Four days of pounding the Javits Center trade floor and touring the greatest city on earth might make your local podiatrist happy, but TDmonthly Magazine's tips and strategies can save you miles and time. From videos on what to bring with you to recommendations on booths to visit, we'll try to steer you down the right aisles.
We'll be covering the show for you, too, so you can browse through the Best of the Fair on your laptop or hotel computer at night and plan your next day with ease. After the show, we'll bring back dozens of videos of new and exciting products that you might have missed, or need a refresher on before ordering.
Click on "Play Video" at left get some survival tips.The video on the right will teach you how to use TDmonthlyto find new toys during Toy Fair and beyond. (You can read summaries of the videos below)
Finally, read the tips articles, and browse our Top-10 Toy Fair Picks in the categories of your choice (coming soon):
1. Toy Fair Tips — How to Prepare for the U.S.'s Biggest Toy Show
Bring Your Biz With You: Rolling suitcase for documents and samples; plenty of business cards (Don’t have any? Order 250 for free at www.vistaprint.com); files of important names, numbers and appointments — but back them up on the web in case you misplace your notes (Register for a gmail account and you get online spreadsheets for free); clipboard and/or accordion files for keeping track of appointments and show specials.
Get Comfortable: Bring lotion, lip balm, eye drops and bottled water; alternate daily between two pairs of comfortable shoes; bring a sweater or jacket plus hand warmers to avoid giving colleagues a chilly handshake.
Prepare for the Weather: Will 2009 be fair or foul? Before the show, check out 10-day forecasts on www.weather.com. Bring galoshes or waterproof boots; a warm hat, coat and gloves; plastic bags for wet stuff and a contingency plan in case you get snowed in.
Let Us Look for You: Go to www.tdmonthly.com each day for updates on new products and manufacturers that we think will do well in specialty stores. You can even apply to get targeted e-mailings in categories that interest you most.
And finally, REGISTER NOW for Toy Fair … (Don’t forget to mention TDmonthly Magazine when you fill-in your form!) See you at the show.
2. Finding Toys on TDmonthly
TDmonthlyis a great resource for finding new toys.
Each month, our "Staff Picks" article shows you a selection of specialty toys we've chosen from the hundreds of products we upload each month. A number of our "Picks" have gone on to become best-sellers in specialty toy stores.
Our "Notable and New Toys" articles are now divided into "Specialty Only" and "All" (the latter shows mass-market toys, too, while the former does not). You can choose a category to narrow your focus. There are more than 100 categories, including American-Made and eco-friendly.
You can also use the PRODUCT SEARCH at the top of each page to search by product, company name, category, age, gender or price.
Our advanced search also lets you find the products that have videos attached, so you can really see what a toy looks like and plays like. This feature is particularly useful when you want to add videos to your selling site because you can link directly to them using the code you see beneath each video. This service is free, it won't slow down your site and it adds incredible value for your online shoppers!
Top-10 Toy Fair Picks by category (coming soon!):
Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is an award-winning writer, director and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks, and viewed worldwide in film festivals. See her short films and print work on www.alisonmarek.com. Watch her nefarious villains in the web series www.MuggsMovers.com. Get inspired by her cartoons "Daily ARFFirmations to Unleash Your Inner Fido" at www.ARFFirmations.com. Phew! And then ... Read more articles by this author
We'll be covering the show for you, too, so you can browse through the Best of the Fair on your laptop or hotel computer at night and plan your next day with ease. After the show, we'll bring back dozens of videos of new and exciting products that you might have missed, or need a refresher on before ordering. 
Click on "Play Video" at left get some survival tips.The video on the right will teach you how to use TDmonthly to find new toys during Toy Fair and beyond. (You can read summaries of the videos below)
Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is an award-winning writer, director and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks, and viewed worldwide in film festivals. See her short films and print work on www.alisonmarek.com. Watch her nefarious villains in the web series www.MuggsMovers.com. Get inspired by her cartoons "Daily ARFFirmations to Unleash Your Inner Fido" at www.ARFFirmations.com. Phew! And then ... Read more articles by this author
