Fidget spinners are blowing up around the world, but they’re not here to stay. I predict that they will go quietly into the night by the end of the year.
Interestingly, at Licensing Expo in Vegas, the general mood on the floor seemed unimpressed. We’re not likely to see officially licensed options appear on shelves, although there is no indication that they would fare poorly. Last week, we just heard about some serious safety concerns, which include children swallowing small parts and unsafe levels of lead in the toys. That led to the Toy Association issuing new safety guidelines for spinners. Some schools have banned the spinners in classrooms already.
The “traditional” spinner has three spokes, other variants include just two or no spokes. Some variants glow in the dark, others have flashing lights. On Kickstarter, Fidget Cubes are a big hit—they include flicks, switches, buttons, and more. The cubes are expected to hit retail this summer.
Moose Toys is releasing Flipslide, a hand-held electronic pattern and color memorization game with a twist-and-slide feature where players can compete against themselves and each other. Four unique game modes include Speed Mode, Level Mode, Memory Mode, and Multiplayer Mode.
Zing Toys also is aiming to expand the craze with new Fidget-inspired products including Tumblstix (a fidget toy that challenges players to balance and catch the cylinder during 360 degree rolls and 180 degree flicks), The Zing Dama (a coordination game with a ball on a string and a catcher ring), and Klixx (a fidget toy featuring a chain link of coloured widgets that snap together).
I first saw the toys appear in my neighborhood discount stores. We have a lot of “99-cent” type shops in the area, and they’re not necessarily the reputable retailers the Toy Association had in mind in its safety warning, most of them being cheaper, “knock-off” variants. Right now, I’m seeing the cube-type spinner enter stores, but a significant drop-off in interest. A month or so ago, it was the first time I’d really seen elementary-aged kids run into stores, frantic to grab the last available stock.
The most interesting thing we can take away from this fad is the increased interest in tactile play, which is expected to be a strong trend over the next couple of years. Licensed sales of traditional toys and games grew 3.8% worldwide in 2016, and are only expected to increase. The challenging part of this trend (for the licensing business) is the fact that so many of the best-selling traditional toys, like Hasbro’s Pie Face, are not licensed. But there are obvious exceptions—action figures and dolls with realistic elements, LEGO sets, etc.—that don’t necessarily fit the mold.