Lower Priced Toys (i.e. Toys under $25)
In these difficult economic times and with consumers watching their disposable spending, toy manufacturers will be putting a greater emphasis on promoting their introductions with lower retails. A number of the top selling toys last holiday season were at lower price points (i.e. Bakugan and Club Penguin Plush) so all manufacturers will be putting a greater emphasis on delivering lower price products. Some early highlights are Mega Brands Battle Strikers and Season 2 Bakugan product from Spin Master.
Toys Based on Movie/Entertainment Properties
Toys based on leading movies like Iron Man, and Batman were some of the most popular in 2008 and 2009 won’t be any different. Some of the anticipated blockbusters for this year are Star Trek (Playmates for figures and others), GI Joe (Hasbro), Transformers II (Hasbro), Terminator and X-Men/Wolverine (Hasbro). The marketing budget put behind these Summer Movie intros, coupled with the built in awareness of these properties (i.e. parents growing up with Star Trek, Terminator etc.) will drive toy sales, anchored by the success of the action figure category.
Science Toys
Historically this was the “boring” aisle that a child would never walk down. But based on the success of Jakks Pacific’s Eyeclops and Discovery Kids brands, along with the Planet Earth product, science has become hipper and more fun for kids. In addition to great traditional science toys, toys with “Brainwave technology” by Companies like Uncle Milton, with their Star Wars FORCE TRAINER and Mattel with their Mindflex should be popular in 2009.
Green Toys
Focusing on Global awareness along with maintaining the earth and environment is a crucial issue with families and even more so children as they learn about this in school. Coupled with the safety issues in toys (which is an issue that has been well addressed by the industry) manufacturers are developing more and more toys that utilize organic and recycled raw materials in the products. Skewed a bit more to the specialty market, Companies like Mary Meyer and Sprig toys will be just a few that will lead the growth in this category.
Access to the Internet and Digital Websites
Computers and web searching competencies are now a driving influence in children’s play patterns. Toys Manufacturers will continue to incorporate the virtual world into their toy introductions with links to website and offering added content that instead of being packaged into the product, is available via dedicated website.