Kickstart: The serious business of toys

The U.S. toy industry is worth more than $30 billion annually and saw a growth rate of 14 percent in 2021. But that growth hasn't been easy.

We have a couple of toy-related items of interest to the plastics industry to highlight today.

First, if you haven't had the time to read Catherine Kavanaugh's story on the context behind Lego A/S's decision to build a new plant in Virginia, put it on your list.

This isn't just one story on one (very popular) global brand, but it instead reflects a range of changes in manufacturing, supply chains and public policy that all played a part in the toymaker's $1 billion expansion.

Lego once produced its ABS blocks in Connecticut but closed that site in 2006. It also previously contracted with luggage maker Samsonite Corp. in the 1960s to make its bricks in the U.S. Why reverse course now?

"The toy industry talks about speed to market," James Zahn, deputy editor of The Toy Book, told Catherine. "The standard timeline for a toy was 18 months from green light to production to your kid's toy box. Now companies want that done as quickly as possible. We've seen it shrink to three months for certain items and even quicker on other things."

Add to that Lego's highly automated manufacturing process and the desire to reduce the company's global footprint by making blocks closer to customers, and you've got a lot of momentum behind reshoring and direct foreign investment moves.

In another possible piece of good news for toy companies, the chain Toys R Us is returning as brick-and-mortar retail shops in the U.S.

The 2017 bankruptcy of Toys R Us created a major impact in the industry, eliminating in one swift move the largest retail chain in the country.

"There is no denying that the loss of Toys R Us is devastating to the entire industry," Tom Murdough, the founder of toy-making rotomolders, said in 2018. "Without them, all toy retailers are now challenged to find alternative channels."

Toy molders including Murdaugh-founded Simplay3, Step2 and Little Tikes ramped up online sales operations to try and compensate.

But now Toys R Us is about to relaunch as small shops within 400 Macy's stores. The shops will be open at all Macy's locations by the Christmas shopping season, the retailer said in a news release. The shops will also have "a lifesize 'Geoffrey on a Bench' photo opportunity for families," for all your social media needs.

Macy's already owns the Toys R Us online sales business.

A United Kingdom-based record maker has released what it says is the first "vinyl" record made using bioplastics and is offering fans a chance to win one of the first 20 pressings.

The compilation EP features previously released songs by the musicians Bicep, Angel Olsen, Black Country, New Road and Porridge Radio.

The nongovernmental organization Music Declares Emergency is supporting the project, noting its slogan, "no music on a dead planet," and is hosting a fundraiser to win one of the first copies.

"If Evolution can deliver an alternative guilt-free vinyl, it could get rid of one of the key polluting elements of the music industry completely," Music Declares Emergency co-founder Lewis Jamieson told AFP.