Midco owner Dave Middleton says that he has announced the list earlier than usual due to unpredictable stock levels this year.
Retailers have already begun to release their top toys lists for Christmas 2021. As consumers heed the heavily promoted “shop early” messages, and seek to mitigate any toy supply issues this year, information on top toy recommendations needs to be disseminated in good time, to help everyone plan and prepare for Christmas and to make sure consumers know about all the great new ranges being launched for the festive season.
Indie toy store Midco Toys is the latest to reveal those lines and ranges it expects to be top sellers this festive season.
“Because stock is tight and some brands are performing extremely well, we have named some ranges nice and early,” Dave told Toy World. “Some big suppliers are already running low on stock and this year, it will be to everyone’s advantage to push smaller brands. This is a philosophy we often adopt at Midco anyway; we place huge emphasis on lines and ranges that aren’t available everywhere.”
Dave and his team have found this approach to be a succesful one as they mark out Midco as a retail destination; one with a point of difference to bigger toy store chains and supermarket toy departments.
We asked Dave to give us some examples of lines he feels have perfomed particularly well recently in his stores. “Slime Party UK is a prime example,” he explained. “Lines like Boglins and Nee Doh are also selling fantastically well; they’re not necessarily stocked everywhere, so customers are really pleased to find them at Midco.”
Indeed, Dave warns that some of these items will be find hard to find in any other toy store, a fact he will use to his advantage. “Every retailer is looking for exclusivity, and sometimes you can achieve that on a local level,” he said. “Indies, by default, are in a unique position to seek out and promote smaller brands.”
Midco’s top 12 predictions are:
1. Pokémon Trading Cards (Asmodee)
2. Squishmallows Plush (Jazwares)
3. Yabu Plush (Kenji)
4. Boglins (Heo)
5. Bratz 20th Anniversary dolls (MGA)
6. Bluey range (Moose)
7. Nee Doh (Tobar)
8. CoComelon range (Bandai)
9. Pokémon Toy (Character Options)
10. Ghost Castle Game (John Adams
11. Slime Party UK Slime Tubs (Slime Party UK)
12. Pogs (Asmodee Europe)
