What started off as a small business maneuver has now grown to dominate the toy market.
“Squishmallows,” the soft, squishy, and egg-shaped plushies designed to look like animals or inanimate objects have skyrocketed in popularity in the past few years, becoming the top selling toy in 2022. According to Jazwares, which owns the parent company KellyToy, Squishmallow superfans 18 and up are top buyers, although stuffed animals are typically associated with children.
However, the company has never created advertisements for the franchise. A combination of timing and strategy led Squishmallows to be named a “top toy property,” standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other large brands, like Lego, Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price.
KellyToy started off as its own small business when it released its first Squishmallow “squad” in 2017. Toys were mainly sold in amusement parks and specialty stores. Customers quickly fell in love with the plushies’ soothing texture and lovably childlike faces, but the company was not large enough to expand its range.
That changed in 2019, when toy manufacturer Jazwares bought KellyToy. Soon, it became possible to walk into any Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Five Below, TJ Maxx, and Hallmark store and see rows upon rows of Squishmallows lining the shelves.
But toy sales really hit a peak during the pandemic, when parents bought the plushies for their children who were overwhelmed by the new learning environment. The toys were cost-effective; a parent wouldn’t object to picking one up while shopping for groceries.
Now, Squishmallows have attracted an unexpected group of customers: adults.
Many fans 18 and up are doing what the toy industry calls “kidulting,” where adults buy products that remind them of their childhood. Some have a few hundred Squishmallows in their house.
“I love my sort of childish things,” Nadia Lindstrom, an avid collector who has around 30 Squishmallows, said, “but I feel like a lot of people are leaning into that.”
The Squishmallows fandom is quite passionate: Fans enjoy meeting to trade Squishmallows, following up on new squad releases, and “squishhunting” (traveling to multiple stores to buy a certain Squishmallow). The cooperativeness of the community has also drawn in new members. “We all want to collect as many as we can, but we also want to help everyone else also collect the same thing,” said Carter Kench, a full-time Squishmallows content creator with over 9.6 million followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The company has expanded its products to backpacks, clothing, stickers, nail polish, slippers, and bath bombs. Celestra Acosta, a Squishmallows enthusiast who lives in the Bay Area of California, owns a Squishmallows t-shirt, and uses Squishmallows stationery at her finance job.
“The plush is not something I can bring around all the time,” she said. “But I could use a notebook, I could use a pen, and it kind of makes the day feel a little more fun — adds a little whimsy.”
“Squishmallows,” the soft, squishy, and egg-shaped plushies designed to look like animals or inanimate objects have skyrocketed in popularity in the past few years, becoming the top selling toy in 2022. According to Jazwares, which owns the parent company KellyToy, Squishmallow superfans 18 and up are top buyers, although stuffed animals are typically associated with children.
However, the company has never created advertisements for the franchise. A combination of timing and strategy led Squishmallows to be named a “top toy property,” standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other large brands, like Lego, Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price.
KellyToy started off as its own small business when it released its first Squishmallow “squad” in 2017. Toys were mainly sold in amusement parks and specialty stores. Customers quickly fell in love with the plushies’ soothing texture and lovably childlike faces, but the company was not large enough to expand its range.
That changed in 2019, when toy manufacturer Jazwares bought KellyToy. Soon, it became possible to walk into any Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Five Below, TJ Maxx, and Hallmark store and see rows upon rows of Squishmallows lining the shelves.
But toy sales really hit a peak during the pandemic, when parents bought the plushies for their children who were overwhelmed by the new learning environment. The toys were cost-effective; a parent wouldn’t object to picking one up while shopping for groceries.
Now, Squishmallows have attracted an unexpected group of customers: adults.
Many fans 18 and up are doing what the toy industry calls “kidulting,” where adults buy products that remind them of their childhood. Some have a few hundred Squishmallows in their house.
“I love my sort of childish things,” Nadia Lindstrom, an avid collector who has around 30 Squishmallows, said, “but I feel like a lot of people are leaning into that.”
The Squishmallows fandom is quite passionate: Fans enjoy meeting to trade Squishmallows, following up on new squad releases, and “squishhunting” (traveling to multiple stores to buy a certain Squishmallow). The cooperativeness of the community has also drawn in new members. “We all want to collect as many as we can, but we also want to help everyone else also collect the same thing,” said Carter Kench, a full-time Squishmallows content creator with over 9.6 million followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The company has expanded its products to backpacks, clothing, stickers, nail polish, slippers, and bath bombs. Celestra Acosta, a Squishmallows enthusiast who lives in the Bay Area of California, owns a Squishmallows t-shirt, and uses Squishmallows stationery at her finance job.
“The plush is not something I can bring around all the time,” she said. “But I could use a notebook, I could use a pen, and it kind of makes the day feel a little more fun — adds a little whimsy.”
