YouTube streaming sensations create hottest toys of 2020
'These are the people that kids are totally obsessed with'
The Toy Insider editor-in-chief Marissa DiBartolo says kids are obsessed with YouTube stars so children can bring their heroes into their lives.
The number of young Americans streaming online videos every day has more than doubled, according to an October 2019 survey, and their habits are determining what will be the hottest new items in the toy market.
The findings from Common Sense Media show just how quickly kids and teens are shifting from traditional television to streaming services, often viewed on smartphones, tablets and laptops. Among the teens surveyed, only a third said they enjoyed watching traditional television programming “a lot,” compared with 45 percent four years ago.
That has made YouTube content creators modern celebrities, Toy Insider editor-in-chief Marissa DiBartolo told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Friday. "These are the people that kids are totally obsessed with. They watch their videos constantly."
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Here's a look at the top seven toys inspired by YouTube stars, which DiBartolo listed during "Mornings with Maria."
Ryan's World mystery box
Ryan's World is a YouTube channel run by 8-year-old Ryan Kaji and his parents and siblings. The channel, which is one of the highest-earning YouTube channels, according to Forbes, first released a toy line in 2018, and Ryan now has his own show on Nickelodeon.
Lily Hevesh domino creation
Lily Hevesh, 21, creates intricate domino runs for her 2.5 million YouTube subscribers.
So it makes sense to bring the fun to her fans' homes with her H5 Domino Creation set from Spin Master.
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Pinkfong's Baby Shark just keeps swimming
The shark every child watched incessantly is still in the waters.
Pinkfong's Baby Shark has been viewed more than 4 billion times on YouTube, so a toy comes as the natural next step. The Pinkfong Baby Shark Dancing DJ, from WowWee, "will actually kind of help kids do some really fun dance challenges," DiBartolo said.
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As kids move, the toy will recognize their movements and dance with them, she added.
Slime Queen's slime kits
Karina Garcia, who often goes by the nickname "The Slime Queen," earns about $2 million a year from her squishy, gooey cult following. One of the reasons so many kids watch her videos is the tutorials she gives on how to make slime at home.
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"We've got a whole new line of slime products from her," DiBartolo said. "You've got slime buckets and slime kits, and I really love the slime journals so you can make your own slime and put it into a customized journal that you can create for yourself."
Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes toys coming soon
Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes' YouTube channel is reportedly worth $317 million and garnered 2.5 billion views in just a month, which explains why its creators want to get into the retail business.
The Key Brothers' mystery food challenge
Collins Key has an estimated net worth of $13 million, and his YouTube channel has more than 20 million subscribers. One of the things his channel features is him and his brother Devan trying out crazy food-related antics.
Their 'Mystery Food Challenge' lets players spin a wheel, then "see what kind of food you're going to have to make and how you're going to have to make it, like sushi, for example," DiBartolo said. "And then, you get some little compounds and things to choose from, and you can make a nice little sushi hamburger, whatever you can think of."
Drop beats with FGTeeV
FGTeev touts more than 13 million subscribers and its videos get millions of views. Its toy is a spinoff of the theme of the channel.
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The digital-device usage survey of American youth included the responses of 1,677 young people, ages 8 to 18. Among other things, it found that 56 percent of 8- to 12-year-olds and 69 percent of 13- to 18-year-olds watch online videos every day.
In 2015, the last time the survey was conducted, those figures were 24 percent and 34 percent, respectively. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, and Pew Research found children's media generates between $500 million to $750 million annually.
The average tween, ages 8 to 12 for the purposes of the survey, spent almost five hours with entertainment media on devices each day. For teens, it was more than seven. That didn't include the time using devices for homework, reading books or listening to music.
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YouTube was the overwhelming first choice for online videos, even among tweens — three-quarters of whom say they use the site despite age restrictions. Only 23 percent in that age group said they watch YouTube Kids, a separate service aimed at them and even younger children. And of those, most still said they preferred regular YouTube.
Farshad Shadloo, a spokesperson for YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, reiterated the company’s terms of use on age: “YouTube is not a site for people under 13.” Among other things, the company also cited its restriction filters and YouTube Kids.
FOX Business' Audrey Conklin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.