HP-2020-000016 - [2025] EWHC 1451 (Ch)

Table 1: NPD dolls classifications

During the relevant period, the UK market for playset dolls and collectibles was dominated by three specialist retailers: The Entertainer, Smyths and Toys R Us (TRU). General grocers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s also sell toys including playset dolls, but toy sales only constitute under 1% of their revenue. The toy experts agreed that a successful launch of a new toy product requires support from at least several of the key toy retailers, and that take-up by grocers such as Tesco is generally dependent on initial successful sales in the specialist toy retailers.

During the period relevant to this dispute, toy sales were influenced by two particular trends. The first was the growing popularity of unboxing videos on platforms such as YouTube(and subsequently TikTok, which launched internationally in 2017). Unboxing videos consisted of child “influencers” unboxing various toys on camera. Many such influencers grew to become incredibly popular. The influencer of common interest to Cabo and MGA was a girl called Tiana Wilson (Tiana), who amassed some 16.5m subscribers on her YouTube channel. Both Cabo and MGA engaged Tiana to promote their products.

The second trend was a spike in the popularity of collectible toys. Although the collectibles market is an established toy market, there were several brands which enjoyed particular success in and around 2016–17, including in particular Shopkins (produced by Moose Toys) and Hatchimals Colleggtibles (produced by Spin Master).