It’s not all doom-and-gloom for the toy business this year — and boys may have the muscle to lift sales.

While demand for Barbie dolls is in free fall, Mattel said Thursday that sales of its Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars rose 4 percent in the most recent quarter.

Action figures based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise look poised to extend their momentum.

Activision’s “Skylanders” and “Disney Infinity,” two competing lines of interactive action figures that hook into video-game consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation 4, are likely to do well, according to analysts.