A number of trends in recent months have been moving the e-sports industry, including the licensing component, forward: Big sports licensees are doing deals. It was not that long ago that the first mainstream sports licensees joined e-sports specialists in doing deals with teams, leagues, and players. Since then, the floodgates seem to be opening. […]
Tag Archives | Hasbro
Comfort TV
Some very wholesome TV shows from the past have spurred merchandise programs in recent years, and their efforts continue to expand. Modern consumers likely gravitate to these brands in large part due to their nostalgic appeal, but also, at least to a degree, because they serve as an antidote to today’s digitally driven, politically charged, […]
Compound Interest
Two of the top-of-mind trends in the toy industry over the past two years have been mini collectible figures, especially in blind boxes, and compounds in the form of slime, sand, dirt, and ooze. More recently, those two trends have come together, as low-priced, collectible minis are not just packed in blind boxes but encased […]
Financial Filings Shed Light on Toy Trends
As of early March, most of the major public toy companies have released their financial results for fiscal 2018. Here are some of the topline insights from each as they relate to licensing: Hasbro. Outbound entertainment and licensing revenues for the company’s proprietary brands increased 5%, attributable mostly to a digital streaming deal for Hasbro […]
Superpowers Revealed
The “girl power” trend that has been so prevalent in entertainment, toys, and other products for the past few years is not limited only to children. There are also more female-focused initiatives geared toward teen and adult consumers—of both genders—especially in the video game, comic book, and other segments of “geek culture.” Examples include: Books […]
Revitalizing Retro Toys
The trend of reviving dormant or underexploited brands whose heyday is long past—a phenomenon across many consumer products categories these days—has been hitting the toy industry this summer, with the owners of three retro brands from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, respectively, announcing comebacks. Mego is relaunching its pioneering 1970s action figure line under the […]
Licensing Is No Joke
Many of the top-ranking influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms, as ranked by sheer numbers of followers, specialize in comedic sketches, observations about their daily lives, pranks, and similar content. A few of the social media stars of this sort have fairly broad licensing programs. Jake Paul, represented by Brand Central since 2017, is […]
Collecting in Style
Thanks to the pioneering efforts of companies such as Funko with its Pop! brand, Kidrobot, and Lego with its minifigures, it has become commonplace in the toy industry for licensed properties to take on the stylized look of the licensee’s brand. The trend affects not only the adult-skewing collectible portion of the market, but also […]
Toy Testers, Mommy Bloggers, and More
The impact of social media influencers in the toy industry—from toy testers and mommy bloggers to comedians, singers, and pranksters—was evident at this year’s New York Toy Fair. Ryan of Ryan ToysReview, which has accumulated 19.5 billion video views and 12 million subscribers, has a new deal with Bonkers Toys for a line of branded […]
Giving Voice to Smart Electronics
One of the biggest topics of conversation at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was the prominence of voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Samsung’s Bixby, Roku’s Entertainment Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana. Not only are such voice assistants associated with smart speakers (e.g., Amazon’s Echo or Google’s Home), which […]