If you’re in the toy industry, you’ve probably heard of The Toy Association (TM). This non-profit organization is behind the glamorous Toy of the Year Awards and North American International Toy Fair, but they also promote the benefits of play on an international level. Here you’ll learn more about when it was founded, what The Toy Association does, and how you can use its resources to promote your toy business.
About The Toy Association
More than 100 years ago in 1916, The Toy Association, Inc. was founded to represent businesses that design, license, and produce toys for children of all ages. Currently, it has almost 1,000 members, which are active in the toy market in the United States. The toy industry has an economic impact of $110.9 billion, and The Toy Association controls a budget of about $20 million every year.
The Toy Association is a non-profit organization that is active in many different ways. Their prime objective is to be the industry’s voice on the developmental benefits of play. They do this mostly through their Genius of Play initiative, aiming to reach children of all ages. The program educates parents and teachers on how to engage with children through play to help them grow, learn, and become the person they are meant to be.
Safety is a big concern for The Toy Association. They help develop safety standards and work with medical experts, the government, consumers, and the industry to ensure that toys are safe for children. They have been worldwide leaders of toy safety standards for more than 40 years and use sites such as PlaySafe.org to reach out and educate.
The Toy Association is active in advocating on behalf of its members. They are responsible for putting up the North American International Toy Fair and Fall Toy Preview every year, which are events that are attended by thousands of people. Additionally, they offer lots of resources for their members.
Resources
One of the ways The Toy Association helps its members is by providing a wealth of resources, programs, and information. Whether you want to connect with other members through the directory or find support for inventing and designing new toys, you can find it through their resources page. You can also connect to other experts in the industry or sign up for the Credit Interchange Program.
The Toy Association is determined to take the lead in global toy matters, too. They chair the committee that reviews and revises America’s ASTM F963 toy safety standard. They also act as a secretariat for the International Council of Toy Industries and the International Toy Industry CEO Roundtable.
Events
The Toy Association excels in bringing members of the industry together. The next Toy Fair takes place from February 16-19, 2019 in New York. At this international Toy Fair manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributers come together to show off their products. Here’s a recap of what happened at the Toy Fair 2018.
The Fall Toy Preview gives manufacturers and retailers a chance to meet in one place and preview the new collection. The next Fall Toy Preview will take place from October 2-4 in Dallas, Texas. The Toy Association also hosts the Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. Each year in November, TOTY names the finalists, and in February of the following here there is a Toy of the Year award winner as well as a People’s Choice winner. Both are announced at an awards ceremony that precedes the North American International Toy Fair.
Giving Back
The Toy Association acts as a champion for the benefits of play, but they also reach out to the less fortunate ones. The Toy Bank program is set up to deliver toys to children facing unimaginable hardships and bringing smiles to millions of kids. Since children learn through and live for play, it’s only right that they should have access to the toys that will bring them joy. The members of The Toy Association allow The Toy Foundation to run the Toy Bank program every year.
License 2 Play Is a Member
License 2 Play is one of the members of The Toy Association. You can find us in the member directory of The Toy Association. Much like their mission statement, License 2 Play is determined to help you make toys available to your customers while helping your business prosper. We pride ourselves on our wide selection of wholesale toys with an emphasis on new, popular, and novelty items.