Another hot trend in the toy industry: movie tie-ins.

Another hot trend in the toy industry: movie tie-ins. This year there will be about 25 movies with toy tie-ins—an “unprecedented number” for the toy industry which has in the past years usually seen around eight. The New York Toy Fair showed off the latest from Hollywood, like plastic swords from Power Rangers, Dancing Groots from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, and Minions from Despicable Me 3—all efforts by studios to make movies more “family-oriented” and bring the storylines into playtime. Licensed toys also boost the entire industry, accounting for almost 30% of all toy sales according to NPD. (Bloomberg)