The New York Toy Truthful is greater than 100 years previous. First held in 1903, it started as an precise commerce present the place toy producers (all 10 of them) displayed their wares and store house owners determined what to purchase. This format continued for many years, and even developed its personal devoted constructing, however as with many commerce exhibits, the web has ruined the shock issue, and consumers now should make selections even earlier as a consequence of longer delivery instances. Whereas it’s not an important present for planning vacation spends any extra, Toy Truthful maintains the facility of sight and sound. Seeing all of the toys sprawled over the Javits Heart, roaring, beeping and tooting is an expertise like no different.
For some cause, I spent your entire 4 days at Toy Truthful, which ran March 1-4 (normally I do solely a few days). The fault was my very own for not doing higher planning – sales space excursions have to be scheduled forward of time, and mine ended up being unfold out over the entire 4 days. That gave me a whole lot of time to consider child toys, grownup toys, licensing and accumulating.
Toy Truthful has had a patchy schedule like most occasions publish pandemic. The 2020 present was held in a world the place we didn’t know what masks had been, one of many final occasions of the pre-pandemic world. 2021 and 2022 had been cancelled however the present moved to a fall date in 2023, then introduced it might transfer to New Orleans. This was met with common outrage from the toy world, which likes going to New York Metropolis, so Toy Truthful moved again to late winter in New York for higher or worse.
The timing stays problematic for enterprise, as Forbes relates:
The New York Toy Truthful has developed into primarily “a media occasion and a main stage for making a spectacle and constructing hype for brand spanking new product launches – and firms of all sizes are making the most of that,” James Zahn, Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Guide mentioned.
However the days when New York Toy Truthful was the primary place had been toy orders had been positioned are over, Zahn mentioned, Many of the merchandise being proven at Toy Truthful have already been proven to retail consumers on the fall toy previews in Los Angeles in September and the Nuremberg toy present in January, Zahn famous, The migration of toy showrooms to California, has additionally affected the New York Present, he mentioned, Some notable toy corporations didn’t exhibit in New York this 12 months, Zahn mentioned. “MGA Leisure, Jakks Pacific, and Zuru are among the many greatest lacking, and for good cause: they’ve stunning, everlasting showrooms within the Los Angeles space to welcome consumers year-round,” he mentioned.
The variety of corporations with everlasting or short-term showrooms in Los Angeles has grown from round 60 in 2023 to about 200 final 12 months. “It may be unpopular to say in some circles, however Los Angeles is cannibalizing New York,” he mentioned.
The 2025 present was smaller, as reported in Publishers Weekly:
There have been notably fewer exhibitors this 12 months. The Toy Affiliation, which produces the occasion, mentioned there have been near 850 corporations exhibiting children’ merchandise on the present. That compares with simply over 1,000 in 2023, 2019, and 2018. The 2020 Toy Truthful, affected by the approaching pandemic, had 890 exhibitors, as the numerous contingent of Chinese language toymakers had been already below lockdown at house. There was additionally a lower within the variety of publishers exhibiting this 12 months, however those that attended instructed PW that they had been happy with the present. They reported making inroads with important new accounts, connecting with potential new licensors, assembly with present companions, and writing orders.
Hype and spectacle at the moment are the primary merchandise on supply at Toy Truthful, nevertheless it stays a must-do for the “toy collector media,” a motley band of internet sites that cowl principally motion figures, with specialists in Legos, Star Wars, superheroes, Transformers and the like. NYCC and SDCC at the moment are huge occasions on the toy calendar, and Mattel and Hasbro now throw their very own occasions, principally on-line. The hype platform retains rising.
As I discussed the opposite day, there’s scarcely an IP that has not been licensed to hell and again between motion figures, POPS, video games, plush, 3 inch figures, 5 inch figures, 24 inch figures. If there’s something you as soon as loved, there are most likely a number of toys for it. It’s maybe not stunning that extra adults than kids now purchase “toys” – exhibiting off your fandom, whether or not with a $1200 assertion piece self-transforming robotic, or just a little Sprigitato subsequent to your monitor (house or office) is without doubt one of the methods we proclaim our id.
However there are so, so many manufacturers. As I checked out all of the mash-ups and universes (SANTAVERSE from Elf on the Shelf) I questioned, have we gone so far as we will go? Hasbro presents a line known as Combine-Mashers which supply their licensed toys with interchangeable components. FINALLY you possibly can put Darth Vader’s arms on Thanos’s torso, with Spider-Man’s head cease all of it.
Funko supplied a realm known as “Bitty Metropolis” the place their line of Bittys (teeny little Pops not more than an inch excessive) can all mingle in a village, one IP in peaceable existence with one other.
Hasbro and Mattel – longtime fierce rivals – supplied their very own epic crossover, considerably akin to the most recent Marvel/DC team-up. Play-Doh Barbie is a considerably simplified Barbie (owned by Mattel) that may put on garments produced from Play-doh (a Hasbro traditional.) What’s subsequent, GI He-Man?
After all, that is only a company model of what precise kids do on a regular basis, mixing up all their playthings in a single universe, i.e. Toy Story. Whereas it’s not stunning that huge corporations are doing the pre-imagining, kids have been sticking Play-Doh on their dolls since time immemorial. There aren’t any copyrights within the playroom.
However the mash-ups appear extra frantic than ever. Spider-Man Magic The Gathering playing cards are a factor that exist, as is Pokemon Monopoly. Issues that when appeared uncommon and novel at the moment are simply dizzying. (I nonetheless treasure my previous Star Wars Monopoly set, one of many first such crossovers)
With the world in chaos, cozy, cozy, and huggable had been in every single place. Squishmallows, huggable toys from recognizable characters, have been big for some time, and each firm had some model of an opulent pal you possibly can squeeze.
As for spectacle on the present flooring, Mattel took over the River Pavillion for an eightieth Anniversary showroom revealing Barbie, Disney Princesses, Jurassic World, WWE and Minecraft (one of many hottest licenses there.) Hasbro had an off website showroom for a few years, however moved to the present flooring for the primary time, with their traditional traces of Star Wars, Marvel, GI Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony.
It was on the Hasbro sales space that millennials and up encountered the harshest reminder that the previous gods are lifeless. A kind of gods is paper cash. Noting that children right now do not know what to do with paper cash, Monopoly rolled out an App Banking model that makes use of ATM playing cards and different extra digitized parts. Park Place and Tennessee Avenue have been up to date to Ice Cream Skating Rink and Hovercraft Racetrack. All of it appeared a bit garish, however the recreation can now be completed in a shorter time, and there’s no dishonest: an app does all the maths.
Expertise can nonetheless fireplace the creativeness although: the hit toy on the present was Primal Hatch from Spin Grasp, a dinosaur egg that hatches a T-Rex.
At $59.99 you gained’t need to miss the one time hatching, however then it’s good to work together with the toy for it to develop up and behave – with eyes that change coloration to indicate its temper. Coaching and feeding toys correctly is an concept that goes again to the Tamagotchi – nonetheless going robust on the Bandai sales space.
Lego didn’t enable any reporting on their new units however if you happen to can think about extra Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Ninjago units, you get the thought. For the “public” there was Central Park, a big space in entrance of the Lego compound that showcased their adult-focused Botanical flower line, full with benches and pretend fountains. This was an amazingly peaceable place to hang around, surrounded by faux bushes and grass, and I spent fairly a little bit of downtime there, stress-free over ice cream with a pal.
Spin Grasp did it one higher with reside puppies! An adoption occasion reminded us that the true world feels better of all and actual critters additionally want care and feeding
Jazwares, house of the Squishmallows, gained for greatest occasion (that I used to be invited to, anyway) with a collector occasion that featured new toys from “The Vault,” an look by AEW’s Orange Cassidy (as a wrestler whose gimmick just isn’t reacting to something, his reveal was lowkey), and finger meals. A cappuccino machine and a beneficiant toy giveaway cemented goodwill amongst flacks and hacks.
As I wandered the halls, I couldn’t assist however consider the ups and downs of varied properties through the years. Marvel toys are nonetheless playable however the MCU sheen has dulled. Star Wars is in even sadder form. Whereas the Mandalorian was an enormous hit, all the subsequent TV exhibits have did not showcase characters you need to put in your desk. I assume we’ll get a nostalgic “Andor Jail break” set from Lego sometime, however that’s a great distance from right here.
Pokémon was one of many hottest properties on show, on the heels of the announcement of the brand new recreation Pokémon Legends Z-A. The characters are cute and suited to nearly any form of toy, and my fave, flower-cat Sprigitato, was in every single place.
Mighty Morphin Energy Rangers had been again at Playmates after being at Bandai, Disney and different corporations. Playmates selected a refreshingly again to fundamentals strategy – easy toys, masks and weapons. Beginning out lowkey is an efficient technique to create extra shock and awe down the highway.
In contrast Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has all the time been at Playmates, and it’s the toys that actually launched the recognition of the road: $1.1 billion value of Turtles toys had been offered between 1988 and 1992. Lest we neglect, Eastman and Laird created the comedian guide as a parody of Frank Miller’s Ronin and Daredevil and but in some way, the thought of 4 pizza-loving turtles named after Renaissance painters has lasted for greater than 40 years and is as common as ever. The ability of creativeness takes unusual turns.
My different observations are fairly apparent: folks like cats. Folks suppose farting is humorous. Yo-yos nonetheless require talent. Crayons are a great way to spend time. Manga and anime toys are spectacular – Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda are character designers of unsurpassed genius.
Bathrooms had been a frequent theme and I’m instructed that “Skibidi Bathroom” a YouTube sequence a few head that sings in a bathroom set in a worldwide armageddon – is without doubt one of the hottest new characters. For any childless olds nonetheless right here, this brutalist animation mixes the barren dystopia of Aeon Flux with the smash lower nihilism of Grownup Swim and the machinima look of video video games. Throw in some bogs and you’ve got untold thousands and thousands of views. And naturally, it has a Funko Pop.
In all of the tumult, you possibly can nonetheless discover the one or two issues that appear made only for you. NECA’s line of figures based mostly on Ben Cooper Halloween costumes will ship any Boomer right into a nostalgic haze, and converse to the everlasting Halloween in our soul.
Nevertheless it was at Tremendous 7 that I noticed the toys that I needed essentially the most. I assume they’ve been out for some time, however I in some way missed that they’d made 7” figures based mostly on the Beastie Boys Sabotage video. That’s proper, Nathan Wind (Cochise), Alasandro Alegre (The Chief), and Vic Colfari (Bobby, “The Rookie”) can sit proper in your desk. Like Garth Marenghi’s Darkish Place, it’s a triple stage of satire – tacky actors taking part in tacky characters in a specific style that defines an period – that I discover irresistible.
I WANT THESE TOYS.
So yeah, that was Toy Truthful 2025, a palace the place the Creature from the Black Lagoon using a tricycle is essentially the most pure factor on the planet. Subsequent 12 months Toy Truthful returns to mid-February, a timeframe that when left attendees battling two foot blizzards, however in these globally warmed days will probably be a frolic.
Only a few extra themed galleries:
Butts and issues that scent:
Cats and cute animals stay common
Godzilla and buddies
Toys based mostly on comics covers or together with comics covers are a factor. Nevertheless it must be famous, Banshee’s first look was NOT in Large Dimension X-Males #1!
Odds and Ends:
