NPD Insight

Another good year for Collectibles?

This month, Rory looks at the ups and downs of the Collectibles category and predicts that the sector is on course for another strong year.

Back in 2018, Collectibles represented a huge part of the UK toy market, accounting for a nearly 14% share of value and growing by +32% vs the year before. The category’s share dropped to 12% of the market in 2019 but then in 2020, when the pandemic shaped our buying habits, Collectibles was one of the areas of the toy market to take a significant hit, with parents opting for toys with more perceived play value and in-store impulse purchases constrained by a succession of lockdowns. As a result, Collectibles share dropped to under 9% for 2020, with a -24% value trend. With nonessential shops being able to open for much more of 2021, we saw Collectibles bounce back impressively and make up nearly 11% of UK toys in 2021, growing by +17% in a declining market. That growth has continued in the early part of 2022; adding the March data shows that the market share of Collectibles has risen to 15%, with +7% growth in a total market that is down -12%. So, let’s look at what has been driving this growth over the past year and assess whether that trend can it continue for the rest of 2022.

The Collectibles growth in 2021 was impressive, but what was particularly positive was that the growing trend was split amongst several categories and not just concentrated in one area. The growth came from 16 subclasses, with the top performers being Strategic Trading Card Games, Collectible Stickers and Traditional Plush. As already mentioned, there has been quite a turnaround for some Collectible categories that struggled in 2020 when the pandemic first hit. Action Figure Collectibles is a good example: as the top Collectible category, it is worth over a fifth of all Collectibles. Action Figure Collectibles saw -18% decline in value in 2020 vs. 2019, but it bounced back, posting strong growth (+ 21%) in 2021, bringing the category back to 2019 levels. We can see a similar trend in Mini Vehicles, which was down -44% in 2020 but grew by +40% in 2021. Looking at Q1 2022, the growth has continued and those key categories from 2021 continue to lead the way with Strategic Trading Card Games, Action Figure Collectibles and Traditional Plush all performing well so far. Let’s take a closer look at which ranges are proving popular within those areas.

The top growth category in 2021 and in 2nd place so far in 2022 is Strategic Trading Card Games, with the top growth property within this sector being Pokémon - by some margin. Pokémon was the No.1 growth property for 2021 - not just in Collectibles, but in the total UK toy market. 2021 was the 25th anniversary year for the brand and the anniversary helped it to add nearly £20m in value vs. 2020, with growth in Trading Cards and Action Figure Collectibles. The strong performance has continued in 2022 too, with Pokémon only starting to see some modest declines in the last few weeks of March. Another strong area of Collectibles both last year and this year has been Traditional Plush, led by the emergence of the Jazwares property Squishmallows. The growth for this property in 2021 was impressive, adding around £2.5m and ranking the No.3 Collectible property in Traditional Plush. However, the growth has really accelerated in 2022 and it has jumped to the No.1 spot in Traditional Plush, adding over £3m in the first three months of 2022 already. The brand has become the No.3 Collectible property overall in 2022 and the No.1 for growth. Other notable properties that helped Collectibles grow in 2022 are Funko Pop!, Real Littles and Ty, another strong property within the Plush category.

It is great to see Collectibles back to growth after a bumpy 2020, and encouraging to see that growth continue in 2022, despite challenging conditions in the UK market. As already stated, Collectibles is growing at +7% in Q1 2022 vs. 2021 but it is +14% when compared to 2020. So, not only are we seeing a positive year-on-year trend, we are significantly ahead of the period in 2020 before the pandemic really started to impact toy trends. With key areas of collectibles continuing to grow, and events like the World Cup still to come in 2022, it should be another strong year for the overall category.

Item Progression:

The McLaren licence has risen several places in March vs. the prior month, due to the success of the Lego Technic McLaren Formula 1 Team 2022 Race Car, which was the No.1 item in the total UK toy market for March. During the month, the item posted over £1m in sales at an average price of £159.

Fastest Growing Subclasses

Traditional Plush is the top gaining subclass for Q1 2022

Funko Pop! is the No.1 property in value size, growing at +66% vs. last year. The Top 5 properties are all showing double digit growth in Q1 2022, with DC Universe the top performer following the release of The Batman movie in March 2022.

Miscellaneous Toys is the third top performer with 5 Surprise from Zuru continuing its strong performance from 2021; as the No.1 property in the subclass, it is growing at +12%.