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How Do You Make the Perfect Toy?
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How Do You Make the Perfect Toy?

Fads come and go, but how to create a toy that stands the test of time is the billion-dollar question

Matthew Braga
The Walrus, 2022
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Most people can remember their favorite toy growing up, from a simple set of blocks to a Cabbage Patch Kid with eye color and hair that matched their own. But what makes a toy transcend generations and stay popular among kids, their parents and even their grandparents? Reporting for The Walrus, Matthew Braga takes a deep dive with industry experts and scientists into what exactly makes a toy a classic in this competitive, lucrative market.

Summary

Classic toys remain popular from generation to generation, often by appealing to parents’ nostalgia.

Classic games such as the Rubik’s Cube, Etch A Sketch and Play-Doh remain well-loved for decades without advertising. Parents draw on nostalgia for their own childhood playthings to connect with their children. Toys like Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head and the Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone have survived the test of time, in part, because parents who loved them when they were young buy them for their children. Parents and grandparents stick to classics they believe will help the children in their family develop life skills. For example, Lego promotes cognitive thinking and dolls help develop caregiving behavior.

Companies offer classic toys to maintain revenue because most new toys enjoy a shelf life of only two years.

The Toronto company Spin Master, maker of Air Hogs, Bakugan and the wildly popular Paw Patrol, relies on nostalgia as part of its $4.4 billion business model. When it acquired the rights to sentimental favorites such as Erector sets, Etch A Sketch and the Rubik’s Cube, Spin Master learned that...

About the Author

Matthew Braga is a writer and editor based in Toronto.

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