Building and action figures lead in 2014 | Key4Communications |

According to the latest study by NPD, the traditional toy market ended the year with growth of + 3.2% in value, after a good month of December. This is due to the late buys, something that is in recent years.

Regarding the different channels, all ending in positive, albeit with significant differences in growth. While the increase was + 0.7% for Hypermarkets, Other channels increased by + 4.5%. To understand the results, it is mandatory to mention the seasonality. The month of December represented 53.7% of total annual sales (compared to 52.5% in 2013), but the figures are even more revealing when we analyze the weight of the last weeks. Weeks 1 and 2 (from December 29 to January 11) have accounted for 14.9% of total sales in 2014.

Analyzing the data by super categories, we see that there are two families with spectacular growth in 2014: Buildings and Action Figures, both without major changes from previous months.

- Action Figures closed a really good year with growth in value of more than 32%, with an average rise in price of +7%. This category has a lot of properties with good performance during this year as Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Spiderman, Sendokai Champions (the surprise of the campaign), Invizimals, Avengers, Slugterra and How to Train Your Dragon.
- Constructions is undoubtedly one of the main categories in 2014 with strong growth throughout the year. Star Wars leads the top of properties, in which the top six brands belong to Lego (Star Wars, City, Friends, Duplo, Creator, Technic). In seventh place we find Mega Bloks Jr, with an increase of +17%.
- Crafts also ended the year in positive (+2.4% in value).
- Teddy bears had an annual double-digit growth (+14.3%).
- Other Toys ended 2014 with a rise in value of +5.9%.
- Outdoor and sports ended with a moderate growth of +1.3%.
- Cars achieved positive results in December, but not enough to balance the accumulated negative trend, ending the year with a decline in value of -1.5%.
- Games/Puzzles ended 2014 with a slight fall of -0.7% in value, with similar trends in both segments.
- Electronics for Youth had a moderately negative trend.
- Dolls had the worst result and ended the year with a decline of -5.6% in value.
- Preschool and Infant ended the year slightly negative (-0.2%).