Toy Fair New York Brings Big Numbers; Dates Set for 2020

Another installment of Toy Fair New York is behind us, and we’re already looking ahead to the next one. The Toy Association has the 117th North American International Toy Fair set to take place one week later than usual — from Saturday, Feb. 22 to Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. As always, The Toy Book had a major presence at this year’s event, marked by the release of its biggest issue of the year — the annual Toy Fair edition.

Recapping this year, Toy Fair brought together more than 26,000 professionals from 98 countries for the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere. With exhibits spanning more than eight football fields, toymakers showcased hundreds of thousands of new toys and games across 447,300 net square feet of exhibit space.

“Buyers from around the world, and toy, play, and licensing professionals came to unleash their outer business executive and inner child at this year’s Toy Fair New York!” says Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Toy Association. “With a sold-out, energetic show, every square inch of the Javits Center was used for order-writing, networking, trend-spotting, professional development opportunities, in-booth demos and reveals, and much more. Toy Fair New York is the gateway to toy aisles this holiday season, and drives the $28 billion U.S. toy market and influences markets around the world.”

Toy Fair New York 2019 by the Numbers:

1,038 exhibiting companies
8,300+ retail buyers
3,000 retail outlets represented
22 of the top 25 toy sellers in the U.S. attended
10,600 retailers, wholesalers, entertainment executives, importers, and buying groups in attendance.
Nearly 1,000 print journalists, broadcast reporters, YouTube influencers, and bloggers attended.
191,000,000+ impressions of the #TFNY official hashtag over four days.
97,000+ social media posts during the show.
30+ educational sessions, presentations, and workshops, including the Creative Factor educational series.

Top Five Countries Not Including the U.S. & Canada:

China
United Kingdom
Hong Kong
Mexico
Japan

The Toy Association’s annual long-lead marketplace, Toy Fair Dallas, will take place October 2 to 4, 2019 in Dallas, Texas.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.