Year: 2024

Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment (WiT) is excited to announce the launch of the Tabletop Gaming Learning Community (TLC), a new initiative building on the success of the  Sustainability Learning Community (SLC) in 2022.  The TLC aims to create an inclusive and supportive space for women working in, or aspiring to enter the tabletop gaming industry, facilitating collaboration, learning and growth. Led by seasoned tabletop industry professionals, the community will harness diverse talents and insights of its members to explore trends, tackle challenges, celebrate successes, and champion impactful change within the industry. Its mission is powerfully focused on inspiring and supporting new generations of women to join the tabletop gaming community and cultivate future industry leaders.

Polestar, the Swedish electric performance car brand, is launching its 2024 Design Contest in collaboration with Mattel’s Hot Wheels Brand, one of the number-one selling toys in the world. This year’s contest brief invites designers to surprise and thrill the judges with submissions propelled by the imagination of their youth. Weaving Polestar’s design DNA into their vision of the ultimate Hot Wheels collectible promises the most extreme edition of the Polestar Design Contest to date. The winning design is planned to become part of the Hot Wheels offering, available for purchase across the world, as the first Hot Wheels x Polestar vehicle to be produced as part of a wider partnership with Polestar production models.

Dart Zone is energizing the new year, and industry standards, with exciting updates and advancements to its highly successful Tactical Strike line of blasters – bringing new and improved adjustments to the Nexus and Aeon Pro X by Adventure Force. In 2020, Dart Zone and Adventure Force pioneered the half-length pro dart category for players 14 years and up. Four years later, the revamped blasters were unveiled at Spielwarenmesse in January and will be available for purchase exclusively at Walmart mid-April at the same price points the popular, original Pro blasters were sold while packed with industry leading upgrades.

Claire’s Holdings LLC, the global fashion brand powerhouse known for its curation of fun, fashionable jewelry and accessories and industry-leading piercing services, has appointed global licensing leader IMG as its first-ever exclusive licensing partner. IMG will deliver Claire’s branded products in new categories building upon existing touchpoints among Claire’s beloved customers while further expanding its distribution footprint and geographic coverage. Under the multi-year agreement, IMG will bring to market complementary products that support Claire’s brand purpose to inspire self-expression and individuality. The licensing program will extend across the globe with a focus on categories ranging from apparel, fashion accessories, room decor, and other lifestyle and special occasion products for Gen Alpha, Gen Z and beyond. The licensed products will align with Claire’s current positioning with an offering that is accessible in style, price, and distribution.

ICTI Ethical Toy Program (IETP) has announced that it will become known as the Ethical Supply Chain Program (ESCP). The global non-profit is recognized as a leading expert in social compliance and labor standards, widely known for its robust Supplier Certification Program, alongside its Social Impact Assessment, Environmental Assessment, supplier capability building and worker wellbeing initiatives. Over the course of its 20-year history, IETP has used its expertise to engineer a program which has become relevant and applicable to a wide range of sectors. The new brand will be phased in over the course of 2024, as part of the organization’s wider global strategy to diversify into new sectors, develop new services and operate in new locations.

Moose Games, the gaming innovation division of award-winning Moose Toys, announced the launch of Pickleball Blast, a family board game that puts a new spin on America’s fastest growing sport, pickleball. A first-of-its-kind pickleball showdown where players always have the home court advantage, Pickleball Blast will launch exclusively at Target stores nationwide and online on February 18, with expanded retail rollout in the fall. “Pickleball Blast is the newest proof point of Moose Games’ innovation and our keen ability to spot trends. It capitalizes on pickleball’s place in pop culture and offers the lively game play of the sport in whole new way,” said David Norman, president, Moose Games. “Our team has put a great ‘dill’ of creativity into reinterpreting the incredible enthusiasm for the sport and it’s sure to score big with fans of the sport and board games alike. We look forward to ‘relishing’ in its success and continuing to win big in the games category.”