Stepping into Hasbro’s display for Disney licensed toys at Toy Fair felt like stepping into a miniature kingdom where all of the fairy tale characters you grew up with had gathered for a royal celebration. Characters that span multiple generations like Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Belle were all there in a myriad of fashions and styles, as were new favorites like Anna and Elsa from Frozen. And looking ahead to the future, characters from Disney Descendants and the upcoming Moana and Elena of Avalor made their debut. In this article, we will explore all of the new and upcoming toys broken down by franchise.
Frozen
Disney’s Frozen recently celebrated its second anniversary, but love for these characters is still strong and Disney is continuing to offer fans new ways to see them, including the soon-to-open Epcot attraction, a recently announced TV special and the highly anticipated sequel. Unlike the previous Mattel fashion dolls, Hasbro used the same computer models from the film to create these faces. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff are now available in a few different styles, but more are on the way. Right now, dolls are available in fashions based on the original film and Frozen Fever.
Coming soon are Anna and Elsa with Magical Story Capes. Each doll’s cape features blank space and comes with a paint brush. After filling the brush with cold water, kids can “paint” the white space to reveal other characters. Elsa’s cape features Anna and Olaf, while Anna’s cape features Elsa and Kristoff.
My favorite part of Hasbro’s collection is a line of miniature figures called Little Kingdom. These figures come in a variety of options, including stand-alone characters and full play sets. When you look at the collection as a whole, it’s impossible to not be delighted by the color schemes chosen and our tour guide revealed that the colors were inspired by the work of Mary Blaire.
Many of the Frozen Little Kingdom characters are already available and while the focus is mostly on Anna and Elsa, other characters are included. In this photo you can see Sven, Kristoff, Olaf and even Marshmallow. The dresses feature squishy, removable plastic gowns and many of the figures come with extra fashions so kids can change them or share clothes between figures.
But hands down, the absolute COOLEST toy that I saw in all of 2016’s Toy Fair has to be the Elsa unraveling castle toy that fits into the Little Kingdom collection. The entire castle collapses to about 3 inches high. With the push of a button, it lights up and plays magical sounds as it unravels towards the sky. The Elsa figure that’s included has both her coronation gown and ice crystal dress, so kids can completely reenact the “Let it Go” sequence. Expect this piece to be available next Fall in time for Christmas.
Hasbro also has a few upcoming board games based on Frozen. Families will have a blast with Don’t Break the Ice featuring Olaf, Anna and Elsa. And a new twist on Jenga finds color ice cubes stacked to create Elsa’s castle. Players will take turns removing pieces and whoever makes the palace crumble loses.
There are a few Frozen Play-Doh play sets debuting in 2016. Kids can use glittery blue Play-Doh to create Elsa’s cape. This play set also includes fun snowflake stamps throughout that can be used to decorate Elsa’s ice palace. Kids can also literally build a snowman with Olaf’s summer set. His base, head and arms are included, along with a fun summer beach scene from the snowman’s dream sequence.
Continue to the next page for Disney Princess, Descendants, Elena of Avalor and Moana.