Toy Fair 2025: Toy Trends Briefing Foretells What Consumers Will Want This Year

By Jonathan Alexandratos

While collectors are often set in their purchases before they set foot in a toy aisle, toy companies and stores often wonder what trends will dictate which orders are likely to need restocking, and which are at risk of pegwarming. To this end, the Toy Trends Briefing at Toy Fair provides statistics-based guidance to predict, as best as possible, what will and will not sell in a given year. Here’s what this year’s briefing revealed:

Value-added toys will be really big in 2025. Toys with many play features will take center stage. Consumers want to know they will get the most bang for their buck.

Toys that cater to emotional learning and STEM learning were proven desirable in the Toy Association’s surveys. 58% of parents want toys that help kids learn key skills. Also, 63% of Millennial parents want toys for their kids that boost mental health support. This bodes well for games and toys that provide tactile stress relief and emotional processing.

There is another trend the Toy Association called “Newstalgia.” This fairly clunky chimera of a word describes the old classics that are re-released in a new style, look, or feel. 78% of those surveyed reported buying toys for themselves because of their nostalgic appeal. Examples include The Loyal Subjects’ Jem doll (TLS won a TOTY last night for their Rainbow Brite doll). Tamagotchi’s new line of plush (they come in backpacks) also updates an old tech toy by transferring it into a different type of toy with new directed play.

Jem is only in Walmarts now, but she’s headed to more stores in 2025.

Of course, “Collectible Cravings” is a popular trend that oversaw a 5% growth in the collectibles category in 2024. The Toy Association expects this growth will continue. That would mean that most of this site’s audience, who tends to collect adult-marketed collectible toys, will find companies motivated to produce more.

Jack Black gets an action figure for Minecraft!

Furthermore, legacy properties on the big screen means toy companies are anticipating strong sales in licensed pieces in 2025. Licenses like Marvel superheroes, Minecraft, and various anime properties (a fast growing subcategory) are expected to sell well. Bluey, which took home a TOTY last night for License of the Year, should also be a juggernaut.