Which Toy Line's Lifespan Surprised You?

[Lady Frostbite]

I'm still super sad about the death of Monster High (I know!!! I know!!!! It was a big part for me okay!!  ) but I still like to look through toy selections just in case anything takes my fancy. I'm still really shocked L.O.L's are still out and apparently sell??

What toy lines are YOU surprised that are still around? Or even the ones that seemed like hot sellers but died quickly?

[Wardah]

I agree about the LOL tots. I honestly expected OMG to pretty much replace them since the YouTube unboxing trend died down.

Shopkins. They even disappeared for a short time but are still around despite the end of the unboxing trend.

On the opposite end I'm kinda surprised that LPS seems to be gone. I was so sure Hasbro was going to keep reinventing them.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Definitely Shopkins. I think if they had originally existed in their current form-using branded foods-it may feel more believable. They didn't seem especially cute or cost-effective to me otherwise.

[Lady Frostbite]

SHOPKINS a huge agree!! I think the Shoppies, as odd as they were when they first appeared, was the saving grace of the franchise as I found the concept pretty ... shallow, and very much a parody of collectable mystery toys in that they were identical lumps of plastic with eyes on them

[Carrehz]

Are Shopkins still around, then? :o I haven't seen them in a while.. unless KindiKids count, they're sort of Shopkins-adjacent and I still see those around. But yeah, definitely surprised those lasted as long as they did... to be honest I never really 'got' them. Except the Happy Places line, I loved that.

I'm surprised Enchantimals are still going! I love those dolls, but everyone else seems to hate them... admittedly I haven't seen one in shops here for over a year (though Smyths Toys have some listed now so maybe they're making a comeback...?) but they're still going strong in other countries. Maybe they're doing really well with the actual target audience

Um, what else... oh, those weird Poopsie Surprise things. Honestly surprised those lasted longer than one line. Agree w/ LOLs too... feels like the hype for those might be dying down a tad but they're still very much A Thing. Wild.

[Wardah]

Are Shopkins still around, then? :o I haven't seen them in a while.. unless KindiKids count, they're sort of Shopkins-adjacent and I still see those around. But yeah, definitely surprised those lasted as long as they did... to be honest I never really 'got' them. Except the Happy Places line, I loved that.

They have been rebranded as part of the Real Littles line. There's barely a mention of Shopkins on the packaging now but they still look like Shopkins. I like them but I've always been a sucker for tiny cute things (Tho I never could get into the Zuru Mini Brands. I guess because they were too realistic). The blind bags were one of my favorite things from G4 and I hope those tiny G5s in the compacts get individual releases because I don't want a bunch of compacts.

[kingluke]

For me, it's hatchimals. First the regular big ones. Then many small, unboxing-like tiny nes. The big ones seemed to lose their 'fun' after they hatched. Hatching them was their gimmick. Then they played around with twin big ones and such.

I bought a big hatched one second hand but it wasn't for me. I ended up donating it, so maybe it made someone happy.

I personally miss lalaloopsy. Their facebook page is trying to revive them I think?

[Lady Frostbite]

I ALWAYS see Poopsie Surprise things in B&M Discount shop for some reason?? The bedspread looked kinda cute but the fact it is covered with rainbow poop is offputting  If it were just the rainbow colours and the weird Unicorn I might bite

Enchantimals is still around?? I always associate them with the Ever After High forest faeries for some reason

LaLaLoopsy was still on Build a Bear for a REAL long time, which surprised me, I'm seeing them pop up more and more on ShiftyThrifting

[SweetNightmare]

For me, it's hatchimals. First the regular big ones. Then many small, unboxing-like tiny nes. The big ones seemed to lose their 'fun' after they hatched. Hatching them was their gimmick. Then they played around with twin big ones and such.

I bought a big hatched one second hand but it wasn't for me. I ended up donating it, so maybe it made someone happy.

I personally miss lalaloopsy. Their facebook page is trying to revive them I think?

I'm still surprised that Hatchimals are around. Although they did move from big toys that only had one gimick to small toys that are either "blind bag" collectables or figurines.
I do like the Hatchimals Pixies Riders but only for the pets, the Pixies are not my thing.

And Lalloopsies are coming back. They seem so slowly roll our the rereleases of old characters and a couple of new characters too. I think that those may be available for purchase in USA right now.

[Wardah]

Enchantimals is still around?? I always associate them with the Ever After High forest faeries for some reason

Enchantimals left stores in the US very quickly once TRU closed. They were still on Amazon tho now it's all 3rd party imports. I chalk up how they are popular in Europe vs the US to be something to do with cultural differences. I think the kids there have less exposure to the adult collectors that tend to pick apart dolls so kids there are less concerned with following the hot new trend.

[BlackCurtains]

Are Zelfs still a thing? I was always interested in collecting them but they got flipped so fast and prices were ridiculous on them.

[Lady Frostbite]

Are Zelfs still a thing? I was always interested in collecting them but they got flipped so fast and prices were ridiculous on them.

Not as far as I know, I don't even see them in discount stores anymore whereas I used to see ones from particular lines. I wasn't a collector but knew someone who was a big collector and kept an eye out for them for her

[Carrehz]

No, Zelfs are long gone sadly Dreamworks Trolls flattened them. I miss those little dudes, they were cute, and some of the later lines in particular had very creative designs. It's a shame that line died when it did, it feels like they were just really starting to hit their stride.

They have been rebranded as part of the Real Littles line. There's barely a mention of Shopkins on the packaging now but they still look like Shopkins.

Huh, I knew they turned into Real Littles but I didn't realize they were still making the ones that look like Shopkins - I haven't seen those in a while, the only Real Littles around here are the little shoe sets and backpack things that don't have any actual characters in them (from what I can tell). I think they're cute but a bit overpriced for what they are.

Lalaloopsy just quietly hopped back onto the shelves... are they advertising it in the US at all? Here there's no ads for it or anything. It's weird how it just came back out of nowhere. It vanished quietly and then suddenly they were back again.

Hatchimals, yeah, I'm surprised they're still going. They're cute enough, but they seemed like the very definition of a "fad toy" from what I've seen of them; they really did seem to be riding on the 'hatching' gimmick, feels like that'd get old quickly. (Sorta like the Kitty Surprise toys, where they're super cute but a lot of the fun in them was the initial deboxing and seeing how many kittens you got/what they looked like. At least, it was for me.)

Enchantimals is still around?? I always associate them with the Ever After High forest faeries for some reason

Makes sense, that's actually where Enchantimals came from, from what I can tell. The very first Amazon listings for them listed them as "Ever After High Enchantimals" and IIRC there were some EAH pixie-related trademarks around that time too.. Pixie World or something, I think. Seems to be similar to the Shopkins/KindiKids situation, where one clearly spawned from the other but they eventually opted to market it as a separate thing rather than a spinoff. I guess cause Enchantimals came around right when EAH was on its way out, they didn't want to link the two together?

[Wardah]

They have been rebranded as part of the Real Littles line. There's barely a mention of Shopkins on the packaging now but they still look like Shopkins.

Huh, I knew they turned into Real Littles but I didn't realize they were still making the ones that look like Shopkins - I haven't seen those in a while, the only Real Littles around here are the little shoe sets and backpack things that don't have any actual characters in them (from what I can tell). I think they're cute but a bit overpriced for what they are.

Lalaloopsy just quietly hopped back onto the shelves... are they advertising it in the US at all? Here there's no ads for it or anything. It's weird how it just came back out of nowhere. It vanished quietly and then suddenly they were back again.

Hatchimals, yeah, I'm surprised they're still going. They're cute enough, but they seemed like the very definition of a "fad toy" from what I've seen of them; they really did seem to be riding on the 'hatching' gimmick, feels like that'd get old quickly. (Sorta like the Kitty Surprise toys, where they're super cute but a lot of the fun in them was the initial deboxing and seeing how many kittens you got/what they looked like. At least, it was for me.)

https://shopkins.fandom.com/wiki/Season_Fifteen

I don't know if they been advertising them but I did know about Lalaloopsy coming back because people came across listings while searching for other MGA lines.

Honestly Hatchimals is the least surprising for me. Like I knew the big ones weren't going to last and the Colleggtibles had staying power.

[DreamvalleyMLP]

I was expecting Wild Hearts Crew to continue for a while. It just poofed off into nothingness. Doesn't look like it got a fair chance either.
Maybe if they had linked it directly to MH instead of just a nod it would have had more success, like having the WHC characters be actual MH afficionados/collectors.