There are no kids allowed at Toy Fair. But 10,000 grown-ups were at New York’s Javits Center this week checking out 3D printers for kids, programmable dolls and flying Millennium Falcon quad-copters.

The toy industry had its best year yet in 2015 as sales were up 6.7%, defying the downward retail sales trends in most sectors. At this annual industry trade show, we spotted many items that left us wishing we were 7 years old again.

Toys and Tech

More than 20 years after the movie “Toy Story” ignited kids’ imaginations about toys coming to life, a combination of smartphone integration and AI is making that a reality. We wrote in ZEITGUIDE 2016 about a digital Barbie that gets to know the children it plays with by asking a succession of pre-programmed (and somewhat probing) questions. Parents can program Elmo to encourage kids to brush their teeth or eat their vegetables. For kids, a more exciting example of this physical-digital integration is the “toys-to-life” genre, which uses collectible action figures to interact with a video game (like Disney’s Skylanders).

As Carol Spieckerman, president of retail consultancy firm newmarketbuilders, told one trade publication, “Instead of making trade-offs between categories, technology and toys are merging together to create a kind of power-category.”

Blind Bags

Another power combo: collectibles and anticipation. A blind bag, which retails for just $2 or $3, contains a miniature toy from one of many franchises, such as Lego, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s the modern-day equivalent of the cheap toys stuck in plastic capsules and sold from gumball machines. But the trend is huge. Whole YouTube channels are devoted to blind bag opening. Apparently it’s almost as fun to watch other kids open toys as it is to open one yourself.

Movies still move toys

The newest Star Wars film, “The Force Awakens,” gave Disney its most profitable quarter ever — which included a 23% growth in the operating income of its consumer products and interactive media group. Those who bought Star Wars toys with their allowance in the ’70s and ’80s are now using their grown-up disposable income to share their passion with their kids. Branded products from “Minions,” “Jurassic World” and the latest Marvel film, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” also saw huge sales.

Not just for kids

Brands know that kids can be forming attachments that last into adulthood. Disneybounding, for instance, is the term used to describe group trips to the Disney theme parks by young adults who grew up surrounded by Disney princess culture, from “Little Mermaid” to “Aladdin.” There’s even a dating site for such fans.

ZEITGUIDE friend Ken Mantel, who is senior vice president for retail sales for consumer products at Nickelodeon, helped us make sense of the trends we saw at Toy Fair. A whole new pattern of play is emerging, he explained, that blends the traditional toy with an interactive component. At the same time, play and hobbies are starting to overlap in new ways. Before, kids set their model helicopters on a shelf. Now they fly them.