Article: The Best Stuff I Saw at the Toy Fair (That You Can Buy Now)
The Best Stuff I Saw at the Toy Fair (That You Can Buy Now)
Liza Corsillo, the resident toy expert at The Strategist, heading to New York Toy Fair and has rounded up the best stuff she saw during her trip. She very kindly included our GT Series Car Collection - sustainably-made wooden cars that have been made using carbon neutral packaging and FSC-certified beechwood.
You can read her full article on The Strategist website.
Here are our favourite parts of the article:
As the site’s resident toy expert — I’m the writer behind the Strategist’s “Toy Store” and gifts for every age — I get an early look at the latest and greatest new toys. In this toy-focused edition of “Don’t Dillydally,” I’ve rounded up the ones I’m most excited about this month.
February and March are big months for new toy launches following the annual Toy Fair, which takes place every winter in the enormous (it spans five city blocks) Javits Center in New York. Along with Strategist senior editors Jen Trolio and Winnie Yang, I recently spent two days checking out as many dolls, pretend-play toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, building sets, vehicles, blind boxes, squishies, and board games as I could from over 700 brands. We saw everything from a giant mosquito hand puppet to a Magic 8 Ball the size of a quarter and a similarly mini Bop It! that really works. There were also countless collectibles, some butter-yellow slime that comes in its own dish, top-secret new Pokémon cards and LEGO sets, and KPop Demon Hunters merch, much of which won’t be available to buy until this fall.
Below, I’ve rounded up the best stuff we saw that you can buy (or preorder) right now, along with a few other new toy launches, including Hape’s collaboration with the Met, an interactive wooden audio player called Qubitunes, and LEGO’s new Artemis rocket that you can “launch” in slow motion with a working crank.
Le Toy Van British & American Car Set
Of all the swag I brought home from the Toy Fair, my son’s favorite item was a promotional poster for a brand called Le Toy Van, which makes gorgeous and very detailed toy vehicles. In his defense, the brand’s graphics are indeed gorgeous, and he has spent an impressive amount of time talking to himself in whispers about each illustration. So I know he will go nuts for the actual cars, trucks, vans, and buses in the collection. They are made in Surrey, England, where a lot of luxury real-life automobiles have been made.
