Toy Fair Day 3: Play Fair
Monday, February 15. 2016
This weekend hosted a second toy-themed event at the Javits Center: Play Fair. Sponsored by Nickelodeon and LEGO, Play Fair was a kid-friendly event held in Javits North featuring cartoons, play areas, photo ops, activities, and meet & greets with celebrity characters like Peppa Pig, Finn & Jake, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
The whole thing had a very "New York Comic Con" feel to it, albeit aimed at a younger audience. There was even the Toys 'Я' Us Stage showing cartoons, autograph queues, and a chalk art drawing of famous Nickelodeon characters.
It's a very smart idea. Every year, the local news stations report on Toy Fair. But Toy Fair is an industry show: vendors are there to sell, and the buyers are there to spend. Everything else, including those of us covering the event, are (rightly) superfluous. It's handy PR, and a good way for vendors to show off to the world, but in the end those sales are really the driving force of the show. That's a really difficult concept to get across in a 30-second clip, though, and so there are always a number of people who see that there are toys at the Javits Center and want in on the fun. By adding Play Fair, they have piggybacked on Toy Fair's established presence and have provided the public with something fun.
Personally, my favorite feature of the show was the Batmobile that will be featured in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. More about that tomorrow, but for now I'll leave you with this:
The whole thing had a very "New York Comic Con" feel to it, albeit aimed at a younger audience. There was even the Toys 'Я' Us Stage showing cartoons, autograph queues, and a chalk art drawing of famous Nickelodeon characters.
It's a very smart idea. Every year, the local news stations report on Toy Fair. But Toy Fair is an industry show: vendors are there to sell, and the buyers are there to spend. Everything else, including those of us covering the event, are (rightly) superfluous. It's handy PR, and a good way for vendors to show off to the world, but in the end those sales are really the driving force of the show. That's a really difficult concept to get across in a 30-second clip, though, and so there are always a number of people who see that there are toys at the Javits Center and want in on the fun. By adding Play Fair, they have piggybacked on Toy Fair's established presence and have provided the public with something fun.
Personally, my favorite feature of the show was the Batmobile that will be featured in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. More about that tomorrow, but for now I'll leave you with this:
Trackbacks