With NYC Toy Fair upon us, we caught up with a few members of TOMY International’s team to talk shop. 

First, let’s establish what you three do at TOMY.

Madeleine – I’m an Associate Brand Manager where my job is to understand what toys consumers want and then work with all the different teams to make the toys a reality! I spend my days researching industry and consumer trends, working with the design team to develop incredible new toys, supporting sales to get the toys on shelves at stores, strategizing with the marketing communications team on launch plans and marketing campaigns, and ensuring that we are bringing high-quality, innovative new toys to market that consumers will love.

Matt – I’m a senior product designer at TOMY responsible for the design and development of toys, from concept all the way to the final product. I collaborate with licensors, other members of my team (Brennan) as well as our team in HK to ensure that our toys are safe, functional and become something that consumers love.

Brennan – Hi, Mary. I’m Brennan Hunt, also a product designer at TOMY. I work mainly with Matt to develop a variety of toys with a focus on Collectible Plush and Boys Action. Besides drawing and communicating with licensors and our HK team, I create 3D Renders and 3D Prints to support Marketing and other design team members.

Toy Fair is here. What’s your favorite thing about the winter show season?

Matt - I love seeing all the new toys, the interactive exhibits, and if I’m lucky, I get to meet with inventors to see new ideas and mechanisms that will inform our future development.

Brennan - Being in the toy industry, I really appreciate the massive amount of creativity and hard work that goes into all the new and exciting toys and ideas that are being presented. Also, having once worked to design exhibit booths, it is fun to see how people chose to showcase their wares! 

Madeleine - I love seeing all the new toys! There’s so much excitement in the toy industry during this time of year as brands are announcing and launching new toys. It’s incredible to see the amount of creativity and innovation.

What led each of you to a career in the toy industry? 

Brennan - Art and design have been a part of my life since my first pack of crayons. I spent my whole childhood drawing toys, cartoons, and video game characters. While studying Industrial Design in college I found myself less drawn to creating ergonomic toasters and more to creating fun play experiences. The toy industry is the perfect place to combine my skills and passions, with the added fun of inspiring kids to pick up their own pack of crayons!

Madeleine - I have always loved kids and seeing them discover the world through creativity, imagination, and play! I knew that I wanted to work in an industry focused on creating joy in the life of consumers, so the toy industry was a natural fit.  In the toy industry, I get to spend every day working to create that childhood magic of play and discovery for kids and adults alike.

Matt - I’m a big fan of pop culture, collecting toys, video games, and art. I originally went into school for media arts and animation, but after graduation I was having difficulty entering that field. Toy design hit me like a ton of bricks. I had an acquaintance who had been working in the toy design industry for about a year. At the time, I hadn’t realized that was something that people did for a living. With a well thought out portfolio and a quick trip to Massachusetts, I was lucky enough to land a job where my friend was working. Fifteen years later and I’m still going strong.

What product lines have you worked on, and which is your favorite? 

Matt - I’ve worked on everything: Infant/toddler, trains, pre-cool style figures and vehicles, games, toys with movie tie-ins, all the way to pop culture themed plush. My absolute favorite was teaming up with Nickelodeon to create some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed Club Mocchi- Mocchi- plush in the 1987 cartoon style. It was a childhood dream come true!

Madeleine - One of the lines I’ve been working on is our Warhammer Plush. This has been a highlight for me because we’re the first company to bring some of the Warhammer characters to life in the plush format. The team has done a great job capturing the character details and the fan’s reaction to the plush has been really rewarding.

Brennan – I have had the pleasure of working on Club Mocchi- Mocchi-, Suya Suya, Nuiguru Knit, and Warhammer, to translate many of my favorite video game and anime properties into plush. I also worked on Little Spot of Emotion, where I helped to develop Social Emotional Learning tools. Most recently I have been working on Dōteki. Hard to say which is my favorite, but Dōteki has been a wonderful chance to create the kind of toy child Brennan would have loved to play with! He also would have been shocked to hear adult Brennan got to design Collector Cards!

What are you working on now?

Madeleine - I am currently working on our new action toy brand Dōteki! This is an exciting and innovative battle system where players are the action. The Dōteki battle system allows for an unlimited number of players and has an expanding arena, creating a dynamic battle experience.

Brennan - I am always working to add to our Club Mocchi- Mocchi- and Warhammer plush ensemble, but Dōteki has been my newest departure into a new fun way to collect, battle, and play. Having no stationary arena or targets has made for creative outside the box solutions and play styles. There are a lot of fun collectibles that go along with Dōteki that I am excited to watch people collect.

Matt - Along with properties like Warhammer and Bluey, I get to work on our exciting new pinball-style battle system called “Dōteki”! It’s a dynamic tabletop action game that pits you up against one or an infinite number of opponents! What do I mean by that? Dōteki has the ability to create its own arena. The arena itself has walls that can be moved and expanded in any direction as you play. You can connect with as little or as many players as you like! Using the flippers on the control unit, the player hits a ball toward their opponent’s target. Hit their target enough times to win the game!

About Dōteki, the popularity of boys battle action goes through cycles but there has been some epic, highly memorable wins. What excites you about introducing Dōteki to kids?

Brennan - Working on any project comes with worries that people may not love it as much as you do. However, even in our initial research testing, we got to watch both the kids, and their parents get as excited and competitive during their Dōteki battles as we were. They had a blast customizing their unit and jumped straight into gameplay. When the kids sincerely asked if Dōteki would be on the market by their birthdays or holidays, I knew they were as passionate as we were!

Matt – The fact that there hasn’t been a boys action toy out there like Dōteki. You create your own arena by using the game’s accessories, or other player’s control units. You have a fast, high intensity, intuitive action game. Kids need little to no instruction to get into the fun.

Madeleine - Knowing how much kids are going to love Dōteki! While developing Dōteki, we did several rounds of play testing, and it was clear in the very first session that this was a win. We were just using some early-stage prototypes, but the kids didn’t want to stop playing and even the parents were trying to get in on the action! We got valuable feedback directly from the kids that was incorporated into the toy design, making Dōteki an exciting innovation in the battle toys category and one that is sure to become a fan favorite.

 What do you think the winning combination is to make kids (or Kidults) become collectors and want to build out their collection?

 Matt - As a kidult myself, I truly enjoy tracking down those hard-to-find toys/games/collectibles that come out for my favorite properties from when I was a kid. I’m always on the lookout for items that pay attention to the details of the character or vehicle they are representing. Especially the details that die-hard fans will notice. I also love being able to show off my toys. Scale, possibility and accuracy really come into play so that I can make the coolest display possible.

Brennan – It isn’t a stretch for me to imagine building up collectibles, as I am someone who needs to frequently fight his own will to buy them. There is certainly a careful balance to strike between price, availability, and the number of collectibles to chase. But to me, the most important part is having a uniquely cool variety of characters that make you think to yourself, “I gotta have that!”. My personal favorites are when a character is depicted in a fresh style that represents what is important to the character but with a new twist that makes it fun to show off.

Madeleine - I think it’s all about creating a product and experience that consumers want to be part of, which is exactly what we’ve done with Dōteki. The team has done an amazing job creating this imaginative world of Dōteki through compelling characters, intentional design choices, brand storytelling, and a dynamic play experience that consumers will love.

How do you stay inspired/find your creativity? 

Matt - I surround myself with toys and art that I’ve loved ever since I was a kid.  I see others creating, and it inspires me to practice my skills and make something even cooler! I want to continue to make toys and games that kids of all ages will remember for the rest of their lives.

Brennan – In my free time I play a lot of tabletop role play games. Creating stories, maps, characters, and monsters helps to keep my brain ready to solve problems and think outside the box while keeping my design skills sharp. I also love to keep up with great animated films/shows and play imaginative video games. It's fun but also great market research for collector brands so that we can make our products as authentic as possible.

Madeleine - I’m constantly inspired by the people around me and by seeing all the new products on the market! It can sometimes feel like everything has been done before. But when I look around and see the work of the talented individuals and the exciting new products that are out on the market, I’m reminded that the possibilities are limitless.

What are you most excited about this year? 

Matt – We’ve got a lot of new and exciting products coming out in 2025! I'm excited to see consumer’s reactions and how we can work to top ourselves in the future!

Brennan – There are a lot of exciting things happening, but I am most excited to make Dōteki even more fun than it is now. It’s both exciting and a little disappointing when you must stop designing because we need to actually ship the project, but now we will have another chance to jump back in and make it even better!

Madeleine - It would have to be the launch of Dōteki! We have lots of fun marketing activations planned for Dōteki and I can’t wait for the product to get into the hands of consumers. We also have several other exciting projects we are working on, so stay tuned for some more great things coming from Tomy.   

TOMY celebrated its 100th milestone last year? How do you think they have been able to make the magic last?

Matt – It all comes down to innovative ideas, quality products and safety. Consumers can buy from TOMY knowing they are going to get a brand-new, fun, high-quality item that they can trust. Its been true for the last 100 years, and absolutely true going forward.

Brennan – TOMY is dedicated to creating magic for kids/collectors of all ages. Without sacrificing quality, they really squeeze as much as they can into ensuring the experience is special. Every person I work with has their own interests that they bring to the table to improve every product. Those people attract more passionate people to join in and keep the whole thing going.

Madeleine – Innovation and commitment to high-quality products! TOMY is committed to providing the best of the best in the toy market and to driving innovation as the industry and needs of the consumer continue to evolve.