Squishy toys have spiked in popularity this year. These playthings have a number of characteristics that are appealing to Gen Alpha consumers and beyond, including their stress-relief properties, their Asian-influenced look-and-feel, and their collectibility.
Circana credited squishies, in part, with propelling the 13% increase in dollar sales in the U.S. toy industry in the first quarter of 2026; squishies showed triple-digit growth in both dollars and units in the quarter. While Circana did not mention squishies specifically in its first-half results, released yesterday, it cited sensory toys and collectibles as among the driving forces behind the 17% growth in dollar sales during the period, and noted a 58% bump for Explorative and Other Toys, the category where squishies reside.
It follows that more licensed IPs are making their way into the sector. Here are a handful of new and existing examples:
- Incredible Group’s Squishi brand has focused on acquiring rights to food IPs, with examples since 2023 including Bazooka, Icee, Toxic Waste, Sour Patch Kids, Oreo, Swedish Fish, Jelly Belly, Kool-Aid, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Oscar Mayer, Jet-Puffed, Jell-O, Ring Pop, Dippin’ Dots, and more.
- Jazwares has brought some of its licenses, including Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, and others, to its Squish-a-longs line of mini-squishies, which is a spin-off of its Squishmallows plush brand.
- Hamee holds rights to the Sanrio family of characters, from Hello Kitty to Gudetama, as well as Pusheen, BT21, Naruto, Moomin, Pacman, Tamagotchi, Gundam, Anirollz, and Line Friends, among others
- Schylling’s NeeDohs, the most-coveted of all the brands at the moment, has been dealing with many counterfeit and fan-made variations, including some purporting to be tied to licensed properties. It has not announced any official licenses to date, although it told Kidscreen in the spring that it was open to the idea and had been fielding solicitations from several IP owners.
- Retailer Claire’s holds a license with YouTube and Roblox influencer Lana Rae and her Lana’s Life label, announced in June, that includes Taba Squishies, a Japanese-made brand, among an assortment of 45 licensed products ranging from accessories to novelties to beauty items.
Squishy toy lines are comprised of a number of proprietary characters that could be developed for outbound licensing as well. Last week, Mystery Squishy Dumplings by RMS retained Earthbound Brands to help it extend its brand and characters into toys and games, apparel, accessories, home goods, food, publishing, entertainment, and more. Back in 2018, Orb and Nelvana partnered for a time to handle outbound licensing duties for Orb’s Soft’n Slo Squishies brand, resulting in some animated YouTube shorts as well as agreements for products such as apparel and sleepwear in the U.S. and Canada.
Watch for Raugust Communications’ monthly e-newsletter, arriving in in-boxes next Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The Licensing Topic of the month is on how companies in the licensing business can position themselves to deal with political backlash and division, while the Datapoint research spotlight will focus on motor vehicle-related licensing. If you do not yet subscribe to this free publication, you can do so here.
Comments are closed.