Disney at HoliDAY of Play 2015
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the HoliDAY of Play 2015, put on annually by The Toy Insider and Women’s Day Magazine. At the event, influencial bloggers and press gather to visit with some of the top toy companies and look at some of the hottest toys for the upcoming holiday season. In addition, The Toy Insider’s Hot 20, Top Tech 12, and new STEM 10 toys for the season are on display. As per the norm, Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars were there in force, at both the company displays and the top holiday gift lists. Let’s take a look at the fun Disney stuff at HoliDAY of Play.
Hot 20
One of the most trusted top toy holiday lists out there is the Toy Insider’s Hot 20. As I reported earlier this month, Disney merchandise took six of the twenty spots this season, the most of any brand (guess it helps that they own Marvel and Star Wars as well). At the HoliDAY of Play, a majority of the Hot 20 toys were on hand for guests to look at and/or play with.
STEM 10
As part of a new top list for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) toys, the STEM 10 this year included one Disney item: Disney Imagicademy Mickey’s Rocket Builder.
TOMY
One of the companies on hand at the event was TOMY, who I always enjoy meeting with. Back at Toy Fair, and then again at Sweet Suite and D23, I was teased with info and teaser images of The Good Dinosaur toys, which are part of a larger release of movie themed merchandise from a lot of Disney partners. Finally here at HoliDAY of Play, I was able to take a look at some of the high quality toys coming to stores from TOMY, including action figures ranging from $4.99 to $19.99, and Galloping Butch, which is the feature figure in this line, priced at $39.99. I personally love the looks of these figures, and I cannot wait for the movie to come out.
Also on hand were the quite popular Inside Out plush, which I had the pleasure of reviewing a few of last month, and the Miles from Tomorrowland toys, which have been flying off the shelves. We previous saw both lines highlighted at both Toy Fair and, more recently, Sweet Suite.
Jakks Pacific
Also on hand at HoliDAY of Play was Jakks Pacific, who brought with them items spanning all of the Disney three major properties. For Disney, they had on display their Hot 20 Sing-a-long Elsa Doll, as well as their newest Ariel Doll, and a Frozen musical jewelry box, which comes with a heart shaped ring.
On the Star Wars front, Jakks brought with them examples from their dolls lines. On display were examples from their 20″, 30″, and 48″ Battle Buddy lines.
For Marvel, the Hulk Smash RC car looked great. I actually might pick this one up for myself to have fun around work during lunch hours.
Spin Master
Finally, Spin Master was there this year with two awesome Star Wars products. First up is Legendary Jedi Master Yoda, an interactive toy that teaches you the ways of the Force and lightsaber combat, as well as being an all wise seer. I had the chance of seeing Yoda in action with the lightsaber “BATTLE” mode, and it was pretty cool. At $179.99, he might be a little pricey for some of you, but he is a great interactive toy for those Star Wars fans out there.
Also on hand was the very fun Air Hogs Millennium Falcon Quad , which uses four remote controlled fans to fly into the air. Made of a high-density foam material, it is quite durable, and flew pretty nice in the showroom, especially for the space given. At $109.99, I could easily see a lot of kids and adults wanting this for the holidays.
Well, there you have it. All of the fun Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars items from the floor of last week’s HoliDAY of Play. I would like to thank the team at The Toy Insider for once again inviting me to take part. I have such a blast at all of their events (they also host Blogger Bash each year in NYC), and I look forward to working with them more in the future.
Out of all the things seen at HoliDAY of Play, which ones are you most excited for? Any you are hoping to get for the holidays? Let us know.