The Toy Book catches up with Jay Foreman, CEO at Basic Fun!, to discuss the trends, wins, challenges, and opportunities shaping the business, as part of our annual State of the Industry roundtable.
What trends are you seeing across collectibles, evergreen classics, and novelty play entering 2026?
We are seeing more trends towards kidult buying and collecting. From blind boxes to high-end collectible figures to arcade games, the trend continues. Unless you are in trading cards, the action is among higher-age demographics.
You were one of the industry’s most vocal advocates in pushing back against U.S. trade policies while raising awareness of the damaging impact on those working in the business of play. What are your overall thoughts on how the year wound up?
I’d imagine it was a bad to terrible year for most or all in our industry. We lost as much as eight weeks of shipping around “Liberation Day,” which just threw off the entire buying cycle. We were not able to pass along all the tariffs, so what we had to eat came right off the bottom line, and the tumult turned what was slated to be a record year into a down year for sales and profit. It very much proves elections have consequences.
Last summer, you said that Basic Fun! would “quickly become the No. 2 player” in the home arcade market. Now that you’ve acquired select assets from Arcade1Up, how will you grow the category as the market leader?
Initially, we are not really looking to grow the category. We are just looking to manage it efficiently and effectively. We want to make sure we deliver quality and value, and just the right amount of the right product to the market. So, we’ll take our time at first and look to expand the category in the coming years.
The exciting news for the back half of 2026 is the debut of our SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog game, which the fanbase has been clamoring for. And that’s just the beginning.
What opportunities do you see for U.S. retailers to capture some of the excitement and magic that international toy retailers bring to families?
That’s a huge challenge since, with a few exceptions, it’s harder and harder for the neighborhood toy store to stay in business. Tariffs certainly didn’t help, nor did the pandemic. As for the big box, we see Walmart expanding its customer demographic to a higher-end consumer, which will encourage them to try higher-priced products, and we can see Target taking a big step to upgrade the store experience, which will help drive traffic. We are also seeing Five Below make a play to be a major force in toy sales, so despite all the challenges, there are good things happening. Are we going to see more toy experiential stores like the old Toys “R” Us or FAO Schwarz? Not likely, but new concepts will emerge.
Where do you see the strongest opportunities for Basic Fun! in the year ahead?
We are expanding our demographics with our new Arcade1Up business, a new figure line based on Dungeons & Dragons, and a new high-end figure collectible business we will debut at [San Diego] Comic-Con this summer.
What are your predictions for the overall toy industry this year?
To be blunt, if the President or some disaster doesn’t screw up our business in one way or another, it should be a great year. Fingers crossed!
Stay on the Pulse of Play!
A version of this feature first appeared in the 2026 edition of The BIG Toy Book. Read the full issue here!
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