Latest news with #toyindustry
Entrepreneur
28-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
From DIY Prototype to 3 Million Units Sold — How To Launch a Product Without Big Backing
Meet the founder of Ollyball and get expert advice on turning a simple idea into a business that sells millions. Joe Burke, founder of Ollyball, is revealing how he turned a simple kitchen-table idea into a toy that has sold over 3 million units. This exclusive Entrepreneur+ Subscriber-Only event is live on Wednesday, May 28 at 2 p.m. ET — subscribers, scroll down to watch the full Q&A. Not an Entrepreneur+ member yet? There's still time! Click here to subscribe for just $5. Cancel anytime. Burke built his business without big investors or costly ads. In this session, he'll share the key storytelling, publicity, and mindset strategies that helped him grow Ollyball into a national retail success. Watch now About the Speaker: Joe Burke invented and holds two Utility Patents for Ollyball®, Winner of a Toy of the Year and seven national and international awards. Burke founded the company for his family in 2019 and Ollyball has grown to the #1 Indoor Play Ball in America. Ollyball has been featured on the National CBS Morning Show, is available at major retail stores across 12 countries, and has made eight live appearances on QVC. Burke is the former Brand Director of Disney Stores and VP at Goodwill Industries, but started his first company at the age of 21 on a borrowed card table and metal chair. Hylan Scholarship recipient at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, and NCAA athlete. Husband to Ellen Burke, an Autism and Behavioral Specialist, and father of their three children.
Khaleej Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
India's $3 billion toy story: From import dependence to export growth
The Indian toy industry, undergoing a remarkable metamorphosis from reliance on overseas merchandise to a burgeoning exporter, is poised for exponential growth, and the 16th Toy Biz International B2B Exhibition will serve as a prominent showcase of this thriving domain. Once heavily reliant on playthings from abroad, India's toy narrative is now a compelling saga of astute governmental strategies and an expanding domestic production ecosystem, evidenced by a striking 239 per cent upswing in exports over the past decade. This sea change, underscored by a substantial 52 per cent contraction in imports during the same period, establishes the groundwork for an even more dynamic Toy Biz 2025, slated for July 4-7 at New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam (Pragati Maidan). Propelled by governmental initiatives such as amplified tariffs on inbound shipments (escalating from 20 per cent to 70 per cent between FY20 and FY24) and stringent Quality Control Orders (QCO) enacted in January 2021, India's toy sector is experiencing a resurgence. These interventions have palpably reshaped trade patterns, culminating in a 27 per cent diminution in overall toy imports between FY19 and FY24, notably impacting commerce with China, whose share of India's toy procurements plummeted from a dominant 93 per cent in FY18 to a mere 64 per cent in FY24. The government's dedication to nurturing a robust indigenous toy manufacturing foundation is further emphasisd by the National Action Plan for Toys (2020), which endeavours to galvanise local production, champion homegrown toys,brands like Ok Play, Jammbo, Playgro, ToyPlus, Ankit Toys, Smartivity, Funskool, Girnar, Funzoo Toys, Frank, Skillmatics, Olympia Games & Toys, Toysmith, Panda, Young Wheels and harness playthings as educational instruments. The recent pronouncement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding a novel scheme to fortify the toy manufacturing ecosystem signals an even more vigorous impetus to position India as a preeminent global toy hub. The forthcoming Toy Biz 2025 will furnish a crucial platform to witness this transformation firsthand. The exposition anticipates hosting nearly 400 Indian brands, a noteworthy surge from the 360 enterprises that participated in the preceding edition, all eager to display the nation's evolving toy production prowess. This presents an unparalleled opportunity for international procurers to source inventive and premium-quality toys directly from Indian manufacturers. 'The Indian toy industry's odyssey from import dependence to an ascending export market stands as a testament to judicious strategies and the intrinsic dynamism within the nation,' said Ajay Aggarwal, President of the Toy Association of India. 'Toy Biz 2025 will not only underscore the impressive expansion in domestic manufacturing but also accentuate the escalating emphasis on excellence, innovation, and safety benchmarks. With an objective of over 450 participating brands this year and a strong commitment to facilitating global collaborations, we are sanguine that Toy Biz will be instrumental in propelling India onto the global toy stage.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This gremlin-looking toy from China is proving to be tariff-proof
Naomi Lin's favorite high-end accessory is wildly popular, an acquired taste, and shockingly resilient in the face of a tariff onslaught. No, it's not Manolos or the latest offering from Prada — it's a gremlin-like plush. It's a Labubu, a palm-sized Nordic elf with bright eyes, sharp teeth and puckish grin. Lin, a medical student in Nebraska, owns dozens — and the one attached to her Chanel bag is dressed to the nines in a tweed outfit, matching headband and a mini 'Chanel' purse. And Lin isn't the only one captivated by Labubus' ugly charm. Labubus are cute in the sense that they're soft, miniature and come in a range of costumes you'd dress your baby in — a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, or a tiny pair of denim overalls. But they have glowering eyes and a jagged, sharp-toothed smile from ear to ear, an unblinking stare that would terrify anyone who caught its gaze in the middle of the night. The impish yet cute plushies are a global sensation among Gen Z and even those older, often hanging on handbags, backpacks and belt loops. People are flocking to shopping malls and waiting hours to purchase Labubus and their fellow creatures, who first appeared in 'The Monsters' storybooks in 2015, in mystery 'blind boxes,' meaning the buyer doesn't know which one they're getting in a given collection. The plushies' distributor, China-based toy company Pop Mart, is enjoying meteoric growth both in the mainland and abroad in the US: In 2024, Labubus generated 3 billion yuan ($410 million) of Pop Mart's 13.04 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in revenue. Labubus and other figurines distributed by the company have so far proven resistant to the tepid consumer sentiment in the US and the chaotic trade war between Washington and Beijing — and that growth hasn't slowed. But it's not just the size of the company's sales, it's their growth rate that's more impressive. Pop Mart's revenue outside China skyrocketed 375.2% to 5.07 billion yuan ($703 million) in 2024, and Citigroup research estimated Pop Mart's revenue in America grew between 895% to 900% last year. Offline, Pop Mart's brick-and-mortar stores from Los Angeles to Paris to Bangkok have infamously long lines, especially when new products are released. The growth is also fueled by a plethora of other figurines — there's Baby Molly, Crybaby, Dimoo, Pucky and at least 30 more on the company's US website. If you're lucky enough to snag a Labubu, they can cost up to $85. Resellers on StockX are upcharging into the hundreds of dollars. And their fans are willing to splurge. Lin shelled out hundreds and spent hours on a TikTok Live to secure a Zimomo, a 22-inch creature with a spiked tail. 'It's in high demand, so it would be on par with a luxury item,' Lin said. Lin is not the only member of her family who is Pop Mart-obsessed. Her father, who bought Lin and her sister their first Labubus while visiting Taiwan, has a Crybaby plush on his suitcase. The meteoric growth of Pop Mart speaks to a larger history of Americans being attached to cute things from Asia (remember Hello Kitty?), Anne Cheng, an English professor at Princeton University, told CNN. Despite the push toward US-made products and the proliferation of anti-Asian sentiment during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the growth trajectory for these toys just keeps going. Cheng said there's always been hypocrisy in the US, where Asian people have faced bigoted stereotypes, but when the products they make 'come in little boxable, consumable small bits, then they're accessible.' The little gremlins, baby and creature keychains also offer a glimpse into luxury that is more attainable for most consumers. Celebrities have played a big role in making them a status symbol. K-pop megastar Lisa told Vanity Fair she got into blind boxes in early 2024 and 'spent all my money' while jet-setting to different Pop Mart locations around the world. Oh, and Rihanna has a Labubu too. Some Labubu collections are certainly reminiscent of past crazes. But compared to luxurious collectibles, like say, designer bags or watches, toys that cost an average of $20 to $40 are not as expensive, and in uncertain times, people are looking for affordable indulgences. People are 'looking for a fix and looking for anything to bring them joy,' said Ali Domrongchai, a food editor in New York City who just received her first Labubu as a gift this past year. Blind boxes are nothing new. The idea of buying something without knowing precisely what the package contains has driven many a craze, from baseball cards to video games. And the toy collective fanatics echo the Beanie Baby mania of the '90s, or what it felt like checking which McDonald's Happy Meal you got. Consumers who spoke to CNN all compared the immediate joy of opening a blind box to the high of gambling. China was so concerned about addiction that in 2023, it introduced strict regulation banning the sale of mystery boxes to children under 8 years old and requiring guardian consent for children who are older. 'It plays into your desire for collecting things, then you keep buying them,' Cheng said. Pop Mart, like the majority of the toy industry, will almost certainly be impacted by President Donald Trump's trade war with China. The US and China reached a 90-day truce this month, when the US lowered its 145% tariffs on most Chinese imports to 30%, and China reduced its 125% retaliatory tariffs to 10%. On its FAQ page, Pop Mart said that it will cover tariff-induced costs and that 'customers will not be required to pay any additional customs fees.' But its latest release in April, a tie-dyed line of pastel-colored Labubus, cost $27.99 – $6 more than the previous one. CNN has reached out to Pop Mart for more details on how it plans to cover those tariff fees. Citigroup said it expects the company to accelerate diversifying its supply chain and raise prices in the US market, or prioritize expanding in other countries. In the meantime, Pop Mart's stock, listed in Hong Kong, has been outperforming Tencent and Alibaba since the year began. For those who can't get their hands on a real Labubu, there are knock-offs — often called lafufus or fauxbubus — but they'll often have lower-quality fur or a slightly misshapen smile. And blind boxes aren't exclusive to Pop Mart. Cute, kitschy items are a staple of East Asian culture, and Asian discount stores like Miniso and Daiso, which combined have hundreds of locations in the US, sell highly coveted blind box toys for under $5. And the bigger the market gets, the more likely it is that competitors will arise in China, the Citigroup analysts warned. And Lin's Labubu, for the record, is not decked out in real Chanel. The toy's outfit is from AliExpress, a source of cheap accessories for many Labubu fans. Domrongchai, the food editor in New York City, has been tuned into the hype: Her octogenarian great aunts have Labubus attached to their Louis Vuitton purses. And on a trip to visit family in Thailand last year, she visited 'almost every mall in Bangkok' with her younger cousin to scour for the famous plush. But it was nowhere to be found, and $40 dollars for a toy is 'an ungodly amount' for Thailand. Even for those who have managed to avoid the pull of the devilish smirk of a Labubu, there's always a growing fan base attempting to turn them to the dark side. When a CNN reporter, a self proclaimed Sanrio and Miffy fan, confessed she found the monsters more unsettling than cute, Domrongchai was quick to encourage her: 'They're not that scary. They're silly guys. Look, you need to spend some time with them.' 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CNN
17-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Labubu: The gremlin-looking doll from China is proving to be tariff-proof
Naomi Lin's favorite high-end accessory is wildly popular, an acquired taste, and shockingly resilient in the face of a tariff onslaught. No, it's not Manolos or the latest offering from Prada — it's a gremlin-like plush. It's a Labubu, a palm-sized Nordic elf with bright eyes, sharp teeth and puckish grin. Lin, a medical student in Nebraska, owns dozens — and the one attached to her Chanel bag is dressed to the nines in a tweed outfit, matching headband and a mini 'Chanel' purse. And Lin isn't the only one captivated by Labubus' ugly charm. Labubus are cute in the sense that they're soft, miniature and come in a range of costumes you'd dress your baby in — a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, or a tiny pair of denim overalls. But they have glowering eyes and a jagged, sharp-toothed smile from ear to ear, an unblinking stare that would terrify anyone who caught its gaze in the middle of the night. The impish yet cute plushies are a global sensation among Gen Z and even those older, often hanging on handbags, backpacks and belt loops. People are flocking to shopping malls and waiting hours to purchase Labubus and their fellow creatures, who first appeared in 'The Monsters' storybooks in 2015, in mystery 'blind boxes,' meaning the buyer doesn't know which one they're getting in a given collection. The plushies' distributor, China-based toy company Pop Mart, is enjoying meteoric growth both in the mainland and abroad in the US: In 2024, Labubus generated 3 billion yuan ($410 million) of Pop Mart's 13.04 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in revenue. Labubus and other figurines distributed by the company have so far proven resistant to the tepid consumer sentiment in the US and the chaotic trade war between Washington and Beijing — and that growth hasn't slowed. But it's not just the size of the company's sales, it's their growth rate that's more impressive. Pop Mart's revenue outside China skyrocketed 375.2% to 5.07 billion yuan ($703 million) in 2024, and Citigroup research estimated Pop Mart's revenue in America grew between 895% to 900% last year. Offline, Pop Mart's brick-and-mortar stores from Los Angeles to Paris to Bangkok have infamously long lines, especially when new products are released. The growth is also fueled by a plethora of other figurines — there's Baby Molly, Crybaby, Dimoo, Pucky and at least 30 more on the company's US website. If you're lucky enough to snag a Labubu, they can cost up to $85. Resellers on StockX are upcharging into the hundreds of dollars. And their fans are willing to splurge. Lin shelled out hundreds and spent hours on a TikTok Live to secure a Zimomo, a 22-inch creature with a spiked tail. 'It's in high demand, so it would be on par with a luxury item,' Lin said. Lin is not the only member of her family who is Pop Mart-obsessed. Her father, who bought Lin and her sister their first Labubus while visiting Taiwan, has a Crybaby plush on his suitcase. The meteoric growth of Pop Mart speaks to a larger history of Americans being attached to cute things from Asia (remember Hello Kitty?), Anne Cheng, an English professor at Princeton University, told CNN. Despite the push toward US-made products and the proliferation of anti-Asian sentiment during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the growth trajectory for these toys just keeps going. Cheng said there's always been hypocrisy in the US, where Asian people have faced bigoted stereotypes, but when the products they make 'come in little boxable, consumable small bits, then they're accessible.' The little gremlins, baby and creature keychains also offer a glimpse into luxury that is more attainable for most consumers. Celebrities have played a big role in making them a status symbol. K-pop megastar Lisa told Vanity Fair she got into blind boxes in early 2024 and 'spent all my money' while jet-setting to different Pop Mart locations around the world. Oh, and Rihanna has a Labubu too. Some Labubu collections are certainly reminiscent of past crazes. But compared to luxurious collectibles, like say, designer bags or watches, toys that cost an average of $20 to $40 are not as expensive, and in uncertain times, people are looking for affordable indulgences. People are 'looking for a fix and looking for anything to bring them joy,' said Ali Domrongchai, a food editor in New York City who just received her first Labubu as a gift this past year. Blind boxes are nothing new. The idea of buying something without knowing precisely what the package contains has driven many a craze, from baseball cards to video games. And the toy collective fanatics echo the Beanie Baby mania of the '90s, or what it felt like checking which McDonald's Happy Meal you got. Consumers who spoke to CNN all compared the immediate joy of opening a blind box to the high of gambling. China was so concerned about addiction that in 2023, it introduced strict regulation banning the sale of mystery boxes to children under 8 years old and requiring guardian consent for children who are older. 'It plays into your desire for collecting things, then you keep buying them,' Cheng said. Pop Mart, like the majority of the toy industry, will almost certainly be impacted by President Donald Trump's trade war with China. The US and China reached a 90-day truce this month, when the US lowered its 145% tariffs on most Chinese imports to 30%, and China reduced its 125% retaliatory tariffs to 10%. On its FAQ page, Pop Mart said that it will cover tariff-induced costs and that 'customers will not be required to pay any additional customs fees.' But its latest release in April, a tie-dyed line of pastel-colored Labubus, cost $27.99 – $6 more than the previous one. CNN has reached out to Pop Mart for more details on how it plans to cover those tariff fees. Citigroup said it expects the company to accelerate diversifying its supply chain and raise prices in the US market, or prioritize expanding in other countries. In the meantime, Pop Mart's stock, listed in Hong Kong, has been outperforming Tencent and Alibaba since the year began. For those who can't get their hands on a real Labubu, there are knock-offs — often called lafufus or fauxbubus — but they'll often have lower-quality fur or a slightly misshapen smile. And blind boxes aren't exclusive to Pop Mart. Cute, kitschy items are a staple of East Asian culture, and Asian discount stores like Miniso and Daiso, which combined have hundreds of locations in the US, sell highly coveted blind box toys for under $5. And the bigger the market gets, the more likely it is that competitors will arise in China, the Citigroup analysts warned. And Lin's Labubu, for the record, is not decked out in real Chanel. The toy's outfit is from AliExpress, a source of cheap accessories for many Labubu fans. Domrongchai, the food editor in New York City, has been tuned into the hype: Her octogenarian great aunts have Labubus attached to their Louis Vuitton purses. And on a trip to visit family in Thailand last year, she visited 'almost every mall in Bangkok' with her younger cousin to scour for the famous plush. But it was nowhere to be found, and $40 dollars for a toy is 'an ungodly amount' for Thailand. Even for those who have managed to avoid the pull of the devilish smirk of a Labubu, there's always a growing fan base attempting to turn them to the dark side. When a CNN reporter, a self proclaimed Sanrio and Miffy fan, confessed she found the monsters more unsettling than cute, Domrongchai was quick to encourage her: 'They're not that scary. They're silly guys. Look, you need to spend some time with them.'
