What makes a toy popular? (Bonus Question)

I. Observation or Discovery is made

Have you ever wondered what makes a toy popular vs. unpopular? Why were cowboys and hula hoops popular back in the 1950s? Why were the Smurfs, Mario Brothers, He-man, and Thunder Cats popular when I was a kid? Often around Christmas time I will go on black Friday with some of my friends and wonder why that certain toy is the favorite this holiday season. I will never forget when the tickle me Elmo came out and everyone had to have one. They were selling on eBay for like $500. Then after Christmas was over they had flooded the market with them and I even found some on discount. My own personal opinion is that I would have just told my kid that the Easter Bunny would bring it. The elves just couldn't keep up with the orders. LOL ha ha ha That is ridiculous in my opinion to pay that amount for a toy. However, people were paying that amount just to make their kids happy on Christmas Day. A movie that relates to this idea is a movie called "Jingle All the Way" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad. Have you ever seen it? It is about two guys fighting over one toy that they want to buy for their kid for Christmas. So what makes something popular? What made Tickle Me Elmo so popular? Why wasn't it tickle me Kermit the frog or tickle me Snoopy??? What makes Elmo so popular with kids? How could a little furry red monster from Sesame Street cause so much frustration? As a new media student about to graduate and about to go into the real world I would like to explore this topic for my own sake. Perhaps one day I might invent the next popular thing? Who knows right?

II. A Question(s) is asked based on that Observation or Discovery

What makes a toy popular?

III. How does this question(s) validate as being a "Month Long Question"?

My original question was "What makes something popular?". Steve had suggested to me that this is a huge topic. I agree! So I rephrased the question to be "What makes a toy popular?". I am a big kid at heart. I think narrowing down the topic a bit will help here. For me this question is a bonus question that I would like to explore along with my other 3 Month Long Questions. This question validates as being a "Month Long Question" because I think the topic is so wide range. Yet I feel my question is simple enough that I have directed my question towards the toy market industry. My question stimulates thinking and I feel it can't be really answered right away. Often the toy that was popular last year is totally different from this year's popular toy. I think for my own purposes I want to explore this question as to understand how to create something that the majority of people out there might find appealing. As Steve said in class one time if there is a market out there for it; Why not do it? One example he gave in class was to have a kid's social network. I mean adults have Facebook and MySpace. Why not have a kid friendly social network that parents could moderate? Why just look at the cell phone! For some they didn't even know they needed it until they had it. My thinking is if I can better understand what makes a toy popular for example it might help me in the new media world to design something that is more user friendly and something that catches one's eye. Why do you have a desire to need something or want something? What makes something appeal to a child during the holiday season?

IV. Where has this Observation or Discovery been?

According to an article titled "The Most Popular Toys of the last 100 years" found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10387831/ gives the scoop at where toys have been in the last 100 years. The article claims that some of the most popular toys are actually very old and traditional. My thought is that yes Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls are or were popular, but what made them popular? Perhaps in further research I will find that answer. According to the article it claims that some 4000 BC that chess was popular and yo-yos started out being made of stone.

The article mentions the popular board game Monopoly. I believe that this is still a popular game today. I believe it started during the times of the "Great Depression" when people could barely afford anything. Sort of like what we went through in 2009 and we are still slowly but surely coming out of a recession. So here is a thought does something become popular based on the conditions of society? If the "Great Depression" had never happened would Monopoly for example still be as popular as it is today or would have something else replaced it?

The article mentions Crayons as being something that is popular with the kids. I think it was popular when I was a kid. I think in a way most kids have a need to let out their creativity. Kids often are very imaginative. When you get to be an adult you sometimes loose that imaginative ability.

Mr. Potato Head was created during the 1950s. My mom told me that Mr. Potato Head was popular when she was a kid. It started out that Mr. Potato Head was created by using a real life potato. Today Mr. Potato Head is made of plastic.

In my observation there are many toys that have evolved through time. A few examples right away that I notice is toys like Mickey Mouse and the Barbie doll. Why is that some toys still remain popular today as they were back then? Then here is another question. Why is that some toys have their 15 minutes of fame and then die out fairly quickly? I have noticed that Beanie Babies for example were once very popular and now they are not so much. You can find them fairly cheaply.

Why is that when you mention a certain toy that some toys are found to be dated? What I mean by that is when you think of the 1980s, the era I grew up as a child, you may associate the Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls with the 1980s decade. To further prove that if you will notice that according to http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/Cart_Pages/milestones.html it states "A nationwide public vote selects Cabbage Patch Kids as one of 15 stamps commerating the 1980’s in the U.S. Postal Service’s Celebrate The Century stamp program. " So why was the Cabbage Patch Dolls popular back in the 1980s and not a hot thing now? An article entitled "Whatever Happened To Cabbage Patch Dolls? " located at http://collectdolls.about.com/library/weekly/aa090101a.htm suggests it might be that people like the thrill of the hunt. If something is rare and hard to find they will want it. If something is flooded with the market and can be found anywhere they will not want it. So could that be the case with the Tickle me Elmo doll? Was it because the Tickle me Elmo doll was rare and hard to find and that is what made it so popular? Did the producers of the toy purposely not make enough just so everyone would want one?

V. Where is this Observation or Discovery at present day?

An article located at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=461&id=85 by Stevanne Auerbach called "What Makes a Good Toy?" written fairly recently back in 2000, but could still be applied to the present suggests the parents are the ones who pick out the toys. The article suggests that a parent will often question a toy in how it will develop their child's skill level. Naturally parents want what is best for their child. We often think of what the child wants. This article suggests what the parents want for their children. This puts a whole new spin on the idea of what makes a toy popular. Could it be that what makes a toy popular is what a parent decides? However you will hear many times of kids saying mommy or daddy I want that toy. I know I told my mom many times that I wanted Snake Mountain from the series He-man back in the 1980s. On Christmas morning Santa brought it for me. This toy did not stimulate learning for me or did it?

VI. Where do you see this Observation or Discovery moving towards?

A funny article I found was about one's view of how might the future be several thousands of years from now in terms of popularity with toys. The article can be found at http://www.alaboola.com/FutureTechnology/FutureToys/tabid/204/Default.aspx
The article suggests that we will become simpler. Popular toys will go back to early things of the past. Children will like dolls made out of rags and old socks. This may prove to be true. I have heard of children being bought fancy toys only to discover that they would much prefer a card board box to play with. He describes a world that reminds me of the movie Terminator. Life will be more precious as it will be harder to have children due to radiation. Kind of scary if you think about it. I am hoping that this is not our future, but could very well be a possibility.

I think this futuristic idea reminds me of an idea I had thought about earlier. You remember how I talked about the game of Monopoly being created in hard times. You know people did not really have the money to be going out so they stayed home and played board games. So my question is does what is going within society affect what is popular in terms of popular toys for children?

VII. What are your opinions about the subject matter?

I am trying to remember back when I was a child. Why did I like a certain toy? I remember all my friends had Micro Machines. Do you remember those? I found it interesting reading some of the history on Micro Machines. The history of Micro Machines can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Machines. I remember wanting some Micro Machines because all my friends had them. I got them as a birthday gift one year. I even liked the play sets so that I could drive my cars through the miniature cities. I remember I use to like to trade them back and forth with my friends. I like the old cars and my best friend in 4th grade liked the motor bikes. So we traded. It was fun! It would be something I would bring over when I would spend the night. Could it be that what everyone else has makes a toy popular? However, what started the craze of Micro Machines? If everyone else has them, who started the trend here? Could it be advertising them was the key to success? Was it the gimmick of the guy talking really really fast about the Micro Machines a catchy a commercial that caused little boys, like me, to want these?

Advertising could very well be one theory as to why a particular toy is popular. However, before the invention of TV and the magazine what did they do? On the same note, I would imagine that there were toys out there that were advertised but never caught on. In other words, the toy line was a big flop. Also, what about those toys that were never made? I found an article that was kind of interesting talking about toys from the 1980s that were never made. The article suggests that in the 1980s that the toy market was more controlled. Check the site out at http://www.nevermadetoys.com/.

Have you ever noticed toy companies never seem to make enough of the bad guy? Later, collectors of toys find the bad guy to be the most popular vs. when the toys first came out the good guy was popular. One toy line that seems to be true with that statement is the Star Wars Series. The original Darth Vader from the 1970s seems to be popular now a days. However, I have been told that they produced more of the Luke Skywalker characters because the good guy was often found to be the most popular. I am a Disney collector myself and an eBay seller at that. I have noticed in my own observation that the villains are the most popular. Seems like evil fascinates people. Good guys seem to be boring. The bad guys are more interesting. I have heard of movie actors saying that they would rather play a bad character vs. a good character because it is more fun. Are the bad guys more fun? Toys are about playing right?

VIII. Can you back up any of your thoughts?

So what is the best answer here? I think you have to be a trendsetter to know what makes a toy popular. I viewed a video once through eBay talking about the Christmas rush and it in fact told me that you have to notice trends. They created the video for eBay Sellers like me who wanted to get a jump start to my inventory for the Christmas season. What she had told me in the video is that you need to start looking at Back to School items. Meaning take a look at what characters appear on backpacks and folders. Then go back and see what is left over. What seems to be out of stock in most cases? Usually what is popular during the Back to School Season is what is going to be popular for Christmas. Not always, but is a very good start.

I think you also have to be a visionary. One who can for see the future. Someone who is a custom to change and thinking outside the box. Someone who is not happy with the way things are now and wants to make a change. Which is very much what we are doing for this class. I would say it is one who asks the question. We are designers of mediated experiences. We are designers or artist, at least most of us are. :) One article that I read that might prove this idea is called "How to Be a Trendsetter" located at http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Be-a-Trendsetter-in-Changing-Times&id=3252423