Each year major retailers create Hot Toy lists. The idea is to convince consumers that the products in which the retailers have invested are hot. By calling them hot, they are, in essence, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. In October, I analyzed Hot Toy lists in the U.K. and the U.S. I chose these retailers to analyze: Target (US), Walmart (US), Amazon (US), Smyths (UK), Tesco (UK), and Hamleys (UK). In October, I wrote two articles breaking the lists down: The 2020 “Hot” Toy Lists – A Meta-Analysis and Hot Toy Lists: UK vs. US.
In this article I want to take a look at the Toy of the Year Awards (TOTY’s nominees and see what we can learn from seeing how the retailer Hot Toy lists compare to the TOTY nominees.
I wanted to see how much overlap there was between the “Hot Toy” and TOTY selections (I did not include the License of the Year nominees as I am only researching toys). Below are the questions I asked about the two lists and what I discovered:
How many toys were included in the aggregate Hot Toy ists? 95
How many toys were included in the aggregate TOTY list? 123
How many different brands were included in the Hot Toy lists? 38
How many different brands were included in the TOTY list? 66
How many brands were on both lists? 11
What toy brands were on both lists? Crayola, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Just Play, Kid Trax, Lego, Little Tikes, Mattel, MGA, Moose Toys, Spin Master, V-Tech.
How many toys made both lists? 10
What toys were on both lists?
Fisher-Price Little People Launch & Loop
LEGO Super Mario Character Packs by LEGO
LOL Surprise Remix Dolls by MGA
Rainbow High Fashion Dolls by MGA
Beyblade Burse Rise Hyper Sphere by Hasbro
Squeakee by Moose Toys
Star Wars the Child Animatronic Edition by Hasbro
Paw Patrol Dino Patroller by Spin Master
Kindi Kindi by Moose Toys
Star Wars The Child Plush by Mattel
But what about the toys that didn’t appear on both lists? Does the inclusion of a product on one list but not the other tell us something about toy retailer decision making, the power of brand and dollars and the business of play?
I think so. My analysis in my next article.
