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Two eight-foot-tall Care Bears waddle past me, steps away from a remote-controlled parrot flying through hoops (and, admittedly, into walls) and what looks like a museum featuring artifacts—a bear’s windmill! A bunny cottage!—from the Calico Critters’ 35-year history. There’s a center stage spotlighting dozens of bug-eyed Beanie Boo’s, the latest iteration of the Ty Beanie Baby empire, and not far from there, security guards flank the high-walled compound where Mattel shows off its latest wares, but only to buyers and press with previously scheduled appointments. This is the 2020 New York Toy Fair, and no, you’re not prepared for the experience.
The fair spans three levels of the Javits Center in New York City, an event space known for also hosting New York Comic Con every year. For half a week in late February, however, it’s a bastion for toymakers and toy fanatics. All of the major toy companies—of all sizes, from mom and pop entrepreneurs to the Hasbros and Mattels of the world—gather here, setting up booths to display their latest and greatest toys, all with the hopes of convincing retailers of stocking their goods. A good show at the New York Toy Fair can get you into a major chain (or several) nationwide, expanding your business considerably.
To get buyers’ attention, toymakers design over-the-top, often interactive booths. Hence the gigantic Care Bears, flying parrot racetracks and Beanie Boos stage.
It’s a strange yet delightful experience, wandering the rows and rows of booths. I visited this year in search of potential PureWow stories, though with so many big deals on the line, vendors are less interested in dealing with the press, and as a member of the general public, forget it—you’re not even allowed inside, unless you can prove you’re an influencer (particularly on YouTube). Kids also aren’t allowed, which makes it feel all the stranger to be shoulder to shoulder with so many people in full suits as you wander down what appears to be the world’s most over-the-top Toys ‘R’ Us.
Some toy companies will only allow you to enter their booths if you have a previously arranged appointment and you’ve been vetted by the brand, to prove you’re not wasting their time. Some open their spaces to everyone, with costumed characters or greeters employed to draw you in, getting you to play a game you might not have heard of before.
The whole fair provides a sneak peek at what’s going to hit store shelves (and kids’ wish lists everywhere) over the next year. I only got to spend a few hours there, but based on what I saw, you can expect plenty of tricked-out scooters, sequin-shifting, gigantic-eyed plushies, and augmented reality games. Check it out.
The Coolest Finds at the 2020 New York Toy Fair:
- Augmented Reality Sandbox
This is a projector positioned over a sandbox, with sensors that detect when you touch the sand. As you pick up and swirl the sand, the projector displays ripples in the “water.”
2. Baby Yoda, In All Forms
Whether you know the character as The Child or simply “Baby Yoda,” this little scene-stealer from Disney+’s Mandalorian became a magnet for visitors to the Toy Fair. But will it be just as popular come the holiday season?
3. Nerf Scooter
The NY Toy Fair featured all kinds of tricked-out scooters, from ones topped with Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig characters to ones that shot out LED-lit vapor trails behind their wheels, making it look like jets of flames. But my fave, by far, was this Nerf gun-topped ride. Don’t mess with this kid on the block.
4. Chalk & Dry Erase Helmets
Naturally, an over-the-top scooter calls for an equally impressive helmet. These Crayola-licensed designs are covered with dry-erase board and chalkboard coatings, so you can draw whatever designs you’d like on them, wipe them off, and start over.
5. Tori Gaming System
If you can’t help but jerk your controller upward any time a character needs to jump when you’re playing video games, this is the toy for you (or, okay, your kid who inherited your skillz). A Tori board, which looks like an oversized mouse pad, connects to your computer, tablet or phone. Place the Tori catapult, spacecraft or wand—the toy varies, depending on which game you like to play—over the board, moving it in all directions to travel through the game. It’s augmented reality, minus the goggles.