Like we’ve often said: Everybody loves stuffed animals. The latest figures show that sales of plush toys in UK continue to rise and by quite a lot.

The latest data by the NPD Group shows that UK toy stales for the first quarter of 2016 were up by a total of 8 per cent. Mind you, Q1 of every year is the slowest for sales for pretty much everything, so this is a very good result.

The top performing toy categories once again are action figures and stuffed animals. The former have scored a 16% increase of sales, while the latter – a very healthy 21% jump. Yes, sales just of stuffed animals are outperforming the entire market by more than 2.5 times.

The UK also kept its position as the largest toy market in Europe. Almost 54 million toys were sold since the beginning of the year just in the United Kingdom.

Looking at brands, there’s probably no surprise to anyone that Star Wars is leading by a lot. All Star Wars toys are enjoying a huge interest and a whopping 249% increase since a year ago. Following the popular franchise are Shopkins, Disney Frozen and LEGO City.

“Of the 50 best-sellers in the UK since January this year, 19 are new products”, says Frédérique Tutt, toys global industry analyst at The NPD Group. Paw Patrol, LEGO Nexo Knights, Teletubbies and Tsum Tsum were some of the top growth new brands in Q1 2016. Batman v Superman also sees good numbers.