A cartoonish banana that is addictively squidgy is set to be one of the must-have toys this Christmas, according to expert buyers at Hamleys. Priced at £10, this "slow-rise, squeezable, sensory" fruit is part of the growing "squishies" craze that is driving a boom in toy sales on the high street.
The Rise of Squishies
Hamleys anticipates selling thousands of the Big Squij toys, which come in various food and animal shapes filled with a flour-based compound, in the coming weeks. Their popularity has been amplified by social media, with over 260,000 TikTok posts and more than 600,000 Instagram posts tagged with #squishies. The leading brand, NeeDoh, boasts 1.1 million TikTok followers.
Victoria Kay, the head of buying and merchandising at Hamleys, stated, "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."
Impact on Toy Sales
According to Andrew Murphy, who runs The Entertainer, the UK’s largest toy chain, squishies are the biggest toy trend of the year. He noted that the viral success of these toys might be attributed to their stress-relieving qualities, though he remarked, "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."
