Darts from the WowWee bakery line of interactive dumplings hit stores in mid-July. They’re basically what the name suggests – squeezable but inedible dumplings big enough to fits in the palm of your hand.
And they are getting harder and harder to find. As with everything, blame the supply chain.
“It’s like **tshow,” said Michael Yanofsky, the company’s sales manager. “It’s not just a backlog at ports, but labor shortages and redundancies along the transport network are a struggle to get toys into the hands of retailers.”
“Our bets are made for Black Friday,” Yanofsky said. “Regardless of the amount of dumplings that are in stock there and we expect them all to hit the shelves in the store. There’s no chance of getting more unless we get them on board.”
WowWee is working to address serious supply chain issues to ensure that they have enough inventory on the overall dumpling to meet strong demand through Christmas. Dumplings, like most toys sold in the United States, are made in China.
Sold out
The first four in the lineup are named “Doe,” “Dip,” “Dee,” and “Dot.” Each spoke a strange “Squish-Pop” language and giggled and laughed. Their cheeks change color and the top of their head lights up color-coded to match their current “mood” – active, fun, goofy. Then came “Mel the Marshamallow,” “Peace the Peach,” and “Coco the Cotton Candy Cloud.”
Its popularity even caught the attention of MyBookie.com, an overseas gaming site, which is accepting bets this month on whether the tiny golden dumpling will sell out on Amazon first. Black Friday or not.
Hit all the trends
Marissa Silva, editor-in-chief of The Toy Insider, a toy review and news website, says the $15 dumpling toy is gaining popularity because it’s hitting some of the dominant trends in the industry. toy area.
She says the kids are obsessed with collecting cute little toys in tiny packages, as demonstrated by the Shopkins craze.
“Dumplings are a bit larger but collectible,” says Silva. “They’re also affordable and not too complicated for kids.”
In addition, the soft texture of the dumplings and the part that expands from their bodies also cleverly create the current fidget poppers bubble toy craze.
There’s another catch: culinary inspiration.
Jim Silver, a toy industry expert and CEO of Toys, Tots, Pets & More, an industry review website, said: “Food-themed toys continue to be a very hot trend. We’ve seen this with Shopkins and with Mini Brands.” Small brands are miniature versions of popular consumer products like a box of Spam, or a bottle of Dove Shower Gel hidden in small bags. “
“These food-inspired toys are also easy for kids to have fun on social media,” says Silver.
The shumai dumplings are the brainchild of Sydney Wiseman, WowWee’s vice president of brand development and creative strategy. She came up with the idea for them 18 moths ago. “I have wanted to make a toy based on a dumpling for a long time,” she said. And she wanted the dumpling characters to be in a band. That aspect is infused into their looks and the accessories they wear.
More is coming
WowWee in August announced a partnership with Nickelodeon to produce animated digital music videos featuring tiny characters in a band.
Wiseman is delighted with the popularity of dumplings in general, and especially Dart’s, which WowWee only produced 100,000 pieces as a very limited character. She said that Dart has a special meaning to the WowWee team. “He was named after a dear friend of ours at WowWee, Art Janis, who recently passed away,” she said.
It’s still possible to score a Dart after Black Friday. WowWee will be launching a two-pack with golden dumplings and rose gold dumplings on November 30 on Amazon.
