It Febuary, so you know what that means. Parents@Play was at the New York Toy Fair, checking out all the newest and best toys and games that are coming out this year, and we think it will be a fantastic year for toys. James Hamilton, of the popular pop-culture website http://geekstronomy.com was there to lend a hand covering the massive show floor (and we thank him for his contributions to this coverage).
We found that some of the trends for the next year are somewhat of a continuation of old trends, albeit slightly updated. Some of these continuing toy trends do venture into new territories, and it’s always fun to see what the year will bring to our families.
One of the continuing trends has to be the “blind boxes”. While these have been growing in popularity, one of the variations on these “blind box” items is that the blister pack will show some of the toys or contents with one or more figures being obscured. The remaining contents are visible to the consumer, and the hidden toy is often a “rare” item. The other big news in blind boxes is the packaging has gotten very creative, having the packaging serving a dual purpose such as being used as a Christmas ornament, storage tin, or as part of the toy itself. We LOVE this, and we think your kids will, too.
One of the other trends we witnessed is expansion of STEM based products. If you are not familiar with the term STEM, it stands for Science, technology, engineering and math (another variation is “STEAM”, where the “A” stand for Art- which we like better). Build a robot, learn to code, build atoms, mix colors, new takes on old classics like volcano building- there is no shortage of truly fun with learning options. Starting from months old and up, the child can learns coding though programming a robot’s actions, how to use a musical instrument, and so much more. This year, education is king, and we are happy to see that trend.
Another trend which doesn’t seem to be losing any steam is the prevalence of potty humor. There is no end to a child’s (or his father’s) fascination with poop and fart noises, so the demand continues and the products expand to fill it. There is everything from games to toys with the potty theme. I guess no amount of flushing with make this one go away.
One thing that continues year to year and will never go away is the popularity of plush toys. This year, there are a few plush toys that seem to be everywhere. Not new, but continuing to be hot trends are mermaids and unicorns (many with sparkles, glitter, or “magic” sequins that go in multiple directions) donuts, and narwhals. In addition, you will find a multitude of dinosaurs, flat stuffed toys in every variety (even superheroes), and the new fun food toys are bananas, pineapples, avocados, which you will see everywhere by every brand. The new trendy animals this year? Sloths, llamas, and aliens.
While we saw tons of these toys stuffed, you will find them in blind packs, action figures, pull toys, as bouncy balls, as pillows, coloring books, crayons themselves, and in more options then you can imagine.
While we are speaking of dinosaurs- you won’t be able to turn your head this year without looking at one (or take a step without tripping on one, as it might turn out). With the new Jurassic Park movie coming out shortly, as well as the 25th anniversary of the movie (don’t you feel old now? I sure do), not only are there a wide array of Jurassic Park toys and characters and more, but never before have there been so many books, paleontologist kits, stuffed animals, figures, remote control toys, costumes, and anything else you can think of that will have your child in a pteroble state of dino-madness.
