April 6, 2018

–Alfred
"We would like the October and February shows to stay in New York because we believe New York is a great gathering place for sharing ideas, easily accessible for international visitors, historically rich, and a terrific city to bring together the larger community. That said, we would participate no matter where the events were held, but we would like to have everything in only one city. The October show was a brilliant idea and should co-exist with the February show because they each serve different classes of trade. February was a terrific show for us, and we accomplished a lot at Javits by launching some specialty-only products, and we also made a lot of inroads with the press."
–Anton Rabie PRESIDENT AND CO-CEO, SPINMASTER
"It's fine to move the show because it has been expected and bandied around for years. Personally, I think the February show could go away, although as a manufacturer of toys and room décor, the February show is great because licensors from the studios come in, as do agents and the media. February has become a big media and licensing event; it's not a buying event, although there was a strong international presence this year. We were busy non-stop every day in February with licensors, studios, international buyers, and inventors, and far exceeded all of our goals. The October show is very important and could take place anywhere because the proposed venues would give us enough space to display our products and the flexibility to change them if we need to."
–Jonathan Breiter SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, THE BETESH GROUP
"Our experience (from previous JPMA shows in Dallas) is that Dallas may not be the best location. Of course, we'd attend wherever the show goes. In terms of the show's timing, we've heard that February seems late and that perhaps combining both shows would make better sense. From our point of view, this year's Toy Fair seemed quiet, but we heard from several partners that they had full meeting schedules. So perhaps the empty hall elevators were misleading in that respect."
–Ann Kearns VICE PRESIDENT, LICENSING, GLOBAL TOYS, SESAME WORKSHOP
"I'd love to see the show held in Los Angeles because many toy companies have headquarters there; the weather is nice; and there are plenty of facilities. That said, New York is a good venue because it gives us a chance to meet with the press, and see our international customers, as well as meet with toy testing product directors. I'd like to see the mass-market show held in early November and Toy Fair in late February to give companies more time after Hong Kong. If Toy Fair moved out of New York, we would not participate because it would be a costly and daunting task."
–Issac Larian CEO, MGA ENTERTAINMENT
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