Playing At Business - toy & game business podcast with Steve Reece

Licensed products are a major feature of the toy & games business. In this episode we take a look at the key elements of licensed toys & games in terms of standard deal terms to acquire licenses, the do's and dont's of licensing and we take a look at what a healthy approach to licensing looks like for toy & games companies.

Europe remains a major region for the toy business, but it is a very fragmented region with more than 40 countries/territories, along with many languages, cultures and peoples. In this episode we discuss how to approach this potentially lucrative but highly fragmented market.

The Collectables toy category has been a major pillar of the toy business for a long time now. But the costs and risks of trying to enter this category can be high, while product launches tend to be very hit or miss. In this episode of The PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast we look at the key success factors for Colelctable toy product lines.

Toy & Game packaging is often more important than the product within in terms of motivating someone to buy the product in the first place. There are some fundamentals of effective toy packaging, as well some very common mistakes. We run through all of this in Episode 62 of The PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast.

Inventors are critically important to the toy & games business. On this episode we talk to Azhelle Wade - The Toy Coach - about her work helping Inventors to get their toys & games to market. Azhelle's positive energy shines through in this episode. We discuss the top tips she shares with Inventors and her Toy Creators Academy which helps inventors to develop commercially viable products and bring...

The board games category has increasingly low barriers of entry. Whereas toys may require significant tooling investment, cardboard games basically require a great gameplay mechanism & some eye catching graphic design...but surely there is more to it than that? In this latest episode of the PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast we take a look at the key factors for success for board games companies of all s...

For most people working in the toy business, the day to day focus is on the nuts and bolts of their role in the company they work for.  Few take the time to consider just how much good the toy & game business does in the world at large. That's what we discuss in this episode of the PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast - coming straight from the heart we take a look at all the good the toy business as a who...

For any company who has been in business for a while, entering into new product categories becomes an obvious but not entirely risk free move. In this episode of the PLAYING AT BUSINESS podcast we take a look at why companies choose to enter into new product areas, how self-awareness is one of the most important things to consider and how successful companies enter new product categories and minim...

Effectively presenting products is one of the most critical skills for people in the commercial departments of the toy industry. In Episode 57 of the Playing At Business podcast we take a look at 5 key success elements of effectively presenting toy products. It isn't just a case of showing how the product works (although that's part of it). There is much more to presenting products well enough to...

Spider-Man has been around since first appearing in comic books back in the early 1960s. Today Spider-Man is a mighty movie and entertainment franchise - the 5th biggest grossing movie franchise of all time in fact, with the most recent instalment: Spider-Man No Way Home heading towards the Top 10 grossing movies of all time. Spider-Man has also been a strong presence in toy aisles for decades. In...

Once seen as a slightly strange thing to do, today toy collecting is very much a thing. Major companies like Hasbro and Mattel have extensive programs and platforms to nurture, grow and monetise fans and collectors of their brands and products. In this episode, we talk about all things toy collectors, and why they are of increasing financial importance to the global toy business.

Tens of thousands of visitors, thousands of exhibitors - toy trade shows represent the biggest opportunity to get face to face with the most people who can advance your toy & game business. In this episode we discuss trade shows and how to get the most out of them, as well as taking a look at the major toy trade shows coming up soon.

Toy sourcing has never been more challenging than it is at the time of publishing this episode. Shipping costs have soared. Factories which have been supplying toy & games companies for decades are shutting in China. Alternative toy hubs are lacking in capacity as demand soars for toy manufacturing away from China. China will still have a key role, but it will be a lesser role over time, as some p...

Paul Dixon has had an amazing career, and amassed huge life wisdom. He talks us through his career and shares some deep insights into life on Episode 52 of the Playing At Business podcast. Paul worked as a Toy Buyer for major mass market retailer TARGET. He has run his own consumer products business, and also worked as a Toy salesman. He offers strong insights into how toy retail buying works, and...

Matteo Vezzosi is the Executive Director at the Asia Toy & Play Association. In this episode we discuss with him the toy markets of Asia, and how toy companies can access those markets.  For anyone interested in distributing their toy products across Asia, this is a must listen episode.

We never expected to get to 50 Episodes but we did! Celebrate with us as we review our experience of interviewing people from across the toy business for the last 3 years. We also discuss the massive 2022 movie slate, packed full of toyetic blockbusters & what the likely impact is on the toy business.

There are 4 distinct lifestages of toy companies. The product development and marketing initiatives the company chooses to run, the company strategy and management are all influenced by, if not defined by the lifestage. In this episode, Steve Reece takes his usual approach of strategic thinking with a no nonsense, no corporate speak delivery to explain the key differences between companies at each...

2021 has been an 'interesting' year for the global toy business. 2022 looks set to be another challenging year with various head winds and disruptive factors affecting the toy business., but with some accompanying tailwinds. In this episode, Steve Reece explains his analysis of the prospects for the toy category for 2022 based on more than 2 decades of analysing and working within the toy business...

These are turbulent times for supply chain managers in the toy business. Some of the challenges though could have been more easily managed if toy companies had avoided the one major mistake they seem to make by default. Aside from container shipping being exorbitant and timings unreliable, there have been many other issues along the way which make Sourcing harder. By taking a more strategic approa...

John Baulch's Toy World magazine has just celebrated 10 years in business. We talk to John in this episode discussing how toy trade magazines can help toy & game companies of all size communicate to the toy trade and make better progress. We discuss trends and changes in the toy business which John has observed in his nearly 40 years in the business and we discuss the forthcoming trade show cycle....

Anita Castellar has a wealth of experience in the world of Licensing having worked for Lucasfilm, Hasbro and The Walt Disney Company. We discuss trends in licensing and the state of the licensing business today. For those who are interested in toy licensing this is a must listen episode!

Lutz Muller is a leading Consultant to financial companies looking to understand what is going on in the toy business. In this episode loves comments on everything he sees going on in the toy trade this year.

Tim Walsh has a wealth of experience and insight about the toy & game business. Having come into the market with hit game Tribond, he has worked on many successful products over time. He has also come to the fore in recent times for his YouTube channel featuring origin stories of iconic toys & games. This is a fascinating interview with someone who deeply understands our business.

Ben Hogg has been working in the toy & games business since childhood, thanks to a family owned toy retail business. In this episode we talk about how his adult career in the Games business started and we discuss his work across all sides of the UK games business, from specialist niche games through to his being part of the team that successfully launched smash hit game Dobble in the UK. We discus...

The toy & game business is generally speaking marketing driven. In this episode Steve Reece discusses the bewildering array of marketing tools, platforms and media open to toy & game companies today. We also look at the 5 easiest ways to completely waste your marketing spend, and in doing so highlight the best way to get maximum value from marketing spend. For toy & game companies interested in in...