THE TOY INDUSTRY QUARTERLY
REPORT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Richard Gottlieb (Global Toy Experts) & Chris Byrne (The Toy Guy)
RICHARD GOTTLIEB
Global Toy Experts
Richard Gottlieb has been providing consulting services to the U.S. and global toy industries since 1994. His company, Global Toy Experts, works with toy companies that wish to expand their business in the United States. The company also provides M&A services to companies and works with intellectual property creators as an agent. Global Toy Experts provides Expert Witness services to toy companies involved in litigation. Richard Dickson, Mattel, President, and Chief Operating Officer, has referred to Mr. Gottlieb as a toy industry icon.
Mr. Gottlieb is the publisher of Global Toy News, a web-based magazine founded in 2009. He is, moreover, co-Anchor with Chris Byrne, The Toy Guy®, of the influential “The Playground Podcast,” a show about issues affecting the toy and play industries.
He has represented leading toy companies, including Hasbro, D.C. Comics, Radio Flyer, Warner Brothers, Rubik’s Cube, Zuru, Rose Art, and Rockstar Games. Richard co-produces the annual Toy Talks Forum in Shenzhen, China, and has spoken at toy industry events in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Hong Kong; Shanghai, China, Guangzhou, China, Nuremberg, Germany, Copenhagen, Denmark; Zagreb, Croatia; New York; Los Angeles; and Chicago.
Richard has written numerous articles for his magazine, Global Toy News, and other toy publications in the U.S. and abroad. Due to his experience and expertise in the toy industry, he has been interviewed by hundreds of global media outlets, including ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and Newsweek, regarding toy industry issues. (Examples of my interviews are available at Global Toy Experts Interviews.
Richard appeared in the History Channel documentary, “Christmas Through the Decades 1960s” and “Christmas Through the Decades 1970s” as well as in “A Lego Brickumentary.” Richard has an MBA in Global Management and is a voting member of the National Toy Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
CHRIS BYRNE
The Toy Guy
As an independent toy analyst, researcher and consultant, Chris brings more than 30 years of industry experience in the toy industry to his role. He is an acknowledged expert on toys and play in the culture and brings his extensive knowledge of toys, education, and child development to his work.
Chris began his career working on major toy brands in a variety of marketing and operations positions. He was instrumental in developing and merchandising many successful products, including those marketed under the Gabriel, Child Guidance, Creative Playthings, and Ideal brands. Chris led the team that established the game Pictionary as one of the most popular games of its era. In 1988, he formed Byrne Communications, with broad-based consulting in the toy, children’s entertainment, financial, and consumer products industries. He was one of the founders and creative director for the website TTPM. Today, Byrne Communications works with companies of all sizes and entrepreneurs, helping them develop and launch products. He regularly consults with the analyst and investment community about the international business of toys.
He is the creator, producer, and co-host with another industry veteran, Richard Gottlieb, co-contributor of this report of The Playground Podcast. This industry-facing weekly program covers a broad range of issues facing the contemporary toy industry.
Chris is also widely published on the topic of toys and family life, and his work has appeared in a variety of trade magazines, journals, and websites. He is also featured in the Netflix series, The Toys That Made Us as a toy historian and will be featured in an upcoming series on toys from National Geographic.
Chris’s book on the most popular toys from the 1950s to the 1980s, “Toy Time,” gives the background on some of the all-time classic toys. He is also the author of An Introduction to the U.S. Toy Industry: Serious Fun, published by Business Experts Press, which is an introductory textbook for students studying the toy business. His book Funny Business: Harnessing the Power of Play to Give Your Business a Competitive Advantage was published by Career Expert Press in 2015 and is widely used by management consultancies. He wrote two books for the Toy Association: Toys (2003) and They Came to Play: A History of the Toy Industry Association (2017).
Chris is extensively quoted in the media and regularly appears on local and national television, commenting on toys and demonstrating new products. His media appearances reached more than 200 million consumers in 2018 in just three months. He appears regularly on “Live! With Kelly & Ryan.” He has been seen on “Marie” with Marie Osmond, “Oprah, “Soap Talk,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The CBS Evening News,” “ABC Nightly News,” “Fox & Friends,” “CBS This Morning,” “Good Day New York,” CNBC, CNNfn, MSNBC, ABC, “The Motley Fool,” National Public Radio, Bloomberg Television and Radio, and on countless other national and local market business and consumer programs and publications in the U.S. and internationally.
TOY INDUSTRY
QUARTERLY REPORT
by Global Toy Experts & The Toy Guy
We at Global Toy Experts have provided consulting services to the toy industry since 1996. We know toys. If you want to know toys, subscribe to our “Toy Industry Quarterly” Report: This is a report designed for the investment community. We provide you with the latest intelligence on the major toy companies, the U.S., and global toy markets.
Important note, TIQR does not interview employees of publicly traded companies for its commentary, nor does it utilize privileged information.
Where do we get our information?
We regularly speak with toy industry leaders in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to get the view from the top and with toy industry salespeople to get the view from across the buyer’s desk. We keep up with logistics providers, lobbyists, marketing executives, licensors, licensees, and designers. We do our own industry surveys, track currency exchange rates, population statistics, and regularly visit retail toy departments. We attend all of the major U.S. and international toy shows, review the new toy releases, and follow the Asian and European toy markets.
Each issue of the Toy Industry Quarterly Report contains:
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A SWOT Analysis for Mattel, Hasbro, Spin Master, JAKKS, and LEGO.
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A critique of all the new toy releases with a look at winners and losers.
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An assessment of overall toy trends.
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Our handicapping of toy companies and their products.
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An examination of the health of the Global toy supply chain and shipping costs.
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An investigation of the latest information on toy manufacturing costs.
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An evaluation of leading retailers and how their toy departments stack up.
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A critique of character and movie licenses with an eye to movie toy tie-ins.
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BONUS: TIQR also offers special reports, like our annual “Hot Toy Lists Analysis.”
IN DEPTH RESEARCH ON THE TOY INDUSTRY
The Toy Industry Quarterly Review is designed for those in the investment community interested in understanding the broader toy industry and its key players. Global Toy Experts gets beyond the numbers when analyzing the toy industry and its publicly traded companies. The Toy Industry Quarterly Review features proprietary research and analysis. TIQR gets the top line by interviewing toy industry leaders in the U.S., China and North America, and gets; close to the bone by conducting toy industry surveys and interviewing independent toy industry salespeople.
Scheduled to arrive before the toy company quarterly reports. TIQR will provide proprietary information gathered by Global Toy Experts. TIQR does not interview employees of publicly traded companies for its commentary, nor does it utilize privileged information.
Compiled, directed, and written by toy industry icon Richard Gottlieb, the Toy Industry Quarterly Review provides readers with insights on the variables that affect toy company performance. TIQR keeps track of publicly traded toy companies, the global toy supply chain, the world’s top toy markets, industry manufacturing costs, sourcing trends, top toy retailers, toy-related entertainment properties, toy trends, and more.
Each issue of the Toy Industry Quarterly Review will contain intelligence on:
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The Global Toy Market
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The Global Toy Supply Chain
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Toy Manufacturing Costs
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Key Toy Retailer Insights
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Insights on Private and Publicly Traded Toy Companies
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Licensing Trends and the Toy Industry
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Toy Trends and Hot Products
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TIQR will also contain special reports like our annual “Hot Toy Lists Meta-Analysis.”
A BIT MORE ABOUT OUR AUTHORS
Richard Gottlieb
Richard Gottlieb is a proven strategic and out-of-the-box thinker. In May of 2020, when others were concerned about a Covid-generated recession, Richard thought otherwise. His research demonstrated that the 1918 Flu Epidemic was followed by the Roaring 20s, a time of economic expansion. On May 18, 2020, he wrote an article entitled: “Was There an Economic Collapse Caused by the Flu Epidemic of 1918?”
Here is what he wrote:
“Most of the evidence indicates that the economic effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic were short-term.” In fact, “Some academic research suggests that the 1918 influenza pandemic caused a shortage of labor that resulted in higher wages (at least temporarily) for workers….”
Based on this analysis, I believe we can expect the economic impact of the Coronavirus on most people to be short-lived. Let’s hope I’m right.
He was.
Click here to read the entire article.
Chris Byrne
Christopher Byrne has been a leader in spotting trends throughout his career. He was the first person to take Tickle Me Elmo on national TV in 1996, and he’s correctly predicted such current trends as social/emotional learning, the rise of scree-free STEM play, and how a changing culture (and dynamic demographics) are influencing toy design.
With a solid grounding in child development and an in-depth knowledge of the toy industry and research, he consults regularly to the financial community, toy and entertainment companies and consumer products companies seeking to understand the children’s market.
Each quarter, Global Toy Experts will help you navigate the broader toy industry and its key players. Our reports will include valuable information on:
THE STATE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY
We find out how toy industry members are seeing their business and, by doing so, get a snapshot of how they see the industry’s health six months out.
PUBLICLY HELD TOY COMPANIES
We provide a SWOT Analysis and a company review based upon interviews with level industry leaders and experts. We will review:
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HASBRO
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MATTEL
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SPIN MASTER
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JAKKS
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FUNKO
MAJOR RETAILERS
We make store visits and talked to our sales professional contacts to provide a store and buyer level review of the toy departments in these key retailers:
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WALMART
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TARGET
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AMAZON
TOY INDUSTRY INFLATION
We speak with Chinese factory owners and toy company leaders to analyze freight cost, the scarcity or abundance of raw materials, and the upward pressure on wages.
THE TOY INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN
We research for backups at the ports, the availability of containers, the availability of U.S. truck drivers, and transit from port to domestic freight carriers.
THE CHINESE TOY MANUFACTURING SECTOR
Where are toy companies making their products, and what are their plans.
TOYETIC MOVIE AND CHARACTER LICENSES
We look at the hot licenses and which toy companies have the rights to them.
SOCIAL COMMERCE
A look at Youtube, Tik-Tok, and the social networks as revenue generators.
THE ANNUAL HOT TOY CHRISTMAS LISTS FROM WALMART, TARGET, AND AMAZON.
We look at who has the most listings and the highest average market basket.
THE NEW TOY RELEASES
We take a look at the new toy releases from the major toy companies and handicap them.
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HASBRO
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MATTEL
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SPIN MASTER
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JAKKS
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FUNKO
THE ‘WHAT KIDS WANT CHILD AND PARENT SURVEY’
A weekly survey of 500 children asks them what toys they play with and what toys they want.
For further inquiries contact steve@globaltoyexperts.com