Toy World spoke to independent retailers to find out about best-sellers this spring and what their sales expectations are in the run-up to summer.

Raymond Kirkpatrick of Tigeroo Toys in Belfast spoke of how beneficial half term, St Patrick’s Day and the Easter Holidays are for business, being in a tourist and student location. Lower ticketed items have performed best for the shop with Pokémon making a strong comeback this year with its new packs, and collectibles such as Mojo Fun, Squishmallows and anime action figures being particularly popular.

“We have embraced anime in a big way here, and the One Piece trading card game is another best seller,” he added.

Martells Toy Department in East Grinstead began the year on a high as toy sales were up 8% in January compared to last year. Half term was busier than staff had expected, and this is another indie to see Pokémon booster packs selling well, in addition to Sylvanian Families blind bags, Littlest Pet Shop, and even the slightly higher priced Lego roses around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

In an effort to boost sales in its pre-school selection, the store signed up for a Play-Doh FSDU at Toy Fair which helped to increase brand sales at Martells. Gee Cunliffe said: “We have an offer on buying two sets and getting a free party pack which has worked really well.”

Adam Jemmett of gaming shop Board at Home shared the store’s top selling games, telling us Ravensburger’s Disney Lorcana has seen “phenomenal” sales at the Ramsgate toy shop. Adam revealed Thames and Kosmos is its biggest supplier, and that Big Potato games such as Herd Mentality have also seen great results as well as role-play games from Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro).

Pocket-money is the category driving sales at Bright Star Toys in Linthingow, Scotland. Ian Melville explained: “We have been delighted with sales of Putty Pals from Slime Party, which we brought in after Toy Fair and Crazy Aarons from DKB. Aphmau plush from Character Options and Bandai’s Littlest Pet Shop are going strong and Squishmallows and Pokémon remain best-sellers.”

Finally in this feature, we have regulars Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes of Toy Barnhaus sharing their experience of toy sales so far this year.

To read the full feature, which appeared in the April edition of Toy World, click here.