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‘Magic Mixies’: Stores run out of hottest toys of the year

Shoppers may need a little holiday magic to own one of this year’s hottest toys.

There is growing demand in Canada and the United States for Magic Mixies, a product of Moose Toys in Australia.

This toy allows kids to mix magic ingredients together in a cauldron, creating real mist, then, by tapping of a special wand and a few magic words, an animal. pink or blue furry pet, or Mixie, is born.

With helpful marketing from the ‘How I Met Your Mother’ star Neil Patrick Harris, the holiday frenzy for Magic Mixies has been dubbed “worse than ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ by The New York Post.'”

Up north, several retailers reported running out of stock of popular toys on Friday, including Walmart, Indigo, The Bay and Toys ‘R’ Us.

Those willing to spend a few extra bucks can find Magic Mixies on Amazon.ca or eBay for over $100 in most cases, with some cases listing the feathered creature for around $200 dollars.

Kristin Morency Goldman, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Toy Association of America, told CTVNews.ca by phone: “There is a lot of fun to this toy.

“Really, innovation and creativity in the toys themselves are really driving demand – and you can repeat this process over and over again.”

Goldman says there’s always one toy every holiday season that everyone wants but can’t get, whether it’s Tickle Me Elmo or a throwback to the 1980s with Cabbage Patch Kids.

And this year, Magic Mixies just happened to have a perfect storm of ingredients that promote what kids want in a toy, she said, with kids being able to watch over and over again the “magic revelation.” .

Goldman says the current shipping crisis has affected the availability of all sorts of toys, although there are still plenty of options out there as innovative as the Magic Mixies.

“But I would say, if you see one and want one, get it. Don’t wait five minutes, because in five minutes it will run out.”

SUPPLY CHALLENGE CHALLENGES

Marty Weintraub, national retail leader at Deloitte, said shoppers were a bit more scared off due to supply chain challenges, with people starting holiday shopping earlier than ever “in quite serious.”

He said: “Holiday shopping, which usually begins near Black Friday, has seen an uptick around late October and early November.

As part of its 2021 holiday retail outlook, Deloitte found that 14% of consumers plan to complete their shopping on Cyber ​​Monday. Another 65% are expected to be completed by December, down from 75% in 2019, which Deloitte believes reflects increased concern around supply chain issues caused by the pandemic and their impact. for retailers.

Even with existing supply chain challenges, Weintraub says stores always have a lot of products on hand – shoppers may not get exactly what they want or the discounts are deep.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot that has to be worked out and on top of that you have really strong demand,” said Weintraub as consumers and retailers could see some loosening in the supply chain.

There are signs that the situation could improve over the next few months, Weintraub said, although that will depend on factors such as when demand begins to waver or whether current labor challenges whether to continue or not.

As far as advice he’s going to give shoppers – and with just a few weeks to go before Christmas – Weintraub says don’t procrastinate, and the more digitally savvy you are, the better your chances are. .

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