Saturday, January 31, 2009

2009 Toy Show gets underway in London

It's a toy lovers playground at the ExCel exhibition center in London as the 2009 Toy Fair gets underway. Over the next three days thousands of toys, games and hobbies will be showcased to more than nine thousand industry professionals. This year's most wanted toy is almost certainly going to be robotic - and the cuddlier the better.

Singing, dancing, cuddly and robotic.

That's the buzz at this year's London Toy Fair.

From classic toys to the very latest fad there is something to suit every child - and lots of adults too - at the annual showcase for the British toy industry.

The fair is now in its 56th year. It gives manufacturers a chance to showcase the latest toys before they hit the stores.

The toy industry is worth four billion US dollars in the UK.

The market weathered a 2 percent fall in 2008, but Natasha Crookes of the British Toy and Hobby Association says the volume of sales actually increased by 7 percent and by 12 percent over the Christmas season.

Fighting the economic downturn is child's play for toy giant, Lego.

Despite an overall decline in the industry, the Danish toy maker celebrated growth of 51 percent in 2008.

Power Miners is Lego's latest range of simplistic models.

Six toys from the range were launched this month. A further three will be released in August.

A more cuddly competitor of the classic robot style is the Pembo.

Made by US based company Bossa Nova it lays an egg which 'hatches'.

It then communicates and plays games with its chick.

Traditional toys and games - particularly those adopting an ethical stance - have not lost their edge.

Model trains in particular are bearing up to the credit crunch with little effort.

That's according to Ian Garnham from Leicestershire based train model maker, Backmann Europe.

This model offers digital command control so that enthusiasts can control each train individually.

The Toy Fair runs from Wednesday 28th to Saturday 31st January 2009.





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