Toy Fair 2009 report

After spending a busy two days at the annual Toy Fair in London, it’s clear there will be no shortage of new toys heading our way in the coming months.

Although many exhibitors expressed a little uncertainty about the economic climate, it didn’t show in the vast array of new products – and with aggressive price cutting a common feature, it’s clear the toy industry is responding to the credit crunch.

As always, it will take a few days to assimilate all the information and put the event into perspective, but standout first impressions included Playmobil’s Egyptian range, John Crane’s AniCube wooden construction system and Mega Brands’ Battle Strikers Turbo Tops.

The LEGO team surpassed themselves with a detailed presentation that lasted an hour (beating last year’s marathon by a good 10 minutes) and they needed every minute to showcase all the new sets. The new Power Miners range was the major launch, but the additions to the Indiana Jones sets were eye-catching as well, including what must be one of the best LEGO minifigures ever, a remarkably accurate recreation of the late British actor Pat Roach in the “Fight on the Flying Wing” set.

LeapFrog unveiled a junior version of the acclaimed Tag reading system, as well as the energetic Zippity, which promises to get kids up and moving. Bandai had oodles of Ben 10 Alien Force toys, Le Toy Van had its usual beautifully crafted wooden toys and Smoby was proudly showing off its G-Force lines.

It was also great to meet up with some of the new faces on the scene, including Lynne Cadenhead, with the new additions to the Quest games range, and Steve Mainprize, whose Army of Zero game will be covered in a news story very soon.

Early next week we’ll present our annual “Ten to watch from the Toy Fair” feature, highlighting the products that really stood out. In the meantime, there are plenty of new launches to tell you about…