Harrogate Home and Gift Fair 2005
Click to go straight to section:
The Home and Gift Fair is an annual trade show held in Harrogate England. I expected it to be similar to the fairs at the NEC Birmingham, but I never expected it would be on such a smaller scale to Birmingham. Held at several hotels and halls around Harrogate, the exhibitors are much more widespread, however, they have much smaller stands than the other fairs. The Harrogate Home and Gift Fair was much smaller than I expected, with even Depesche’s usually large area, much smaller and compact. Ty had the same size area, but with very little on display and very few people looking around.
The first stop was Ty, only because it was the nearest to the entrance. The space was smaller compared to the Birmingham area, and there were only a couple of Ty Reps compared to the usual busy sales team. The usual Ty décor was no where to be seen, and instead of the jazzy modern frames and display tables, the stand was bare with a few wooden crates. The crates had ‘Live Animal’ and pawprints painted on in pink and purple, with the latest introductions sitting on top. Really, Ty’s stand was a disappointment. As usual, I would have enjoyed seeing a surprise or two. Ty’s motto is expect the unexpected…so what happens when what you expect comes true? That’s expecting the expected isn’t it? I’m sure the team at Ty UK Ltd are busy with the taking over of Ty Europe, but it would have been great to see something exciting. There was only one or two of each of the July introductions, such as Tux, Shortstop, and the Books trio…and that was it for the Ty display.
The Depesche stand was next on the list of companies to visit. The Depesche stand is usually spacious, but with plenty of products on display. On a much smaller scale, the stand was still full of brand new things to excite buyers. It was busy with people, as usual, and seemed much more popular in comparison to Ty’s empty stand. There were brand new lines for Diddl fans, which really excited me…especially as some of the lines I saw as prototypes back in February. It was great to see the finished products. There were big displays of the new Autumn lines – Galupy and Diddlina Autumn range, and Pimboli and Mimihopps Autumn range. The Galupy and Diddlina Autumn range follows a red, pink and blue theme, covering bags, plush, notebooks, pyjamas, umbrellas, perfumes..etc. The cute new notebooks were unusual. With layered covers, cut out characters on the front, glitter and beautiful colours, I can imagine these will be popular with both gift/toy customers and collectors alike. The Pimboli and Mimihopps range is my favourite. As a Pimboli and Mimihopps fan, all of their ranges appeal to me, but the colours and patterns of this new 2005 range is beautiful. Mainly purples, pinks and greens, the new line is sure to be popular with everyone. The patterned fabric is incorporated in the whole line, including use of fleece in places. What I love about Depesche’s product designs, is how each product (plush, purses, bags, pencil case) etc. use a combination of various fabrics and colours, with trims and accessories. A common cause of concern about Diddl plush items, is the high price. But when you see the detail and the extravagance of the designs, you can clearly see why. This years autumn ranges are just a reminder of the high standard of quality that every product is manufactured to.
As well as the main lines from Depesche, there were a few individual products that will excite customers until the Autumn ranges hit the shops. These included a pink leather-style bag and purse set. I’m not sure if the bag was actually leather, but that is the best way I can describe the set. As a vegetarian, cow-loving Diddl fan, I would hope that a synthetic material was used, as I love the set and would like to add it to my large collection of Depesche bags. Also, an individual product on display, was a pink and red flower shaped cushion, featuring Diddlina’s face in the centre. Another cute product set that I loved, was a duo of glittery, round purses. A little bag, rather than a wallet, the purses have a zip around half the purse, and come in sparkly blue and sparkly pink, featuring Diddlina on each. Vanillivi and Wolleywell were not forgotten. Two of the lesser-known characters have a new plush product each for winter – featuring the duo in matching woolly jumpers. Wolleywell wears a black, blue, yellow and white striped jumper with a small icon logo stitched to the back, and Vanillivi wears a pink, blue, white and red striped jumper, with a similar logo. The first thing I noticed when I walked to the display, was the box of giant Diddl tape. Last month, Depesche introduced a set of mini-tape and dispenser. Now, it seems the company is appealing towards an older market with the introduction of Diddl designed parcel tape in a dispenser.
Most of the individual products can be seen at the company website. Although written in German, I think the website is pretty self explanatory. http://www.depesche.de/index.php?id=164
The new Diddlina and Galupy Autumn Range and the Mimihopps and Pimboli Autumn range is not yet on the website, but keep checking the Market Place of www.diddl.com, as I’m sure it won’t be too long before it’s online for the fall.
The big surprise of the day was at the Collectible World Studios stand. Compared to all the other companies that seemed to have downsized, Collectible World seemed to keep their huge spacious stand that they usually use. Unfortunately, Carte Blanche Greetings weren’t attending the show, so we had to make do with their license partner. The new Me To You products were on display. Although there were less of the new introductions, there was still the large price tags that collectors have been concerned about. ‘Frosty Days’ was one of the centrepieces on display, featuring a winter scene with a Tatty Teddy duo kissing around a winter tree. This will be a limited edition, with an edition number smaller than recent products at 3999. I can’t remember the RRP for this piece, but I think it was around £40. ‘Party Surprise’ will be £12.50 and features a bear sitting in metallic streamers. It’s another product that features an incorporation of non-ceramic accessories, in these streamers. ‘Christmas Friend’ shows Tatty Teddy placing a hat on a snowman and will retail for £20. 'Smitten' is a £16 bear wearing a blue jacket with mittens. He's my favourite of all previewed at the show.
The big surprise of the CWS stand was a brand new Tatty Teddy range. The Porcelain Collection, is a brand new series of porcelain bears following a gift theme, but something tells me they won’t have an exclusively gift-buyer customer base. The bears themselves seem to have a matt-finish, whereas the t-shirts and accessories are glossy. The individual products range from £15-18 and all come in satin-lined gift boxes. There are also larger pieces including doubles from £35-40. The most extravagant pieces are a M-U-M set, featuring 3 pieces holding a letter each. This will retail for a whopping £45. The ‘Me to You’ set, features two bears, each holding a pink and blue ‘Me’ and ‘You’.
The set features a poem (spelt wrong on the display sign…I hope they will correct that before retailing lol):
The Porcelain Collection:
A gift to stand the test of time
Given sincerely to your heart from mine
A token of love and sentiment too
A treasure forever from me to you.
What is great about this range is that H Samuels show no interest in stocking this line, which means, for anyone wanting to collect these pieces; they may be very hard to come by. With only independent retailers stocking the range, demand may exceed supply. This could be a range, if CWS don’t go over the top with introductions, which could be a valuable investment for collectors.
A big Thank You to Jo and the team at Depesche UK for letting us take photos! Another great job guys!!
The range to hit shops this month - the Morning Dreams series
And here are the more general, individual products:
Peace was upset when he heard that he missed seeing the Doctor, when he stayed at home on Sunday. On the way home from the show, I spotted the Tardis looking inconspicuous in Wetherby...no sign of Bad Wolf anywhere. lol
