Creative art toys stole the show at this year’s Shenzhen International Toy & Hobby Fair, striking a chord with the younger generation’s emotional needs.
As the largest toy show and exhibition in South China, the three-day event runs through Saturday at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center.
This year, the creative toy sector features over 300 brands, twice as many as the previous edition. According to research data from the Guangdong Toy Association, the total value of China’s creative toy industry is projected to reach 110 billion yuan ($16 billion) in 2026, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 20 percent.
The British brand Fuggler, a strong competitor to Pop Mart, features funny-ugly monsters and was a smash-hit on China’s social media platforms last year.
It grabbed much attention with its eye-catching booth design. Many enthusiasts —some even carrying suitcases — lined up in front of the brand’s blind box machine to make purchases.
A staff member revealed that the brand will open a new store in Hong Kong during this year’s May Day holiday, which will offer styles not available on the Chinese mainland, and new arrivals will be introduced more quickly.
The Guangdong Hayidai Toys Co., Ltd. is exhibiting its newly launched line of traditional Chinese herbal dolls, looking like a local take on Jellycat. Over 20 types of dolls are on display, including those shaped like mugwort, ginseng, and goji berries, some of which even smell like their respective herbs.
The booth is designed to resemble a traditional Chinese herbal pharmacy, with the toy-buying experience modeled after the process of purchasing medicine, and the toys themselves are packaged in traditional herbal wrapping.
Wu Zeyi, a toy designer of the brand, said that Chinese culture-inspired art toys have gained popularity among youngsters, conveying unique aesthetic value with innovative designs.
In addition to this new collection, the brand has also launched dolls inspired by blue-and-white porcelain — a premier type of Chinese ceramic — the Terracotta Warriors, and beasts from Chinese mythology.
In the same exhibition hall, Rock World’s booth showcasing lovely solar-powered bobblehead toys also attracted many visitors. A new set that captures young people’s laid-back attitude sold about 2000 units during the three-day Qingming Festival. The brand’s nodding toy series has collaborated with various IPs, including SpongeBob SquarePants.
With the accelerating integration of AI technology and hardware, this exhibition introduced a dedicated AI smart toy zone for the first time, showcasing the latest products from tech companies across an area of over 1,000 square meters, featuring primarily robotic dogs and AI plush toys.
