Real toys are making a Christmas comeback

After years of declining Christmas toy sales in favor of technology purchases, experts report children are once again longing for real toys—as long as they integrate some form of digital experience.

Annual toy sales are projected to rise to $19.9 billion in 2015, up 6.2 percent from last year. That’s the biggest increase in the last 10 years, according to The NPD Group Inc., a market research firm that tracks the U.S. toy market. The increase factors in swift sales during this year’s final quarter, when sales are expected to rise 5 percent to $9.6 billion.

“The selection is much greater than in the past,” said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TTPM, an online toy review site. “Technology is much better in the toy aisle, and it’s really inspiring young kids to play but also bringing older kids to things like radio control and role play items.”

Even toys for preschool children are incorporating technology to make the toys interactive. Hasbro, the nation’s second largest toy company, offers an Elmo doll that features more than 150 responses and 8 games. Mattel’s new Barbie features speech recognition and can have a two-way conversation. The Barbie Dreamhouse is almost 3 feet tall, with a slot for children to insert a cellphone that becomes Barbie’s living room television.

For school-age children, robotic creatures are becoming more life-like, with voice-recognition features. Hasbro’s StarLily My Magical Unicorn, for example, responds to voice and touch with more than 100 sound and motion combinations. Spin Master’s Meccano Meccanoid G15 allows kids to build and program their own personal 4-foot-tall robot that records and plays back audio. With 1,200 parts, the robot uses 64 megabytes of memory to “learn” from its kid builder.

“You want to make sure that you give them enough that they’re going to want to walk away from their iPads and phones,” said Geoff Walker, executive vice president for Mattel, the nation’s largest toymaker.

In addition to creating more toys that integrate technology, toy companies have a notable benefactor: Hollywood. Toymakers enjoyed the power of the box office last year as parents hunted for all things Frozen. Toys based on the Disney blockbuster made Frozen the top toy brand last year, reaching $531 million in sales, according to NPD. This year is expected to yield even bigger toy sales based on movies due to the resurgence of four well-loved franchises: Jurassic Park, The Peanuts Movie (Snoopy), Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens.

Star Wars, in particular, is expected to far surpass Frozen in sales due to its multi-generational appeal. Twentieth Century Fox released the first Star Wars movie in 1977. It was an instant hit, becoming the highest grossing film of its time and winning seven Academy Awards. Five more films over the last 28 years means tens of thousands of children and their children, and their children’s children, grew up playing with lightsabers.

Parents looking for Star Wars paraphernalia for their children—or themselves—will find a plethora of options at all price levels, from rubber bracelets and bobblehead action figures to Death Star-shaped waffle makers and car shades featuring the latest cast of characters. But folks need to start shopping soon: The $199.99 lightsaber from Hasbro, which features motion sensor-controlled sound effects and a real metal hilt, is already on backorder.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.