Second quarter financial results, released in July and August, of five of the major publicly traded toy and collectibles companies—Mattel, Hasbro, Spin Master, Jakks Pacific, and Funko—all showed declines (of varying degrees) in topline revenues and net sales during the period, compared to the same timeframe in 2023. The lone exception was Funko, which saw […]
Tag Archives | Funko
Opening the Book on European Literary IP
Many literary properties with European roots rank among the top licensed character IPs globally, but they have historically had a difficult time gaining a footing in the U.S. market, remaining niche brands even after decades of attempts to broaden their publishing and licensing efforts. Recently, however, there are signs that a handful of these classic […]
Fright Night in the Toy and Collectibles Aisle
Scary plush and plush-like characters from the worlds of video games and collectibles are currently having a moment in the licensing business. These properties do not represent a new phenomenon, but their number is currently ramping up, likely due in part to the popularity of the horror genre in general. Most are meant to appeal […]
Toy Companies Offer Tasty Treats
By Karen Raugust on November 16, 2023 in Corporate brands, Food/Beverage, Gifts/Novelties, Licensing, Toys/Games
Plush is always a core category within the toy industry. But it is doing particularly well of late. In 2022, category sales rose 31.1%, according to the Toy Industry Association’s annual sales data developed by the NPD Group (now Circana). That was by far the biggest growth rate for any category tracked, in a year […]
The Mainstreaming of Drag-Related Merchandise
Drag performers have been active in collaborations in the cosmetics space in a big way going back at least four or five years—we wrote about the trend in 2018—and to some extent well before that. More recently, they have also been gradually doing deals in an ever-widening swath of categories, including products for children. That […]
Horror Show
Horror films—which represent a perennial-favorite genre—have been doing particularly well at the box office in recent years, with the theatrical success of M3GAN being one of the most recent examples. Streaming of horror movies took off during the pandemic, adding fans not just for new releases and well-known franchise movies but also years-ago classics and […]
Sweet Charity
One result of consumers’ growing demand for retailers and marketers to make a positive pro-social impact is that non-profit groups are assuming a higher profile in the licensing business, especially over the past two years. They have always had a presence, of course, both as licensors and as promotional partners, but their involvement is slowly […]
In It To Win It
Sales of tabletop games and puzzles in the U.S. grew 14.4% in 2021 versus 2020, according to NPD Group research conducted for the Toy Industry Association. That was on top of a 32.5% increase during the peak lockdown year of 2020. While sales are unlikely to maintain these lofty growth rates in 2022, marketers and […]
Down to a Fine Art
The concept of “artist series,” consisting of in-and-out collections featuring the imagery of a variety of artists, has been with us for decades. But the strategy is certainly experiencing a surge in recent years. Apparel, accessories, and footwear are the most frequent sectors where artist series take place; however, marketers in a growing number of […]
Picking Up the Pace
The governing bodies that oversee professional racing across a variety of vehicles and types, along with other racing-related properties, have been active on the consumer products front since the beginning of 2022. Many have signed new licensing deals (especially in gaming, toys, and collectibles), extended existing agreements, launched new product lines, retained new agents, and/or […]