With no Toy Fair this year as they take a break from their recent September show the news out of the various toy companies are mainly scattered to press releases. The Toy Insider, who normally hosts Sweet Suite in July and Holiday of Play in September, added a Spring Fling show to help fill that void. Held at Lavan Midtown the event was a great way to stay in contact with some of the typical companies we cover as well as discover a few new ones. As the show is nowhere near the scale of the Toy Fair most companies only brought a small sample of products to display.
Before we get into the event as I normally do I’ll mention again that The Toy Insider is a perfect resource for researching and finding reviews of toys, technology, and entertainment. With their years of experience The Toy Insider posts reviews of products throughout the entire year assessing products through a tested review process that includes quality, price, and playability. You can follow them through all forms of social media as well: Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Additionally twice a year The Toy Insider holds shows while putting together seasonal gift guides.
LEGO
https://www.lego.com/en-us
LEGO unveiled a bunch of new products from many of their lines at Spring Fling including a Star Wars R2-D2 figure, Harry Potter Sorting Hat, Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter, Ideas Poloroid Camera, Botanical Collection Tiny Plants, Creator 3-in-1 Space Astronaut, LEGO Dreamzz and Friends sets. This year LEGO is also leaning into their duplo line with daily routine sets and big emotions sets.
Playmobil
http://www.playmobil.us/
Aside from celebrating their 50th anniversary with some nostalgic sets Playmobil had two very interesting bits of news. With a commitment to being more eco-friendly their Horses of Waterfall sets are made from at least 80% recycled material. The other big news was their partnership with the Miraculous brand to bring a line of sets into the Playmobil brand.
Playmates
https://playmatestoys.com/
At Spring Fling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla X Kong reigned supreme. The TMNT line included their Mutations Mix ‘N Match Figures, where you can separate pieces from each of the individual figures and mix their pieces together to come up with loads of unique combinations. For TMNT there were also Tootin’ Turtle Tots and a young Splinter among others. For those looking to get their Kong or Godzilla fix Playmates also showcased their line of figures from the upcoming movie.
Spin Master
https://www.spinmaster.com/en-US
Another company celebrating a 50th anniversary is Spin Master with their Rubik’s Cube. For Spring Fling Spin Master showed off a classic retro cube albeit with foil stickers as well as a sensory cube that has patterns for each side to help the visually impaired play and a Gridlock game which features different puzzes where you are trying to orient pieces to match the puzzle card, what also neat about the game is that it has a storage area built into the box that is accessible by rotating the handle.
P.M.I. LTD
https://pmi.co.il/about-us
Pocket Money Items produces a range of internationally recognized children’s merchandise and toys and are a recognized name when it comes to stuff that kids just need to get their hands on. For Spring Fling P.M.I. was focused on their Stumble Guys line. Stumble Guys s a multiplayer battle royale obstacle course game. In it up to 32 players race, jump, fall, run and stumble their way to victory. The new product line included a range of items from 2-inch blind box figures all the way up to 9-inch plush figures.
Just Play
https://justplayproducts.com/
Expanding on their Disney Doorables line Just Play has now added a Star Wars line of Doorable. The first series consists of 25 figures across the Star Wars universe meaning you can get a pack which has Greedo, Sabine Wren, Grogu, and Chopper. The first series does include a chase translucent Leia. Just play also have a line of Galactic Cruisers which features a Star Wars character with their own ride. The series has 10 figures and a chance at finding a special-edition flocked Chewbacca.
Wow Wee
https://wowwee.com/
Wow Wee is another relatively new company to me but that doesn’t mean they have not been around for a while. Founded in 2004 the company prides itself a designer, developer, marketer, and distributor of innovative robotic toys and consumer entertainment products. From Spring Fling Wow Wee showcased their Sweet Tweets Birds Fingerlings which will grab onto your fingers, record and play secret messages or they will just repeat sounds around them. Additionally they have over 40+ sounds and reactions! Wow Wee also showed off their Nerf Super Soaker line.
Deddy Bears
https://www.deddybears.com/
Deddy Bears are a collection of plush figures with a bit of a spooky twist. Coming in 8 styles and 3 different sizes (bag clip, 5.5-Inch Lil Coffin Dodgers, and 12-Inch Body Bag) the Deddy Bears line of figures feature classic horror monsters such as a vampire, zombie, ghost, skeleton, succubus, or sasquatch all wrapped up in a cute package.
Sandoichis
https://thesandoichis.com/
Sharing some space with Deddy Bears was Sandoichis which are also a line of plush figures but instead mixing animals and sandwiches such as a Panini Pig or a Corgi Cheesecake. So cute.
Hitster
https://hitstergame.com/
Finally up is the Hitster party game. After scanning a QR code a portion of a song will play. The songs range from over the last 100 years and are across all genres of music. Once you identify the song you will try and guess when it debuted by putting it chronologically in timeline in front of you; if another player thinks you are wrong they can challenge your reply to steal the card. The first person to identify 10 songs wins.
