NEWS

Toy Fair NY’s Steve Pasierb | “Brands Untapped” comes to New York to Showcase Toy Brands and Licensing Partners

Published on: 1st June 2021

Many well-known toy companies have successfully built their properties into iconic global brands that can be found in almost every aisle at retail – spilling out of toys and games into kids’ apparel, backpacks and lunchboxes, cosmetics, school supplies, housewares and more.

As this phenomenon grows, toymakers are also finding creative ways of tapping into older audiences who are either nostalgic for the toy brands they knew and loved as kids, or simply embracing their own inner child, resulting in toy company relationships with high-profile partners spanning the apparel, housewares, food & drink, hospitality, live event, video game, film & TV, and publishing industries.

During Toy Fair New York ’22 (taking place 19 to 22 February), we’ll be celebrating and showcasing these important properties and licensing partnerships in the show’s innovative “Brands Untapped” area at the newly renovated and expanded Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. 

This partnership between The Toy Association and the team at Mojo Nation, who are dedicated to celebrating the creativity of the toy, game, and designer community, assures “Brands Untapped” will be an experience-rich, curated area that will feature multiple activations designed to showcase toy and game brand extensions, product ranges, and licensed interactions. 

An accompanying “Brands Untapped” conference will host talks and panels delving into design stories behind the extensions of well-known toy brands into categories like footwear, video games, and even hotel suites, allowing New York attendees to get an up-close look at the synergistic relationship between toys, play, and licensing – both within children’s product categories and well beyond.  

Our annual New York marketplace continues to expand and evolve to serve a growing range of attendees across everything play at all ages, importantly including licensors and entertainment executives. With licensed products accounting for better than 30 percent of US toy sales, the future is far more than the past’s licensed product stemming just from movies. All forms of content and digital-first brands (originating from streaming platforms, social media, esports, and so on) are having an incredible impact on the business of play, and companies are licensing their own brands and transforming them into household names, following in the footsteps of Barbie, LEGO, Hot Wheels, and many others. 

Each February in New York, seminars on licensing fundamentals, the latest global trends in licensing, and how to evaluate whether a property is ready for licensing play a vital role. The Toy Association’s trends team also tracks and monitors the impact of blockbuster movies, preschool properties, non-linear channels, and original IPs on toys, among other toy and play trends, and their findings will be announced at Toy Fair ‘22.

In addition to licensing activations, content, and trends via “Brands Untapped” and other programming, the global toy & play community continues to tell us they greatly anticipate returning to the Javits Center next February. There will be so much to explore and discover – and even more reasons to celebrate and connect with toy industry colleagues who are passionate about play and entertainment! We look forward to seeing you all at Toy Fair New York 2022. Visit www.ToyFairNY.com for the latest show news.

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