License magazine has published the top toy licences for boys and girls for 2014. It’s a shopping list for newsagents who want to be strong in this space.
2014 Top Toys for Boys
- LEGO
- Cars and trucks
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Video games
- Hot Wheels
- Xbox One
- PlayStation4
- Transformers
- Remote-controlled vehicles
- (Tie) Marvel action figures–Tablet/Apple iPad
2014 Top Toys for Girls
- Disney Frozen
- Barbie
- Dolls (generic)
- Monster High dolls
- American Girl
- LEGO
- Tablet/Apple iPad
- My Little Pony
- Disney Doc McStuffins
- Apparel
While independent newsagents will struggle to get into some licences because of how suppliers operate, the list provides an excellent goal shopping list when planning for 2015. Sure, there are some entries that do not play in Australia – but overall the list is very useful not only in the toy category but elsewhere in the business.
The big one that is missing from that list Mark is Star Wars. With the new movie coming at the end of next year and promo and trailer juggernaut just starting the merchandise opportunities here are huge.
I suspect LEGO would be hard for a newsagent to get into because of the requirements LEGO Australia places on retailers (in terms of how much product they have to stock).