“In 2019 there was an air of crisis – explains Maurizio Cutrino, director of Assogiocattoli -. Video games, television and sporting activities have eroded the time for the toy. Then with the lockdown, closed stores and skyrocketing container costs from China, things got worse and we suffered double-digit losses. Something changed when we became a prime asset in mid-2021, stores reopened and sales resumed. Also because there was more time at home to play ».
As emerged from the NPD data released in mid-September on the occasion of the 13th edition of the Assogiocattoli Digital Press Day, the turnover in the first six months of the year grew by 1.7% in value. What happened? Fewer toys are sold (-6.5%) but the average price has risen, almost 14 euros due to both inflation and the increase in the cost of raw materials and transport. «The transfer market held up because there is a new player: the adults. We are beginning to feel the demographic winter, there are fewer children but the data indicate that the older ones have returned to play ».
Behind the shooting of the toy there are in fact construction games with thousands of pieces, strategy board games and card games. Everything, let’s say, recommended for over 18s.
Just a few days ago Hasbro announced the arrival in Italy of Hasbro Pulse, the famous online platform dedicated to enthusiasts and collectors. It means having access to games of yesteryear such as GI JOE, Power Rangers, Transformers, and Avalon Hill. Inside will also be Fortnite and Ghostbusters and all the Marvel and Star Wars games. But the heart of the project remains the vintage toy.
Wanting to think in “conceptual” boxes, puzzle games, that is, those that stimulate intelligence or skill, are the category that has grown the most in the last year. Action Figures follow, that is toy dolls and those inspired by superheroes, for example. And the Building Sets that is the construction games like Lego.