Women in Toys (WiT) is joining forces with Gen Con, the premier tabletop gaming convention on an exciting new partnership! The two groups will be collaborating on initiatives year-round, beginning with a WiT x Gen Con Women’s Gaming Network Open House in Indianapolis on August 3, 2023. Open to female industry professionals, the event takes place during Gen Con at the Westin Governor’s Suite, from 5:30-7:30pm. For more information and to register, visit the event page on the WiT website.

In a further tribute to the legendary Stan Lee as part of his 100th birthday celebration year, Kartoon Studios (NYSE AMERICAN: TOON), the controlling partner of “Stan Lee Universe, LLC” , will debut a first-ever exhibit, “Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee,” on Tuesday, July 18th, at the Comic-Con Museum, a division of the San Diego Comic Convention, located in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park. In advance of the annual San Diego Comic-Con (July 20 – 23), where Stan Lee appeared numerous times over the course of his 78-year career to delight his legions of fans, the new exhibit, which runs for eight months as part of the Comic-Con Museum, will feature never-before-seen items donated by auction houses and private collectors, including Heritage Auctions, DC Comics, Metropolis Comics, Gary Stiffelman, Dr. Michael Vassallo, Michael E. Uslan, Rob Prior, Danny Fingeroff, Benjamin LeClear, Mark Yturralde, Mark Ditko, Patrick Ditko, and Funko.

The People of Play (POP!), a leading community of toy industry professionals, and Happy Camper Live, the first 365-day online summer camp program offering hundreds of online and interactive activities for children, are excited to announce their partnership to bring the Young Inventor Challenge to the summer camp world. The Young Inventor Challenge is a unique competition designed to inspire and encourage creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills in children aged 6-18 years old. The competition invites young inventors to submit their original toy or game designs, which are then mentored and judged by industry experts.

Licensing Expo, the premier global event for licensing, IP, collaborations and brand extension, organized by Informa Markets Global Licensing Group and sponsored by industry association Licensing International, successfully concluded June 15 with nearly 12,000 unique attendees, a 13% increase on 2022’s total attendance and returning to numbers close to 2019’s pre-pandemic edition. The annual event also recorded the highest quality attendance to date, with 60% of visitors being C-suite or Director level executives alongside a record-high retail attendance, coming in at +47% vs 2019. Over 1,150 retailers attended including buyers from Walmart, Forever21, PacSun, Tilly’s, Toys ‘R’ Us, Ross, Rue 21, Hot Topic, Inditex, Dollar General, Bershka, Burger King, Hallmark, Macy’s, Amazon, Kohl’s, Target, Fanatics, TJX Companies Inc., Home Depot, Lush, Coach, Primark, and Pottery Barn.