Toy Fair 2017: Swimways – Star Wars, Marvel, Finding Dory, Cars 3 Pool Toys

Like most kids, my favorite reason to go swimming was to play with my pool toys. From water rafts for adults, to diving toys, floating gear, and goggles for kids, Swimways offers many unique products to make pool time extra fun. And as a Disney licensee, there’s no better swim products on the market than these. I’ll start with the products that adults can enjoy, then move on to the items your kids will go crazy over.

This Captain America shield is a full size float for kids and adults. How cool would you be on a hot summer day relaxing on your Captain America raft? Swimways also teased a Spider-Man raft coming just in time for the summer season.

Alright, so there may be one raft in the world that’s cooler than the Cap Shield, and that would be the Millennium Falcon. Now you can make the kessel run in less than twelve parsecs… in the pool.

That’s no beach ball… This giant Death Star beach ball is not only great for the pool or the beach, but also for conventions. If you’re heading to Star Wars Celebration in Orlando or the D23 Expo in Anaheim this year, this would make a great conversation piece while camping out for the biggest events. You can blow it up when you get there and toss it around the queue hall. It’s sure to make you one of the most popular attendees… unless everyone is just trying to sleep.


And now onto the kiddie stuff.

Finding Dory

Swimways has lots of Finding Dory pool toys and the Nemo characters have been an evergreen pool property since the original film debuted in 2003. One of their most successful items has been the Mr. Ray diving set, which comes with Nemo, a few of his classmates, and Dory. Mr. Ray’s wings connect to nets, so you can send kids on a scavenger hunt throughout the pool for all of these characters and they can catch them with Mr. Ray. Some of the characters sink while others float, encouraging kids to both dive and swim.

Swimways also makes Finding Dory floating products, from boogie boards in various sizes, to life preservers and water wings. These will help your kids learn to “Just keep swimming” safely and effectively. Their life preservers are compact and don’t require any inflation, which makes them ideal for travel if you’re planning a beach vacation.

The Little Mermaid

Swimways has dabbled with Disney Princess products over the years and their current lineup even includes some Frozen items, but none have been more successful than Ariel, The Little Mermaid. I grew up in the 1990’s and most of my pool playtime was spent imagining myself in the movie and then-current animated series, so I can easily understand why Ariel has remained a successful pool toy license. Many of the products are similar to the ones for Finding Dory, but I wanted to take a moment to point out how attractive the Swimways inflatable water wings are. They have separated the characters from their background to make a three dimensional product and I think The Little Mermaid ones are particularly stunning.

Marvel

Marvel has joined the Swimways portfolio, with lots of products based on Spider-Man and the Avengers. In addition to floating toys in similar styles as the Finding Dory and Little Mermaid products, they also make full figure diving toys. My favorite items for kids were the Water Whirl Squirters, which come in Iron Man and Spider-Man figures. Putting the base in the pool, kids can blast water out of Iron Man’s arc reactor or out of Spider-Man’s wrists.

Cars 3

Disney Pixar’s Cars 3 will rejuvenate the franchise this summer and Swimways is well prepared. The coolest product in the line are these diving characters. As part of the sinking process, they release all of their air… through their tail pipes! These kind of details are what sets Swimways apart from other pool toy companies and it’s likely the reason a company like Disney would want to partner with them so exclusively.

Star Wars

The coup de grace of the Swimways booth was without a doubt their Star Wars line, which makes products designed for both boys and girls. Pool toys include diving lightsabers, light-up floating balls, the aforementioned Death Star beach ball and Millenium Falcon pool float, and a life-sized inflatable BB-8.

To close our coverage of Swimways Toy Fair 2017 booth, I just want to add that I wish I could be a kid today. Diving masks when I was young were just diving masks. Now they are character masks, and I couldn’t be more jealous. Swimways, if you’re reading this, please consider making them in mens. Thanks.


Swimways products are available wherever pool toys are sold, including at stores like Target and Wal Mart. But if you’re having a tough time finding a particular item in stores, they also have their own online store with a Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel section to help you make the most out of your summer. For more cool products from Toy Fair 2017, be sure to check out all of our Disney related coverage.

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).