It’s already toy shopping season, if you can believe it. Retailers are starting to put out their toy lists, the Toy Association has announced its top toys of the year, and RetailMeNot also has its own list of trending toys.
To help shoppers navigate the holiday shopping season and their kids’ wish lists, we reached out to Jay Foreman, toy industry veteran and CEO of Basic Fun!, which owns toy brands Tonka, My Little Pony, Lite-Brite, K’NEX and Care Bears.
He knows a thing or two (or 100) about consumers’ mindsets heading into the holiday season, which toys are sure to delight and when parents should start shopping for them this year. The good news for parents in 2023 is that, while tech and toys evolve, timeless and classic still have staying power. Even better news – toys that today’s parents played with are very much in the toy aisle – and are sparking intergenerational play.
RetailMeNot: With the trend of “revenge” spending on experiences rather than material things, where does that leave toys?
Along with the hangover from COVID, there was this switching from products for the home to experiential spending: travel, entertainment, restaurants. And now it seems like things are going to start to normalize as we head into the end of the summer, from September on. The consumer is going to have done a pretty fair amount of revenge travel and revenge going-out-to-dinner. And they might turn around and say, “Boy, it was great to get out again, but, heck, when I look at my dinner bill, what they’re charging me at restaurants and what the hotels are charging and what the airlines are charging, it’s ridiculous. I’ve got to start saving some money.”
And maybe they’ll get back to some more traditional spending. They’ve laid off the traditional gift giving, and now they’ll get back to normal. That’s what we believe is going to start happening. But it was definitely kind of a weird year for traditional consumer products.
RetailMeNot: Shoppers have been squeezed by inflation this past year – what’s the prognosis for the toy industry this holiday season, as shoppers prioritize?
I think if consumers look carefully, they’re going to see one of the areas of products that’s been least hit by inflation is the toy market. And toys offer incredibly good value compared to a lot of other products.
And you have a range: Hot Wheels, Barbie, Care Bears. If you want to spend $30, you can find a segment. If you just want to spend $5 or $10, you can find a $5 or $10 segment. So toys tend to be a good value and you’re not going to see a lot of inflation in toys, because we’re importing, and prices have stabilized or even gone down a bit in China, and transportation costs have stabilized. So you’ll continue to get excellent value for your money when purchasing toys.
RetailMeNot: Some of us are starting to feel a little old in the toy aisle, given how many tech features toys have. Is there still interest in traditional toys?
I try to remind parents, who we know are always worried about how much time kids spend on their phones and screens: When you buy traditional toys, that’s a great opportunity for kids to put down the electronics.
Traditional toys are a really good disconnect, and when kids sit down and play with dolls or Hot Wheels or action figures or board games, they put the electronics down.
Over the years, people have tried to put electronics and toys together, like “aim your phone at this figurine and something funny happens.” That just doesn’t work as well. Traditional toys are a really good disconnect, and when kids sit down and play with dolls or Hot Wheels or action figures or board games, they put the electronics down. So that’s always a great reason for the parent to lean into traditional toys, if they want to find ways that allow their kid to disconnect from electronics.
RetailMeNot: At the same time, we’re also seeing toys we played with in the ’80s and ’90s in the aisles. Is this appetite for nostalgic toys being driven by the parents, or do kids actually like this stuff?
Traditional toys have great play patterns. The play patterns of playing with a fashion doll or playing “The Game of Life,” they’re tried and true. One thing that frustrates parents the most when they buy toys for their kids, is that the toy might look good in the box or it’s hot today, but then it’s in the trash or the back of the toy chest tomorrow. Tried-and-true play patterns work.
RetailMeNot: There’s this buzz around the concept of “Intergenerational Play.” Does that add to the appeal of a toy?
With my kid, I can play board games because I know how to play them. I could sit with my son and play Star Wars because I knew who the characters were. Some new play patterns, you don’t relate as much. If parents played with it and loved it as a kid and can say, “Your grandma gave it to me, when I was a kid,” there’s just this shared experience. I think that’s priceless. Multigenerational play is priceless.
It’s not like music where kids sometimes reject their parents’ music. With toys it’s different.
The parent who didn’t play with Bratz Dolls or didn’t play with L.O.L. dolls, they might buy them, but they might not have the same affection for them. But you can say, “I played with Tonka trucks as a kid, I remember Littlest Petshop, oh Cheer Bear was my favorite Care Bear.” That’s really fun for the kids. It’s not like music where kids sometimes reject their parents’ music. With toys it’s different.
But not everything old works. You can’t bring back Howdy Doody or Bozo the Clown, but some properties are timeless and will have an appeal for a new generation.
RetailMeNot: What are some properties that have that staying power?
My Little Pony comes back every now and then. We’re bringing back Littlest Petshop, which was a big brand in the early 2000s. Cabbage Patch still comes back around every now and then because there’s an intrinsic value of the memories of every parent in their 40s and every grandparent in their 60s or 70s who remembers how big Cabbage Patch was and the excitement and challenge.
With Lite-Brite, we’ve had huge success because, what we’ve been able to do with some of these classics is reinvigorate them. Lite-Brite is a traditional activity toy for kids 4 to 8 years old. But we made a “Stranger Things” Lite-Brite, and that’s become a cool toy for teenagers. It turns into, not really a toy, but a craft that turns into a room decor piece for an older kid. We’re finding ways to make these classic toys hip or stretch the age demographic out so that a broader range of consumers can embrace some of these classic properties.
RetailMeNot: What about adults who buy toys for themselves?
A trend that’s been growing the past few years is the concept of “Kidulting.” A Kidult is an adult who is still in some ways a kid and purchases collectibles and novelties – could be Funko figures, could be classic toys or collectible toys they loved as a kid.
It really came back five or six years ago with Bronies – college guys who got into watching the “My Little Pony” cartoon. They wouldn’t buy hundreds of pony toys, but would spend $20 to $30 to put them around their video game setup or on their shelf. So there’s a whole group of adults who are into toys as a hobby. It’s a growing trend of toys being purchased outside their age demographic.
RetailMeNot: Parents of little kids may remember the 2021 holiday season and how quickly the ‘it’ toy that year, Magic Mixies, sold out. Is there an ‘it’ toy that parents need to brace themselves for this season?
We haven’t really seen anything or heard of anything that’s selling out. If you remember, nobody even knew what the Magic Mixies were yet this time two seasons ago. They deliberately hit very very late in the season and they created a demand for it. Today, I don’t see anything like that. There are things that have been strong over the past couple years that sell well. Things like Squishmallows, surprise toys, collectibles in general and smaller lower-price-point items that you add to an existing collection. Girls’ collectibles are still in demand. Of course LEGO isn’t slowing down. But right now, there’s not a toy I think anyone is seeing that’s already selling out or that you need to get on the waiting list for.
RetailMeNot: So when DO parents need to start shopping this year?
It’s interesting because the past few years have each been different. In 2021, there was the supply chain crisis on top of everyone being at home and everyone buying all this stuff. The advice was buy early, because you might not have been able to get it near Christmas. Then, in 2022, when it was clear there was a glut of inventory, the advice was to wait because it’s probably going to be on sale close to the last minute.
This year is sort of in between. The retailers are being cautious.
This year is sort of in between. The retailers are being cautious. They’re not convinced that this is going to be a huge holiday season and that the consumer’s going to come back. They’re erring on the side of caution, and they’d prefer to sell out rather than be over-inventoried.
So the suggestion would be, you don’t have to rush out now. But as you start to get closer, late October into November, if you know your kids really want something, that would be the time. Because if the retailers are being cautious, there won’t be a lot of sales at the end of the year because they didn’t over-order. It’s always the things on the top of the list that could sell out first. You’ll see the sales early because retailers always want to get the selling season kicked off early. I think you’re going to find not as many promotions later in the year.
RetailMeNot: What was your favorite toy as a kid?
I used to love to play “The Game of Life.” I’d play it over and over. I was a kid in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and there weren’t as many good toy options back then. And I used to love Spirograph. It’s very old-school technology, but it was mysterious and fun. We couldn’t afford LEGO. The kid who lived upstairs had a giant LEGO collection, so I used to love going up there and playing.
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