Are Squishmallows Becoming The New Beanie Baby?
If you haven’t heard of Squishmallows, then you’re likely not on TikTok or friends with anyone under 30. These round, squishy animals who bear unique names and personalities on the tag have swarmed in popularity lately largely thanks to the pandemic (which saw toy sales increase substantially), and because of TikTok users flaunting their new huggable friends.
The Squishmallows TikTok has gained over 200,000 followers and 20 million views, and they surpassed 50 million plushies sold last month. Searching resale sites and social media demonstrates that many think these toys are valuable enough to resell at largely inflated prices. It’s getting to the point where if one isn’t quick enough, they might miss out on that new Squishmallow they desperately wanted.
For millennials, these details might be ringing some bells from their childhood. Uniquely named stuffed animals? Surging popularity? Stupid high resale prices? These sound like Beanie Babies!
All of this sincerely demands the question: Are Squishmallows the next Beanie Baby?
For those perhaps too young, or who weren’t parents during the 1990s, Beanie Babies were bean-filled, animal-shaped plushies that sold over $1 billion worth of toys in 1998. While most stuffed-animals at the time were stiff, the Beanie Baby was floppy and had plastic beans in the extremities for better play and posing.
These toys exploded onto the market becoming so popular that they could be resold for exponentially more than the $5 retail price. Because of this, families invested in them as means for retirement funds and college tuition with one famously purchased over $100,000 worth.
Already, there seem to be similarities between Squishmallows and Beanie Babies: a unique design that has led to tens of millions in sales. However, this needs to be explored further.
Another aspect of the Beanie Babies’ popularity was how it was distributed. Ty Warner would intentionally target small businesses that would display them more prominently and make them seem harder to find. The company also would retire certain animals creating an artificial scarcity.
Squishmallows, on the other hand, are sold to many large retailers such as Target and Walgreens, but they also frequently use limited or exclusive “squads” (their term for a line of Squishmallows) and according to their website “Once an exclusive squad has been sold out, that may be the last you see of them and once they have been discontinued, they will only be available until the last one has sold.”
Ty Warner’s retirements weren’t exactly the same as Squishmallows, for the latter was upfront about their limited availability while the former would decide, seemingly on a whim, to stop supplying altogether. However, these are both artificially limiting the supply to a degree as Squishmallows could absolutely create a continual supply of certain plushies should they choose.
Another similarity is the “hunting” for new animals. TikTok has multiple creators who record themselves searching multiple stores for Squishmallows and Beanie Babies also had supposed “experts” who contained the best advice on how to track down wanted toys. Both benefitted from these people as it created an illusion of value when there are informants dedicated to obtaining these products.
A big difference between the two seems to be their tactics towards off-brand and knockoff versions. Ty Warner went full-force against those making fake Beanie Babies and ensured there could be few to no copies made through trademark laws. They even sent cease-and-desist letters to a Connecticut toy store called Tybran because their name was too similar to the company.
Squishmallows doesn’t seem to mind that there are similar products on the market. Ironically, Ty Warner has their own brand called Squish-A-Boos and there are many off-brand imitators online. They seem to be doing extremely well without going to the lengths that Beanie Babies did to ensure a near-monopoly.
So, again, the question has to be asked: Are Squishmallows Becoming the new Beanie Baby?
Considering everything discussed, the brand has created some advantages over Ty Warner. Their willingness to allow copies of their product and being upfront about their availability prevents them from mimicking the downfall of Beanie Babies. A large reason that people ceased investing in bean-laden animals was that the public had felt duped.
Ty Warner made a surprise announcement in 1999 that all Beanie Babies would be retired. After public backlash, the company changed its mind, but many felt the debacle was a shameless publicity stunt and lost interest in making further purchases. It was the pin that burst the Beanie Baby investing bubble.
Squishmallows should be around for a while and likely will not experience as dramatic a pitfall as Ty Warner’s Beanie Babies. If anything can be learned from the two products, it’s that there’s always a new collectible toy craze around the corner.
