The Expectation of Surprise Toys!

By John Schulte                                                                                                                                        January 31, 2018

It should not come as a surprise that kids love surprises: birthdays, parties — these are traditional celebrations that often center around the surprise element. The anticipation of who will give who a Valentine, the shock of sneaking up on someone — whether scheduled, scripted, or spontaneous, surprises rock kids to their core. It’s fun at its finest.

So it should not be a surprise that some of the recent flurry of successful toys orbit around surprises. Often, the surprise is the toy itself, tucked in a shelled egg and hatched to reveal itself, which contributes to the toy’s collectible appeal. Hatchimals from Spin Master is a recent example, where kids rub the heart on an egg and activate a color change from purple to pink, signaling the moment to crack open the egg and reveal what the cute “collEGGtible” is on the inside.