Dallas Day 2: Concerns about testing and some downward pressure on price

   Overheard at the Dallas Fall Toy Preview - “Coming to Toy Fair each year is a voyage of discovery.”

I continue to find the mood of Dallas Fall Toy Preview attendees to be upbeat. This certainly is a resilient industry.

As I talk to different attendees I am still hearing about major price increases.  A counter trend, however, is beginning to creep into the conversations.  Some are saying that there is a  tempering of some of those price increases. Reductions in oil prices are cited as the cause.  As a result, I am being told that some manufacturers are starting to delay giving hard quotes until later.  

I have to believe another element in the tempering of prices is that of having to actually quote retailers and hear their responses. 

On another note, everyone (and I mean everyone) here is concerned about the increased costs from multiple safety inspections. This is cited as one of the major causes of the increase in prices. Attendees are as much, or even more concerned, however by the delays these inspections are causing in deliveries.

More later.