On July 5, 2025, Monster Jam driver Tristan England climbed into the cockpit of his 12,000-pound, 1,500-horsepower, methanol-fueled JCB DIGatron with one mission: take down a towering, 40-foot Smashbot planted on the heart of Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake Metropolis. The stunt, which opened the second night time of Monster Jam World Finals XXIV, delivered peak toyetic motion — a real-world manifestation of one in every of final 12 months’s hottest vacation hits, Spin Grasp’s Smash & Bash Smashbot Playset.
“Being a Monster Jam fan my total life, to be part of that stunt is one thing I can’t actually wrap my head round,” England tells The Toy Guide. “The texture of that, and the way cool it’s to the touch so many lives with one thing we did at work that lasted 5 seconds, I can’t imagine what we’ve executed with these vans and expertise through the years.”
When he’s not rocking arenas, the Texas native is at residence together with his household, enjoying together with his son, Crash. “Taking down the Smashbot was tremendous cool, and now I get to do it daily with my child in the lounge,” England shares.
Pulling off a real-world stunt of this scale requires science, precision, and horsepower, but fueling innovation starts with collaboration.
“[Monster Jam owner] Feld Motor Sports activities lets our toys affect their stay occasions and actions on the monitor, and the monitor, in flip, influences our toy design,” says Doug Wadleigh, President of Toys at Spin Master. “This sentiment is finest mirrored in our Smashbot playset and growth of the Sparkle Smash Monster Jam truck, which started as a toy design concept and ended up within the area as an actual truck.”
MONSTER GROWTH
Based in 1992, with its first sanctioned occasions launched by the US Scorching Rod Affiliation in 1995, Monster Jam has developed quickly — significantly following its 2008 acquisition by Feld Leisure. What started with humble roots has grown into a world life-style model.
“It looks like a model that’s in its infancy,” says Jeff Bialosky, Senior Vice President, World Partnerships at Feld Entertainment. “It’s discovered a comparatively new viewers to embrace it, particularly during the last 10 years. Monster Jam has developed right into a family-friendly expertise that’s genuine and inclusive for everybody. It’s one of many few sports activities the place followers can get near the vans and meet the drivers with out paying hundreds of {dollars}. And it’s constructed on a core play sample.”
That play sample has fueled explosive momentum, driving 800% development over the previous eight years. Annual international retail gross sales have reached $800 million and are on monitor to hit $1 billion. Reside occasions, streaming content material, and social media type a self-reinforcing flywheel, increasing Monster Jam fandom past toys into video video games, cell, attire, well being and sweetness, and extra.
Publishing is accelerating alongside the model’s broader enlargement. Previously 18 months, the Monster Jam publishing program has grown from two titles to 55. Scholastic, which beforehand bought Monster Jam titles solely by way of its faculty guide gala’s, expects to ship multiple million books in 2026.
WORLDWIDE FANDOM
Monster Jam’s first worldwide occasion happened in 2002, and new cities welcome the game every year. “It’s Americana, and sure international locations embrace that,” Bialosky says. “These are large vans, and we have now two fleets that we ship abroad.”
Past the Americas, Monster Jam has gained traction in Germany, the U.Okay., South Africa, Australia, and Singapore. After a cease in Abu Dhabi in December, the vans are set to roll into the Netherlands and Finland this spring, with occasions in Mexico and Costa Rica on the horizon.
As new followers (and vans) enter the combo, velocity to market is high of thoughts for licensees targeted on retaining the model recent. Spin Grasp introduces new vans into its die-cast assortments each different month.
“We would like followers to look and discover new merchandise at our retailers and be shocked by what’s new on shelf,” Wadleigh says. “Spin Grasp has invested in state-of-the-art automated manufacturing that permits us to flex in new autos shortly. We will design new autos and convey them to retail in as little as 3-4 months.”
POWERFUL PARTNERSHIPS
Feld continues to ink new offers to develop the now cross-generational model, with Monster Jam poised to make the leap from arenas to theaters. A live-action movie set throughout the Monster Jam universe is in growth with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seven Bucks Productions, and Walt Disney Studios.
Trying forward, 2026 is shaping as much as be a banner 12 months with new merchandise, experiences, and continued momentum. And the way does Spin Grasp plan to high Smashbot? Wadleigh guarantees “Extra velocity, extra destruction, and extra methods to play Monster Jam than ever” this 12 months.
Keep on the Pulse of Play!
A model of this characteristic first appeared within the 2026 International Issue of The Toy Guide. Read the full issue here!
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