The global toy community descended upon New York City last week for The Toy Association’s 115th North American International Toy Fair.
In all, 26,236 professionals attended the show, where they could view hundreds of thousands of toys and games shown across 442,700 square feet of exhibition space.
Eager to see the latest trends and most inspiring new toys, games, and youth entertainment products for spring, summer, and holiday 2018, just over 11,000 retailers, wholesalers, entertainment executives, importers, and buying groups from 97 countries attended Toy Fair. The show drew an increase in international trade guests (+26%), as well as large delegations of attendees from outside the US, including 3,802 international visitors, of which 1,589 were global buyers. The top five countries represented at the show, not including the US and Canada, were China, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Japan.
From veteran toymakers to first-time exhibitors in the Launch Pad section of the show, Toy Fair’s 1,049 exhibiting companies showcased new product lines and key drivers in front of 8,775 mass and specialty buyers, including delegations from over 3,900 unique retail outlets and 22 of the nation’s top 25 toy sellers.
Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of The Toy Association, commented: “New York Toy Fair 2018 was a business and media buzz success. The booths and aisles were packed with highly-qualified toy buyers, licensors, investors, inventors, and media from around the world, generating feedback that was overwhelmingly positive. Toy Fair delivered all the energy, creativity, and innovation of the global toy industry and solidified its role as a critical gateway to the $27b US toy market and both thriving and developing toy markets around the world. From order-writing and networking, to trend-spotting and professional development opportunities, our guests were busy from the second Toy Fair opened right up until closing day.”
The 116th North American International Toy Fair takes place Saturday, February 16th to Tuesday, February 19th 2019.
