Heading to Hong Kong

Well it’s a new year and that means the start of a circuit that takes me to Hong Kong, the Nuremberg Toy Fair and finally Toy Fair in New York. Hong Kong being the first show of the year gives us a first look at how retailers and manufacturers fared in 2009 as well as their outlook going into 2010. I will be talking to lots of people and here are some of the trends I will be investigating:

Will this be the “Year of the Hamster?”

Gerrick Johnson, toy industry financial analyst for BMO Capital, coined the term “Year of the Hamster” and it really captures the cute animal trend that Cepia brought to the marketplace with its highly successful Zhu Zhu Pets. Will we see a plethora of Zhu Zhu wannabes? 

Will retailers be more aggressive?

Are we going to see retailers taking strong and earlier positions on products? Last year saw a lot of tentative buying. Toys R Us took a strong position on Zhu Zhu Pets last year and it paid off. Will others follow suit this year with new products? 

Will manufacturers be more creative?

Many manufacturers held back on new products last year due to the uncertainty in the marketplace. Those who did act boldly got a nice payout (think MGA with Moxie Girlz, Spin Master with Liv and Mindflex from Mattel.) Will the manufacturing sector step up to the plate with lots of exciting new products? 

Will we see an uptick in mergers and acquisitions?

Will we see the public and some private toy companies making some acquisitions? Will we see some media companies making a move? 

What will be the pricing trends?

China is recovering from the recession earlier than the west. Will this kind of confidence lead to price increases or will prices stay steady?

What trends interest you? Let me know.