Licensed toys will continue to represent half of toy sales this holiday season, but there’s no telling which will be the single hot property, according to the fifth annual Duracell Toy Industry Forecast.

The survey of industry analysts, manufacturers and other experts concludes that no single toy will dominate this year, leaving room for any toy manufacturer to make its mark.

Highlights of this year’s study indicate:

– Eighty percent of the industry experts who responded believe that the US$20-billion toy industry in the U.S. (not including video games) will increase in 1996 by as much as four percent over 1995 sales.

– Sixty percent expect an increase in sales of educational toys and almost 40 percent expect to see an increase in preschool and classic toy sales. Close to 60 percent expect sales of combat toys to decrease.

– Seventy-seven percent expect an increase in sales of CD-ROM games.

– Kids continue to control the industry. When experts were asked to rate in order of importance the factors influencing toy sales, word of mouth among children ranked first.

– Toy-only retail chains will benefit the most from singular toy sales this holiday season according to 67 percent of respondents. Fifty-seven percent expect independent stores to profit the least this holiday season.