Why Adults Are Playing with Toys
After decades of depending on customers who had to beg their parents for pocket money—and who would eventually grow up—the toy industry has found a savior in “kid-ults.”
toys
LEGO Just Built the X-Files Set Every ’90s Fan Always Wanted - Yanko Design
During the mid-'90s to the early 2000s, all my friends knew that you couldn't disturb me on Thursday nights because I was glued to my television set, watching The X-Files. I was so absorbed in the series' mythology, the strange cases of the week, and all things alien during…
‘Do You Have Any NeeDohs?’ The Squishy Shortage, Explained.
Plus tips for finding a Dohnut, a JellySquish, or any other Needoh you desire.
Toys with the highest play-time and lowest clean-up-time
The worst toy is one with many pieces that my kids dump on the ground and then play with for only 2 minutes.
Stickerbox: Kids Say an Idea, AI Prints It as a Sticker in Seconds - Yanko Design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxN-MqM_RKI Smart speakers for kids feel like a gamble most parents would rather skip. The promise is educational content and hands-free help, but the reality often involves screens lighting up at bedtime, algorithms deciding what comes next, and…
Anglerfish Soft Stuffed Plush Toy
Anglerfish Soft Stuffed Plush Toy exclusive to Gage Beasley. One of the most dangerous fish in the world and they can produce light through their rod to lure preys. Bring home this unique looking fish today!
Skee-Ball Is Selling Home Units Now, Because Dreams Do Come True
Forget quarters and tokens. Throw your bed out, turn your bedroom into an arcade, and play Skee-Ball at home for free.
Inside Lego’s secretive creative process that brings its best sets to life
The Lego Ideas team, including its senior model designer, tells Fast Company how they turned 'Gremlins' icon Gizmo into a 1,125-piece set.
And yet, Terai is responsible for one of Lego’s best sets of the year: Gizmo, the iconic creature from Joe Dante’s 1984 classic Gremlins.
Building a Lego set is an exhaustive process that marries creativity and technical precision.
Finally all you evil overlords can build your own death star
How the Etch A Sketch Etched Itself Into Pop Culture
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Sixty-five years after it first hit store shelves, the iconic, red-framed drawing toy continues to enchant kids, artists, and collectors alike
How Pop Mart Won Young Customers in a Fragmented Attention Economy
Three lessons from the Chinese brand behind Labubu.
character-based premium products
blind box” marketing strategy, in which buyers don’t know which figure they’ve purchased from a themed set until opening the package
TWINSCAN EXE:5000 Lego Set
Joining the ASML Lego Collection - the TWINSCAN EXE:5000. The latest addition to you ASML Lego collection has arrived. Rick Lenssen from D&E (designer of the Lego ASML Skyline and the Lego TWINSCAN NXE:3400C) has delivered another masterpiece in technology, once again made…
The Rise and Fall of Matchbox's Toy-Car Empire - Hagerty Media
John Cena's not a small guy, but he—and Mattel's movie—have some big shoes to fill if they're telling the origin story of Matchbox.
Fun Delivered: World’s Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty
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“Novelties are so much more than goofy, silly things,” Mardi says. “Everything that comes on to the marketplace starts out as a novelty.”
Got an Idea for a Toy? Toymakers Want to Hear From You.
Companies like Lego and Mattel have divisions that seek out design concepts directly from collectors and other highly dedicated fan bases.
The World’s Top Media Franchises by All-Time Revenue
How Lego Became The Apple Of Toys
After a decade-long slump, Lego has rebuilt itself into a global juggernaut. An exclusive look inside the company’s top-secret Future Lab.
How PEZ Evolved From an Anti-Smoking Tool to a Beloved Collector's Item
Early in its history, the candy company made a strategic move to find its most successful market
Ohio toy store becoming one of the largest in the country
The Toy Department is opening a new location.
The swing has a universal history of transgression | Aeon Essays
Now associated with childhood fun, the swing has a near-universal history of ritual transgression and transformation
Magic: The Gathering Becomes a Billion-Dollar Brand for Toymaker Hasbro (Published 2023)
The fantasy card game has surpassed the sales of the 100-year-old company’s other brands, including Transformers and G.I. Joe, but some are worried about the downsides of rapid growth.
Paper Airplane Designs
A database of paper airplanes with easy to follow folding instructions, video tutorials and printable folding plans. Find the best paper airplanes!
Why Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation-proof toys in American history
Inflation, the curse of our pocketbooks and the Federal Reserve, has hit almost every good in the U.S. But the price of a beloved toy has managed to hover around $1 — for more than 50 years.
For Amusement Only
Have you ever played those arcade games that give you tickets that you can redeem at the counter for prizes? Here’s a whole article about them.
Inside the heartwarming world of Hot Wheels collecting
What seems like a simple hobby can take you across the world.
How Do You Make the Perfect Toy? | The Walrus
Fads come and go, but how to create a toy that stands the test of time is the billion-dollar question
(1) New Messages!
Hasbro has announced Hasbro Selfie Series figures—a groundbreaking endeavor to use 3D printing to manufacture personalized action figures at scale.
Massive Auction of Vintage Go Karts and Pedal Cars Will Rocket You Back to
More than 700 pedal cars, go-karts, and vintage cars will be up for auction from Elmer's Auto and Toy Museum.
How 10 Classic Toys Were Invented
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Ever wonder how Lincoln Logs or Sea Monkeys found their way into 20th-century toy stores? Here are the little-known origins of 10 classic toys.
The mystery of the world's oldest toys
The world's oldest toys date back thousands of years – but determining whether ancient children played with them, and how, remains a mystery archaeologists are piecing together.
http://platformed.info/platform-strategy-and-walled-gardens-in-the-toy-industry/
Lifelong Quests! Lawsuits! Feuds! A Super-Serious Story About Cereal.
The world’s most obsessive breakfast-food fans demonstrate just how far humans will go for the sweet taste of nostalgia.
The Incredible Tale of the Greatest Toy Man You've Never Known
He brought Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Cabbage Patch Kids to our living rooms. He made and lost fortunes. Can Al Kahn stay in the game?
Why Build Toys
I first wrote this essay a few years ago. A founder mentioned it to me over the weekend, and so I decided to re-publish it here. One thing that's bothered me in the time since I wrote it is the way...
Fold 'N Fly » Paper Airplane Folding Instructions
A database of paper airplanes with easy to follow folding instructions, video tutorials and printable folding plans. Find the best paper airplanes!
Why Are Toys Such a Bad Business?
Inflections in finance and tech. Click to read The Diff, by Byrne Hobart, a Substack publication.
The Accidental Invention of Play-Doh
The much-loved children’s toy was a desperate spinoff of a putty used to clean soot off of wallpaper
Product Managers Attempt To Solve The Toy Problem
The High-Stakes World of High-End Yo Yos
The modern version of the toy is practically unrecognizable, an Object Lesson.
Watch Battered & Bruised Vintage Toys Get Mesmerizingly Restored to Near Mi
They say that toys were once built to last. But though metal and wood didn't break quite so easily in the hands of children in the early 20th century as plastic does in the hands of their great- or great-great-grandchildren today, time still hasn't been especially kind to the…
Dolls help children create wonderfully vivid and imaginative worlds while also serving as unsettlin
Dolls help children create wonderfully vivid and imaginative worlds, while also serving as unsettling reminders of the abyss
Forbidden Planet robot sets price record for auctioned film prop
“Robby the Robot”, the seven-foot tall creature featured in the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, sold at auction for US$5.375 million, a record for a film prop, a New York auction house said on Tuesday.