Hamleys has tipped a £10 "slow-rise, squeezable, sensory" banana among the must-have toys this Christmas, as the "squishies" craze fuels a high street boom in toy sales. The cartoonish fruit is so addictively squidgy that it is "really difficult to put down", according to expert buyers at the toy retailer.
Squishies craze drives sales
The Big Squij range, which comes in a variety of food and animal shapes filled with a flour-based compound, is expected to sell in the thousands in the coming weeks. Their popularity has been supercharged by social media and a growing army of child and adult collectors, with more than 260,000 TikTok posts and over 600,000 on Instagram tagged #squishies. The most popular official brand, NeeDoh, has 1.1 million TikTok followers.
Victoria Kay, head of buying and merchandising at Hamleys, said the "squishy craze is only really just getting going". "The demand is huge. There is a wonderful simplicity to their power whether you are a young child or an adult. Literally once you squeeze one, it's really difficult to put it down."
Biggest toy trend of the year
Squishies are the biggest toy trend of the year, according to Andrew Murphy, who runs The Entertainer, the UK's largest chain of toy shops. While some theories suggest their viral success is due to stress-relieving powers or simplicity, he suggests the "degree of fanaticism from kids under 10 for these products is not explainable in any rational way. It's just a real, deep desire".
The craze is good news for independent toy shops, he said: "It will be increasing sales in total by minimum of 30%. Most of their costs are fixed so they'll probably be doubling the profit for the year."
Boost for UK toy sales
The craze has boosted UK toy sales this year, which by the end of August were up 13% by value and 19% by volume, according to market research company Circana. Sales of toys costing under £10 are growing fastest, with an extra £100 million worth of these "pocket money" items sold during the period thanks to demand for World Cup stickers and squishies.
With Christmas still 72 days away, Hamleys says this week is when festive shopping "officially" starts, according to a poll of consumers. Its annual shortlist of 15 toys includes evergreen favourites such as Lego, Barbie, Peppa Pig and PlayDoh. At £10, the Big Squij toys are the cheapest, while the remote-controlled flying Thunder Unicorn is the most expensive at £75.
The list features two Doctor Doom toys ahead of the Marvel superhero film Avengers: Doomsday: a £45 Lego bust and a £30 action figure. There is also a collectible figurine of computer-generated pop-star Hatsune Miku, whose "voice" comes from music software and who is playing London's O2 arena next month.
