top of page



BEING AN EXPERT WITNESS (TOYS & BOARD GAMES)

Legal cases are usually stressful and antagonistic. These are not conditions we would normally typically seek out! Most legal disputes are resolved, one way or another well in advance of going to court. Normally commercial concerns make both sides come to the negotiating table to find agreed resolution in advance of forking out $£€ hundreds of thousands to lawyers.


Yet I have had some very interesting experience of being involved in legal cases which actually did go to court. Clearly I'm not going to comment on the matters concerned in the cases themselves, but I can describe some of what it is like to be an toy expert witness or a board games expert witness in such a case.


The process of being an expert is mostly focused on two elements:

1. Researching and writing a statement

2. (Potentially) testifying on the stand.


The first part of the process is an almost academic process of briefing, desk research and document reading, leading towards the detailed expression of opinion on whatever the topic at hand is. The opinion tends to be detailed because it needs to be robust enough to stand up to rigorous scrutiny and cross examination from both sides of the dispute. This is far from easy - interpretation can swing from one side of a matter to the other dependent on various factors. Typically available evidence is flawed/has shortcomings in some way, so a toy expert witness or board game expert witness can only hope to reach the least flawed, least imperfect conclusion available versus the perfect representation. Typically writing such a statement can take 1-2 months in total, followed by some back and forth with the lawyers instructing the toy expert witness.


The second part of the process is arguably far more stressful, as being cross examined by highly competent, highly experienced (and highly paid!) expert lawyers is not easy, especially when they clearly understand the law better than the toy expert witness. In circumstances where the evidence available is limited or very imperfect, the challenge for the expert witness is greater, as the more subjective a matter or an opinion is, the more it relies on opinion and less on proven hard data, the more 'holes' in the argument there are likely to be for the expert crosss examiner to utilise. Moreover, other evidence presented in court may change the facts available to the court/those involved in the case, and render an opinion or extensive statement less compelling and ultimately less persuasive.


Having been an expert witness, I found the experience to be very intellectually challenging (mostly in a good way), but also very stressful - to insert oneself into ardent conflict is not likely to be a particularly comfortable place to go, however, the intellectual and professional development it offers can be rewarding nevertheless.


by Steve Reece, Managing Director of Kids Brand Insight www.KidsBrandInsight.com, a leading international Toy Expert Consultancy which helps people & companies get ahead in the toy industry, find the right toy & game factories and to consumer research test their products with kids and parents.




A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A 'TOY EXPERT'


Steve recently gave an interview - he was asked to describe a day in his working life. Here is the transcript of the interview:


INTERVIEWER: Please describe a typical day as a toy expert


STEVE Firstly, I feel somewhat awkward with the label 'toy expert' - so many people in the toy business have greater knowledge than me on many topics. However, I guess I have some specific knowledge on certain aspects of the toy industry as well a good overall 'generalist' view.


INTERVIEWER Which specific topics would you claim 'expert' knowledge of?


STEVE Well I'm still cringeing slightly at the label, but I guess I probably have as good a knowledge as nearly anyone in terms of consumer research testing toys and toy manufacturing in India. I have also managed development of many toys and games (lots of hits and a few too many non hits!), but I think there are many people in the industry with similar experience of developing and launching toys and games, so not sure that one qualifies!


INTERVIEWER Ok, well thanks for the explanation. So what does a typical working day look like for you?


STEVE From about 7am I'm checking overnight emails coming in via India, HK and China.

After some kind of exercise I'll be at my desk around 08:30-09:00 typically. I then plan the day around a few key tasks and a reasonably active call schedule.

I'll usually try to keep the morning free to complete factory liaison tasks, work on Consultancy projects/presentations and to plan consumer research sessions.


In the afternoon, I'll tend to have phone calls with clients/customers, often back to back for most of the afternoon. Or I'll find myself moderating focus groups with children, something which never fails to be challenging/revealing in terms of how kids react to new toys.


Early evening I'll focus on family time before picking the call schedule back up, sometimes into the night! The worst start for a call time in recent weeks has been 1am, although going back further in time I have done 2am before!


At some point in the evening I'll make sure I've parked as many action points as possible in factory inboxes for the next day, and eventually relax with an hour of brainless TV before eventually sleeping from around 12:30am.


Not very exciting really when you write it down, but that's a fairly typical day in the life of this toy 'expert'!






The Phenomenon Of Toy Stockpiling & What It Means For Toy & Kids Entertainment Companies


One of the largest, but largely under highlighted trends we are seeing with today's children is toy stockpiling.


In previous generations, toys were limited in quantity for the vast majority of children. Each individual toy was therefore more cherished and played with more overall than we find today.


For reasons of confidentiality/security we aren't publishing any images of kids bedrooms with this article...but nevertheless, we have seen some truly astounding collections of toys during recent in home research sessions. Most children have literally hundreds of toys, and toy related products by the time they reach the venerable age of 7.


The reasons why this is such a critical trend to be aware of for toy companies, and kids entertainment companies looking to stay in or to enter the world of toys are several:


1. Toys Are An Easy, Budget Gift - despite large increases in manufacturing costs, toy retail price points are not significantly greater than they were decades ago. Due to the power of inflation therefore, comparatively toys are cheap from a consumer perspective these days versus some other types of consumer products. Therefore this encourages gifting by those who may or may not have an intimate knowledge of the child's play preferences (e.g. for children's birthday parties etc).


2. There Is A Bewildering Array of Brands & Products To Choose From - there is vast proliferation in terms of children's entertainment brands. This means that critical mass and getting in front of the crowd becomes critical for companies. Moreover, this proliferation vastly increases the risks of launch failure. (Although the risks can be reduced by kids market research with a reputable, proven agency!).


3. Toys Have To Work Hard To Retain Interest/Keep Kids Playing - the reality is that with so many toys owned by children, the play time on each product will be limited, especially when combined with the over riding preference for screen time if allowed by parents.


4. Standalone Toys Have A Harder Time Versus Kids Entertainment Driven Products - brands with ongoing consumer immersion and multiple touch points are going to have a huge advantage in terms of staying 'front of mind' for children. When combined with the significant financial risks involved in launching new toy product lines, this points towards ever increasing importance of perennial brands with multiple touch points/spin offs and entertainment licenses.

Home: Blog2
Home: About Me
bottom of page