Feature - Plush

Cuddle squad

For a deeply traditional category, Plush has been enjoying its fair share of social media crazes, technological advancements and licensed expansion. Rachael Simpson-Jones finds out how TikTok, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and wellness are shaping the sector this year.

In previous issues, I’ve talked about the behemoth that is Squishmallows: its huge sales, obsessed fans and cult status have made it a giant in the plush arena. It’s fair to say nothing much has changed: Teresa Carter, of Chocoloons in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, says fans of all ages love the brand, not just children, noting: “We have teenagers and even university students and adults coming in for Squishmallows.”

Describing the cute and tactile brand as ‘on fire’, and sales as ‘phenomenal’, Holly Oldham, MD UK & Nordics at Jazwares, is clearly very excited for the months ahead as the company prepares to welcome brand-new, never before seen characters alongside fan favourites with a twist. She explains: “We’re aligning our character selections globally for 2023, meaning UK fans will be able to collect the same styles as fans in the US and other international territories. This will bring the global social community together in a big way.”

Social media lies at the heart of Squishmallows’ success, with TikTok and Instagram leading the way in terms of impact, while gaming – an area that’s really starting to mix and merge with the toy space – will also be a focus for the brand moving forward. Jazwares aims to grow its presence in the metaverse via its Squishmallows Roblox game as well as develop further gaming offerings for fans of the brand. Holly adds: “We also have some exciting licensed collaborations launching, which we know our fans will love.”

Licensing continues to make waves in plush, and this year it’s a character from Darkest Peru that’s proving particularly popular according to Anthony Temple, managing director at Rainbow Designs. The company, which bills itself as ‘The Home of Classic Characters’, is seeing success with its Peter Rabbit and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh collections, but is experiencing significant demand for all its Paddington collections - Classic, Paddington for Baby and The Adventures of Paddington.

“Paddington’s visit to Buckingham Palace to have afternoon tea with the Queen, in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee, was obviously the ‘marmalade on the cake’, for this much-loved, kind-hearted bear,” Anthony explains when asked what’s driving sales. “He is such a firm favourite with the British public that this increased visibility is boosting an already strong year for the brand.”

For the first time ever, Paddington has also joined the heritage plush brand Ty in the form of a Beanie Baby, and later this year he will also appear as a Squish-A-Boo. Ty’s other licensed ranges are also expanding with new additions to its Marvel Beanie Babies range, while Marvel also joins the Squish-A- Boo line-up, which currently also includes Peppa Pig and Hello Kitty.

When speaking to retailers, Ty is almost always highlighted as a best-selling plush range. According to Ty UK chairman Mark Swallow, the company’s plush toys are a ‘true emotional purchase’. He tells me: “I was talking with a man at a car show a couple of weeks ago, and he confessed to me that while he never goes to a toy shop looking for Ty plush, he always walks out with three or four anyway (for his kids, he said). We hear this sort of anecdote all the time, yet it’s still an unusual situation. Most consumers head to stores with an objective - a particular toy or game they’re looking for. But all we need to sell our product are people in physical shops.”

Mark adds: “Consumers are watching what they spend at the moment. As Ty has been around since 1986, we’ve seen our fair share of ups and downs, but we know that when times are hard, people will still buy reasonably priced toys. Around 80% of our range sits at a price point between £3-8, making Ty plush a great option for anyone feeling the pinch, but still looking for a pick-me-up or a lovely gift for a child. In a difficult climate such as the current one, our price points really drive sales. Then you have the emotional connection to Ty. Parents remember Ty from their own childhoods and want to share their love of our toys with their own kids or young relatives. There’s a lot of appreciation out there for what the brand stands for – affordability and quality.”

Away from the stalwarts, a number of fun new plush toys are coming through for this year. Golden Bear, a specialist in licensed pre-school plush, unveiled (or should that be unrolled) its own-brand interactive plush range Curlimals at Toy Fair 2022. It’s got off to a very strong start – surpassing even MD Barry Hughes’ high expectations. The three Curlimals: Higgle the hedgehog, Bibi the bunny and Blue the badger, are cute woodland creatures that respond to touch with over 50 sounds and reactions. Each has its own unique sounds and phrases to reflect its individual personality, while all three uncurl to play and curl back into a ball to sleep.

“If you were to ask me which new launch I was most excited about this year, it would have to be Curlimals,” enthuses Barry. “I really believe we have brought something new to the table with this brand. We always knew that we’d have a hit on our hands after we saw the reaction from kids during our research. The internal buzz continued during development and then we had such positive retailer responses during previews and trade show season. But even after all that, Curlimals’ performance has been beyond what we could have predicted.”

Other upcoming new ranges for this year include Fuzzballs from this month’s front cover holder, KAP Toys. The new plush collection, which marks the company's first foray into own-brand toys, is based on the kawaii pet-themed and pop-culture comic from creator Marc Sach. You can read more about this range in our exclusive interview with MD Nat Southworth on pages 134 and 136. Then there’s Happy Line Toys’

Dream Beams, distributed in the UK & Ireland by One For Fun. This plush range makes the most of sensory elements and glow-in-the-dark features so the Dream Beams characters can fulfil their ‘mission’ - to let every child have a good night’s sleep – by providing comfort and relieving stress.

Plush toys are ideally suited to this sort of job, if it can be described as such, owing to their cuddliness and the treasured place they occupy in a child’s life. It’s therefore no surprise to find other companies tapping into this space. Mood Bears’ range of plush teddies currently offers nine characters based on some of the most common emotions kids deal with on a day-to-day basis: Hope, Angry, Happy, Love, Sad, Calm, Nervous and Silly. Retailers should look out for the gorgeous (and very cuddly) memoryfoam Comfort Bear when he launches later this year. Flair, meanwhile, has introduced Mindful Lil Minds Breathing Buddy, a sensory feature plush toy designed to educate kids about the importance of creating an everyday meditation practice. The mindful koala ‘breathes’ in and out in time with a guided meditation that can be started by pressing its paw, showing children how they can follow the practice.

Sustainability remains a key consideration in plush too. On page 80 you can read about Sambro’s switch to 100% recycled plush filling in an interview with the company’s new Ethical and Sustainability manager, Lisa Longley. The recycled plush filling is just the beginning of a wide-sweeping series of measures that will see Sambro continue to drive forward its commitment to its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards. Keel Toys, meanwhile, continues to expand its Keeleco range of 100% recycled plush, which is now some 200 products strong, and Hunter Price has just launched its Eco Planet Pals range. Made from recycled plastic bottles, over 1m bottles have already been re-used within the debut collection. Posh Paws is also making use of recycled plastics for its Dinky Dinos collection and its new own-brand range of eco-friendly animal soft toys, Eco Earth. On page 82, you can read an exclusive interview with Posh Paws’ marketing and brand director, Lauren Shipman, about the plush specialist’s 15th anniversary and how it plans to continue its sustainability journey.

Retailers can be assured of plenty of support from this month’s contributors. Jazwares’ Holly Oldham explains that the company is working with its partners to create window displays, incremental space opportunities, in-store merchandising options and bespoke content. Influencers and collectors, meanwhile, continue to fuel ‘Squish hunts’ by filming content in-store as they hunt for their next Squishmallow companion. Holly adds: “To drive collectibility, we refresh UK ranges every quarter to ensure the fans embrace the chase. New squads are launching thick and fast and selling out just as quickly. We know we have a red-hot brand on our hands and will support retail to ensure we are giving the fans what they want.”

At Ty, one of the most effective ways retailers are supported is with the company’s range of bespoke display stands. Ty aims to create much demanded retail theatre in smaller stores to pull in passing consumers and ramp up the excitement for the toy store experience. A recent example of this is the Midco Toys window display the company installed back in March for owner Dave Middleton, who explained that it was Ty Warner himself who suggested the display: “Ty himself had been reading my LinkedIn posts [about the brand] and said he was impressed with the passion and commitment I showed. He is still very hands-on with the business and, importantly, a tremendous supporter of independent, specialist toy retailers across the globe. He decided he wanted to do something big to show support for what we were doing, so he asked his team in the UK to get in touch to make it happen.”

Ty also offers more than 40 bespoke display units including windmills, buses, carousels, sweet shop displays, tractors, aeroplanes and rockets. Its latest JCB display even has an interactive cab kids can sit in. Mark Swallow notes that as plush appeals to both sexes, keeping displays gender neutral, yet exciting, invites all kids to interact with its toys.

Alongside its retail support, which includes working closely with retailers on in-store parties and events such as its Peter Rabbit display competition - which invites retailers to utilise POS kits to help create in-store or window displays - Rainbow Designs also employs a multi layered, targeted marketing approach, with digital marketing and social media playing a significant role in raising awareness.

“As stores are so much more than just bricks & mortar nowadays, we’ve invested extensively in supporting our lines digitally with optimised copy, creative photography and engaging video content,” says Rainbow MD Anthony Temple. “We use our social media channels to help support our retailer’s digital activity, as well as strategic influencer campaigns and collaborations, to showcase our products in use to potential buyers - and being enjoyed by the children we have created them for.”

The importance of plush to kids is undeniable, and it’s clear that there’s plenty of new options on the way for this year, much to the delight of customers and retailers alike. Chocoloons Teresa Carter adds: “I think soft toys are a toy shop’s bread and butter - it’s amazing how many kids collect them throughout their childhoods.”

Over the coming pages, Toy World brings you the latest cute and cuddly characters set to become kids’ best friends this year.