Besides being the festival of lights and the festival of donuts, Hanukkah is undoubtedly also the festival of gifts for children.
Hanukkah fees guaranteed by parents make importers and chains prepare with a variety of new gifts, which every child will be very happy to receive.
Eran Tor, franchisee of Lego stores, tells about the hits and the innovations.
According to him, since the opening of the store in Dizengoff Center in July, 248 thousand people have visited it.
"Sometimes we forget that people like to build creations from their imagination," he points out, "and one of the best-selling products is actually independent bricks that the children choose. We also have a personal printer service - everyone can design their favorite character, and they get it the size of half a spoon the hand and at a price of NIS 49. The aspect of personalization that becomes a play tool is very successful. We also have many Lego sets. Last Friday we launched the Eiffel Tower from Lego, which is our tallest model - with 10,001 parts and a height of 1.5 meters, which costs NIS 2,890 .
"Our most expensive model is the Titanic, which costs NIS 2,990. This is a product that collectors and builders work on for weeks until it is perfect. Now, on the occasion of the World Cup, we launched a soccer table created by an Israeli designer at Lego Global, and there is great demand for it."
Large Lego doll, photo: Lego store
As mentioned, there are also cheaper products that can be wonderful gifts.
Thor mentions the Brickheads series, which costs NIS 89: "These are dolls of characters from all kinds of worlds, for example Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Marvel and more. There are also many sets of Lego City, Mario and more, the price of which starts at NIS 39."
The newest on the market
Noam Weisberg, CEO of EFN, Mattel's marketer in Israel, tells about their most popular brands: "Barbie and Hot Wheels are the strongest with us.
We launched Barbie Cutie Reveal, with all kinds of interesting outfits and elements, and the Hot Wheels car is the best-selling toy in the world, singlehandedly.
Every year we launch new sets, which include routes, parking lots, cases and more.
On top of that, we are relaunching the card game 'Ono', which is one of the most popular in the world and has now celebrated its 40th anniversary.
We launched it in the basic version, and it costs NIS 25."
Shadow High doll, photo: Ilanit Marketing
The game "My first orchard", photo: HABA The cube plays
Yael Arad, the director of consumer products for the Paramount Israel brand, claims that Adventure Bay is the strongest pre-school brand in the world, celebrating a decade with new seasons and a new movie.
"What is beautiful about such strong series is that every season there is a new product line, which is based on the theme of the season. Also, we have a new brand called 'Gabi's Doll House', which is marketed by Diamant and includes a variety of spectacular dolls."
Hanukkah and Christmas, which are celebrated in December, combined with end-of-the-year discounts, make the period busy shopping for toys and games.
"The succession of holidays creates a celebration of sales and discounts in the world of toys," says Noa Ben Abu, director of headquarters at the Idan 2000 toy chains and the Amusement Village.
"In terms of this year's innovations, you can see the unboxing games and the interactive games continue to surprise, alongside new board games and educational toys."
Game oven of the Gabi brand, photo: Diamant company
"No longer profitable abroad"
One of the criticisms of the toy world in Israel refers to the high prices compared to the rest of the world, which create a situation in which many people prefer to buy the products abroad. "We are very competitive compared to abroad," answers Tor.
"There are products that are cheaper here than abroad.
We see a trend where people have stopped buying products on overseas websites, because after adding the shipping price and VAT - it is no longer profitable to buy there.
In November this year, which included Black Friday, we sold four times as much online as a normal month.
We changed the prices in the market by tens of percent.
We plan to expand the accessibility of Lego to all of Israel, and soon we will open more stores."
Another series that is attractive in Israel compared to abroad is the Barbie doll series. "We offer them at a good price compared to the competing dolls," Weisberg says. that are able to reach such a level in the world.
The recommended price of the high-quality dolls is NIS 160-150, while the basic Barbie dolls start at NIS 29.
Baby Yoda doll with a bag, photo: Metal PR
Science game line of Stopper Toys, photo: PR
"In relation to Mattel's prices in the world, the price in Israel is relatively reasonable, certainly compared to Europe. We are on the trend of lowering prices, and in the last two or three years we have lowered prices by at least 20%-25%."
Arad also agrees with his words: "Today the importers understand very well the need to give the Israeli audience the best prices. The chain of a chain retailer will always be more expensive than what can be bought abroad and on websites, but among the marketers and distributors there is a great effort to compete, because they have no choice.
The Internet made everyone make an effort to change the product mix and bring in cheaper ones."
A large Louis doll, photo: The Little Prince Studio
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