Last week, “The Chronicles of Piercing Ken” was in attendance for the first-ever Toy Insider “Spring Fling” Toy Preview. I shared the news about attending that same day over on Ken Pierce Media (HERE) and mentioned in that post that I wasn’t sure where the overall coverage was going to run. As it turned out, most of the products that I saw across the exploration would end up bein more suitable over here on “The Chronicles” with only a small bit of products falling under what the readers of PiercingMetal might expect. The new event would be held at a brand-new event space called Lavan Midtown. It was located way down on 42nd Street and I hadn’t been here before so was looking forward to it. When I arrived there were already a lot of people waiting to get in. The Toy Insider events are not open to the general public and fall under more of a trade show vibe and they invite a number of the “Influencer” crowd and some members of the press which is where we come in. Let’s get this party started.

Once inside and past the friendly signage it was time to get that exploring done. I am always curious about a new event since one never knows what to expect and this even applies to me who considers himself to be a pretty resourceful and seasoned convention and trade show attendee. In addtion to the Toy Insider events, I’ve been attending New York Comic Con, Toy Fair, NY Now and The New York International Auto Show as media for years. One gets good at this kind of stuff after all those shows but I digress. This is about The Spring Fling and not myself ;p

All of the attending exhibitors were lined out on the display screen and my goal today was to see as many of them if not all during the time we had. This was not an all day affair but only a few hours.

Behold the latest issues of “The Toy Book” and if you are in the industry of toys or just marketing them to the masses, this is your Bible. You can’t tell from the image but this is a hefty volume and about an inch thick. That’s a lot of toy coverage for sure. I’ll link to their official site at the close for you to peruse if there is a digital version.

My first stop would be the folks at Moose Toys who had a very fun game called “Pickleball Blast”.

The idea behind “Pickleball Blast” is to sink the pickle into one of the three barrels by using these paddles. It’s an easy and fun game and I made sure to do a video for it that you can enjoy on our YouTube Channel. I had a lot of fun trying this one out and I think its a good gift for a wide age range. I’ve never played the real pickleball but I’m told its quite different from this one.

Another highlight of the Moose Games section was the Pickle Bar. Yes they had jars and jars of pickles for the attendees to take home if they were interested. I’m a fan of spicy and sour so I went for those. They were not open for people to try and instead sealed in smallish jars. They came care of The Pickle Guys so kudos to them for making them.

Now it was time to get inside the main expo floor section of Lavan Midtown. Spatially speaking this was not too large a setup and felt just shy of the Current space that Toy Insider uses for their annual “Holiday Of Play” event. They had a number of cool photo ops spots and a full Easter gifts table. After the show I realized I had not done a video of the section but there is only so much time in the day at this stuff.

My next stop would be the wonderful Just Play Products folks. They always have something awesome being presented and I always enjoy catching up with their team after all these years talking about them.

So a few short years ago they began releasing Disney Doorables and now with a “Star Wars” license firmly in their hands, we find the Star Wars Doorables and associated plush and sets. Take a look at what was here at the Spring Fling Toy Preview.

I grew up on “Star Wars” and I know that many of you say that you did as well but I feel I have many trumped since I saw the film on its opening weekend or close to that time at the Ziegfield Theatre with my amazing grandmother. Talk about a long time ago in a galaxy far away but I digress. Oh yeah, I must have that Vader plushie. Must!

I loved the little vehicle sets and again lean the love on the Vader one. He is sitting in a unique landspeeder, TIE Fighter combination.

I neglected to photograph the little Death Stars that some of the Star Wars Doorables come in but that is rather cool as well. While these are def geared to the younger generation of fans of the franchise, I can see the elders like myself wanting them for desk and bookshelf displays.

Just Play also had their “Super Kitties” and their Fur Real Poopalots on display but you only get a single photo of each since I had a lot of ground to cover.

Our friends at Playmobil had a smaller setup this time around but based on the sizes of their sets and figurines it didn’t matter. This used to be an almost exclusively younger generation type of company but over the last few years they have delved into the adult collector with things like “Back To The Future”, “Magnum PI”, “Knight Rider”, “Scooby Doo”, “Ghostbusters” and more.

One of the newest awesome to arrive is the “Miraculous Ladybug” stuff. I have younger cousins that adore this franchise but I have to admit that as a lifelong comic book and superhero fan I think its pretty cool myself. I’d like to get a pair of the main character and her crime fighting companion. Good stuff and very nicely laid out.

Spin Master always has a great batch of products to peruse and while I love their DC Comics action figure line, none of these were on display today. Of course if they were that would be the kind of thing listed over on PiercingMetal since we geek out on that over there on a regular basis. They had some cool and of course challenging Rubik’s Cube items.

They are well-known for their “Hatchimals” line and these smaller versions will likely fly off the shelves.

Fans of the super squishy Kinetic Sand have a new way to play with the stuff.

The Paw Patrol franchise has a good home with Spin Master and every friend with a family member of the appropriate age go bonkers over the products that come out. I think this is pretty awesome as well because there are plenty of characters and a lot of awesome vehicles for them to play with as well. Keep it up Spin Master.

This was my very first time seeing the Deddy Bears and I am going to assume that its a brand-new offering. Sadly by the time I got to this table I was running short on the remaining event time. So some quick snaps of their collection that features monstrous little cuddly critters with names like “Bundle”, “Bones” and “Zombear”. Hoping that I see them again and can do a more in-depth report.

A brief visit to our friends at WowWee found me discovering their “Sweet Tweets” line. These are cute and if you are a fan of their already mega-popular “Fingerlings”, then its a safe assumption that you will also love these.

I talked about the Sandoichies in a post from a different event so I was glad to see them here with the Toy Insider folks. This super cute brand is aimed at all fans of collectible and tradeable plushies who are also foodies. The ticking clock kept me at bay on this table as well. There is always next time. I hope so at least.

That’s going to wrap up this installment from the Toy Insider “Spring Fling” Toy Preview for 2024. I hope you like the way that I did this one, since I tried to be company focused as opposed to just random walking about. I have some more to share with you so please stay tuned for that one and also there will be videos premiering on our YouTube Channel. While you wait, I encourage participation on our Social Media platforms which can all be found on our Linktree by clicking HERE. See you again soon.

Official: https://www.thetoyinsider.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetoyinsider
Official: https://www.moosetoys.com/
Official: https://justplayproducts.com/
Official: https://www.playmobil.com/
Official: https://www.spinmaster.com/
Official: https://www.deddybears.com/
Official: https://wowwee.com/
Official: https://thesandoichis.com/