Toy News

Sad to hear that Nikko UK has bitten the dust, with the loss of 18 people’s jobs. There will be plenty of speculation as to why it happened - poor management, increased competition and costs, or a mixture of all three.

It’s interesting because the RC sector has seen plenty of innovation in recent times and much of it has come from companies that haven’t traditionally specialised in the sector but have brought with them decent-sized marketing budgets and mass market thinking. It’s something other RC specialists are also having to deal with no doubt.
Let’s hope they can.

And on the same day that Nikko went down, Jumbo announced that it had been bought by De Monchy, which should see the games specialist end up with a much bigger portfolio with the inclusion of the Spanish Diset range in its line up. All good news for the UK market.

Changing tack again, I did hear some rumblings of discontent last year about Lego being unable to provide indies with stock and it seems to be an issue that has resurfaced again.

Clearly stock shortages are nothing new in the toy market but what seems to be upsetting independent retailers is that they feel that, while their shelves are empty, the major accounts aren’t and, gallingly, Lego’s own website sells direct too.

Are indies right to expect loyalty from a supplier if they support it all year round or is it simply a cold fact of life that the bigger orders will always take precedent? If indeed, that is what is happening.

One thing is certain, whilst it may not be too popular with certain sections of indie retail, Lego won’t be complaining too much about struggling to meet demand for its products. A phenomenon it was none too familiar with only a few short years ago.