What’s POPular Now?

What’s POPular Now?What’s POPular Now?What’s POPular Now?

by Sandy Ruben This spring, the number of fidget-toy fans just exploded. Everyone seems to love poppers, and more adaptations of them are coming out weekly. Manufacturers leading the way include Top Trenz, The Toy Network, Leading Edge, Watchitude, Santa’s Toys, and Foxmind.

Poppers fall into the “sensory fidget” category, which means they don’t require visual attention and the movement is repetitive (squeezing a ball, clicking a switch, pressing a button). Sensory fidgets help kids calm down and give them the ability to focus. Sales were strong for all sensory fidgets including fidget pads, fidget cubes, infinity cubes, and Karmagami, but as more and more kids head back into schools, the popularity of sensory fidgets will likely wane. Sales of another kind, the “skill fidget,” will continue to grow, I think. Skill fidgets are more challenging. They require both visual attention and manual dexterity. Blue Orange has two great items in this category: FinGears and

Loopy Looper. To a large extent, Shashibo from Fun in Motion also qualifies as a skill fidget because users can transform the shape shifting box into more than 70 different shapes. Fidgets aren’t the only toy category kids and their parents are buying these days.

Coming in second in our survey are “sensory toys” like Ramen Noodlies and Nee Doh from Schylling, Globblies from Crayola, plus squeezy balls and stress balls – all objects that offer an interesting tactile experience. Sensory toys are great companions for fidgets. Number 3 in our popularity poll are dinosaurs. This theme has held very strong during the last few years and is showing no signs of weakening. Stores are selling dino gliders, games, playground balls, figurines, craft sets, fantasy play sets, books … you name it. If it features a dinosaur, it’s selling. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to create a strong dinosaur section in your store.

It is with a certain amount of joy that I announce the theme at #4 – unicorns. I have conducted this survey for at least three years and in that time, the popularity of unicorns reached mythical proportions. After a while, the creature’s constant lock on the top spot lost its magic for me, but not for kids. They kept on believing until just recently, I guess. So while it may seem counterintuitive to celebrate a product’s (slight) fall from favor, I expect unicorns will be out of the top 10 by the end of this year. Yeah!

I love surprises and there were many in the survey results this time. The first was the popularity of construction vehicles; dump trucks in particular. Retailers reported strong sales across the spectrum of brands and manufacturers, including Bruder, John Deere/Tomy, Tonka/ Schylling and Green Toys. They came in at #5.

Pokemon came in sixth. The Pokemon booster packs, theme decks and gift sets from ACD Distribution were recommended by Cindy O’Hara of Learning Express Alpharetta. Allison Habshush of Toy Mania in North Carolina noted, “Pokemon plush characters and cards seem to be doing the best. We can’t keep Pokemon cards in stock.”

Rick Derr of Learning Express Lake Zurich, Illinois, agrees. “It’s all about cards, sets, tins and decks. We usually sell out in one day.”

Another surprise was the popularity of tie dye. As a craft activity, tie dye kits and supplies from Horizon, Fashion Angels, and Jacquard received high marks from retailers. As a motif,

tie dye is popular in a variety of toy categories, says Rick. He has done great with Trend Tech Brand’s Tie Dye Mini Boombox and Tie Dye Ear Buds. He also recommends Tie Dye Bomb from DaBomb.

Melissa Skelton of Olde Tyme Commissary in Mississippi is also doing well with the ’60’s-style throwback. “We sell tie dye DIY kits, bath wraps, headbands, pillows, purses, sleeping bags, overnight bags, pop fidgets, and even Tie Dye Canteens from Swiglife!”

Rounding out our top 10 were “Bath/Body” in eighth place, “kindness” in ninth, and “space” tied for 10th with mermaids. Mermaids in the spring (that sounds like a nice title for a song) usually do great, so I was surprised to see that this longstanding star had fallen. The rather poor showing of both sharks and rainbows was also unexpected.

Favorite categories remain strong

Our survey also considered toy categories. According to our findings, the Plush/Soft Toys category had an incredible first quarter. In particular, Jellycat and Squishmallows were in high demand. While much of that was fueled by Easter, it will be interesting to see where it goes in the remainder of 2021.

We determined that the number-one category