Capybaras are the “it” animal inspiration for toys, slippers and T-shirts this holiday season | Global News Avenue

The world’s largest rodent is having a big moment.

The capybara, a semi-aquatic South American relative of the guinea pig, is the latest in a long line of “hot” animals to get the star treatment during the holiday shopping season.

Shoppers can find capybara slippers, purses, robes and bath bombs. There are cute stuffed capybaras and stretchy or soft capybaras. Little capybaras linger on bedding, T-shirts, phone cases, cups, key chains, crochet pattern As well as almost any other type of traditional gift. Last year, it was salamander This finds its place in many products and this endangered amphibian remains popular. Owls, hedgehogs, foxes and sloths have also been in the spotlight recently.

Fashionable animals and animal-like creatures are not a new retail phenomenon; Think of the talking Teddy Ruxpin toys of the 1980s or Furby and Beanie Babies a decade later. But industry experts say social media is amplifying which animals are popular and which are not.

“It’s the posting on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms that drives these characters or animals crazy,” said Richard Derr, who has owned a Learning Express Toys franchise in Lake Zurich, Ill., for nearly 30 years. The ground explodes.” He is also the regional manager of a specialty toy chain.

Social media is also accelerating this cycle. Must-have animals may only last a season before something new captures customers’ imaginations.

“It’s important to continue to feed the beast,” said Juli Lennett, vice president and toy industry consultant at market research firm Circana. “If you’re an influencer, you don’t talk about last year.”

Demand for comfort during the pandemic has fueled a surge in plush toy sales, Rennett said, and has also increased demand for new and fun varieties. In the first nine months of this year, sales of stuffed animals were up 115% compared with the same period in 2019, she said. Total toy sales increased by 38% during the same period.

Consumers are looking for more and more exotic species they see in online videos, games and movies. Highland cattle, red pandas, and the axolotl (a newt native to Mexico) all appear in popular culture. Search volume for salamander according to Google Trends shooting In June 2021, Minecraft added them to its game.

“In 2020, no one knows what a salamander is,” Derr said. “Now, everyone knows about salamanders.”

Increased adult sales are also fueling demand for unique and collectible stuffed animals, said Cassandra Clayton, product designer for Teddy Bear Co. in Vermont.

“Stuffed animals are really becoming a timeless item,” she said. “Especially with the rise of self-care among adults and the turn to comfort items to help reduce stress and relax in their lives.”

Clayton expects demand for unusual stuffed animals to continue to grow. One of the strangest things she’s ever seen: a stuffed version of a tardigrade, a microbe also known as a moss piglet or tardigrade. tardigrade.

“It doesn’t necessarily inspire you to embrace them, but you do see the industry start to move toward these roles,” she said. “I think this is the next trend.”

Finding the next “it” animal (or microbe) is a challenge for toy manufacturers.

“You never know when they’re going to catch on and how big they’re going to be,” said Sharon Price John, president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, which A chain of nearly 500 stores offering an ever-expanding range of services. A customizable menagerie of animals and characters, including capybaras and axolotls.

The St. Louis-based company focuses on social media and gets ideas from conversations with store employees and customers, John said. It typically takes Build-A-Bear up to a year to launch a new stuffed animal, but the company can move faster if it spots a trend, she said. John said it sometimes tests small batches of products online to make sure trends continue.

Annual trade shows in Asia, Germany and elsewhere are another place to discover new trends. Del, the toy store owner, said Punirunes — digital interactive pets that also come in plush varieties — are currently popular in Japan and may become popular in the United States.

“Here, I can’t give them up. They’re too new. But give it a year or two,” he said.

Companies can also start their own trends. Launched in 2020, Build-A-Bear’s Spring Green Frog became an instant hit thanks to videos posted by customers. It remains popular, with sales approaching 2 million copies, John said.

John suspects people are attracted to the friendly, slow-moving capybaras because watching videos of them is so relaxing. But shoppers looking to buy need to act quickly. A “Build-A-Bear” holiday capybara with red and green accents on its fur — known as a “cookiebara” — is already sold out, she said.

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Durbin reported from Detroit. Crawford reported from Lake Zurich, Illinois.