The COVID-19 viral pandemic that exploded in 2020 did a serious number on public events worldwide. Conventions and expos, business fairs and festivals; they either resorted to virtual presentations or cancelled outright. The prevailing sentiment from organizers and would-be attendees of these events was that next year will be live again. As it turns out, next year, 2021, wasn’t much improvement, Therefore 2022 became the next target for large events such as the New York Toy Fair to return. If all went as planned, they will go public again next month. As Brick Fanatics tells it however, they won’t.
It’s official. Organizers have cancelled Toy Fair New York 2022, planned from February 19 to 22. Word came out from The Toy Association, which released a statement Tuesday, January 11. Again, concerns regarding COVID-19 (Omicron variant) have sunk the biggest toy and entertainment marketplace in the Western Hemisphere. New York Toy Fair has seen its over-a-century record broken repeatedly by the pandemic. Even with multiple toy manufacturers either pulling out or remaining non-committal, 700 companies expressed interest in going ahead. The organizers however have decided to err on the side of caution.
LEGO is known to be one of the major regular brand presences in the New York Toy Fair. They gave no indication if they were committed to appear if the event continued, or if they backed out. While The Toy Association made no promises for Toy Fair NY 2023, there’s still the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. Their organizers haven’t announced any cancellations for this year’s event, scheduled February 2-6. LEGO is also one of their big stars among toy brands.