Tag Archives: trade shows

Music Biographies from Quarto Books @ NY NOW Summer Market 2025

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By now, I’m sure that the more tenured members of the readership know about my attending the bi-annual NY NOW Gifting Show for the purposes of content on “The Chronicles of Piercing Ken” and you can see some of our historical stuff by clicking the hyperlinked text. As I’ve mentioned, the show runs twice each year and I’ve just recently attended their Summer Market and was once again able to secure some cool intel for you to be up to speed on what is coming from the Quarto Books publishing company.

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We love visiting the Quarto Brooks booth when wandering the NY NOW show and back during the Winter Market there was not a lot of new things to share with you. Only the Kaiju book and a Judas Priest item. To see those as a reminder click HERE. This time around there were several new items, such as “Rush at 50”.
Continue reading Music Biographies from Quarto Books @ NY NOW Summer Market 2025

PiercingMetal’s Scenes from Toy Fair 2025: Funko and Nacelle Toys

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As previously noted, Toy Fair just wrapped up its four day takeover of the Javits Center and I was once again bringing the PiercingMetal outlet into the mix for our 12th official visit in a professional capacity. The way the coverage is being laid out is for a number of exhibitor presentations of the stuff that speaks the loudest to our demographic. These first few posts will load in those exhibitors where we didn’t go crazy in photos and then the more comprehensive ones will follow. Generally speaking I like to post a maximum of “50” images in these kinds of narratives but will occasionally be breaking my own rules to keep true to my plan. Let’s continue along with the topical finds from Funko and Nacelle Toys. Please enjoy the presentation.

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For many years Funko has been one of my favorite providers of coolness based on all of their music related Funko Pops. They’ve done so many groups that I enjoy such as KISS, Iron Maiden, Ghost, Judas Priest and so many more. What I’ve done here was only to spotlight the upcoming music releases. One can truly get lost in the Funko booth at Toy Fair.

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Continue reading PiercingMetal’s Scenes from Toy Fair 2025: Funko and Nacelle Toys

PiercingMetal’s Scenes from Toy Fair 2025: The Beginning

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The Toy Association’s Toy Fair just wrapped up its 2025 Trade Show at the Javits Center and this event found them bringing the show back to the first quarter of the year after doing one in the Fall of 2023. They would bypass 2024 entirely to reframe and recalibrate the affair and I was excited to be bringing the PiercingMetal website into the mix once again. I’ve been attending with the outlet since 2011 which made the most recent event my 12th year of attending in a professional capacity. Over the last few years I’ve been using the Piercing Ken website for some additional Toy Fair coverage and since there was so much to document over these last few days that process will continue. I’ll also be using the Ken Pierce Media website to tie everything together as that has seemed to work out well when both sides of the creative coin are being utilized. My plan for PiercingMetal documentation is to do a number of exhibitor spotlight posts until I’m done with the stuff that our readership likes and then I’ll add in any of the videos that have been done for YouTube to wrap it up. I will probably do my standard of no more than “50” images in each post since that has helped me work with things like the New York Comic Con very well. Let’s begin.

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Upon walking into the Javits Center one couldn’t help but notice the impressive Formula 1 race car that the folks from Mattel had set up right there in the lobby. It was promoting one of their latest offerings for “Hot Wheels”.

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Continue reading PiercingMetal’s Scenes from Toy Fair 2025: The Beginning

Organizers Cancel The Summer NAMM Show Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

Cancellation posts are starting to become more and more of a thing based on the Coronavirus Pandemic and now we share the press release from the President and CEO Joe Lamond and NAMM Chair C.F. Martin who announced the cancellation of the show that was originally scheduled for July.

namm show logo

Dear NAMM Family,

After speaking with so many of you and closely following the latest news regarding the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Summer NAMM, scheduled for July 9–11 in Nashville. We sincerely recognize the importance of this annual mid-year gathering for our industry. However, the current circumstances make it impossible to hold the show or to undertake the many months of careful planning and preparation that are required to create a secure and organized event.

In spite of not being able to be together in Nashville, we will continue to connect our community to help everyone move forward. Our focus remains on guiding our members to the financial relief that so many badly need through the CARES Act. In addition, the NAMM team has been sourcing and sharing the most creative strategies that are working in music retail and online music learning, vital tools to survive these unprecedented economic times. The NAMM website is your trusted and reliable place to get the latest news; please utilize this resource as our virtual gathering spot for the time being.

As difficult as these days are, we gain strength and inspiration from the generations of NAMM members who came before us, overcoming every obstacle in their way. And in that spirit, we can just imagine the heartfelt celebrations that will occur when we are all together again in Anaheim next January. In the meantime, please stay safe and connected to each other; with perseverance, vision and passion, we will succeed.

Visit the NAMM FAQ page for more information.

*** end of transmission ***

PiercingMetal Thoughts: Hey listen, right now there is no clear idea about what’s going on out there and since many regional regulations are telling us to stay inside and limit our outdoor activity unless we really need to I say let’s follow the rules. Hopefully this will be a quick dilemma and the world can get back on track. I was already supposed to have been at about four shows and conventions which were all shut down based on the current bans. Find some things to do in your residence and by all means be cautious and use your head. See you next time.

Official Website: http://www.namm.org

Exploring Toy Fair 2019: LEGO (Part 2)

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Welcome back my friends, I am here once more with the continuing exploration of the 2019 Toy Fair. This chapter is the second from the LEGO Press Preview and I’ve already pointed out that this is slightly different from the other appointments I make during the show. As before I will mostly let the images do the talking since there is no way that this readership are going to draw a blank when they see these characters. Let’s go.

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lego, toy fair 2019, lego at toy fair 2019
Continue reading Exploring Toy Fair 2019: LEGO (Part 2)