Special Feature Toy World 10 year anniversary
Toy World
turns ten This edition of Toy World marks ten years since the very first publication in September 2011. Publisher John Baulch looks back on the launch and how the magazine has fulfilled his ambition to become the industry defining title it is today.
10
years. One whole decade. 112 issues, plus a host of special supplements. Bloody hell – we did it. It’s been an epic journey, full of twists and turns, but great fun all the way (well,
mostly).
So how did it all start? Let me take you back to 2011: the UK toy market was still recovering from the loss of Hight Street giant Woolworths two years earlier. Some in the toy community had momentarily lost all sense of perspective and predicted it would be the beginning of the end for the toy trade as we knew it. Instead, it was the beginning of a whole new era in toys – arguably neither Smyths nor The Entertainer would be the forces they are today without the demise of Woolworths. In time, value retailers such as B&M and Home Bargains would also ease into the space left by Woolworths, while countless independent stores were able to flourish on High Streets where giant Woolworths stores had once acted as a magnet for toy consumers.
On a personal level, after spending 28 years with another toy magazine, I had reached a turning point in my career. I had run out of road where I was – personally and professionally, it was time for a change and a fresh challenge. I had two choices: take my transferable skills as a publisher, head off to a new industry and start afresh. Or I could use the knowledge, experience and contacts I had built up over three decades to start my own toy magazine in the industry I knew and loved. I knew which option I preferred – but how would the industry react? At the time, there were two toy UK magazines. When I first started working at Toy Trader in 1980, there had been four titles. This number was gradually whittled down over the years, and the industry seemed relatively comfortable with a duopoly. However, from the inside, I could see the pitfalls of this arrangement: the trade press had fallen into a safe, predictable routine, there was no real competition and precious little spark. Toy magazines had become fairly uninspiring, unambitious - just a bit… dull.
Toy World 60
It was never a case of thinking ‘how many magazines is the right number’ – because that was the wrong question. I simply set out to create a better magazine than the ones already in the market. This was no different to any toy company launching a new product: it is not as if there aren’t enough dolls or games or pre-school toys in existence already. But there is always room for something new – providing it offers something different and is better than what is already there (otherwise kids would still be playing with wooden hoops or clackers and watching Muffin the Mule). I spoke privately to a few friends in the industry and explained my dilemma: every single one reacted in the way I had hoped: “You are the person we’ve been working closely with– if you set up on your own, we’ll do our best to support you.” I needed no further encouragement: I was working on the basis that you don’t tend to regret the things you do in business, only the things you don’t do. I was going to give it a go – a damned good go. So, I resigned, spent my 30 days’ notice period
