not straightforward is the company you are asked to keep while doing it….
The numbers are out, and they deserve more than a passing glance. Circana published US toy market data for the first four months of 2026 last week. Dollar sales up 13% year-on-year. Unit sales up 5%. Average selling price up 7%. In a discretionary retail environment where most categories are under pressure, that is a…
A step-by-step framework for toy and stationery brands ready to grow beyond their home market. Introduction Every year, thousands of toy brands sell well at home and then stall. The product is proven. The reviews are strong. The margins work. But crossing into international markets feels like starting from scratch — different buyers, different trade…
After twenty years working in B2B, I’ve come to believe that business relationships are the most valuable asset a company has. A relationship in this trade takes years to build. Not months. Years. It takes showing up at the same fairs, following through on what you said you’d do, being honest when something goes wrong,…