According to Circana data for the year-to-date August 2025, licensed products have driven strong growth and significantly outperformed the overall UK toy market.
WRITTEN BY JOHN BAULCH — PUBLISHER OF TOY WORLD MAGAZINE
It’s been another strong year for licensed products, which have outperformed the UK toy market as a whole so far this year: according to Circana, for the YTD August 25, Licensed Toy sales were up +14%, twice as much as the Total Toy market, which grew +7%, while non-licensed toys were up +4%. Overall, licences generated 35.6% of Total Toy value sales in the first 8 months of the year, worth over £550m.
All of which demonstrates just how important it is for licensees and retailers to select the right licences to back. As anyone who has worked with licensed properties for any length of time will know, it can be a minefield, and getting in (and getting out) at the right time can be critical.
With BLE just around the corner, this gives retailers and licensees the perfect opportunity to evaluate the properties which they feel are going to perform well as we head into the key planning and buying season for 2026. As the premier European licensing event, BLE will see visitors from many different European territories descend on the ExCeL Centre in East London from 7th – 9th October.
It’s no great surprise that licensed toys have enjoyed strong sales across 2025: the year started strongly with Pokemon, Minecraft and F1 products in high demand, while a crop of new movies kept the momentum going throughout the summer – including Lilo & Stitch, How to Train your Dragon, Jurassic World Rebirth and Superman. There are still a few big theatrical releases to come this year, including the second part of the Wicked movie this November, while 2026 will see another strong film slate lead by the likes of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story 5 and Mandalorian & Grogu, as well as Illumination’s latest Minions movie.
There have also been plenty of licensing successes away from movie theatres: Peppa Pig has enjoyed its best year for a while, with the introduction of Baby Evie helping to reinvigorate the brand. Bluey and Paw Patrol continue to enchant younger kids, while many of this year’s leading properties will undoubtedly continue to enjoy success in 2026. Although quick ‘in and out’ brands will always form part of the licensing landscape, licensors, licensees and retailers all appreciate the consistency and reliability that franchises with longevity offer.
At the other end of the age spectrum, with the seemingly inexorable growth of the Kidult category, a host of Asian-inspired brands continue to vie for attention, as licensees and retailers look to tap into this passionate audience. The largest UK toy retail chain – The Entertainer – has largely avoided this product category, but it recently announced that it will be introducing a broader range of Kidult ranges to its portfolio within the coming weeks. As The Entertainer CEO Andrew Murphy recently admitted: “As a business, we have previously focused on the 12 years and under demographic. We’re now looking to attract a whole new customer target group, by adding around 20% of new Kidult-oriented SKUs to our range.”
The Entertainer is certainly not alone in targeting the KIdult audience, which is helping the overall toy market to continue to grow, despite the prevailing economic challenges which toy retailers are currently facing. Here in the UK, we have a handful of dedicated pop culture retailers, but it is not as developed as, for example, the US pop culture retail channel. And this has left a great opportunity for toy retailers to capitalise on this growing market – pop culture, anime and Kidult products align well with toys, as there is a strong element of play, collectability and fandom involved. Not so long ago, toy retailers were unsure whether Kidult products fitted within a traditional toy store – but with each passing month, we are seeing more and more toy retailers embrace the category and, with it, the chance to widen their customer base.
This article also appeared in Edition 51 of The Bugg Report Magazine
