Why Can’t I Stop Buying “Mystery Toys?”

If you have little ones like me, you have probably spent hundreds of dollars on “mystery toys” this year alone. For those of you who don’t have children or have never bought these toys for a niece or nephew, “mystery toys” are toys of various brands and sizes which are strategically packaged to create wonder and excitement for parent and child because the contents of the package are a mystery. Some famous brands of “mystery toys” are L.O.L. Surprise Dolls, Hatchimals, Ryan’s World Mystery Eggs, and Orbeez Wow World Surprise. What is it about these types of toys that keep the children entertained and wanting more? Is it the element of surprise with each unpackaging? Is it the need to “collect them all?” No matter the reason, it has become an addiction for children and parents!

I once read a book by Jonah Berger, Contagious: Why Things Catch On. In the very first chapter of his book, he wrote about “Social Currency.” Berger states, “scarcity and exclusivity boost word of mouth by making people feel like insiders (p 55). This had me thinking about how can a little mystery toy create such a craze among kids and adults.

Let’s take a look at one of the most popular “mystery toys” on the market, L.O.L. Surprise Dolls. According to an article written in The Atlantic, L.O.L. Surprise dolls sales boomed to 800 million sold from the time they were released in 2016 to 2018 alone (Semuels, 2018). There could be a dozen factors that contributed to their sales and popularity, but from my experience alone, much of its success has to be from all the social hype that is created on YouTube! According to Semuels, kids love watching unboxing videos (2018). A sample unboxing video typically consists of an influencer or a whole influencing family. The influencer(s) will have a complete series of the “mystery toy” unboxed in the video. Most of these series consists of a “common, rare or ultra-rare” toy. This presentation of mystery toys becomes a “teaser” for the viewer and of course, if it is a kid watching, you will most likely hear “I want that!” 

Sadly, as a full-time grad student, employee, a teacher during Covid, and mommy of two girls under 7 years of age, I heavily rely on these YouTube channels to keep my kids busy, so I can keep my sanity! However, I have come to the conclusion that keeping my kids on YouTube while I handle my business has cost me hundreds of dollars on mystery toys this year. So the question is, why do I keep buying them? I know better right? Well, I clearly don’t! 

These videos have convinced me that I need to keep buying these mystery toys until I get the “rare” or the “ultra-rare” collectible for my kids. Thinking back to Berger’s point on social currency, I realized my purchases were the results of the persuasive effects of promoting exclusivity and being able to exalt “look at me and what I was able to get” for my child (p.56). Price was not an issue, especially since the “ultra-rare” costs the same as the “common” mystery toy. It was the instant gratification in knowing that I possibly could have purchased an exclusive collectible that my child can feel proud to brag about on her next Zoom call with her classmates and friends.

Well played “mystery toys”….well played!

Berger, J. (2013).  Contagious:  Why things catch on.  New York, NY.  Simon & Schuster. 

Semuels, A. (29 November  2018). The strange phenomenon of L.O.L. Surprise Dolls. TheAtlantic.com https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/lol-surprise-dolls-and-mystery-toys/576970/