The most well liked toy this holiday season could also be a robot dog that whimpers, blinks its eyes, wags its tail and responds to a rub on the top.
The one thing Dog-E won’t do is soil that expensive rug – one other possible reason why the $79.99 pet could possibly be inconceivable to seek out on shelves before December, toymaker WowWee said Monday throughout the annual Toy Fair at Javits Convention Center.
The app-controlled toy – which comes with a leash and a dog bone that sticks to its snout – does provide an electronic notification after it has made a virtual poop amongst its 200 interactions.
The toy, released Sunday, has already sold out on Amazon and WowWee has been scrambling to get more shipments in by November, Sydney Wiseman, the corporate’s vp of name development, told The Post. It’s also sold at Goal and Walmart.
Dog-E is certainly one of the few toys bucking the industry trend of counting on familiar standbys – akin to Elmo, Furby and, after all, Barbie – to juice sales this holiday season for the beleaguered toy business.
Dog-E is a robotic puppy from WowWee that has been flagged by Toy Insider as certainly one of the most well liked selling toys this yr.Lisa Fickenscher/NY Post
Other coveted gifts on the “Hot 20” list, released by Toy Insider, include the Sesame Street Elmo Slide plush toy, which sings and dances – and has its own billboard in Times Square. The stuffed Elmo, from Just Play, costs $49.99.
Sales of the Elmo Slide are “out performing” Just Play’s forecasts, the corporate’s managing director of promoting Jimmy Chang told The Post.
“All things nostalgia have been trending,” within the toy industry, Chang said.
A talking Furby – for $69.99 from Hasbro – also gets an interactive upgrade, blinking its eyes, moving its big ears and rocking and backwards and forwards.
A ‘Mayhem Pizza Fire Van’ for $39.99, featuring characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, can also be expected to do well throughout the holidays, in response to Toy Insider.
The Elmo Slide plush toy has has inspired a dance that’s popular on social media.AP
Barbie maker Mattel, which is hoping for a large holiday season because of the blockbuster hit, has a full lineup of Ken and Barbie dolls together with the $199.99 Barbie Dreamhouse Playset.
Hasbro, meanwhile, unveiled its Marvel Spidey and his Amazing Friends Web-Spinners Playset for $129.99.
For cheaper options – as inflation continues to eat away at family budgets – there have been several popular stocking stuffers for under $20.
Amongst them, the slime-related Googames from Sky Castle. The hand-held games, for $8.99 a pop, replicate a cell phone but are crammed with water that’s manipulated to maneuver things inside with “squishy buttons.”
The Barbie Dreamhouse Playset is amongst only a handful of popular toys this yr that’s priced above $100. It’s selling for $200.Mattel
WowWee also relaunched its famed hit, Fingerlings, for $15.
Toy Fair, the nation’s largest industry trade show, began Friday and runs through Tuesday. Nonetheless, it is going to wave goodbye to its longtime home within the Big Apple – after nearly 120 years – and move to Latest Orleans in January 2026, the Toy Association announced on Sunday.
The trade show is in flux after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic, industry experts said. This yr’s convention for the primary time ever was moved from its traditional February dates, leading to plenty of large West Coast corporations, including Mattel and MGA Entertainment, not showing up.
Vendors who showed up this yr weren’t glad about moving Toy Fair to Latest Orleans in January, where they are saying it is going to be hard to get press coverage – in comparison with the media capital of the world – and where international attendees will struggle to book non-stop flights.
Toy Association inked a three-year take care of The Big Easy. The brand new date is sandwiched between the top of hurricane season and right before Mardi Gras, attendees noted.
“Having it in Latest Orleans will hurt us because some buyers don’t need to go to Latest Orleans,” World Tech Toys founder Kev Kouyoumjian told The Post.
