Melbourne Toy Fair Preview: What to Expect from Australia’s Biggest Toy Fair

I’m back in Melbourne — and for the first time in nearly a decade, Melbourne Toy Fair is officially back on my international event calendar.

In this episode of Born to License, David Born previews what to expect from the Australian Toy Hobby and Licensing Fair, the largest trade event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

With around 200 exhibitors and 4,000 trade attendees, this isn’t a public fan event — it’s where buyers, licensors, agents, and brand owners look ahead at the next 24 months of product and IP strategy.

In this episode:

🎯 Why Melbourne Toy Fair matters for licensing

• Closed-door showcases from major studios and brands
• Early previews of upcoming films, anniversaries, and new IP launches
• Forward-looking intelligence you won’t see publicly

🔥 What’s likely to dominate the floor

• K-Pop Demon Hunters momentum after London and New York Toy Fair
• The continued strength of Spider-Man
• Why Bluey is an unstoppable force in Australia

🛍️ Smart category expansion in action

• Paw Patrol moving into premium homewares via Adairs Kids
• What that says about long-term IP positioning

👟 The Crocs × LEGO drop strategy breakdown

• A $150 brick-shaped clog
• Sold out in hours
• Debuted at Paris Fashion Week
• Why hype, attention, and cultural conversation matter more than wearability

David also shares why he’s prioritizing Australia more strategically this year — and what he’ll be looking for on the show floor to gauge where the licensing industry is headed in 2026 and beyond.

If you work in licensing, retail, toys, or brand strategy, this episode is your insider preview before the doors even open.

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Transcript

I'm recording this from Melbourne, Australia, and if you've been following me on Instagram, you already know things have gotten interesting. I've eaten Vegemite, of course, jogged with kangaroos, and I've come face to face with two huntsman spiders the size of my hand. But today I want to talk about why I'm actually here. Because this trip is the first time in nearly a decade that I've included Melbourne Toy Fair in my usual international travel schedule. For anyone who isn't familiar, the Australian Toy Hobby and Licensing Fair, held every March at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, it's the largest trade event of its kind in the entire Southern hemisphere. We're talking around 200 exhibitors, roughly 4,000 attendees. And it's strictly trade only. No public, no casual browsers, just buyers, suppliers, brand owners and licensing professionals. 

 It's owned and run by the Australian Toy association, the authority voice of the industry here in Australia. And it covers everything from construction sets to action figures to collectibles, plush hobby products and critically for US Licensing. For context, I've spent the last decade prioritizing Licensing Expo in Las Vegas and Brand Licensing Europe in London for my licensing event trips. And those are the two biggest licensing events in the world. And my companies do most of their work in Europe and North America. But we've been doing some great things here in Australia as well and it was about time I showed it a bit more love. So here's what makes Melbourne Toy Fair genuinely important for the licensing industry. It's not just the deals that you're making on the floor, it's showcases as well. 

 Licensors, brands and studios use this event to present to their retail and licensing partners what's coming in the next 24 months. We're talking teasers of major films, brand anniversaries, new property launches, marketing campaigns. It's essentially a forward looking intelligence session behind closed doors. I have a pretty jam packed meeting with likes of licensors, Disney, Warner Brothers, Mattel and so forth. But I'm also sitting down with some of the biggest licensing agents in Australia, the people who represent properties like spongebob, Minecraft, hello Kitty and in the Australian market. Those conversations give you a real read on what's resonating in licensing right now and what's being prioritised for the next two years. The other thing I love is walking the show floor and just seeing the latest innovation in toys and also what is the most prominent licenses that are out there. 

 I know our Jenna Chalkley from Born to License was at London Toy Fair recently and K Pop Demon Hunters was everywhere. Brinna Ball was at New York Toy Fair recently too, and she said the exact same thing. So I'm really expecting K Pop Demon Hunters to be unavoidable on the floor of Melbourne Toy Fair as well. Speaking of what's resonating, I've been doing some very deliberate shopping since I landed. Bluey and Spider man are absolutely dominating shelf space here. No surprises there though. Bluey is a genuine cultural phenomenon in Australia. Well, I mean, it's extremely popular everywhere right now. But because Bluey is an Aussie show, it connects even stronger here. And Spider Man's licensing momentum globally is just showing no signs of slowing. It's going to have a big year this year as well. 

 With the new film, I also saw a great collaboration between Adairs Kids and Paw Patrol for international listeners. Adairs is Australia's leading specialty retailer of home furnishings, bedding, linen, homewares, premium positioning. And seeing Paw Patrol land in that category is a really smart it really takes the property well beyond its traditional toy and apparel lanes and into the home. Now, before I wrap up, I have to mention the licensing story that took over my LinkedIn feed this week, and it probably took over yours as well. Crocs and Lego just launched a multi year global partnership and the first drop, a literal Lego brick shaped clog retailing at $150, sold out on both lego.com and Crocs within hours of going live. It debuted at Paris Fashion Week on rapper Tommy cash. It weighs 1.4kg per shoe. 

 It's basically unwearable and people lost their minds over it. From a licensing perspective, this is textbook hype. Drop strategy. Two brands with overlapping audiences, highly engaged adults, collectors, nostalgic driven consumers creating a novelty product designed to generate press and cultural conversation ahead of a much larger, more practical product Rollout later in 2026. The product itself isn't really the point, the attention is, and they absolutely nailed it. So I'm here in Melbourne for the next few weeks, taking meetings, attending showcases and getting a proper read on where the Australian licensing market is headed. I'll be sharing updates on Instagram as things unfold. Hopefully no more Huntsmans, but stay tuned for that and if there's something I can bring back to the show from the fair floor, that's where you'll see it. As always, if you want to connect, please find me on LinkedIn. 

 On Instagram, drop me a line at hello@borntolicense.om. Until then, I am David Born and this is Born to License.