TOY FAIR NEW YORK 2019
SCOTT FLYNN
Vice President Sales & Marketing (Chief Fun Monster), PlayMonster PlayMonster made several acquisitions in the past year, including Kid O Toys, Interplay, and Utter Nonsense. Do you have plans for further acquisitions at some point in the future? Acquisitions will continue to be a major part of PlayMonster’s growth strategy. Our objective continues to be to acquire brands or product lines that extend or complement our existing product portfolio. We will also consider new categories that fit well with PlayMonster and expand our offering. The main criteria with any potential acquisition is making sure it fits with PlayMonster’s mission to champion play for all ages and make a difference through quality play. The key to any acquisition is to ensure we can add value in order to create long-term, sustainable growth. How will your alignment with Audax Private Equity affect PlayMonster’s growth this year? Aligning with Audax Private Equity is going to give us many more opportunities to continue our growth. With the infusion of capital and resources, PlayMonster can thrive and grow both organically and through synergistic acquisitions. We have ambitious plans for PlayMonster, as does Audax Private Equity. With their support, we can now explore expanding existing categories, such as Automoblox vehicles, and complementing existing brands, such as My Fairy Garden activities, along with some of our most popular brands and lines. We also now have the means to add new categories and brands through acquisitions to expand our already impressive portfolio of games and toys for kids and adults alike.
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THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2019 | toybook.com
MICHAEL MOSSER
General Manager, Lifestyle, Media and Toys, eBay eBay launched Toytopia, a new section of the site specifically for toys, and its first-ever toy catalog. Were these initiatives successful? What are your plans to expand in 2019? eBay distinctly stands apart from other retailers with a toy selection that only our online marketplace can deliver—the latest, trending toys, the sold-out and impossible-to-find toys, and the collectible, nostalgic, and super special toys. eBay brought this unique shopping experience of Toytopia to life through a mix of online and offline experiences, including a pop-up experience at Chelsea Market in New York City. We also introduced our first-ever toy catalog, which featured 2018’s hottest toys alongside unbelievable collectibles, such as the Bumblebee Transformer for $19.99 on the same page as a first-generation 1987 Transformer Set for $100,000. We also work closely to partner with our sellers to deliver our breadth of inventory. For example, Hasbro sells directly on our online marketplace, where we can offer consumers amazing deals and a popular selection ranging from Marvel action figures to games like Monopoly. Throughout the 2018 holiday season, we experienced strong traffic and sales across our robust offering of toys, and look forward to continuing that momentum in 2019. As a cultural barometer for what’s trending, we’ll continue to offer a myriad selection, ranging from the latest action figures from a blockbuster film to the hottest STEM toys. What were some of the most popular toy categories on eBay last year? In 2018, we saw categories, such as interactive building toys (LEGO), action figures and dolls, and board games, continue to prove popular on eBay. For example, from March through September, more than 148,000 L.O.L. Surprise! toys were sold on eBay. The momentum also continued in the back half of the year, from July to November, when we saw a 70 percent increase in searches for L.O.L. Surprise! toys on eBay. How do trends in consumer expectations affect toy sales? There are a number of expectations that today’s consumers have when it comes to shopping that we focus on delivering. In particular, we’re dedicated to catering to the busy shopper, where 63 percent of the eBay platform involves a mobile touchpoint, and 71 percent of items ship for free in the U.S., the UK, and Germany. Spending in video games increased 24 percent in the third quarter. How does this affect the toy industry? The video game and toy industries were always closely related. If you think back over the years, there were a number of character toys created that were licensed from video games, and video games that were built around existing character franchises, such as Disney. This past holiday season, for example, there were a number of licensed products based on the wildly successful video game Fortnite. The titles that are driving an increase in sales provides a resource for character and toy development for licensors that can act and manufacture quickly.
