NY 2016 Toy Fair

Well everyone keeps asking how was NY 2016 Toy Fair and what was new!? I am happy to report despite the record breaking cold weather on the weekend NY Toy Fair was a bustling hive of activity!  Nothing is more dismal then a trade show with empty isles and bored staffing. NY Toy Fair 2016 HallWhen I scan the articles showing up this week about Toy Fair it is obvious that the answer to what is new depends on what niche the writer belongs… I look for classic and well designed toys that support the gallery theme shows so overlook some of the more popular categories such as action figures (which was always jammed pack and had the most concentration of suits at the show) and electronics (thou I did stop and play with a few). In the section with more classic toys and pre-school ADULT COLOR BOOKs were being pushed everywhere!! I don’t really get it since we have always had color books that looked geared more for adults than kids and it has not been a big deal. Following trend I added more styles starting with the March Kaleidoscope show with hardcover Fractal and a Mandala book and a few more but did not go crazy.

I found a beautiful line of wood toys from Poland that were made for pre-school but I thought would be lovely for any adult as a “design element” for home or office.

Polish pulltoyBetsy took a spin on a walking zebra which looked like fun only to find it was just a sample for Toy Fair and only kid size was available … we still had fun with it!

Betsy riding Zebra Toy Fair 2016

Ok so the big deal was ADULT coloring books! Get your creative hat on.