Business Briefs

Mattel will start using sugarcane-based plastic in their Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack and Baby’s First Blocks. The products will be available as a bundle for Earth Day on April 22.  The effort is part of Mattel’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based materials in products and packaging by 2030. Sugarcane-based plastic is a category of bioplastic […]

Johanna Sadkovich joined Pegasus Spiele in February as Sales and Marketing Executive North America. She was previously the International Sales Manager for Asmodee North America.  She will be responsible for the development of North American sales and marketing strategies along with optimizing international customer service relationships. Sadkovich will represent the company at US trade events like GAMA

Berlin Brettspiel Con has been forced to postponed to December 4-6 after the German government extended restrictions on large events through August 31. The original event was scheduled for July 17-19. The convention said tickets remain valid, but said more details will be available in the coming days and weeks

Updated Age Determination Guidelines from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission will go into effect on June 1. The 2020 recommendations will supersede the current guidelines published in 2002.  The new guidelines contain additional recommendations for new product categories that have been introduced recently.  The guidelines can be downloaded here. Game recommendations begin on page 159. The Toy

Spin Master Employees Create Face Masks for Healthcare Workers Employees at Spin Master have re-engineered the headbands from the Company’s popular family guessing game Hedbanz, to help produce face shields for healthcare workers. Spin Master’s product development team came up with the ingenious solution in just three days. The masks use the existing headband from the game,

Paizo announced several new employees, promotions and title changes last week on their community blog.  New Employees Alex Speidel, Organized Play Associate Calliope Taylor, Customer Service Representative Devinne Caples, HR Generalist Ianara Natividad, Editor Eric Powell, Accounting and AP Specialist Promotions Adam Vick, Art Director Leo Glass, Senior Editor Mark Moreland, Director of Brand Strategy Sonja Morris,

The Toy Association, a non-profit trade association, have launched Toy Fair Everywhere, a series of three week-long virtual events to connect the play community ahead of the fourth quarter selling season.  Designed to simulate walking a show floor, each attendee will be able to explore a calendar of daily events, browse exhibitors by category, and book

Texas-based Goliath games have seen the sales of their card game Virus, released in January, grow by 10 times. The company is now giving all the proceeds from the game during the month of April to the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization. “When we launched Virus, the concept was a fun family card

Hasbro have reached a settlement in a trade secrets and confidentiality agreement breach with Marisa Pawelko, also known as the Modern Surrealist. The case was scheduled to go to a federal jury trial this month.  Pawelko had done ‘work for hire’ with Hasbro. During that time she submitted an idea for a product she called Liquid Mosaic.  In

According to NPD, toy sales grew 26% in the week ending March 21, with the fastest-growing categories being games/puzzles (+228%), driven by family board/action, card, and children’s games. The Group said hands-on learning drove sales across the toys, books, and office supplies industries.  “Consumers have prepared for their family’s survival over an extended period by