Including PAW Patrol winning Licence of the Year at the US Toy of the Year Awards.
The Source takes a look at some of the big news stories coming out of the 114th US International Toy Fair, which runs from February 18-21 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.
PAW Patrol, Doc McStuffins, Barbie and DC Super Hero Girls were among the licensed winners at the US Toy of the Year Awards, which served as the official kick off to US Toy Fair. Spin Master’s PAW Patrol was named Licence of the Year, while the company also picked up Vehicle of the Year for its Air Hogs Star Wars X-Wing vs Death Star – Rebel Assault. Meanwhile, Mattel’s DC Super Hero Girls action figures was awarded Action Figure of the Year, with the company also being successful in the Doll of the Year category with the Barbie Fashionista Doll. Pop! from Funko was named Collectable of the Year; LEGO Disney Castle was Specialty Toy of the Year; and Doc McStuffins Toy Hospital Care Cart from Just Play picked up Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year.
Mattel and Pokémon are joining forces for a new Mega Construx toy line based on the hit franchise. The website, Kotaku, reported that Pokémon characters will be featured in upcoming Mega Construx sets including Pikachu and Charizard. The first sets will launch in the US in the summer.
Hasbro has unveiled two new My Little Pony: The Movie themed toys. My Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle is an interactive figure that moves, talks and lights up, while the Canterlot and Seaquestria Castle Play-set comes with more than 30 accessories and character figures including Queen Novo (voiced by Uzo Aduba in the film).
Bonkers Toys has secured the toy licence for Slither.io, the hit app which has over 150 million downloads to date and 120 million game plays per day. The company will be launching blind bags and an assortment of plush, collector vinyl figures and backpack clips among other lines from March.
WowWee has unveiled a host of new lines including a Minions version of its successful MiP brand. Minion Turbo Dave responds to hand gestures and can even navigate around a room. Users need to download a special app to control the Minion remotely, plan paths for it to self-navigate or have it interact with other characters or props from the Despicable Me franchise. In addition, WowWee has also launched Elmoji – a new early learning robot that introduces children to pre-coding skills using the ‘language’ of visual emojis featuring Elmo and friends.
Loot Crate is developing officially licensed collectables to be included in select subscription lines as limited edition series. The company unveiled the limited edition lines as part of its WWE Slam Crate and Halo Legendary Crate subscription products.
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