Category: Events

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.

Let’s look at the themes LEGO has been dabbling in, from last year to this one. First, they appear to be really delving into real-world football/soccer, judging from their recent Creator Expert sets. The Old Trafford (10272) in 2020 and Camp Nou (10284) this year are interesting. That’s more so with the rumors of a set for Real Madrid’s home stadium next year. Second, LEGO’s been putting their gender inclusivity initiatives to high gear. Remember the “Get the World Ready for Girls” sub-slogan for “Rebuild the World”? Anyway, it looks like LEGO’s latest move combines these two themes at once.

According to The Brick Fan, LEGO just announced itself as an official sponsor for the UEFA Women’s EURO Championship. Originally slated for this year, COVID pandemic troubles pushed this women’s football tournament for 2022. England from July 6 to 31 will play host to 16 European women’s teams duking it out. And LEGO is acting as national sponsor, in line with their “Ready for Girls” campaign under “Rebuild the World.” We can thus expect some initiatives to be launched by LEGO in line with this major sporting event. However, they won’t tell us more about it until sometime next year.

We don’t know yet exactly what LEGO has in mind to celebrate sponsoring the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. At least LEGO is giving us this neat promotional vid, released ahead of the Final tournament draw this Thursday. Putting together LEGO building, football, and girls? It’s an interesting combination at least.