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The Lord of the Rings concept box, about 1983. The Strong, Rochester, New York. One Prototype to rule them all, One Prototype to backup and save. Long before Peter Jackson brought The Lord of the Rings to life on the big screen, others tried their hands at adapting the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classic. With the 1978 animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi just a few years … [Read more...] about Game Saves: The Lord of the Rings Atari 2600

If you have started a new job recently and it hasn’t quite gone according to plan, perhaps you can console yourself by comparing your experience with that of our new Prime Minister and Chancellor. Whatever may have happened to you, it couldn’t come close to the damage the blundering duo has done to the UK economy – crashing the pound, wrecking the mortgage market and almost … [Read more...] about The quids aren’t alright – John Baulch’s Friday Blog!

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The Spielwarenmesse management team is eager to share their vision for the future of their show.  They are inviting you to join them in a dialogue. Details below: You are invited to the Spielwarenmesse Dialogue,Wednesday, November 2 at 11:30am (EST) and 8:30am (PST). Click on this link to learn more: www.spielwarenmesse.de/en/dialogue/usa Send your contact information … [Read more...] about “The Spielwarenmesse Dialogue” – Your Invitation to Talk with Show Management

The Insights Family – the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence has launched its inaugural Licensing Report at Brand Licensing Europe. The report – in association with Licensing International – identifies some of the key trends that The Insights Family are seeing in its Kids Insights and Parents Insights data across the 22 markets which it serves. The … [Read more...] about THE INSIGHTS FAMILY RELEASE INAUGRAL LICENSING REPORT IN ASSOCIATION WITH LICENSING INTERNATIONAL [AD]

The original 2-XL talking robot from Mego offered a myriad of educational programming on a variety of different topics recorded on 8-track tapes. Children interacted with the 2-XL by listening to questions and providing answers. Pressing buttons caused the toy to switch between pre-recorded tracks, thereby appearing to respond to user input. Created by Dr. Michael J. Freeman it … [Read more...] about Hello Human Friends: The 2-XL Talking Robot from Tiger Electronics

For several decades, we in the toy industry have been heading to Dallas in the Fall for toy shows. What started as a Toys R Us event in the 90s morphed over time into a formal toy show. Going forward, however, we will spend October in New York at Toy Fair’s newly scheduled time. To quote Porky Pig, “Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!” Dallas is over. So, how was the show? It was … [Read more...] about Dallas 2022 – Some Observations

We in the United States are well served when we have inside information on other toy markets. I am delighted to report that Yann Fresnel, a top French executive in the Toy & Baby industry, has agreed to write about his home toy market “France” with a complete overview of 2022. Mr. Fresnel bases his comments upon data from NPD, the French Toy Federation, and his observations … [Read more...] about French Toy Market Update

I have just returned home from three hectic days at BLE – the European-focused licensing show which takes place at London’s ExCeL. After the unforeseen events of the past few weeks, which certainly threw a curveball or three into the mix for exhibitors and attendees (not to mention the poor show organisers), the great news was that the show was back to its best. To be fair, … [Read more...] about Back to its best … John Baulch’s Friday Blog!

Those of us who have been living in this world for a while can recall when department stores were toy central. If you have watched “A Christmas Story” (and who hasn’t?), you will understand what department stores meant in the 1930s – 1960s. Every town had its department store, and every department store had its own Santa. And everyone knew that their department store Santa was … [Read more...] about Will There Be an Resurgence in Department Stores Carrying Toys?