Feature - Action Vehicles

Thrills and spills

The world of Action Vehicles continues to rev up, with consumer experiences, burgeoning interest in motorsports and hot new licences offering toy companies endless opportunities to put the pedal to the metal in terms of product development. Toy World gets behind the wheel to find out what’s new for 2023.

The Action Vehicles category isn’t short of new product this year, as demonstrated by the raft of new toys filling this month’s feature. HTI’s successful Teamsterz brand will be making its way into younger hands than ever before with the introduction of Tiny Teamsterz Tumblers; pre-school, freewheeling, rotomoulded cars with cute characterisation and a fun tumble forward function, while Magicbox is unveiling new themes and larger vehicles for its T-Racers brand this year. Character Options is also making waves in the category with the launch of its new Goo Mobiles range. Each highly-stylised vehicle is based on one of the Heroes of Goo Jit Zu characters including Thrash, Rock Jaw, Blazagon and Pantaro. Measuring 2.4” tall and 4.5” long (9.4” when stretched), the vehicles can be squished, stretched, smashed and raced.

Nikko Toys is expanding its Machine Makers brand with the addition of Monster Force Trucks. This STEM-based range lets kids build, deconstruct, mix, match and build again as they collect more and more sets and let their imaginations run wild. According to Laibond Cheng, president of Sales & Marketing at Nikko Toys, Machine Makers is the company’s fastest-expanding brand, which he puts down to a variety of factors.

“Kids love the interplayability and construction quality: we use real rubber tyres, for example, not cheap plastic,” he tells Toy World. “These toys are heirloom quality, tough and durable. Machine Makers’ mix & match parts also mean play isn’t over once the vehicle in question is built. All the parts can be used with every other set in the range, so as kids get more sets, they can start to build their own crazy vehicles. As the range has expanded, it’s really gained traction; consumer feedback indicates kids play with Machine Makers for hours and hours, which, for a parent watching the pennies, is a huge plus.”

Within the Action Vehicles category, it’s arguably fair to say that licensing is the driving force. Bladez Toyz is expecting big things from its Barbie Radio Controlled Convertible Dream Car, which launches in time for one of the biggest cinema events of the year, Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated Barbie movie. The company also recently debuted its Batman Radio Control range and 1:28 scale Batman RC Racers in London and Nuremberg. Carrera Revell, meanwhile, is expanding its licensing agreement with Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog by introducing Shadow to its new and exclusive RC, slot racing and Pull & Speed range, and Chengzhen’s MSZ Diecast range is welcoming the electric Volvo XC 40 Recharge and Audi RS e-Tron GT early this year, reflecting shifting consumer habits.

Licences are performing well at retail, according to the feedback we’ve received from some of this month’s Talking Shop contributors. Tony Duffy at Duffy’s Toy World will soon be dedicating no less than 1,000 square feet to Bruder, one of his best-selling lines. The brand’s ethos, ‘Just like the real thing’, appeals strongly to kids who appreciate accuracy and functional detailing, and the Bruder tractors and agricultural vehicles resonate strongly with the kids in Tony’s rural part of Ireland. (Other retailers frequented by farming fans are advised to check out Tomy’s new Britains offerings, as well as Maisto and Bburago from One For Fun. The latter has increased its range this year to include new Massey Ferguson, Fendt and New Holland vehicles, as well as multi packs of mini machines.) Majorette, meanwhile, is a big seller for Simon Steele at Toy City Wood Green. Autumn/winter sees Simba Smoby launch the latest wave of Majorette Tune-Ups, a collectible reveal range with seven surprises in each pack.

In 2022, Nikko Toys made its first foray into the world of licensing via a deal with global motorsports team M-Sport. The resulting range, which the company showed in Nuremberg in February, is based on M-Sport’s Ford Puma Hybrid Rally 1 car - and it’s certainly a head turner.

“Of all our new lines for 2023, M-Sport is definitely the one that’s getting the most attention,” says Laibond. “The Ford Puma Rally 1 is an amazing rally car and the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is performing very well in the World Rally Championships (WRC). Plus, the livery is just jawdropping: our licensed RC range will look incredible in stores. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally 1 will also be featured on the sleeve of the upcoming EA Sports WRC console game, which will further drive awareness of the car and demand for product among fans of WRC and motorsports in general.”Nikko isn’t the only company with a motorsports offering in its portfolio for 2023: The Lego Group is launching the Lego Nascar Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this year, and One For Fun is expecting big things from its range of Maisto and Bburago Formula One vehicles. CEO David Mordecai says: “Maisto and Bburago have exclusive rights to the most sought-after vehicles, which always puts them ahead of the game. This year we’ll have new 2022 F1 cars for Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, and within that assortment is the car driven by the current world champion, Max Verstappen.”

Elsewhere, toy companies are leveraging the evergrowing slate of consumer experiences to make the most of their ranges. The Monster Jam World Finals arrive in Nashville in July, providing licensee Spin Master with numerous opportunities to develop new trucks and play sets based on the exciting, familyfriendly, monster truck franchise. New toy launches for this year include The Megalodon Truck and the action-packed Monster Jam El Toro Loco Big Air Challenge play set. This set allows kids to recreate the high-octane thrills of Monster Jam at home; once a car reaches the top of the tower, it will set off a firework display just like those seen at the Monster Jam World Finals XXI event held in May 2022.

Mattel’s Hot Wheel’s brand kickstarted the year with its Monster Trucks Glow Party live tour, which visited London, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow throughout January. The shows enable kids to get up-close-and-personal with their favourite Monster Trucks, to hear the revving of Mega Wrex and see the epic crushing power of Rhinomite. Kelly Philp, marketing director, Mattel UK, tells Toy World that to build on this momentum, the brand launched the impressive Hot Wheels Monster Trucks - Bone Shaker Ultimate Crush Yard. The set lets kids experience

epic Monster Truck-style smashing and crashing, with five ‘smash spots’ indicating where the action takes place. The base moves and shakes too, adding sensory feedback to enhance the play.

Kelly adds: “Also arriving for spring, we have the fantastic Hot Wheels City T-Rex Chomp Down play set, which challenges kids to knock out the dinosaur and save the day. Featuring a slam launcher and 22.8cm loop, kids needs to launch their Hot Wheel cars just right to defeat the beast. And that's just for starters - we have lots more arriving in spring, and for the second half of the year. We promise 2023 will be bigger and better than ever for Hot Wheels.”

Of course, the Action Vehicles category doesn’t just focus on wheels – wings are welcome too. In autumn/winter, Flair GP is introducing the popular Sky Viper Force drone brand to the UK market, which many readers will have seen being flown over the aisles at London Toy Fair in January. The range offers something for all flyers, from novice to experienced. The Force Gesture Controlled Drone can be flown with just the wave of a hand and is crash proof for those inevitable ‘oops’ moments. At the other end of the spectrum, the Vector Performance Stunt Jet can fly at speeds of over 40mph and is capable of pulling off seriously impressive stunts in mid-air. And from the air to the sea (sort of), Flair is also launching its RC Mega Chomp Shark, which moves across dry land like it’s swimming in water.

RC specialist Nikko Toys celebrates its 65th anniversary this year. During its more than six decades in the toy market, the company has learned a thing or two about what makes an action vehicle. “There’s a reason Nikko has lasted 65 years, and why consumers come to Nikko again and again to purchase their radio-controlled cars,” says Laibond Cheng. “Performance, styling, innovation: we bring it all to the table.”

He adds: “There’s a lot of misplaced thinking when it comes to RC, which leads to unnecessary features like Bluetooth control capabilities and Augmented Reality. That’s not really what kids want – if you’re playing with an RC car, you want speed, looks and not much else. Adding all these bells and whistles results in a slower vehicle that doesn’t offer the same thrill and racing experience our vehicles do. Speed is everything in our view.”

Just 10 years Nikko’s junior, Hot Wheels is 55 this year. Since 1968, the brand has combined competition, experimentation and creativity to provide thrilling vehicle challenges that develop the skills and confidence kids need to take on the world. This year’s new additions to the toy line will be heavily supported at retail with bespoke activations, according to Kelly Philp, as well as significant above-the-line media investment in AV, digital and gaming. She explains: “We know that kids nowadays experience brands across multiple platforms, so we will continue to partner with a wide variety of platforms to maximise reach.”

One For Fun benefits from a dedicated team that ensures Maisto and Bburago are elevated in-store. Both brands are packaged in a way that makes the best use of display and shelf space, and are supported by PR and social media content. Maisto research also shows that bigger returns are achieved when the vehicles are simply displayed together in order of size. “These products are available at a great price and offer some of the best value for money on the market,” elaborates David Mordecai. “When you’ve got products that are this competitively priced, the sales will drive themselves.”

Over the following pages, readers can take the fast lane to find out what else is arriving in the Action Vehicles aisle this year.