Playthings editor Cliff Annicelli comments on toy-related news that's "interesting but not interesting enough that we'd actually write a whole story about it ourselves..." Recent Posts
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Most Commented OnArchivesJohn McCain's just not that into you
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on April 23, 2008
So much for voting Republican... The CPSC Reform Act Comes To A Head
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on March 6, 2008
The Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act (S.2663) is expected to come to a vote this week—possibly as early as today—in the U.S. Senate after being introduced in that body of Congress on Feb. 25. Nuremberg Toy Fair Day 3
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on February 10, 2008
With the crowds thinning out at the tail end of the weekend, I managed to make my way into some previously dismissive European power players today for a look around. By Sunday afternoon only Simba (home to Eichhorn, two iterations of Dickie and Nicotoys) still had a noticable throng in front of its booth (not counting the too-cool-for-school European divisions of Hasbro and Mattel). Today's highlight was Famosa, the so-called Mattel of Spain (so-called at least by me...I have a feeling Mattel is actually the Mattel of Spain, but it's just a feeling.)As expected, there were lots of baby dolls. I tend to cringe in horror at baby dolls but these weren't as nightmare inducing as one would expect. And there was a definite logic to the company's assortment of ages-and-stages based designs that essentially sees the company offer dolls of newborns, with newborn c...Read More Nuremberg Toy Fair Day 2
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on February 9, 2008
Finding trends at a show with more than 2,500 exhibiting companies is never easy and this year's Nuremberg Toy Fair is no exception. Yet, that's the task I set myself today and here's what I've found. Nuremberg Toy Fair Day 1
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on February 8, 2008
Greetings from the Spielwarenmesse, the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It's my third consecutive year here at the Western world's largest toy show, with its more than 80,000 visitors, 2,750 exhibitors and other impressively large stats. The highlight for me so far, it being only my first day here, is that the show is now 95 percent nicotine free thanks to Germany having joined the ranks of nations banning indoor smoking at the turn of the New Year. Not only can I see the rafters of Hall 11.1 for the first time—turns out they are a lovely pastel hue—but food tastes better cigarette-free after all. Apparently, those doctors were right ... China Syndrome
Posted by Cliff Annicelli on August 2, 2007
So, last time there was big recall news – RC2’s – I made it a point of taking both RC2 and the Toy Industry Association to task for what I considered overly cautious, in some cases evasive responses to the media. It’s good to see this recall handled considerably more proactively.
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