Toy makers are banking on movie blockbusters to boost sales in 2026 after last years brutal tariffs

Toy makers are banking on a slew of blockbuster movies in 2026 to spark fresh demand after President Trump’s tariffs last year left manufacturers reeling.More than a dozen major kids movies are slated to hit theaters in the months ahead — among them “Toy Story 5,” “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu” and a “Minions” sequel — raising hopes for big sales of action figures, games and plush toys.“This year will easily be the biggest entertainment year since the 2019,” when about as many movies were released in a 12-month span, James Zahn, editor of The Toy Book told The Post.“There’s an onslaught of stuff coming out.”Some of the productions — including the “Star Wars” and “Minions” flicks, along with He-Man-themed “Masters of the Universe” — were promoted during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The lineup looks comparable to 2019, when “Angry Birds 2,” “Frozen 2,” “Toy Story 4” and “Spider-Man: Far from Home” were released.Most of the films in the pipeline are sequels or parts of big franchises — “comfort food rooted in good versus evil at a time when there is a lot of disarray,” Zahn said.The $45 billion toy industry could use a boost after lackluster sales in 2024 and an uneven 2025, when Lego sets, trading cards and adult collectors accounted for more than 90% of last year’s growth in sales, according to new data from Circana.Retail sales grew 6% in 2025 compared to a 0.3% decline the year before, with the number of sold toys rising 3% even as prices ticked up by 4%, the market research company found.“If you strip out football cards, Lego and Pokémon, the industry would have been flat to down last year,” Seaport Capital analyst Gerrick Johnson told The Post.This year could be “big if the movies hit right,” he said, cautioning that films are not as helpful to the toy industry as they used to be because “there is so much more content available to kids outside of theaters.”“We used to have the...