Wyncor, the newly established global toy company committed to creating innovative and imaginative toys aligned with its intellectual properties and premium brands, proudly announces the appointment of two distinguished sales executives to join the company’s sales team. Ami Dieckman, a former executive at Entertainment One and Just Play, has been named Vice President of Sales for EMEA and APAC; and Steve Markey, a seasoned professional most recently with Hog Wild Toys, will lead sales efforts across North America and LATAM as VP of Sales, Americas. Both executives will report directly to Wyncor’s Chief Operating Officer, Helena Perheentupa.
Mattel, Inc (NASDAQ: MAT) has reported fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results. Ynon Kreiz, Chairman and CEO of Mattel, said: “2023 was a milestone year for Mattel. We extended our leadership in our key toy categories and gained significant share overall, achieved extraordinary success with the Barbie movie, and further strengthened our financial position.” Mr. Kreiz continued: “Execution on our toy strategy was strong and we made meaningful progress in entertainment across film, television, digital and publishing. We ended 2023 with the strongest balance sheet we have had in years, putting us in an excellent position to execute our strategy to grow Mattel’s IP-driven toy business and expand our entertainment offering. As we look to 2024, we believe we are very well positioned competitively and will continue to outpace the industry and gain market share.”
Wyncor, a new global toy company established with a mission to create and deliver innovative and creative toys for its own intellectual properties and premium brands, with products that are tied closely to their content’s DNA, has officially launched. Former Mattel executive Helena Perheentupa serves as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. At its core, Wyncor’s mission is to offer speed and flexibility to retailers and partners, best-in-class product development for alignment with partners’ IP content, and premium quality and innovative products to consumers. Wyncor works closely with partners’ creative teams to ensure that products are a natural extension of their content, offering a rich, immersive, and fun experience for their fans. Wyncor is owned by Jstar Capital.
It’s official! The National Toy Hall of Fame has inducted baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fisher Price Corn-Popper, and NERF for 2023. The Fisher-Price Corn Popper is the special, fourth inductee in honor of the hall’s 25th anniversary and was chosen by popular vote from a group of “Forgotten Five” finalists. All four toys have been enshrined and are on view at The Strong National Museum of Play, home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. “These four deserving inductees represent a great blend of types of play for people of all ages,” says Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections and chief curator. “Baseball cards encourage lifelong playing and collection. Cabbage Patch Kids continue to encourage imagination and storytelling for kids. Fisher-Price Corn Popper, which is a forgotten finalist no longer, is a great activity for toddlers. NERF toys are designed for indoor and outdoor activity, and they often find kids and grownups playing together. This is an excellent class to honor the 25th anniversary of the National Toy Hall of Fame.”
WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, and Mattel, Inc, owner of one of the strongest portfolios of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world, announce new-season greenlights for beloved kids’ shows Fireman Sam and Polly Pocket, based on the popular Mattel brands. WildBrain has also secured a multitude of new international distribution deals for previous seasons of both shows, in addition to new deals for beloved Mattel titles Bob the Builder and Little People. The new greenlights and distribution deals are part of a multi-year co-development, production, distribution and licensing agreement between Mattel and WildBrain.
TTPM, the leading video product reviewer for toys, baby gear & pet gear, unveiled their Most Wanted List of the hottest toys for the 2023 holiday season at their annual TTPM 2023 Holiday Showcase event, held in New York City. The list is divided into four categories to select the hottest products in Entertainment, Learning and Active Play, Role Play, and Specialty Trailblazers. “We put this list together as we do every year, testing and playing with hundreds of toys to determine which ones deserve a spot on our Most Wanted list,” said Jim Silver, CEO of TTPM. “This year’s list highlights toys based on entertainment properties and those that encourage both learning and active play and role play and imaginative play. We’ve also expanded our list, identifying ten toys that are specialty trailblazers that consumers may not be aware of. Our goal is to help parents find the right toy for their child and this year’s list is a perfect place to start.”
TTPM, the leader in video product reviews for toys, baby, and pet gear announced their Best of Baby 2023 List. The list features the best Baby Gear across 21 categories, designed to educate parents. “Parents look to us for recommendations on top products to help them make better shopping decisions. Our team takes this very seriously, putting countless hours of testing into all of the products across multiple categories,” said Jim Silver, CEO, TTPM. “With the amount of products coming to market every single year, we are happy to save parents the time in testing products themselves. That’s what the Best of Baby List is designed to do -these items are all TTPM approved, giving parents peace of mind and easy shopping.