
Discovering Modarri, a new toy car company, was truly pure luck. In my experience, roaming the aisles of the New York Toy Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center can be somewhat of a labyrinth. The sheer number of exhibitors seems to grow exponentially each year causing tight squeezes and ultimately overlapping booths among smaller vendors and start-ups looking to attract the attention of the press and buyers alike. Thankfully social media has emerged as a useful tool to navigate unchartered waters. A random tweet made on Twitter announced that Modarri, a new toy car company, had reached and surpassed its Kickstarter goal. After checking out their Kickstarter page I was intrigued to meet the 3 Dads leading the start-up, all of whom are phenomenally successful toy industry veterans dedicated to creating and selling beautiful, functional, durable toys.
NY Toy Fair
Disney Pixar “Monsters University” Press Event at 2013 NY Toy Fair

Despite cold rain, slush, and an overcrowded Metro North commute into Manhattan, we gladly made our way to the Jacob Javits Center to attend a Disney Pixar “Monsters University” Press event at the 2013 NY Toy Fair. Although one of the featured attendees, Billy Crystal, was absent, John Goodman was on hand to discuss reprising his role of Sully. We also received a firsthand look at the latest “Monsters University” toy lineup to be released in conjunction with the movie.
New York Toy Fair 2012: Best of Show

The 2012 New York Toy Fair provided a preview of the upcoming products from a vast array of companies both big and small. Without question there were many items that seemed to be no more than knockoffs of last year’s hottest toys or simple tweaks to traditional top selling favorites. Yet as a whole, my colleagues and I who covered the show were pleasantly surprised to discover that innovation is indeed alive and well in the toy industry. The following list represents CuteMonster.com’s choices for Best of Show at the 2012 NY Toy Fair.
New Pocoyo and Thundercats for 2011

On my visit to the 2011 NY Toy Fair, I was fortunate to meet with Bandai to preview their upcoming toy line for Fall 2011. The preschooler favorite Pocoyo gets an innovative flexible race track set while the legendary “Thundercats” have been reborn with a whole new set of toys reflecting the upcoming all new animated series premiering later this year.