The American Specialty Toy Retailing Affiliation (ASTRA) has produced an inventory of notable traits that emerged from the ASTRA Market & Academy, which concluded final week in St. Louis, Missouri.
“Market and Academy brings collectively your entire trade, from producers to small retail homeowners,” says Sue Warfield, President of ASTRA. “As they walked the present flooring, together with our workforce, they identified traits and improvements that we expect are going to drive the wishlists this vacation season.”
The primary notable development is that toymakers are getting artistic at tub time. This contains bath-centric and water-based artwork and craft supplies. Social-emotional studying (SEL) and inclusivity is one other high development, which entails increasing the sector of feelings-based toys, together with sensory merchandise. Impulse gadgets, reminiscent of popping toys and slime, additionally proceed to show a sturdy efficiency.
Teethers are getting upgrades, ASTRA additionally notes, with a number of producers including a number of play patterns to beforehand one-note teething merchandise.
Squishy plush of all sizes continues to dominate that class, notes ASTRA, and within the artwork supplies class, foil seems to be the recent new medium. Toys that fly, mini exercise boards, kawaii-style cuteness, and expanded VR choices are among the many different present traits ASTRA predicts will high vacation want lists this yr.
For extra data on ASTRA and its reporting on toy trade traits, go to the nonprofit’s web site.
