How Many Stuffed Animals Are Sold Each Year
Squishmallows Are Taking Over
These huggable, collectible plush toys accept cultivated a fandom in a yr of grief, isolation and uncertainty.
Over the final few months, bulbous and brightly colored costly toys accept sparked a Beanie Babies-style craze among children, teenagers and adults akin.
Squishmallows, a line of soft, huggable toys created in 2017, have exploded in popularity during the pandemic, thank you to social media and in item TikTok (or "SquishTok," equally fans call it). Collectors say the stuffed animals accept given them comfort in a painful twelvemonth, and that hunting for them has fostered a much-needed sense of customs during an extended period of isolation.
"Fifty-fifty though the craze was coming before the pandemic, it certainly hit a fever pitch in the past year, and this peckish for comfort is a big function of information technology," said Kelly Deen, senior vice president of marketing at Jazwares, the parent company of Kellytoy, which created Squishmallows.
Jazwares said in early March that information technology has sold more than 73 million toys. (In February 2020, The Toy Book, a merchandise publication, reported that the company had sold 50 one thousand thousand Squishmallows.) According to the company, sales of Squishmallows have tripled in the past six months.
Avid collectors own dozens if non hundreds of them. Melissa Whittaker, a 35-twelvemonth-old cashier in New Hampshire, has more 70 Squishmallows, each with a tag stating its name and unique traits. "I love their cute little faces," she said. "They're very nice to hug, and y'all can double them up as pillows."
There are more than than 800 Squishmallow characters, and hunting for rare ones has become a popular pastime. Squishmallow hunters post videos from their quests and memes about the frenzy on TikTok (where videos with the hashtag #squishmallows have accrued hundreds of millions of views), Instagram and Reddit. They also trade tips about where to find highly coveted characters.
Ilana Wiles, 46, a mother and Instagram influencer in New York City, said that she and her husband ofttimes take their xi-year-sometime girl, Mazzy, on Squishmallow scavenger hunts effectually the city and on Long Island.
"It'south a fun activity, and they're not that expensive if you're buying them at a retail shop," Ms. Wiles said. "It'southward a very big reward for not a lot of money." Almost of the toys are priced between $10 and $40, depending on their size.
Some that have become hard to notice are fetching big prices at resale, though. According to Insider, Squishmallows are being resold for hundreds of dollars on sites like Mercari.
"The success of Squishmallows comes from the exclusivity, which helps drive collectibility, said Jonathan Kelly, co-president of Kellytoy. He said that the company is increasing production to go on upwards with demand.
"It'due south created a lot of problems finding them in stores," said Rebecca Brown, 21, a higher pupil in Huntsville, Ala., who has 325 Squishmallows. "There's a lot of scalpers now that leave and purchase an unabridged store's stock."
Ms. Dark-brown said Squishmallows have get particularly popular among students during the pandemic. Some position their Squishmallows in frame during their Zoom classes as a conversation starter or to prove off their collections. Ms. Brown's school, the University of Alabama, Huntsville, has its own local Squishmallow Instagram page, where fans can meet online and in-person and connect with each other.
Prototype
Gabrielle Marquez, 18, has near 70 Squishmallows. She keeps the larger ones on her bed and the smaller ones on a bookshelf or tucked abroad in a toy hammock or bedroom chair. She said that the stuffed animals are particularly popular with young people dealing with anxiety or depression. "If you're feeling downward it helps to have something to hug or exit and make yourself happy by buying a new 1," she said.
Ms. Marquez has enjoyed "existence able to find a customs of other people who share the same common involvement and talk with them nigh Squishmallows during lockdown when there's not that much else we tin exercise. I utilise this hobby to connect with friends all over, I have friends in other states and Canada at present." Last Wednesday, her loftier schoolhouse alleged the day "Squishmallow Wednesday" during a virtual associates.
"When I'1000 doing school I tin look over at my bed and run into a fun unicorn or dragon or octopus looking over at me," said Isa Armstrong, a high school sophomore in Westchester County, Due north.Y. "Information technology just brings me happiness and that warm and fuzzy feeling."
She and other fans said they liked the inclusivity reflected in the bios of the costly dolls. "They just released a couple Squishmallows that are gender-neutral and utilize they/them pronouns," Ms. Armstrong, 16, said. "I feel like it'due south normalizing information technology for children, and I love that."
Ms. Wiles said she hopes to have her daughter out Squishmallow hunting over again presently. "At that place'due south something then innocent nearly it that I fully back up information technology," she said. "Nosotros've just spent an unabridged yr where kids are just at domicile on their iPads, so just that there's something that's captivating them that's and so simple and pure, it's kind of nice."
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/style/squishmallows.html
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