Toy Association’s Kimberly Carcone Discusses Buildup for Dallas & Reimagined Toy Fair ’23 on “The Playground Podcast”

September 8, 2022 | The Toy Association’s Kimberly Carcone, executive vice president of global market events, joined “The Playground Podcast” this week to talk about the ever-evolving landscape of the business of play and how Toy Fair is evolving with it.

During her chat with Christopher Byrne, aka The Toy Guy, and Richard Gottlieb, president of Global Toy Experts, Carcone provided insights into the “reimagination” of Toy Fair, taking place September 30 to October 3, 2023, and what it means for the toy and play community. While the new fall timeframe reflects the realities of shifting buying cycles and accelerated delivery timelines, Carcone stressed that Toy Fair will continue to serve all audiences, thanks to initiatives like the show’s growing educational programming, a new Visual Merchandising Initiative, and the Toy Fair Reimagination Exhibit Design Awards. (Stay tuned for more information on these initiatives in the coming weeks.)

“Whatever your place in the play ecosystem— inventor, designer, manufacturer, buyer, distributor, entertainment executive — Toy Fair remains the place for building strategic partnerships, discovering the new big trends, and strengthening your business in the financial and media capital of the world,” said Carcone. “The reimagining of Toy Fair offers so many things, not only because of the time of year, which is so substantial, but in how we engage with one another, how we learn, how we teach one another, and, hopefully, it will also feed that ‘it’ factor that we all look for at Toy Fair.”

The conversation also touched on the excitement building up to The Toy Association’s 2023 Preview & 2022 Holiday Market, taking place September 20 to 22 in Dallas, TX. The show’s hybrid format, which offers exhibitors a dual opportunity to present this year’s holiday product and host private meetings for 2023, will give attendees a preview of the types of business opportunities that await at Toy Fair 2023.

Listen to the full episode here.

The application period for returning Toy Fair exhibitors who exhibited in 2020 or were contracted to exhibit at the 2022 show is now open through September 30. General exhibit sales will open in October. Companies should contact their account executive, Simon Yung (A–G), Stacy Liebensohn (H–P), or Michael Lynch (Q–Z), for more information.

“The Playground Podcast” covers toys, culture, and toy history, and talks with some of the leading people in the business of toys and children’s entertainment. The podcast is available on multiple streaming services, including Apple Podcasts, Anchor.fm, Google Podcasts, Radio Public, Spotify, and Stitcher.