Toy trends put a twist on classic hits
Some children’s favourites from a holiday-themed event were blasts from the past
Lily-Anne Silverio, 3, wants a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas.
But not just any Barbie Dreamhouse. She wants a high-tech smart house that has floor sensors to recognize where Barbie is in the house, embedded speech recognition and stairs that convert into a slide.
“And another girl told her the toilet flushes and the elevator works,” LilyAnne’s mother, Katrina, said.
Katrina and Lily-Anne are at the Canadian Toy Association’s (CTA) Hot Toys for the Holidays event, during which the top toys from that year are presented to children so they can test them out and rank their favourites.
This year, the CTA has identified the top five trends in the industry: tech toys, family-centric games, creator games, brain boosters and collectibles.
And while the toys span these categories, another theme is apparent: classic toys with a modern twist.
Even family-centric toys, which have been around for years, are “still really hot,” according to Margot Somerville, board chair for marketing communications with the CTA. This could be partially attributed to the adaptations made to keep up with modern times.
Somerville referenced the Hasbro Gaming’s Simon Air, which uses touch-free technology to modernize a retro game.
“You have the Simon — which, back in my day, it was a big unit and you followed the colours, and now, they just keep evolving that item,” Somerville said.
Gone are the days of plain old paint sets and unresponsive stuffed animals as technology is weaved into classic toys. In this room, there’s an interactive easel and a stuffed Elmo with more than 350 responses and 30 minutes of unique content that parents can personalize with an app. There’s a stuffed dragon that breathes flame-coloured mist and a smart kitchen that connects to a tablet, allowing children to “make recipes with the play food,” according to Somerville.
Lily-Anne is even learning about and asking for toys in a mix of mod- ern and old ways. Katrina says her daughter had previously seen toys on YouTube, then cut out pictures of the ones she wanted from the Toys “R” Us catalogue before pasting them onto her wish list.
That’s not to say the classics are completely gone.
After Madalyn Deboer, 2, tired of the high-tech easel she had been drawing on for the majority of the morning, she moved on to the B. Rodeo Rocker and happily swayed back and forth. And Ana Santos-Price said her son Elliot, 7, and grandson, Miley Virrey, 5, “love the Hot Wheels toy and keep going back to it.”
“It’s a mix. Tech toys are definitely on the rise, whether it’s a remotecontrolled Ninja Turtle on a skateboard or a Barbie dollhouse that’s completely teched out,” Somerville said. “But I also love the make-and-play toys. It’s a great way for kids to not only make the creation, but play with it. There’s a stamp-maker where you actually mix the inks and then make the stamping marker. It actually takes them away from the tech side, so it’s a win-win.”