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Toy Fair New York is back for its 2017 edition, and as a team obsessed with Play, we always love looking back at what toys generated the biggest buzz. 2016 was a huge year for toys and tech, but which trends unveiled at last year’s fair ended up being accurate. and which ones just didn’t hit the mark? Let’s take a look, shall we?
The 2016 Toy Fair trends according to the Toy Industry Association (TIA) included:
- 1. Drones, Robots, and Toys-to-Life
- 2. Family Matters
- 3. Ultimate Creator
- 4. Brain Boosters/STEAM
- 5. Coveted Collectibles
One thing to note: these trends all intersect in ways that include electronics, nostalgia, and connectivity. While many of the toys that were shown at Toy Fair 2016 followed these trends, not all of them ended up being a success, and sometimes the trend itself wasn’t what mattered most.
The Trends That Made It
With 2016 having seen a growth in toy sales, some of these trends clearly helped lead the way. The main one being collectibles. The last little while, collectibles have become increasingly popular with the public due to their price point, their versatility, and the audience in general. The sales for collectibles grew by 33% and represented 9% of the total toy industry dollars. Blind packs were also another reason that this trend was beyond popular. For adults and kids alike, it’s something that can be bought and can be bought multiple times in order to complete a collection.
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Another trend that did well in 2016 was Family Matters – products that bring the whole family together for real interaction. This is due to nostalgia and the want for spending time with children with less connectivity involved. The two main contributors were Outdoor & Sports Toys (+10% change) and Games/Puzzles (+18% change). Millennial parents value time with their kids, and getting toys that remind them of their childhood is a win-win in their mind. As well, getting their kids into sports and outdoor activities is just as important to Millennials as it is to the kids themselves.
The Trends That Are Still Trying To Catch On
While drones, robots, and toys-to-life was leading the trend at Toy Fair 2016, it also fell flat in some areas. Many connected toys had made it onto the ‘must have’ Christmas gifts and there were exceptions to the toys-to-life sector, but overall, toys-to-life had a 3% decrease for the year ending July 2016. The strong end of that was LEGO Dimensions (also constitutes partly as a building set) which outpaced its rivals in July – is there any surprise that LEGO just keeps winning? There was also the discontinuing of two Toys-to-Life properties: Disney Infinity and Disney Playmation.
The other interesting issue was the problem of technology mishaps that occurred during the holiday season. Forget security and privacy issues; parents were just straight up mad that the toys that they got their kids didn’t work. The two offenders that got the most press were Barbie Hello Dreamhouse and Hatchimals. Many parents were left with Error Code 18 with the Barbie Hello Dreamhouse when trying to use the voice commands. And for Hatchimal, an overwhelming amount of product never hatched, or it was just dead on arrival. It got so bad that Spin Master is now facing a proposed class-action lawsuit over the Hatchimal incident of 2016. Alas, we’re still at a point where a main issue with tech toys is that the more connected and advanced they are, the more likely they are to break.
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Image from Flickr.
A big part of the ultimate creator trend would be building sets and arts and crafts. Both of these categories saw a decrease in dollar change in 2016. Building sets had an annual decrease of 3% and arts and crafts was 5%. This is despite LEGO being on the top 10 U.S. Toy Properties between January – June 2016, though it was specifically LEGO Star Wars.
Brands That Made It Big
Many of the top brands of 2016 hit it big, not particularly because of any one sector or trend they fall into. The top brand was Star Wars over all, with LEGO being one of the main areas to help keep the sales going. For top growth, Pokemon was number one in that section. Other top 10 growing properties were Trolls, Batman v Superman, and Finding Dory. None of which completely coincided with the trends of the last year.
The Toy Industry Is Doing Well
Make no mistake, no matter the trend, the toy industry continues to grow, with an increase of 5% in 2016 – it’s a great time to be a kid, or a kid at heart. There were successes and disappointments throughout the year and, as always, brands are taking the lessons they learned in 2016 and applying that knowledge to the products we’ll be seeing this year. 2016 saw the release of many more female action figures (like the amazing DC Superhero Girls, we’re proud to work with!), more nostalgia in toy lines, and the ever-expanding line of blind boxes for every entertainment brand imaginable. While electronics had their moment of growth, most of that growth took place within the last few months of 2016 for the holidays, (more than likely due to price points). With all the knowledge gained by the corporations, we’ll keep our eyes peeled, excited to see what comes out of Toy Fair New York 2017 this weekend.
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