Toy corporations are planning to relaunch old favorites and lower prices to lure shoppers struggling to pay for necessities like food and electricity.
At The Play Date in Manhattan on Wednesday, toy makers touted the return of previous hits like Fingerlings and Littlest Pet Shop at discounted prices.
One of the hottest toys six years ago, Fingerlings might be on shelves this summer for $14.99, the same amount Montreal-based WowWee was charging in 2017.
“We desired to pay $19.99 for the recent Fingerlings and really recently we made the decision to lower the price,” said Sydney Wiseman, WowWee’s vice chairman of brand development.
“The world has modified and folks are very price conscious.”
The cheaper price is because the recent Fingerlings may have more bells and whistles than the original version, including 70 different sounds versus 40, a fuzzy exterior, and a glowing heart that lights up when the toy is in your finger.
“It’s expensive to do,” said Wiseman. “We take a lower margin.”
WowWee can even bring back the robotic dog it stopped producing in 2019. The toy that was called Chip and sold for $200 will return this summer as Dog-E with a price tag of $80.
One other toy making a comeback is the Littlest Pet Sho, which was first introduced in 1992 and again in 2004.
Basic Fun, which has a licensing cope with Hasbro to supply collectibles, will charge the same price as 19 years ago – $3.99 for a single figure and $7.99 for a two-pack.
Basic Fun’s production costs for Littlest Pet Shop are also lower than in years past because there are more machines to make figures, including one which decorates previously hand-painted dolls, said Jay Foreman, the company’s CEO.
“Toy corporations and retailers are working to tighten margins to proceed offering value to consumers in this difficult environment that’s more likely to proceed into the rest of this yr,” Foreman said.
Toy sales skyrocketed during the pandemic as families who didn’t return home stocked up on all the things from board games to trampolines.
But last yr, inflation hit a record high and demand for toys fell as prices for staples akin to eggs rose by 70%.
The $40 billion toy industry grew by just 2.7% last yr, in keeping with the Toy Association.
“There’s real adversity in 2023,” with the industry concerned about “the impact on consumer discretionary spending,” said TA CEO Steve Pasierb.
Some corporations even throw away unwanted stock.
Last week, Funko said it will “eliminate” as much as $36 million of their once popular Pop collections because people aren’t buying them.
Other toy corporations launching recent products this yr are taking a more in-depth have a look at Dollar stores.
“Many consumers shop at these stores first,” Spin Master spokeswoman Tammy Smitham told The Post.
“We did not have a technique for [those stores] but we are fascinated with designing products for this seller [now]”.