HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The first official day of XBIZ Expo kicked off on 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.
XBIZ Expo welcomed attendees the evening before with a happy hour on Thursday. Held at Preston’s restaurant inside the Loews Hollywood Hotel, vendors and buyers eased into the three-day expo with some drinks, appetizers and networking.
Michelle Marcus, VP of sales and merchandising at Sliquid, said she was excited to kick off the new year with her “great, big extended family.” A photo of late Sliquid founder Dean Elliott was on display, 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 she described as an ultra-thick lubricant.
“We had an incredible reception when we did a soft debut of Sliquid Tsunami last summer, and we have some new things in the works, but our recipes stay in the kitchen until they’ve been fully developed,” said Marcus, who promised that the company has “some great things coming” in 2025.'
Marcus, who was named Community Figure of the Year at the 2018 XBIZ Exec Awards, said she relishes the chance to meet fans of the product, as it’s important to garner feedback directly from the customer.
“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. And that’s always exciting for us,” said Marcus, who wasn’t content to rest on her company’s laurels, and continues to strive for innovation.
Just next to the Sliquid booth was Dr. Tush, and though we didn’t see a diploma hanging on the wall, its owner, Rob Christ, sure sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
Christ attended XBIZ Expo “looking to educate stores about our products and how important sexual wellness is in the aftercare space,” he said. “A lot of people focus on sexual wellness, but very few focus on the aftercare, and that’s what our products are focused around.”
Christ then walked XBIZ through Dr. Tush’s colorful line of products, including After Butt Play, After Vajay Play, and After Spanking Play, all of which are effective due to their use of hydrogel.
“It’s a really expensive and effective ingredient in healing cracked or chafed skin. It gives you immediate relief for any type of issues you may have,” explained Christ.
“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 amazing for anal sex and any type of discomfort, like anal fissures, hemorrhoids, or anything along those lines.”
“We also have two BDSM products that are focused on After Spanking, and 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 that somebody may encounter. And you can put on our After Spanking cream and within 30 seconds, you can go back to whatever you were doing before.”
Christ said that Dr. Tush is new to the industry but that he felt immediately welcomed by the community.
“Everybody has been extremely helpful, and to be able to sit down one-on-one meetings with actual buyers who can make quick buying decisions and give us feedback has been [great],” said Christ.
Just down the aisle, the fine folks at F-ck introduced a variety 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.
Jorge, who works as a VP at Megalodon Distro, was proud to introduce the company’s new F-ck line of products.
“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,” explained Jorge.
“If I come home and I say, ‘Hey babe, I’ll try this and you can try this,’ there’s a whole lot of questions being brought up, but if I say, ‘I’m gonna take some of this, and you’re gonna take some,’ it adds to the whole experience, and that’s what we’re trying to do, which is make sex fun.”
And speaking of making sex fun, XBIZ met with Dan Dickinson, the owner of Top Drawer Toys, who was eager to showcase his hit product, the Box Rocker, which launched last year.
Dickinson was in town to make some deals with distributors, noting that the product is “small enough to fit in your top drawer.” Hence the name, people!
It’s a one-of-a-kind product. It’s a small sex machine that you can ride, strap to your body, or use however you please. 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, and every time you click it, it’ll go another half-inch longer.”
Among the exhibitors of XBIZ Expo was The Handy, which showcased its new Oh! massager, a remote and app-controlled smart vibrator that uses sound waves. Caio, a company rep, 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,” he added.
At XBIZ Expo, a new lighted display was showcased to retail buyers.
“This is actually the first time that we're presenting this,” he added. “It was just manufactured last week, and this is the prototype. The whole point is that 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.”
Caio demonstrated the different ways that people display the toy on a shelf.
“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.
Midday, on day one of the XBIZ Expo, Blush hosted a happy hour in the Socials room at Loews’ expo hall. Following their lunchtime meal, a stream of attendees flowed in. The relaxed atmosphere of the networking event allowed everyone to connect and mingle before hitting the show floor.
Kara Liburd, the U.S./Canada sales executive for the Fun Factory, said that the company came to XBIZ to re-solidify itself within the industry.
“Since Satisfyer has taken over and bought Fun Factory, a lot of people have some uncertainties about the brand, so we came to resolidify ourselves within the industry and make it known that our quality is unwavering,” said Liburd.
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 vibrator called the Volta, which is an external stimulator.
“We have 30 new products coming out in 2025. I can’t tell you what they are, but they’re coming,” said Liburd, who suggested that users would, too. She also showed off a green double-ended dildo called the Ride and a lay-on vibrator called the Leia.
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.
Cave 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 it makes other non-phallic vibrators that you might not even guess were sex toys.
“As a brand, we’ve always embraced aesthetics as well as quality material,” said Chang, who explained that Crave uses nickel-free plating in its stainless steel products, so they won’t stain your skin.
“Our goal is to create beautiful, intimate experiences for people,” said Chang, who added that wearing Crave jewelry isn’t just an elegant way to introduce vibrators into the bedroom with a partner, “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’s PR manager Kristine Aulachong talked about the patent the company has on the Kinky Finger. It’s the part of its vibrator Fortexa that offers clitoral stimulation.
The Fortexa boasts a special textured tip and the toy is designed to hit your “G-spot, your A-spot, and your C-spot,” according to Christine, who promised, “You’ll feel stuff you’ve never thought you would feel.”
Aulachong also explained Honey Play Box’s dedication to sexual wellness before showing off its kegel products.
“Kegel is a hassle, but our Kegel balls take all the brainwork out of it. 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.”
It’s 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.”
Over on the other side of the ballroom, XBIZ met with Robin from Lemorie, who showed off the company’s adult-themed advent calendars, which provide customers with a wider variety of sex toys, from butt plugs to cock rings.
Nearby, 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 came 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 its 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 at the booth to highlight some of the company’s latest 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 Distribution’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.
Among the vendors exhibiting at XBIZ Expo was Thumper, a new brand of sex gummies that made waves at the event with its branded bunny ears that many attendees sported at the event. 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 a lot of a learning process, which is great.”
According to Price, the entrepreneur developed the brand, logo and packaging.
“Everything is just all me,” he notes. “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 one of XBIZ Expo officially came to a close with Pipedream’s evening happy hour gathering that 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.
