The Character Options stand will be a hive of excitement, with shelves of exciting brands to discover, including fidget toys, fun games to encourage great active play, collections inspired by immensely popular online properties, the latest line-up of stretchy, gooey action figures and so much more. Not to mention that it’s an exciting year for Turtles, with a new summer blockbuster for 2023 and Character Options now confirmed as Master Toy Partner.

An exciting new concept takes the antsy finger trend to a whole new level. It’s time to put your fingers to work with this year’s must-have, palm-sized fidget toy: TapTap Smart Fidget. This miniature game promises to enhance a basic fidget function with high-touch, high-tech games. Whether players are just tap-tap-tapping or playing to win, TapTap is sure to keep fingers on the pulse. Syncing play and learning, TapTap Smart Fidget comes with five games installed, which specifically target memory, focus, hand/eye coordination, critical thinking and fine motor skills. With Match-It. players flip the white pixels by tapping them, in a bid to find matching colour pairs. With Sequence the objective is to repeat the sequence displayed on the outer corners. The other games are Stop & Go, Raindrops and Eat Greens, and Copy That.

Next is an exciting new collection inspired by LankyBox, the most highly-viewed YouTube gaming duo in the world, featuring stars Justin and Adam, along with their cast of animated characters including Boxy, Foxy, and Rocky. They create high-energy, laugh-out-loud videos featuring challenges, gaming and shorts.

The Giant Mystery Box is filled with awesome collectables, making it the ultimate surprise unboxing experience. It contains figures, a six-inch glow-in-the-dark plush, a squishy, a pop-it fidget toy, Canny with a pop-out Sticky, and stickers. The case also doubles as a roleplay helmet, so kids can be just like the famous character Boxy. All of the contents capture the high energy and creative charisma of the LankyBox videos.

LankyBox followers know that the YouTube channel stars Justin and Adam are crazy about plush, and now for the first time they will be available at major retailers. The new six-inch plush are super-soft versions of the adorable, well-known characters on the LankyBox channel including Shark, Foxy, and Boxy. They are the perfect addition to the LankyBox collection, as fans can choose their favourite character.

And there’s Mystery Squishies to collect too, which are so soft and satisfying that kids will want to collect them all. Look out for some of the most popular characters from the LankyBox channel, with six to collect. A second surprise reveal toy line comes in the form of the Mini Mystery Figures. Fans can unwrap and collect their very own collection of characters based on the channel’s funny and bizarre cast of characters. 

The ever-increasing demand for family-friendly activities and toys continues into 2023 and Character Options is meeting that demand with fresh new developments within its Stay Active collection. Stay Active is the family-inclusive range of toys that can be played with inside and outside, while having great active fun. And with the range now having developed into a whole division within the portfolio, having benefited from the firm’s significant investment into the marketing and influencer programme in 2022, buyers and retailers can expect this raft of activity to continue into the year ahead. The final quarter saw Olympian Gold Medallist and Celebrity MasterChef champion Greg Rutherford among other celebs and high-profile influencers, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and ‘H’ from Steps, take on the ultimate fast, fun musical jump challenge fitness game, Jump It Wipe Out, catapulting it onto Christmas wish lists and guaranteeing its success at launch. And now the company is promising an even bigger programme of activity for the growing Stay Active range. 

New for SS23 is Splash Atom, the game where you have to make the ball slide along the rope to avoid getting a drenching. The atom ball comes and goes without stopping, but if it reaches you, you get soaked. And there’s a second new addition: Bubble Skip. A twist on the original Jump It Lap Counter, kids will love producing bubbles as they skip. Splash Atom and Bubble Skip join existing favourites in the range, including Jump-It Wipeout, Moon Shoes, KickerBall, and Splash Out, among other great toys. 

When visiting Toy Fair 2023, don’t forget to get your Brix fix with Simbrix. From July, creative kids will be encouraged to release their inner artist and create incredible designs with Simbrix. Simbrix connects together to make strong designs without an iron, water or pegboard. This beautiful arts and crafts range encourages creative thinking, needs few instructions, and allows for fantastic play experiences. Connect, Expand, Play. Simbrix slots together and makes it super-easy for kids to build both 2D and 3D designs, which can be played with and displayed. 

There are so many different design possibilities with Simbrix. Kids can build straight from their imagination or create set designs. There are Starter Packs to make playful pets, jewellery and more; Theme Packs to make a magical garden or glowing galaxy scene, and extra special Feature Packs with more than 3000-pieces. There is also an Alphabrix set that lets children spell out words using a range of bold and colourful combinations. And the Simbrix Maker Studio is the ultimate set for little artists. The carry case design holds 4800 Brix in 16 different colours and comes with multiple template cards. 

It should be no surprise that the latest line-up of gooey hero action figures will be a key priority for Character in 2023. Each year, the Heroes of Goo Jit Zu brand goes from strength to strength, and the firm has its sights set on further growth in 2023. The toy collection is now available globally in more than 50 territories and brought in a whopping $100M in global sales in 2022, with UK sales up an impressive 21% YTD in 2022. Kids can even watch their favourite heroes on Netflix now. So, where’s the goo-volution taking us in 2023? 

Fans can expect an ever-growing licensed offering of Goo Jit Zu heroes, as well as an awesome new theme for fans to dive into. Available from July, the Heroes of Goo Jit Zu Deep Goo Sea series will deliver fans one of the most exciting line-ups of heroes in the Goo Jit Zu history. This brilliant theme brings with it new creatures and fresh features, filled with gooey sea life. Not only are there six Deep Goo Sea Heroes to collect in the range, each with a unique goo filling and head feature to discover, but there’s also the most powerful hero of all time to squish and stretch. King Hydra, the ultimate ruler of the Deep Goo Sea, comes with triple the Goo, triple the features. This epic new hero has not one, not two but THREE heads – each with its own feature. Motion activated with lights and sounds, super-sized at 9.5-inch scale, and presented in platform packaging box, this is an unmissable line that’s sure to excite. 

Plus, the Weebles range will be wobblier than ever in 2023, with loads of new characters for preschoolers to collect, from the hottest preschool properties. Weebles are the classic figures that wibble and wobble, but never fall down. And this year, the brilliant Weebles collection has been extended to bring to life the on-screen magic of not just Peppa Pig, Bluey, CoComelon, and My Little Pony, but also Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends, DC Super Friends and Hey Duggee – all in a fun and unpredictably wibbily way.

There’s even more exciting new additions to follow for AW23. Ideal for little ones aged 18-months-plus, these chunky moulded figures are perfectly sized for small hands, and great for encouraging early play patterns to develop. Cute and compact size, children can play at home or take them out and about, for fun on-the-go.