In a rather baffling move, Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus has just released plans for a new parents-and-kids-oriented magazine, to be titled FunFare, which appears to be basically ToyFare for (and to some extent, by) younger children and their parents.
“Being the father of two amazing children, I am excited to share with other parents and their kids some of the best, innovative and coolest products that’s right for their families (and their budgets), FunFare is very personal to me,” said Shamus in a statement.
It’s baffling because Wizard World Philly ended yesterday, so the notion of Wizard rolling out a major announcement like this at 5pm on a Monday, through an e-mail press release, seems at best strange and at worst like a really obviously missed opportunity. Combine this with the fact that Wizard has been struggling with sagging magazine sales, major problems with their online retail component and massive layoffs (including some that became public after the FunFare announcement) and it really is hard to understand what’s going on over there.
The “Holiday Issue” of FunFare will be available at the Big Apple Con in October, according to Shamus, and will feature a Top 100 list of toys for the holidays; thoughts and reviews from actual kids; and a couple of pieces on the history of the toy business. This seems an awful lot like the Toy Wishes specials that Wizard used to publish (thanks to Kiel Phegley for jumping in and reminding me what that publication was called), which Shamus had acquired, had a little luck with, but then seemed to forget all about at some point.
More information and the magazine’s initial “Hot Dozen” holiday toys are available at the magazine’s website.
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
It’s hardly the only reason why it’s surprising… Mass layoffs/firings, many of their cons biting the dust, the nightmarish customer service of Wizard’s Amazon stores, and just how the general economy and changing technology has hammered the print media industry.
Maybe it’ll be cool little magazine and find its audience. Or it might be the final nail in Wizard’s coffin. Given the state of things, I don’t see this reversing their fortunes.
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Shaun – You said it. For some odd reason, that paragraph of my story disappeared (I swear I wrote something roughly dealing with what you said). My thought on the matter is that he’s likely going for what he perceives to be “safe money” of young kids and their parents. But given that he can’t get WIZARD into video shops anymore, who’s to say he’ll be able to land this puppy in Toys R Us?
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I don’t know if it is being reported, but they have fired ALL of their designers, with most of the design work to be outsourced now.
And from what I hear, toyfare is to be canceled soon… or should I say replaced by funfare.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I’m not 100% on this, but I believe that FunFare is just a rechristened version of the big toy magazine that Shamus acquired a few years ago called Toy Wishes. It comes out quarterly and features the hot toys for whatever season we’re in. Shamus bought it out from former Wizard Ent publisher Jim Silver who brought it into the Wizard publishing line around 2005, I think. In any event, the magazine has always been very successful outside the hardcore toy collector circles (If I recall, it had a great ad situation as many of the toy company’s trusted it to get word out on their product around the holidays).
Now, beyond that I honestly don’t know too much about the mag’s business plans or the general shape of the Wizard company right now, and despite being a former Wizard employee who was himself dropped from the company in the rolling layoffs of the past few years, I don’t hold a grudge against those guys or have a chip on my shoulder. Still, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Shamus never bought Toy Wishes, he stole it, ruined it, and still owes people money from it.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
“Shamus never bought Toy Wishes, he stole it, ruined it, and still owes people money from it.”
Has anyone noticed that “Shamus” seems an all too apt name for this guy?
July 9th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Hey Russ, How about a Q&A with Larsen on Savage Dragon #150!