By Marcy Magiera Toys based on movie, TV and other entertainment content licenses will push U.S. toy sales to growth of 7.0% in 2016, the market's fastest growth this century, predicts The NPD Group. U.S. toy sales grew a stellar 7.5% in the first half of this year, outpacing first-half growth in 2015, when full-year growth ended up at 6.7%, according to NPD. The biggest … [Read more...] about Star Wars Blasts Toy Industry Growth to Century High
Star Wars
Summer or Not, Mattel and Hasbro Still Feeling Frozen
By Marcy Magiera The extent to which the world's largest toy companies are reliant on entertainment/character licenses is crystal clear in a side-by-side Q2 comparison of giants Mattel and Hasbro. (We added Jakks Pacific to the chart for fun and to further illustrate the point). Two years after the property stormed retail, both companies are still feeling the Frozen effect: … [Read more...] about Summer or Not, Mattel and Hasbro Still Feeling Frozen
Top Entertainment/Character Properties Drive Comics Sales Above $1 Billion
Pow! Retail sales of comics and graphic novels in the U.S. and Canada grew 10% in 2015, passing $1 billion for the first time in decades, driven by top entertainment/character properties including Star Wars. The new market size analysis comes from comic book data specialist Comichron and online retail trade magazine ICv2 just before giant Comic-Con International opens next … [Read more...] about Top Entertainment/Character Properties Drive Comics Sales Above $1 Billion
Licensed Properties Play at E3
Seventy thousand-plus people, including 20,000 fans, flocked to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles last week for the digital entertainment industry's annual parade of video game properties, both new and well known. The hot topic of the show was Virtual Reality (VR) with Sony announcing that its PlayStation VR headset for PS4 will become available Oct. 13, … [Read more...] about Licensed Properties Play at E3
NPD: Star Wars Toy Sales One-Third Higher than Frozen
By Marcy Magiera Star Wars, the space epic whose newest chapter has knocked down box-office records around the world, also drove sales of movie licensed toys up by almost 10% in 2015, according to The NPD Group's year-end accounting of U.S. toy sales. Connection to entertainment content was the key driver behind the growth of the toy industry in 2015, NPD found, with overall … [Read more...] about NPD: Star Wars Toy Sales One-Third Higher than Frozen
Turtles, Trolls and Other Movie Licenses That Will Challenge Star Wars This Year
By Marcy Magiera With Star Wars: The Force Awakens closing in on $2 billion in global ticket sales and continuing to topple box-office records on an almost daily basis a month after its opening, it's clear the latest installment in the sci-fi epic will continue to drive licensed merchandise sales throughout 2016—and beyond. Once The Force Awakens leaves theaters, there … [Read more...] about Turtles, Trolls and Other Movie Licenses That Will Challenge Star Wars This Year
Peppa Pig Joins the $1 Billion Club
Preschool property Peppa Pig has become a $1 billion property. There was no official announcement. Officials of Entertainment One Ltd., which has licensed Peppa to more than 600 licensees worldwide, recently mentioned Peppa’s having sales above $1 billion in discussing the company’s earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31. Even if it was not delivered with fanfare, the news … [Read more...] about Peppa Pig Joins the $1 Billion Club