July 10, 2024
The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of Fidget Toys
More than just a fad, fidget-forward products are growing in popularity and functionality, with “pop-it” balls and spinner pens taking promo by storm.
At the height of the “pop fidget” craze of the COVID-19 pandemic, supplier High Caliber Line (asi/43442) fulfilled an order of 400,000 poppers – a fidget toy made with silicone bumps that can be pushed in and out like never-ending Bubble Wrap – for a national drugstore chain.
“Kids are nervous when they go to these places,” says CEO and Founder Dan Oas. Healthcare professionals "want to give them something to play with to keep their mind off things, particularly getting a shot.”
But it’s not just children who need a way to relieve the stresses of everyday life.
The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms skyrocketed during the pandemic, and even today, twice as many people in the U.S. are experiencing mental health symptoms compared to 2019, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Accordingly, the demand for fidget toys – which have long been associated with aiding focus and easing anxiety – has spiked in the promo industry, reaching more than triple its 2018 popularity last year, based on ESP search data. And they don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
“It initially started as a fun little novelty toy, and now it’s grown into something much bigger in regards to an awareness amongst society, and that’s what’s supporting it and feeding it,” says Brent Elenowitz of NY-based supplier Lincoln Line (asi/52710). “I think it’s just going to grow from here on out.”
Last year’s ESP data for terms related to fidget toys showed searches more than three times greater than similar searches in 2018 – including the potential return of the fidget spinner.
When Fidget Spinners Were King
Just about everyone in promo remembers 2017 as the year of the fidget spinner.
The 3-inch toy spun to the top of the ESP search charts during its peak in summer 2017, staying in the top five from April to August of that year before ultimately being named ASI’s 2018 product of the year. But after the initial craze, many suppliers were left with excess inventory because of the dramatic drop-off in demand, Oas says.
The data reflects this lackluster interest among buyers, with ESP searches for fidget-related terms slowing and then plummeting to their lowest levels in 2020.
But “fidget” jumped back into the top 100 search terms in late 2021, which reflected both a resurgence of fidget toys in general and the next big thing in the fidget world: the pop fidget. ESP searches for the pop fidget skyrocketed by almost 30,000% between 2020 and 2021.
Popper Ball (T515) from High Caliber Line (asi/43442)
While searches for poppers have slowed since their height in 2021 and 2022, they’ve maintained a longevity that the fidget spinner didn’t quite manage, Oas says. Part of that has come from suppliers transforming the product from its original flat shape into other forms, like the pop-it ball, or key chains featuring a few “poppable” bubbles.
“We just keep adding different things,” Oas says. “The popper ball was really popular – that was a big winner last year.”
But suppliers say they’re noticing increases in fidget spinner sales as well. Lincoln Line is selling out its standard spinners left and right, Elenowitz says. ESP searches for fidget spinners almost doubled between 2022 and 2023, and the search term has remained in the top 100 search terms every month of 2024 so far.
Popper Notebook (NBW140) from Lincoln Line (asi/52710)
“They’re things to keep you occupied so that you can take that energy, put it into there and then maybe focus your mental energy into whatever it is that’s going on,” Elenowitz says. “And I think that’s how these things help people.”
Are Functional Fidgets the Future?
A rising star in the world of fidget products might be the fidget pen, which has a spinnable piece near the top that users can play with while working or writing. Searches for fidget pens – or spinner pens, as they’re often known – shot up 600% between 2022 and 2023, with levels in 2024 set to outpace that.
Estimates based on ESP search data so far in 2024 suggest that fidget spinners and fidget pens may be on the rise this year.
Top 40 supplier SnugZ USA (asi/88060) launched a spinner version of its Curvaceous Pen last year after a manufacturer suggestion, and it’s consistently sold in the top 10 of the company’s writing instruments every month since, says Brandon Brown, vice president of marketing.
Spin-It Stylus Pen (PB23701) from SnugZ USA (asi/88060)
When SnugZ started giving out the spinner pens at the office or to distributors at trade shows, recipients were “fidgeting with them without even knowing they were fidgeting,” Brown says.
“We knew we had a hit,” he adds.
The increase in sales of the fidget pen is reflective of a larger trend in the fidget – and promo – market toward functional items, rather than just another “thing,” Oas says. That extends to other products, like the Iconic Pop Fidget Bottle from Elemental Bottles (asi/51846), which features a pop-it strap as a handle.
Water bottle with popper strap (EB14) from Elemental Bottles (asi/51486)
Elemental Bottles launched the product in 2022, when the popper craze was still at its height, says Seth Inyang, co-founder of the supplier. The target market was kids, with a 14-ounce bottle, but Elemental soon had distributors and retailers alike asking for the product in larger sizes to keep up with demand.
“Turning it into a functional piece took it away from just being the fad,” Inyang says. “Nobody’s buying fidget pop by itself unless it’s been reinvented into something, but they’re buying more and more of the water bottle to this day.”
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