A funny thing happened on my way to publishing my post tonight. I had scribbled out a draft and began typing it in and then, while checking one fact, I found a whole font of information and was possessed to revise, and then, revise again. Soooo, in the interest of getting my facts straight, I elected to postpone that particular subject. Let's just say, it's about hamsters - Zhu Zhu Pets to be precise.
I've been spending the week finding out what's new in the toy world. The 107th American International Toy Fair has just wrapped up in New York. This is the annual event where toy manufacturers from all over the world get together to introduce new products for the coming year and flaunt their successes from the past season.
Zhu Zhu Pets were voted the Toy of the Year!! (Yeah, that was a big surprise, wasn't it?) [That WAS sarcasm]
Ultimately, I find this information helpful to me as a crafter selling my work as I see what direction things are going. Where they think the trends will go and what colors, animals and such will be "IN" for the holiday season. (Yes, I DID have hamster shirts for sale for this past holiday season. I only wish I'd seen them coming sooner.)
Of course, there are some duds each year. I mean, there are over 1000 manufacturers at the fair and not all are going to have a good year. But it's interesting to see what they've come up with and how they plan to market those creations. A little business like mine can learn a lot from the Mattels and Hasbros out there.
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