BY YANN FRESNEL
The French Toy market has so far this year delivered very positive results (+10 percent) in 7 months. This is something that hasn’t been seen in 25 years !
Most of top European markets are growing, particularly UK (+8 percent) and Germany (+3 percent).
As of the end of August in France, volume is + 1 percent and price +3 percent (16 Euros)
The Outdoor Toy category that used to be a main driver for summertime sales is only accounting for 9 percent of all categories and decreasing by 3 percent.
Of 11 super categories tracked by CIRCANA, some categories are doing well driven by Kidults (+12y old)
Games & Puzzles is category is number one (+23 percent in August/ 24 percent of total and cumulated +35 percent).
Construction is still up (+46 percent in August / 18 percent of total and cumulated +31 percent) driven by LEGO (Formula 1 is Top 10) and as a result of the continuing Kidult trend. It is the second ranked category after Games & Puzzles.
Figurines category is up (+18 percent in August / 5 percent of total and cumulated +7 percent) driven by movies like How to Train Your Dragon and Jurassic World.
Plush is already in +12 percent cumulated knowing Olympic Games was a strong plush TO last year.
Inflation is going down compared to last year (+2,3 percent in 2024) and should be at +1 percent in 2025.
Births are still decreasing (661,000 in 2024, down 160,000 over 15 years). 2025 births have continued the trend, down 2.2 percent in the first 6 months.
TOP PRODUCTS:
Skyjo from Blackrock games (card game) is still number 1, as it was last year.
Pokémon has sevenproducts in the top 10 and LEGO Botanicals has two.
Top 10 products are mainly Kidult products.
TOY RETAIL:
Smyths Toys is opening various new shops in 2025 and is now reaching 52.
Joue Club and La Grande Récré have now 430 shops and will open 5 new ones. They are growing sales by 8 percent in 2025.
King Jouet has Kidult sales counting for 21 percent of global sales, growing and will go to 30 percent in 2 years. They have opened 3 new stores called “Kingdult” with merchandise targeted exclusively to the Kidult consumer.
DISTRIBUTION:
Toy specialists and multi-specialists are still growing sales (main channel)
Hypermarkets are doing better when supermarkets had a bad summer in sales.
LICENSING:
It has been a good year again with vigorous activity in licenses which are up overall, representing 28 percent of total toy sales (+18 percent)
The top-performing licenses are Pokémon, Lilo Stich, Formula 1, Star Wars and Paw Patrol.
Some good blockbusters for children were in theaters the holiday season, which increased sales (How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World)
TRENDS:
Kidult games are growing, representing 31 percent of total toy sales (+2 points). The adults are buying regularly during all year, and the average price is high. They have a unique space in Christmas catalogs (Games and puzzles, collectibles, and building with licenses).
Budget for adult is nearly 200 euros per year, and they buy in mix nostalgic (80’s/90’s) and manga items.
LEGO again is growing its TO significantly by 61 percent in 2025.
Toys from Asia (Corea, Japan and China) are growing strong with Blind Box sales phenomenon. It’s already 15 percent of total sales (Labubu and others)
Yann Fresnel has 30 years experience selling toys in EMEA area. His company, Toy Influence represents overseas Toy companies in Europe and France.
Connect with him on LinkedIn, or email him at yann@toyinfluence.com.
