People of Play​

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How Alan Dorfman Sold Millions Of Toys By Thinking Small - Very Small. In the toy industry, Alan Dorfman is master of the mini-verse. Dorfman, first as the founder of the Basic Fun toy company, and now as president of Super Impulse, became fascinated by miniature toys long before the current TikTok-influenced craze for tiny playthings and collectibles began. In the early 1990s, he convinced the company...

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Three generations of LEGO designers came together for one set – and lucky they did, because the design process was far from simple. Brick Fanatics recently got the chance to catch up with LEGO Designer Niek van Slagmaat, where he walked us through some of the most iconic sets that he’s worked on. We started at the beginning, with the very first set that Niek worked on: LEGO BOOST 17101 Boost Creative Toolbox.

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Mom Who Asked Fisher-Price For Toy That Looks Like Her Son Blown Away By Company’s Response. It’s rare that 5 yo Archer “Archie” Coffman sees people that look like him. Not a home, not at school, and not in toy stores. Archer, a vibrant Black boy with red hair, was adopted by Andrew and Niki Coffman shortly after he was born. “It's a complicated, huge responsibility when you’re a white parent adopting a child...

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Q&A With Hot Wheels Designer And Hot Wheels Legends Tour Returns For 2023. Ever wanted to know how Hot Wheels car are designed? We interviewed Hot Wheels' head designer to find out... Ted Wu, Global Head of Vehicle Design at Mattel, Inc says, “The UK consistently delivers a group of incredible finalists, each worthy of becoming a Legend. That makes it one of the closest fought competitions in our growing Tour.

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Despite producing about 200,000 stuffed animals per year, the Shelburne-based Vermont Teddy Bear Company has but one designer: Cassandra Clayton. Clayton has been the designer at Vermont Teddy Bear for over seven years. Her stuffed animals designs include mermaid bears, witch bears, Santa Claus bears, sharks, giraffes, and octopi. "Any magical creature, any animal in the animal kingdom, I feel like I've...

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***The above posted after tBR started sending on June 2nd***

KAREN CATE, JENICA MYSZKOWSKI NAMED CO-CEOS OF CAMP AS RETAILER LOOKS TO FOCUS ON OPERATIONS. A new era of CAMP has begun as the company works to streamline its business. This week, CAMP Founder Ben Kaufman took to LinkedIn to announce that he has stepped down as CEO of the “mass specialty” experiential retailer as Karen Cate and Jenica Myszkowski take the reins as Co-CEOs.

Family lifestyle expert and toy industry insider, Elizabeth Werner, joins Knocking, a co. that produces e-commerce for ALL media to create real-time consumer interactions for brand partners. Werner is best known for her regular appearances on top-rated shows like, "The View" and QVC, where she showcases the latest product trends in everything from household gadgets to the hottest new toys in the industry.

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Donal Carlston receives no less than a dozen letters each year begging him to update his 1987 board game. Now, complete with a $25,000 bankroll, a passionate base of volunteer strategists as well as help from the inventor himself, Personal Preference is receiving a 2023 reboot.

Carlston, now a retired professor at Purdue University in Indiana, created the board game as a faculty member at the University of Iowa. 

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PlayMonster Group has named Bryan Margner its Chief Financial Officer. In his new role, Margner will be leading all efforts in accounting, internal controls, finance, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, deal analysis and negotiation, investor relationships, investor and creditor reporting, financing, and financial planning and analysis. 

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“Power Kid Podcast,” host Phil Albritton of Power Kid Design welcomes Alan and Christine Blumberg from RGB Sales and Lea Culliton (ex-HABA, ABC Kids Expo) to the show to discuss the launch of The North East Toy Show (NETS). “The Northeast connection to specialty” opens its doors in February 2024 for its inaugural show, and in this episode, the organizers delve into,,,

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Moose Toys’ strategic plan attracts top industry licensing talent; Hollie Holmes joins as vice president global licensing. Moose Toys, a leading innovator in the toy industry, today announced industry veteran Hollie Holmes joins the company as vice president global licensing. She will be based out of the company’s US operation in El Segundo, Calif. beginning June 5. 

Orchard Toys appointment sees apple fall close to the tree. Josh Beevor, the grandson of Orchard Toys founder Keith Harvey join the company as director and key account manager. In his new role, Josh will be working with Orchard Toys sales director Simon Prest and reporting into managing director Simon Newbery.

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Toikido appoints Johnny Taylor as new chief creative officer. With an extensive background in visual development for the toy and entertainment sector, Johnny Taylor joins Toikido from previous senior creative roles with Mind Candy, King and Meta. Johnny will now play a fundamental role in further developing Toikido’s portfolio of in-house IPs, with four new and exciting toy-focused games ...

Allan Rabie joins Diamant Toys/AMAV. Allan Rabie takes up the role of head consultant of International Sales at the company, which counts Glow Pad, Keypsees and Mermaid Treasures among its top brands. Diamant Toys/AMAV has announced that Allan Rabie will be joining the company as head consultant of International Sales, a strategic move intended to strengthen Diamant’s International team. 

Generation Media bolsters team with appointment of Tim Kratochvil. Generation Media has accelerated further growth in the German market with the hire of Tim Kratochvil, who joins the team as account director GAS. The newly appointed Tim Kratochvil will head up the growing German agency, Generation Media GMBH, operating out of Hamburg. 

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Companies and Brands​

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Entertainment One (eOne), Hasbro’s global entertainment studio, has announced that Peppa, her family and friends will embark on an open seas adventure in a four part Peppa Pig Cruise Special, premiering on Nick Jr. on 5th June at 7pm EST/PST. The first trailer for the special debuted on the Hasbro official YouTube channel today. The combined 20-minute Peppa Pig Cruise Special sees Peppa, George, Granny...

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Mattel is experimenting with generative-artificial-intelligence tools including ChatGPT to help its cybersecurity teams, but the company’s head of cybersecurity said the risk of inaccurate results from the new technology is too great to deploy it broadly. Generative AI tools could make cyber analysts’ jobs easier by helping with tedious tasks, like parsing large datasets, freeing employees to do more pressing...

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‘Unicorn Academy’ Trailer Offers Colorful First Look at Magical and Music-Filled Spin Master Adaptation. Spin Master's president of Entertainment Jen Dodge talks taking Julie Sykes' popular series from book to screen and breaks down what viewers can expect from the upcoming series with co-viewing potential.

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Twitch is reversing its newly announced rules concerning the way streamers could display ads on the platform after swift backlash from streamers and content creators. On Tuesday, Twitch released new rules concerning the way streamers could display ads on the platform. The rules prohibited “burned in” video, display, and audio ads — the first two of which were popular and common formats used throughout Twitch. 

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***The above was posted after June 2nd***

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The wait is over: Mattel has finally dropped its Barbie: The Movie collection. The collection features dolls with tons of cute outfits directly from the screen, vehicles, collectibles, and more. There are four Barbies inspired by Margot Robbie’s Barbie in the collection. The Pink Gingham Dress Barbie ($25) features an A-line dress with a sparkly belt, a daisy necklace and bracelet, and pastel pink pumps.

LEGO Faces Boycott Calls Over 'Transgender Building Sets'. Last year, the LEGO Group announced the launch of its campaign as part of Pride Month to raise awareness of the identities and stories of those in the community. The debate surrounding the LGBTQ+ community has become increasingly politicized in recent yrs. Some conservatives have taken issue with cos. that show support for or associate themselves with LGBTQ+...

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Gel Blaster, known for its water ball blasters, is launching Gel Blaster Portal, a wireless smart target system that brings together physical activity and app-driven gameplay. The Gel Blaster Portal’s hit-sensing technology connects real-world blaster play with a suite of online games and challenges. Users can practice accuracy, play one of the many built-in games, choose single or multiplayer game modes, or...

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Hess Corp. has unveiled the release of a special edition 25th Anniversary Mini Toy Truck Collection featuring three vehicles. First introduced in 1998, the annual release of the Hess Mini is a limited-production set of highly detailed, small-scale versions of classic holiday Hess Toy Trucks. This year, the special set pays tribute to three different Hess anniversary toys: the 2014 Hess Collector’s Edition Tanker celebrating...

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WHSmith and Toys “R” Us ANZ Limited have teamed up to launch nine Toys “R” Us shop-in-shops across the UK this summer. At the stores, customers will be welcomed by a life-sized Geoffrey the Giraffe 3D sculpture before discovering dedicated sections by age, interest, and category, with interactive experiences, demonstration tables, and iconic visual elements throughout.

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Hamleys will be the first UK retailer to welcome limited edition 30th Anniversary Ty Beanie Babies. The original Valentino, Bongo and Bones will be available exclusively at its Regent Street store from 31st May, 2023. Hamleys recommend Ty fans to visit as early as possible to be amongst the first to own one of these iconic, relaunched editions.

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LEGO partners with women football stars on Play Unstoppable campaign. Play Unstoppable is a new campaign focused on celebrating the endless potential of girls when they are given opportunities to play without limits. To help champion what girls can achieve when they have the space and freedom to play openly and fiercely, some of the biggest change makers in Women’s Football have lent their support to...

Environmentally conscious, woman owned, and mother run toys and goods company eeBoo understands that back-to-school preparation can never happen too soon. For 2023, eeBoo has curated a host of helpful and educational products for different age groups to make this school year a happy and healthy one.

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Zuru releasing new X-Shot Insanity Blasters in July. ZURU, well-known for its collectible Mini Brands as well as the X-Shot Blasters, is releasing a new series of blasters this July. The X-Shot Insanity range includes four blasters, all inspired by blaster modifications people seek online. The X-Shot Insanity Manic, X-Shot Insanity Bezerko, X-Shot Insanity Mad Mega Barrel, and X-Shot Insanity Motorized Rage Fire are...

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Ticket To Ride meets the Wild West in new edition. Asmodee and Days of Wonder are back with a new edition of Ticket to Ride.Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West turns players into pioneers as they build railroads across America. The game-long campaign features 12 stages where players must complete tickets and build their fortune as they go from east to west. 

Bandai Namco Toys kicks off new game dimensions line with Tekken. Bandai is launching a new action figure line dedicated to gaming, with Game Dimensions, and is starting off with some iconic Tekken characters! As we look ahead to Tekken 8 this year, it makes sense the fighting franchise is the one to kick off Bandai Namco Toys’ new line-up of gaming figures. 

University Games to introduce Faeries and Magical Creatures to Kickstarter in June 2023. The fascination with faeries will be coming to the board game community as University Games (under its Forbidden Games brand) launches its new Faeries & Magical Creatures board game on Kickstarter starting June 13th. According to University Games, the fast-funding initiative will accelerate the production...

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Warhammer 40,000 video game Space Marine is getting a board game. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is being adapted into a board game based on the video game based on the sci-fi miniatures game based on the fantasy wargame. Yes, you read that right: Space Marine: The Board Game will adapt the 2011 third-person shooter - aka ‘Gears of Warhammer’ ...'

Cancelled Metal Gear Solid board game revived for 2024 release. A previously canceled board game for the Metal Gear series is now back in production. Aptly titled Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game, the cooperative title is making is a return after it was previously canceled back in 2021. Game publisher IDW first announced a board game based on Konami and Hideo Kojima's video game series for a 2019 release. 

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