July 28, 2011

Toy World magazine to launch in September

The former publisher of Toys ‘n’ Play Things is launching a rival magazine later this year.

John Baulch, who worked at Toy ‘n’ Play Things for more than 20 years before leaving earlier this year, will publish the first edition of Toy World in September with an initial controlled circulation of 5,500.

The monthly magazine will be edited by Lewis Eckett and aims to take on the two market-leading titles, Toys News and Toys ‘n’ Play Things,

Baulch said the magazine is ’emphatically not just another toy trade magazine – we are aiming to make a media brand which will become the leading authority on the UK toy trade”.

He also promised to ‘shake things up in the market adding a compelling new ingredient to the industry”. The magazine will feature news, opinion, analysis, comment, interviews, and product features. Contributors include media specialist Simon Poole, independent retailer Jo Nicholson, toy expert Peter Jenkinson and the “Jeremy Clarkson of Toy Trade columnists” Ali Mafi.

Baulch said: ‘There are three key elements that form the foundation on which any successful trade publication is built: industry knowledge, contacts/relationships and a genuine love for the subject matter. I humbly believe that I possess all these essential qualities in abundance.”