What are the products that will allow the toy industry to have a successful first post-Covid Christmas but in the midst of inflation? According to the firm NPD, the five categories that have driven the activity this year are emerging as the protagonists of the decisive period that the end of the year celebrations represent. “Action figures” lead the ranking with an 18% increase in sales. They surfed the waves of the blockbuster jurassic worldwhose last work in the saga was a box office success in early summer, but also multiple film premieres from the Marvel and Disney universes in the context of the reopening of the darkrooms.
“We find these creatures in the whole range of toys, from stuffed animals to puzzles and board games,” he continues.
“We do according to the musical or cinematographic news”
The logic is the same for superheroes who are linked to an “aspirational” phenomenon in children. “The Marvel universe is incredible content with 4 or 5 movies a year that build on a portfolio of characters and make them interact,” details Frédérique Tutt. NPD’s global toys and games market expert is not surprised to see Spiderman and other Ironman figures among the best-selling characters.
At his side are the immortal Pokémon that still add up to four figurines out of ten sold at the beginning of the school year, the Barbie doll that has reinvented itself and is about to benefit from the impulse of the next movie premiere in the cinema and finally the timeless representatives of the Harry Potter saga. “The passion for the wizarding world is now passed down from father to son and affects all generations,” rejoices Audrey Bensoussan, head of the Cinereplicas brand that sells a 450-euro broom to Quidditch fans.
A concern about the response capacity confirmed by Salima Bousalham. “We adapt to musical or cinematographic novelties to always be up to date,” explains the marketing manager of Funko, which sells the famous figurines. We create packs to offer all the characters of a universe at the same time and we are going to release a board soon. game for the 40th anniversary of the movie Y“
“Kidults”, a new essential target
Among its main customers, the Funko company includes in particular “kidults”, that is, game and toy lovers over 14 years of age and who are more and more numerous over the years. “They take the market to all of Europe and make many compulsive purchases or in specialized stores, analyzes Frédérique Tutt. It is a target that pays less attention to price and especially values packaging”.
For Bruno Bokanowski, two factors have given weight to the “kidults” in recent years: on the one hand, the drop in the birth rate, which encourages manufacturers to seek new sources of growth, and on the other, the confinements, which were times when adults felt more the need to have fun from home. Among the popular products in this category, the famous “Blanc Manger Coco” aperitif set, which has been the best seller for the last five years with three million copies sold.
Junior electronics is the queen among the youngest
Obviously, Christmas continues to be the celebration of the little ones and parents will once again have an option on the shelves among the other categories that have sustained activity during the first ten months of the year. Ils pourront opter pour les traditionales véhicules en hausse de 8% ou les légendaires Lego “more gros qu’ils n’ont jamais été” according to Frédéric Tuss who put in advance the boom des licenses which represents presque 23% de ventes in value of 2022 around the corner
But it is junior electronics that is now taking the lead among the youngest with a 10% increase in sales and a key player, V-Tech, leading in the first era. “We try to adapt and imitate what parents use, but with the appropriate security and content so as not to create an ‘all-screen’ generation,” says Vincent Legoupil, director of marketing for the brand in Europe. In addition to the classic imitations of smartphones and cameras, parents can, for example, offer their child a video microscope that broadcasts information according to the lamas it detects in an educational logic.
Eco-responsibility and inclusion
Finally, the games and toys market moves with the times, hence the pronounced irruption of eco-responsible products with little packaging and plastic, for example, or models sensitive to inclusion, such as the Corolle Girls dolls. “The goal of this new collection was to expand the range with slightly chubby dolls, with all types of hair and all skin colors to be more faithful to reality,” says Emma Gantin, account manager.
In a more environmental register, Jérôme Duchemin has chosen to move his production of stuffed animals to Maine-et-Loire, in a context of economic and ecological motivations. “Today I am selling this stuffed animal for 50 euros instead of 80 if it came from China, where it used to produce, due to the explosion in transport,” recalls the head of the Pioupiou et Merveilles company. We also try to sensitize this local production.”
Source: BFM TV
