Hong Kong Day 3: Looking Ahead, Laughter & Parting Shots

The show officially closes on the 15th, but I’m heading back to NYC this afternoon, and it’s already the 15th here. Seat 59H on Cathay Pacific is waiting for me again. I always love arriving three hours after I left on the same day. That international dateline thing never gets old.

I spoke with HKTDC executive director Jenny Koo yesterday morning, and we talked about the growing importance of the fair for access to the ASEAN markets, and, as mentioned yesterday, the large number of overseas visitors. Innovations such as the Exhibition+ program and special business matching programs at the fair have proven very popular with attendees.

Of course it’s a toy fair, so it’s almost a requirement to be upbeat. However, the one consistent issue we heard from manufacturers and buyers was pricing and value. It’s at best ill-defined, however, and simply asking to purchase products for a lower price is unfortunately not always a workable solution.

So, I have to say it’s really a mixed bag as companies here were looking ahead to 2026. On the one hand, there’s optimism that perhaps U.S. tariffs have stabilized (Perhaps I should say “guarded optimism.”) On the other there are concerns about consumer behavior and cautious spending. For Chinese and Hong Kong manufacturers, they are looking more to emerging markets for opportunity, but at the same time, entering the U.S market is still a goal. Those that had found U.S. distributors were very happy to announce the fact.

A Sense of Whimsy

I was impressed by the number of novelty companies that are leaning into silliness. Perhaps it’s a comment on the state of the world, and while it’s true we all need a laugh, the level of silliness recalls the mid-1960s when there were tons of impulse toys. These continue to be high-margin–and in some cases suprisingly so I found–so there’s that. Here are some of the toys that made us smile as we walked the stands.

Parting Shots

It’s always tough to leave Hong Kong, and a trip here wouldn’t be complete without a trip to some of the stores in the malls. I had a flying visit to several on Wednesday afternoon, and here are some of the things that caught my eye.