Hot
Properties
Hot Properties 2024 With almost one-third of UK toy sales coming from licensed ranges, it’s important for licensees and retailers to choose wisely when it comes to which properties to work with. Toy World is here to lend a helping hand with a look at the key licences for the year ahead.
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et’s start with the positives. 2023 was a good year for sales of licensed toys. According to Circana, licensed toys outperformed the rest of the toy market last year, accounting for 32% of all toy sales. The toy category remains the cornerstone of the vast majority of kids & family entertainment-based properties, and it is more often than not the category which spearheads the licensing programme – in some cases, the success (or otherwise) of the master toy range can make or break the property.
properties continue to provide great opportunities for toy suppliers and retailers, with the younger audience arguably consuming more content than ever before – albeit perhaps on slightly different platforms rather than just linear TV. Keep an eye out for some pre-school favourites returning from years gone by this year, including Paramount’s Dora the Explorer, while I am also genuinely excited for Warner Bros’ Batwheels, which takes the iconic Batman brand into the pre-school arena.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. One of the most ubiquitous properties in recent years has been Disney’s Stitch. Lilo & Stitch has always been one of my personal favourite Disney movies, and Stitch has long transcended his role in the movie to become an icon to many kids who have never even seen the film. Much of the credit for that transformation has to be given to Primark and the groundwork it did via its fashion and nightwear ranges. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of the action, including many toy suppliers – I have already seen one incredible new interactive toy line due to launch this summer (on 26th June, naturally…. for the uninitiated, Stitch was Experiment 626) which looks set to be one of the hottest toys for next Christmas.
As children get older, the allure of gaming inevitably starts to take hold, and we have unsurprisingly seen a greater number of licensing success stories emanating from that medium in recent years. Iconic gaming brands Angry Birds and Minecraft both celebrate their 15th anniversaries this year, proving that this is not strictly a new phenomenon – but the breadth and scope of new gaming properties grows every year. Many people are predicting that Stumble Guys is a hot new ‘one to watch’ in 2024, while the ongoing popularity of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon show that gaming-based IPs can undoubtedly have long-term success if managed well. And if you include brands such as Pudgy Penguins, which originally came from the NFT space, it is clear that the digital arena remains fertile ground for toy companies looking for the next big licensing hit.
This is interesting on several levels; firstly, because it’s a hot toy based on a movie from 2002, over two decades ago. Secondly, because it shows that a character can soar in popularity without having a brand new multi-milliondollar movie or 24-part TV series behind it. Sometimes, in this brave new social media driven world, a great character can just catch fire, almost out of the blue. That said, many of last year’s other big success stories follow a more traditional path. In the pre-school arena, BBC’s Bluey and Universal’s Gabby’s Dollhouse continue to provide stiff competition to more established brands such as Paramount’s Paw Patrol, Moonbug’s CoComelon and Hasbro’s Peppa Pig. On the whole, pre-school
Girls remain incredibly well-catered for in terms of licensed toys: hot on the heels of last year’s groundbreaking Barbie movie, the brand celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2024. Celebrations kick off in March, and after the incredible impact created by the movie marketing campaign last year, I suspect Barbie will be everywhere again this year. There’s plenty of competition from the likes of Zag’s Miraculous and Princess Sam’s Tara Duncan, while Jazwares’ Squishmallows brand shows how well a core toy brand can translate to licensed merchandise.
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Over in the Boys’ aisle, Transformers is another iconic brand celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2024, when it turns 40, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to follow this year’s success with another strong year, driven by the new animated TV series. In addition, Anime brands continue to have a real impact across the board. There is also a nice buzz building around the new Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire movie, which launches in April, while Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim promises to be an interesting addition to the iconic LOTR canon next December. And looking ahead to 2025, the new Superman Legacy movie should emphatically silence the doubters who are concerned about potential ‘super-hero fatigue’, after the underwhelming performance of several movies in that genre this year. Movie-wise, 2024 has a number of kids & family films based on established, successful franchises that should generate strong toy sales, including Despicable Me 4, Paddington 3, Kung Fu Panda 4, Garfield (the trailer featuring a tiny baby Garfield is adorable) and Sonic 3. There are also some movies which may not at first glance appear overly ‘toyetic’, but which I think may pleasantly surprise a few people – Beetlejuice, Mean Girls and Wicked all look like being excellent films that I believe will not only appeal to Kidults, but potentially to older kids and teens too. SpongeBob will be turning 25 in 2024, a monumental milestone for the property. When you throw other classic brands like Doctor Who, Beano and Hot Wheels into the mix, there is a huge selection of licensed properties for licensees and their retail partners to choose from – and picking the winners from the losers is more important than ever. Over the following pages, we round up the latest information on a selection of the key licensed properties that will be driving the toy market in 2024 to help you make the right decisions.
