What’s Trending: A Recap from Licensing Expo & ASTRA Marketplace & Academy
June 19, 2023 | Members of the toy & play industry descended upon Columbus and Las Vegas last week for ASTRA Marketplace & Academy and Licensing Expo 2023, respectively, where many of The Toy Association’s top 2023 trend predictions were on full display by event exhibitors and educational programming.
At ASTRA Marketplace & Academy, both products and presentations called further attention to the “Tween Takeover” trend in the specialty space, where retailers are carving out dedicated areas for toys that meet the demands of today’s tweens and teens. This includes food-themed and fashion-driven toys as well as arts & crafts, games, and sensory toys. Sky Castle Toys’ GooToobz Sips, for example, tap into tactile and food play. The handheld, squishy sensory mazes are shaped like popular beverages such as bubble tea and soda pop. Herd Mentality from Gamewright/Big Potato also took home the ASTRA Play Award in the Game for Tweens+ category, a new addition to the awards program this year. (The awards program, originally called Best Toys for Kids, was also rebranded this year to reflect how play has become more age inclusive.)
At Licensing Expo, the cross-pollination of toys and children’s brands and properties and other parallel industries was palpable, drawing further attention to facets of The Toy Association’s Pop Culture Lifestyle trend. From the show’s theme, which focused on fashion’s impact on the wider licensing industry (including toys), to sessions that examined fandom trends, Licensing Expo highlighted how different fanbases and age groups can create new opportunities to expand revenue streams.
Peanuts Worldwide, for example, will lean in to the outdoor, nature, and camp themes of Camp Snoopy as it looks ahead to the brand’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2024. Similarly, companies are seizing on the mainstreaming of anime and manga, including Spin Master, which will roll out a revamped series of Bakugan toys with new animation, and Jazwares, which has teamed up with Crunchyroll for products based on its top-performing anime series including SPY x FAMILY, JUJUTSU KAISEN, and My Hero Academia.
Licensing Expo also emphasized the enduring power of nostalgia. Mattel debuted its all-new take on Barney, the iconic 90s purple dinosaur making its return in 2024, while brands like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barbie, and Transformers are all digging into evergreen, well-loved qualities of their brands around their 2023 movie rollouts while also incorporating new strategies to appeal to a broad audience of fans.
“These examples represent just some of the amazing brands, products, and trends Toy Association staff scouted across both shows last week,” said Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of marketing communications at The Toy Association, who attended Licensing Expo. “As we gear up for Toy Fair®, taking place September 30 to October 3 in New York, the influence of parallel industries and the repositioning of play as something to be enjoyed by all ages will be on display in an even bigger way, through new showcases, pavilions and educational content uncovering the latest trends and innovations across the toy, play, and youth entertainment industry."
Toy & play professionals are invited to mark their calendars for the show, book appointments, and join The Toy Association’s trends team on day one of Toy Fair for a session that will reexamine its 2023 toy trends, discuss what has changed, and look at new trends on the horizon.
The Toy Association works year-round to see what’s new and coming down the pike in the toy, game, and youth entertainment space. For more information, visit toyassociation.org/trends.