The Toy Book’s 2021 Unboxed: The Top 25 Toy Stories of the Year

2021: we made it through another year!

If life — and doing business — in the pandemic era has taught us one thing, it’s that all bets are off. No matter how well you can plan for things, the world has a way of throwing unexpected curveballs that are cause for constant readjustment. Last year was filled with uncertainty, but the toy industry met every challenge and outperformed on every metric. This year? Even more unexpected results.

The U.S. toy industry has done big business as toy and game makers of all sizes have worked tirelessly alongside retailers to mitigate supply chain challenges and keep shelves stocked with new toys and fresh innovation.

The continued evolution of COVID-19 has led to variants that create further global disruption. On the trade show circuit, the delta variant hit just as ASTRA’s Marketplace & Academy opened its doors in August and while the industry proved that it was ready to gather, the rapid spread led to complications that ultimately canceled Toy Fair Dallas. Now, as omicron spreads, plans for Spielwarenmesse and Toy Fair New York in 2022 are full steam ahead.

To close the book on another year filled with challenges and change, we’re doing our second annual roundup of the top 25 most-read stories of the year at toybook.com. Like last year, a few stand out as real head-scratchers among the news that made headlines in the toy industry and beyond!

Geoffrey the Giraffe and the crew up north are on a roll, and the interest in Toys “R” Us Canada is rising. We see it every time we publish an item involving the Canadian toy retailer that entered a new chapter under new ownership this year. The Toy Book welcomed more Canadian readers than ever before as consumers checked out the Top Toys List.

Funko spent much of 2020 evolving and in 2021 the company moved forward with major initiatives on all fronts. Its philanthropic efforts attracted big attention with the Funko Cares Program (founded in 2018) growing and a partnership with the It Gets Better Project spawning a Pops! With Purpose Pride collection.

The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) revealed its annual list of top toys in 10 key categories. According to ASTRA President Sue Warfield, “The list of winners represents the best of the fun, top-quality, high play value products consumers can find in locally-owned neighborhood toy stores around the country.”

Fisher-Price hit the gridiron for its first collaboration with the NFL. The preschool division of Mattel and the Buffalo Bills offered the Fisher-Price Little People Let’s Go Buffalo! Set exclusively at Wegmans Food Markets in New York where it quickly sold out. The set includes four Little People figures, including quarterback Josh Allen, coach Sean McDermott, and two fans that represent the “Bills Mafia” wearing authentic Bills apparel.

Ahead of “Mar10 Day” — Nintendo‘s annual celebration of the Super Mario Bros. franchise — Jakks Pacific unveiled the Super Mario Deluxe Bowser’s Airship Playset. The toy brings the famed flying fortress into the playroom and is scaled for Jakks’ 2.5-inch Super Mario action figures.

Space Jam: A New Legacy may not have had much heat at the box office, but the film certainly had some interest in the toy department. Moose Toys and Warner Bros. Consumer Products collaborated to release a toy line featuring Tune Squad characters such as Lola and Bugs Bunny, as well as the movie’s new NBA protagonist LeBron James.

One of the oddest stories of the year ignited a global scuffle as some additions to Polish toymaker COBI’s long-running Historical Collection presented leaders and vehicles from Nazi Germany in building sets designed for kids ages 6 and up and collectors. Following conversations involving global misunderstandings and cultural sensitivities, COBI CEO Robert Podles issued an apology and clarification about the intentions of his company and its toys.

One of the hottest toys of the holiday season made its debut in New York City. Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D., Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) unveiled the power of Moose Toys’ Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron at CAMP‘s Columbus Circle store.

It’s almost hard to believe that this happened this year, as Toys “R” Us just opened its new, two-story flagship at American Dream in New Jersey. But, in order to start its next chapter, the company had to close the books on its experiment — two concept stores that opened in late 2019 and were hit hard by the pandemic and perhaps the wrong mix. Both small-scale concepts closed in January.

In an effort to connect retailers to manufacturers to keep shelves stocked — especially amid trade show cancellations — the Toy Book introduced The Get List. The curated list of in-stock, fast-ship products became a weekly destination for independent toy stores and specialty retailers looking to stay full into fall and through the holiday season.

The Toy Book, along with our sister publications, the Toy Insider and the Pop Insider celebrated Christmas in July by breaking the news that A Christmas Story joined the licensed portfolio at Jakks Pacific with the debut of a 24-day advent calendar while Nintendo’s Super Mario joined the holiday lineup with an advent calendar packed with exclusive new figures.

MGA Entertainment (MGAE) got fans fired up with the prospect of seeing Lady Diva, Neonlicious, Swag, and the rest of the L.O.L. Surprise! crew rocking out right before their eyes in their first live tour.

Playmobil is taking a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Timed with the 40th anniversary of NBCUniversal’s Knight Rider in 2022, Playmobil closed out November by teasing the unmistakable form of the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am that was made famous as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, best known as KITT.

While the Toy Book is the undisputed leader when it comes to covering the North American toy industry, the digital version of our August issue scored major interest as it was released alongside the opening of the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy in Minneapolis — the first major toy trade show in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic. The issue also featured a Squishmallows cover story; details on the growing NFT market; and a feature about the global supply chain turmoil.

After carefully examining 623 nominees, a panel of 23 industry experts determined 114 finalists across 16 categories for the 2022 Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. One winner in each category, along with the consumer-chosen People’s Choice Award and the overall Toy of the Year Award, will be presented at The Toy Foundation’s TOTY Awards gala in February to kick off Toy Fair New York.

The Toy Book exclusively broke the news that Funko was getting into a new category just in time for “Funkoween” — costumes and dress-up. Disguise — the costume division of Jakks Pacific — inked a multi-year licensing deal with Funko to design, market, manufacture, and distribute an all-new product expression called Pop! Masks.

The toy industry was dealt a major loss in October, when, just two days after announcing that he was stepping away from Hasbro on medical leave, Chairman and CEO Brian D. Goldner died. The 58-year-old joined Hasbro in 2000 and led the company beyond toys and games and into a world of entertainment and new possibilities. He was appointed CEO in 2008 and became chairman of the board in 2015.

In September, Ravensburger North America CEO Filip Franke said that the challenges of the supply chain crisis had been amplified when coupled with setbacks in his company’s own, internal, long-term improvement efforts at its warehouses. To play catch up, the company halted retail orders.

Bonkers Toys unleashed its first wave of Aphmau MeeMeows Mystery Plush — the first retail toys created in partnership with the top female gaming star on YouTube. The power of the brand proved mighty as interest propelled the news to a slot in our top 10.

Jurassic World is officially an evergreen brand and with a new film looming on the horizon, Universal kept the momentum going with the third season of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix. Of course, that meant a lot of new toys to go along with it.

In 2022, Frankie Stein, Draculaura, and Clawdeen Wolf are heading back to class as the doors to Monster High swing open for a new generation. When the news first hit earlier this year, the prospect of new toys and new entertainment content hooked readers with interest from retailers and consumers alike.

This one checked the boxes of a licensing crossover with appeal for kids, collectors, video game enthusiasts, and fast food fans. To promote the launch of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Burger King and Nintendo collaborated on a tasty collection of game-themed King Jr. meals and toys.

They shook up the fashion doll aisle in 2001, and in 2021 the Bratz did it again. MGA Entertainment (MGAE) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Bratz brand with a yearlong run of activations that kicked off May 21 with the return of the original Core 4: Cloe, Sasha, Jade & Yasmin.

There once was a time when it may have been considered dorky to have stuffed animals on your bed, but over the past few years, Squishmallows have dialed up the cool factor. The collectible characters have stirred up a frenzy among plush collectors that hasn’t been seen since Ty’s Beanie Babies hit it big in the ‘90s. Even a mention of Squishmallows sends retailers, distributors, and consumers into a frenzy, and the plush characters from Jazwares’ Kellytoy division scored the number two spot when it comes to readers’ pageviews this year.

There is no doubt that Story Time Chess is a popular — and occasionally, viral — game. But in a year of unexpected results, perhaps it’s appropriate that the most-read story at the Toy Book is one that no one would’ve expected. We’ve checked our list and checked it twice, and the results are the same: readers were very, very interested in Graham Mottram’s appointment to lead sales for the game in Canada. Yes, this story narrowly inched out Squishmallows to snag the top spot in overall traffic, proving once again that the toy and game industry is always full of surprises!

The Toy Book team is excited to bring you all the latest news, features, and insights on the business of play in 2022 and beyond. Happy New Year!