LOS ANGELES — The first official day of XBIZ Expo kicked off Friday morning on the mezzanine level of the Loews Hollywood Hotel, which was filled with prominent buyers and sellers within the pleasure products market and other areas of the industry, from sexual health to payment services.
Prior to the official opening, XBIZ Expo welcomed attendees with a happy hour Thursday evening. Held at Preston’s restaurant inside the Loews Hollywood, the gathering gave vendors and buyers a chance to ease into the three-day expo with some drinks, appetizers and networking.
On the show floor Friday morning, Sliquid VP of Sales and Merchandising Michelle Marcus told XBIZ she was excited to kick off the new year with her “great, big extended family.” A photo of late company founder Dean Elliott was on display in the Sliquid booth, in tribute to the beloved entrepreneur who passed away in late November.
The lubricant company has been riding high off the launch of its newest product, Sliquid Tsunami, which Marcus described as an ultra-thick lubricant.
“We had an incredible reception when we did a soft debut of Sliquid Tsunami last summer,” Marcus shared, adding that she always relishes the chance to garner feedback directly from customers.
“We’re lucky to have some great, longtime loyal fans of Sliquid who always come over at these shows and rave about the product — either about an OG formula or something new,” she said. “That’s always exciting for us.”
“We also have some new things in the works!” Marcus added. “Our recipes stay in the kitchen until they’ve been fully developed, but we have some great things coming in 2025.”
Next to the Sliquid booth was Dr. Tush, where owner Rob Christ told XBIZ he was attending XBIZ Expo to educate stores about the company’s products.
“A lot of people focus on sexual wellness, but very few focus on aftercare,” he noted, before walking XBIZ through Dr. Tush’s colorful line of products, which incorporate hydrogel in their formulas.
“It’s really effective in healing cracked or chafed skin,” Christ explained. “It gives you immediate relief for any type of issues you may have. We have After Vajay Play, which is for a woman’s vagina if she gets any microtears, or perhaps cuts from shaving. It soothes pain and helps tremendously. And we have an After Butt Play product that works amazingly for anal sex and any type of discomfort, like anal fissures, hemorrhoids or anything along those lines.
“We also have two BDSM-oriented products,” he continued. “The way the market has been moving indicates that people are getting a lot more aggressive in some of their BDSM activities. The issue we’re focused on is, how do you heal afterward? So we have an After Kink product that works on rope burns, rug burns or any type of extreme activities. And you can put on our After Spanking cream and within 30 seconds, you can go back to whatever you were doing before.”
Although Dr. Tush is new to the industry, Christ said he felt immediately welcomed by the community.
“Everybody has been extremely helpful!” he said. “And to be able to sit down for one-on-one meetings with actual buyers who can make quick decisions and give us feedback has been great.”
Just down the aisle, Megalodon Distro was proudly introducing the company’s new F-ck line of sexual enhancement products, including blue raspberry gummies and a coffee shot that causes arousal, as well as another gummy that increases salivary production, enhancing oral sex for all genders.
Megalodon VP Jorge told XBIZ, “We’re super excited about F-ck, which is our couples’ brand of sexual enhancements. It’s shareable, and the reason we wanted to do more shareables is that we’re finding that with enhancement products, it adds to the trust and the intimacy of the night. That’s what we’re trying to do: make sex fun.”
Speaking of which, Top Drawer Toys owner Dan Dickinson was eager to showcase his company’s hit product, the Box Rocker, which launched last year.
Dickinson, in town to make deals with distributors, noted that the product is “small enough to fit in your top drawer.”
“It’s a small sex machine that you can ride, strap to your body or use however you please,” he said. “It’s water-resistant, it has nine different vibration patterns and not only does it stroke, but you can change the stroke length with the click of a button. Every time you click it, it’ll go another half-inch longer.”
Also among the exhibitors at XBIZ Expo was The Handy, which showcased its new Oh! massager, a remote- and app-controlled smart vibrator that uses sound waves. Company rep Caio was on hand to discuss the toy and app’s features, which include the ability to sync with erotic stories.
“Before, Oh! only operated by sound, but now we have some video content and new audio content,” Caio shared.
The Handy also showcased a new lighted display to retail buyers.
“This is actually the first time that we’re presenting this,” Caio noted. “It was just manufactured last week, and this is the prototype. With this nicely lit display, you scan the QR code that directly takes you to our page, so you don’t have to download any apps or establish any connection. Then what you see in the video is the strength of the vibration, which will go up and down. Because it’s an interactive toy, it has so many different features that it’s not easy to sell without seeing it. The idea is to maximize real estate in stores with a beautiful display.”
At midday, Blush hosted a happy hour in the Socials room at Loews’ expo hall, providing a relaxed atmosphere for the lunchtime networking event, which allowed everyone to connect and mingle before returning to the show floor.
In the afternoon, XBIZ spoke with Kara Liburd, the U.S./Canada sales executive for Fun Factory. She said that the company was attending XBIZ Expo in order to resolidify its place within the industry.
“Since Satisfyer bought Fun Factory and took over, a lot of people have had some uncertainty about the brand,” Liburd said. “So we came to make it known that our quality is unwavering.”
Fun Factory specializes in vibrators, and Liburd touted some of the company’s time-tested favorites, including staples such as the Big Boss, Miss Bi, the Tiger, Amorino and Patchy Paul, as well as a new external stimulator: the Volta. She also showed off a green double-ended dildo called the Ride and a lay-on vibrator called the Leia.
“We have 30 new products coming out in 2025,” she teased. “I can’t tell you what they are, but they’re coming!”
Over at the Crave booth, co-founder/designer Ti Chang showed off a sleek line of pleasure jewelry and bedside products, including an external vibrator that doubles as a discreet and stylish necklace. The collection also includes bracelets and rings.
Crave released its classic Vesper necklace in 2014 and the company launched a fully waterproof update last year that offers a wave pattern. The company offers a variety of products in a variety of colors, including black, silver and gold, and makes nonphallic vibrators that you might not even guess are sex toys.
“As a brand, we’ve always embraced aesthetics as well as quality material,” said Chang, noting that Crave uses nickel-free plating in its stainless steel products, so they won’t stain users’ skin.
“Our goal is to create beautiful, intimate experiences,” said Chang. “Crave jewelry isn’t just an elegant way to introduce vibrators into the bedroom. It’s a way of showing up in the world and being unapologetic about what you want and what you desire.”
Elsewhere, Honey Play Box PR Manager Kristine Aulachong talked about the patent the company has on the Kinky Finger, the part of its Fortexa vibrator that offers clitoral stimulation.
The Fortexa boasts a special textured tip and, according to Aulachong, is designed to hit “your G-spot, your A-spot and your C-spot.”
“You’ll feel stuff you never thought you would feel,” she promised.
Aulachong also showed off Honey Play Box’s Kegel products.
“Kegel is a hassle, but our Kegel balls take all the brainwork out of it,” she offered. “You just put them in and use the app, and it’ll do all the work for you. It comes with four different weights, and we also have an inflatable Kegel ball that perfectly contours to your body. It’s made with medical-grade, super-soft silicone that’s both made for the body and comfortable.”
This was Aulachong’s first XBIZ Expo, and she said she looked forward to heading over to the X3 Expo at the Hollywood Palladium later that night to meet her favorite streamers.
“We’re just excited to be here,” she added. “We’re the underdogs in the game, but we love to connect with the other brands here, show everyone our innovations and take inspiration from their innovations, as we’ve already heard about so many cool things that other people are doing.”
Across the ballroom, Tim Faber manned the INTY Toys booth. The company’s founder and managing director said it was his first time as a vendor at XBIZ Expo, and he hoped to find distribution in the U.S. and surrounding markets.
“We’re a well-known brand in Europe looking to expand overseas,” explained Faber. “We started with a black line, and we add a few new items every six months. We just added a pink line, and all of our toys have unique shapes and functions.”
Full Circle Distribution showcased its wide range of pleasure products, lingerie and smoking accessories inside a spacious booth that wrapped around a corner of an aisle in the middle of the expo floor. VP of Sales and Marketing Briana Watkins was on hand to highlight recent releases, including new strokers packaged in boxes with stylish photos of models of different ethnicities.
“It’s a modern take on old-school strokers,” she said. “It still has that classic look but with glossy, gorgeous images.”
Watkins also showed off Full Circle’s new Kaiju line of fantasy-inspired pleasure products, including new strokers. Other new additions from the company included new candles with erotic imagery on them and new The Pleasure Company vibes.
Another vendor exhibiting at XBIZ Expo was Thumper, a new brand of sex gummies that made waves at the event with its branded bunny ears, which many attendees sported. Each box of Thumper gummies includes two bunny-shaped gummies — one for him and one for her, with male/male, female/female options also available.
“We are new to our space; this is our second show,” said Alan-Michael Price, Thumper founder and CEO. “It’s going to be quite a learning process, which is great.”
Entrepreneur Price personally developed the brand, logo and packaging.
“Everything is just all me,” he affirmed. “I wanted to start a business, and I saw an opportunity with sex enhancement gummies. We launched about six months ago and it’s been going great so far. We’ve got a really good response. Even though we’re new, we have gotten positive reviews online. We’re very hopeful that we’ll grow.”
Day 1 of XBIZ Expo officially came to a close with Pipedream’s evening happy hour gathering, which brought a crowd of participants to the bar area of the Loews Hollywood Hotel lobby. The event offered yet another great opportunity for attendees to network and mingle with fellow industry professionals.
“Pipedream values hosting events that bring the industry together as an opportunity to foster collaboration, share innovations and strengthen connections within the sexual wellness community,” said a Pipedream rep. “We had an absolute blast seeing our customers, catching up in person and helping them discover their next favorite products.”
Pipedream’s happy hour was also the perfect time to catch up on all the latest news from the show floor — as well as get some much-needed rest before another busy day of meetings.
