The PopCulteer
February 20, 2026

The International Toy Fair in New York City wrapped up Tuesday, and to be honest, it’s not quite the same animal that it was ten years ago, the last time I was able to attend in person.

Any major industry is bound to change over the course of a decade, and the toy industry is no exception. The ill-thought-out tariffs have played hell with everybody’s supply chain. Kids are still aging out of toys and into screens at a younger and younger age. Adult collectors are still becoming a more important component of the business.

Add to that the changes in social media and crowdfunding, and attending Toy Fair in person is not the big deal that it used to be. Bloggers have given way to influencers, but the toy companies themselves are leaking their own “scoops” early to drive engagement on their own social media sites.

Small toy companies, which are increasingly relying on Kickstarter and similar platforms for financing, are bypassing Toy Fair entirely. It’s just not worth the expense when you can bypass retailers and go directly to the consumer, and get paid in advance to boot. That takes a little fun out of it for a reporter, because the new, tiny companies usually have some of the most exciting products and enthusiastic pitches.

Still, there was plenty of cool news that came out of Toy Fair, and a lot of neat stuff in the announcements that preceded it. I’m going to cover a few items this week, and try to dig up some further information in the coming weeks.

First we need to get the big licensing news out of the way, even though most of it won’t take effect until next year.

Hasbro has become the master toy licensor for Harry Potter and all related movies and TV Shows. We don’t know if this means that all the smaller companies that produce collectibles or niche toy catagories will lose their licenses or not. I do know that Hasbro has been especially stingy about sharing their Marvel license in the past, but they have allowed other companies to get a piece of the Star Wars pie. Hasbro has also acquired the license for the upcoming Street Fighter movie, but the legacy video game toys will still be made by Jada Toys.

Mattel, which will get the DC Comics license in 2027 (news that broke last year), will also be taking over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Playmates, which was the main license holder since the TMNT toy line debuted forty years ago, dropped out of the bidding when Paramount, which owns the property now, jacked up their licensing fees. We can only speculate on what this will mean for what seems like dozens of other companies that make TMNT toys. I do know that Mattel has wanted the full control of the Turtles since at least 2016, when they just had the sub-license to make building toys based on the heroes on a half-shell.

Meanwhile, Playmates, with more time on their hands, will be expanding their Power Rangers line (which they produce under license from Hasbro, who own the property) and have Winx Club and Monsterverse toys on the way. They will also be bringing their Stuntman Stu line (think Super Dave meets Evel Knievel) to the US for the first time. Of note to collectors, Power Rangers will have crossover toy lines with both GI Joe and Godzilla.

LEGO announced upcoming sets based on Bluey, Pokemon, Transformers, KPop Demon Hunters and The Art of Claude Monet.

Right before Toy Fair, Super7 announced eight new licensed collaborations for 2026.  These collaborations will feature all of Super7’s staple collectible lines. New ReAction and ReAction+ collaborations include De La Soul, Law & Order, and Visionaries. Other licenses announced include Invincible, which will be in the Ultimates! format deluxe figures; MTV, which will be getting Super Duper Plush; and Shrek, which will be getting Fun! Fun! Mini figures.

Super 7 also unveiled new entries in their Godzilla, The Iron Giant, Universal Monsters, GI Joe and Micronauts lines.

And finally, in this first batch of news, we have an update on Captain Action (the first toy I really wrote about in PopCult back in 2005). Plans for the deluxe collectible line are still in progress, with announcements expected throughout the year. There’s also a line of enamel pins coming from Pin Force, and NECA will be releasing figures of kids dressed up as Captain Action and Dr. Evil in their Ben Cooper Costume Kids line.

And that’s just a cursory look. Expect more toy news and reviews in the coming weeks, along with more in-depth looks at what to expect from the toy companies I mentioned above.

That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content every day and all our regular features.