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Shopping for the holidays? These are 14 of the hottest toys of 2016
It's going to be a happy holiday for the toy industry this year.
The industry, which had its best year in more than a decade last season, is slated to grow 6.5 percent in 2016, propelled by "Star Wars," collectibles and tech toys, according to the NPD Group.
Hasbro (HAS) expects its new line of "Star Wars" toys to bring the company another $500 million this year. Meanwhile, Spin Master's Hatchimals became "an instant success," making it a clear standout this holiday season, said Juli Lennett, U.S. toys industry analyst at NPD.
We have included links to buy the products we are highlighting. In some cases, if you purchase an item from our link, we will collect a small percentage of the sale. This has no impact on editorial decisions about what we are recommending. Proceeds from these sales will be donated to the Council for Economic Education, which supports economic and financial education.
Here's a look at some of the hottest toys to hit shelves for the 2016 holiday season:
Price: $24.99
A runaway hit last year for both kids and adults, Hasbro's Pie Face was awarded game of the year in 2016 by the Toy Industry Association.
This holiday season, Hasbro released Pie Face Showdown, a sequel, of sorts, to the original pits players against each other. The players must press a button on the side of the toy as fast as they can to move the pie thrower toward the other player. The one that gets pied in the face loses.
The game is among the year's top 10 selling items this year, according to NPD. Pie Face Showdown helped boost Hasbro's games division 13 percent in the third quarter.
"The trend in games is definitely one to watch, and it will continue to flourish as families look for more together time," said Lennett.
Price: $49.99 - $59.99
One of this year's hottest toys is an egg.
Hatchimals, an interactive toy that hatches from a plastic egg, was released in early October and has quickly become one of the most sought-after toys of the holiday season.
Kids must nurture the speckled egg in order to begin the hatching process. The toy will tap and peck at the plastic egg until it cracks open and a furry Hatchimal creature emerges.
That's just the beginning. By teaching the toy to walk, talk and play games, kids can raise the Hatchimal from baby to toddler to full-grown adult.
"We are always looking at how we can inspire and evolve new play patterns," Ben Varadi, chief creative officer at Spin Master, said in a statement. "Children have limitless imaginations and we think the same way when we develop new toys. As a result, Hatchimals incorporates the very best elements of nurturing play with the interactivity of robotics in a truly innovative and entertaining way."
There are five Hatchimal species: Pengualas, Draggles, Owlicorns, Burtles and Bearakeets. Burtles are sold only at Wal-Mart (WMT), Bearakeets are sold at Target (TGT) and Owlicorns are only at Toys R Us.
If you are hoping to get your hands on a Hatchimals, better act fast. The toy is selling out at major retailers and appearing on eBay (EBAY) starting at $100 and reaching near $1,000.
Several eBay users have put the toy up for more than $9,000, but are accepting lower offers.
Price: $1.99 and up
"Rogue One," which comes out shortly before Christmas, is providing Hasbro's "Star Wars" line with a slew of new characters and stoking the interest in action figures, costumes and accessories.
In particular, K-2SO (Kay-Tuesso), a reprogrammed Imperial droid, has emerged as an early favorite.
"K-2SO seems to be head and shoulders, literally, above everyone else in terms of popularity," Steve Evans, design director for Hasbro's Star Wars line, said during a panel at New York Comic Con in October.
Jyn Erso, the female lead of the new "Star Wars" film, is also expected to sell well for the toy company.
Price: $398
Retailers are hoping to lure in consumers this holiday season with exclusive toy offers.
Wal-Mart will be selling 400 toys that cannot be found anywhere else, including the motorized Disney Princess Carriage.
Despite the higher ticket price, the item has been so popular that the retailer has already had to order more, Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., told CNBC.
The pink carriage, which uses a 24-volt battery instead of horses, has working doors and comes with a "magic" light-up wand.
Price: $19.99
Adults looking for a laugh this holiday should take a look at Hasbro's other hot board game: Speak Out.
The game, designed for those 16 and older, tasks players with saying funny phrases while wearing a mouth piece. Their partner must guess the phrase before the timer runs out.
Speak Out has spurred hundreds of online videos of people testing it out.
Games and puzzles are among the fast-growing categories in the industry so far in 2016, with sales up 16 percent, NPD reported.
Price: $199.99
Consumers won't shy away from higher-priced items this holiday season. In fact, NPD expects a lot of toy sales to come from these higher ticket items.
"The categories that I expect will provide the most growth in November and December will be connected toys, including drones, cars and robotics; and wheels, such as battery operated ride-ons, scooters and hoverboards," Lennett said.
The Air Hogs Helix Sentinel Drone lets kids — and adults — experience flight from the cockpit. Using the goggles included in the kit, users can hook up their smart phone and stream live HD video as they fly the drone indoors or outdoors.
Price: $2.99 and up
One of the hottest crazes in the toy industry is one of the oldest: collectibles.
From action figures to stickers, kids like to collect. Sales of collectibles were up 64 percent in 2016 through September, to more than $220 million, according to NPD.
Disney's (DIS) Tsum Tsums are collectible toys based on the company's most popular characters — from Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to Iron Man and Han Solo — that come in plush and plastic. The plastic variety are sold in blind bags for a low price.
Mystery packs, or blind bags, are responsible for about a fourth of the $220 million that collectibles have raked in so far in 2016, according to NPD.
"Within collectibles, there are a lot of new choices, and blind bags especially will make great stocking stuffers this Christmas," Lennett said. "Looking at all the new collectibles and blind bags launched this fall, I expect continued strong growth of this segment."
Price: $79.99
Gone are the days of simple animatronic toys. In 2016, consumers are looking for interactive robots with personality.
Enter Torch My Blazin' Dragon, the newest Furreal Friend from Hasbro. Torch is a blue plush dragon that features 50-plus sound and motion combinations, including growling and burping, and spits a flame-colored mist that can be used to "toast" a color-changing marshmallow.
Sensors within the toy allow Torch to respond to touch and react realistically to outside stimulus.
Price: $199.99
For families that aren't ready to commit to a pet, there's CHiP, a robotic dog that acts just like the real thing, without the messy clean up or vet bills.
CHiP by WowWee has multiple sensors that allow it respond to gestures, its surroundings and touch. The robot can be controlled via a Bluetooth device or using the smartband that comes in the package.
The interactive pet can learn tricks, play fetch with its smartball and returns to its charger when its battery is low.
Price: $50
Fisher Price's (MAT) Think & Learn Code-a-Pillar introduces young children to the basics of coding.
STEM toys (science, technology, engineering and math) have become increasingly popular in recent years, with consumers and retailers hoping to foster learning and fun at the same time.
The Code-a-pillar encourages preschoolers to arrange and rearrange segments of the caterpillar to make it move in a specific path. The toy comes with one sound segment, three straight segments, two right turn segments and two left turn segments.
"Each toy fosters 21st century skills like curiosity, experimentation and problem solving in ways kids haven't seen before," the company said on its website. "They're engaged in hands-on, open-ended discovery that helps them become lifelong learners."
Price: $149
DIY isn't just for adults. Kids who enjoy tinkering may be partial to Bose's BoseBuild Speaker Cube, a step-by-step tech kit that helps kids create their own sound system.
The kit teaches kids how electrical currents create vibrations and produce sound and shows them how to put together a mini speaker that can be hooked up to a Bluetooth device.
The device is a STEM toy for children age 8 and older. It doesn't require a soldering iron or software programming and doesn't have a difficult set of assembly instructions.
Price: $39.99
Pokemon Sun and Moon is the most preordered game in Nintendo's history, according to the company.
The two video games, which are slated to hit shelves Nov. 18, aren't just for kids. Adults are just as eager to get their hands on the new products.
The games can be bundled for $79.99.
Price: $3.99 and up
You're never too old to play with Legos.
There's a reason Lego says that its sets are for people age 4 to 99. Whether you are shopping for a toddler or an experienced builder, Lego has no shortage of brick sets for the holidays.
The company offers large Duplo blocks for toddlers as well as tiny architectural kits.
Depending on your skill level and patience, sets can run you from about $3.99 for a simple build to $499.99 for a "Star Wars" Death Star set that has more than 4,000 tiny bricks.
Price: $74.99 to $99.99
Activision's (ATVI) "Skylanders" franchise pioneered the toys-to-life video-game genre, in which physical figures can be used within the game. The pieces act as collectibles and data storage units that save a player's game.
The company's newest iteration is "Skylander's Imaginators," which freshens the concept by allowing players to customize their characters within the game with crystal packs, rather than need to buy new figurines to expand the game experience. With the crystals, gamers can alter a character's name, voice, power, appearance, size and color however they choose.
This iteration also brings back popular Skylanders characters like Spyro and Stealth Elf, and they're fully voiced in the game. Netflix (NFLX) released its "Skylanders Academy" show in late October.
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