Will The Coronavirus Affect The Toy Industry???

Because of the pandemic, many Walmarts and Targets havent been stocking new figures for the past 2-3 months. In the Mattel WWE line, several figures and series that were supposed to be store exclusives (Freddie Blassie, Superstar Graham, Legends 7, Decade of Domination, etc) ended up being put online.

I attend a variety of conferences and travel for work, but everything has been cancelled/postponed until mid-May in hopes of preventing further spread. Teleworking and other alternatives to encourage social distancing has been recommendedwhen possible.Another thing I noticed is thatmost of my Amazon orders are delayed by weeks to a month to prioritize the delivery of essential items. Not a big issue, but definitely a sign that concerns surrounding COVID-19 have greatly impacted supply chains and other services.Hopefully the precautions employed by the various countries and organizations start having an effect on flattening the curve permitting our healthcare systems the time and resources needed. To everyone - stay safe and healthy!

On 2/26/2020 at 10:49 AM, JayC said:

That goes with out saying, however even how deadly this virus actually is seems to be up for debate by many, with some saying the common flu has as much chance of killing you as this, and its mainly those already in bad health that its killing.

Setting toys aside completely, the truth is this virus and its effects are likely going to be far worst from a financial standpoint than a overall health one. If this were to throw the planet into a global recession which if remains unchecked for a long period of time could happen, the loss of jobs will likely be far greater than the loss of lives. Again kinda goes without saying but lets hope neither one happens and this is contained soon.

On regards of the toy industry, yes it will be affected because workers may no be able to attend their jobs plus shipping will be impacted by new restrictions.

On regards of us well some of us already been affected like in my case my wife and I were laid off this week because of the virus so even consumer will be affected because of no money income to buy toys...

On 3/23/2020 at 1:39 PM, EvilHayato said:

Its not just that, but shipping is affected as well. Amazon is going to prioritize essential items. Shipping in general seems to be prolonged as well.

My case may be rare and this may be coincidental, but Ive never had a delay in my shipping before when its en route and recently my items (not from amazon) have just been halted and receive date is now pending. It was supposed to be here yesterday. I would imagine that the precautions of the coronavirus potentially could be holding it up. It could also be pure speculation herebut of all the years Ive never had shipping be postponed mid transit.

IDK what delivery service your using but yeah lots of places are dealing with manpower shortages and prioritizing shipping, so everything is going to be moving slower than before.

Its not just that, but shipping is affected as well. Amazon is going to prioritize essential items. Shipping in general seems to be prolonged as well.

My case may be rare and this may be coincidental, but Ive never had a delay in my shipping before when its en route and recently my items (not from amazon) have just been halted and receive date is now pending. It was supposed to be here yesterday. I would imagine that the precautions of the coronavirus potentially could be holding it up. It could also be pure speculation herebut of all the years Ive never had shipping be postponed mid transit.

There will be significant effects not only on toys or comic books.....my local comic book store says they will review the prices because of the significant crash of the exchange rate. I expect something similar to toy prices to follow.

On 3/15/2020 at 6:23 AM, DavidReillycom said:

Yes I'm sure the 5,845 confirmed dead, and the satellite footage of mass trenches of bodies in Iran reported by the New York Times, are just overblow, and they just had sniffly colds. As a medical professional and biostatistician, I defer to your expert judgement on this as a layperson.

Its very easy when you're living a carefree privledged life to forget that these are real people, and it's about more than whether you get your plastic crack fix this week. When factories shut down, or wharfs stop shipping goods, these casual employees get stood down and lose their livelihood.

Writing snarky little comments on a message board might give you a smug sense of satisfaction, but others see it as ignorance and low character.

Wow, you're kind of all over the place.

13 minutes ago, Nickg253 said:

All I know is that it sucks being part of the population with a comprised immune system.

I hope everyone has a safe few weeks in this crazy time. Better safe than dead I always say!

Def hope everyone can and does stay safe, and one thing is for sure. This is nothing like anything we have ever seen before. Whether all the shutdowns and such is the right thing to do or not will likely be unknown for some time, but never in my lifetime have we ever seen what we are seeing now so I would def say we are witnessing an historic moment.

All I know is that it sucks being part of the population with a comprised immune system.

I hope everyone has a safe few weeks in this crazy time. Better safe than dead I always say!