Nick’s body buzzed and heart rate quickened as he zigzagged through the aisles of Walgreens. His eyes darted left and right.

Then, he spotted it.

The 27-year-old from Bel Air, Maryland, snatched the one thing that could soothe his nerves. In came the full-body rush.

“It’s similar to the feeling of winning at a slot machine,” said Nick, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for career purposes. “I try to ride that high because if the high goes away too quick … I’m at the store again two hours later looking for another one.”

No, it’s not a lottery ticket or a rare baseball card. It’s a Squishmallow — the soft, squeezable plush toy designed as animals or inanimate objects with big bellies and sweet faces. Nick has about 400 and estimates he has spent more than $2,000 in the past two years.

In just a few years, the toy, which ranges in size from 2 to 24 inches and costs between $5.99 and $39.99, has surged in popularity with all age groups. According to Jazwares, which acquired Squishmallow parent company KellyToy in 2019, fans 18 and older are driving sales.

The growth has been organic. Jazwares has never done an advertising campaign for the toy.

Instead, a combination of timing and strategic expansion has propelled Squishmallows to an elite status — named last year by market research firm Circana as a top toy property alongside Lego, Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price. A private company, Jazwares does not release sales figures, but Circana reported the 16-inch Squishmallow was the top-selling toy of 2022 in the U.S. and Canada.

With more than 11 billion organic impressions on TikTok, the fandom is often likened to the Beanie Baby craze — and on its way to be an enduring brand like Hello Kitty and Pokémon.

The toy isn’t a fad, said toy expert and consultant Chris Byrne. It hasn’t become mainstream yet. Rather, it’s all about the fans. “They are loyal and they are passionate and they are buying enough to make Jazwares very rich,” Byrne said. “So will these become classic? Absolutely.”

Pandemic boom

Sunny Cho was a designer at KellyToy when her boss asked her to come up with designs for a stretchy, soft fabric she had recently sourced. Cho wanted something different — something that resembled the Japanese-style of plush that hadn’t yet made its way to the United States.

First came the egg shape, then the belly and face. She first designed a cat, then penguins, hedgehogs, owls, llamas and foxes, making 12 in total. Now the senior director of product design, Cho credits her experience as a plush designer in understanding popular market trends.

The first “squad,” as the company calls it, was released in 2017 and mainly sold at amusement parks and specialty mom-and-pop shops.

Customers instantly connected with Squishmallows, but KellyToy was limited in its ability to scale distribution and manufacturing, according to James Zahn, editor in chief of the trade publication the Toy Book and senior editor at the Toy Insider.

“It took off in a way no one really expected,” he said. “Part of the initial appeal of Squishmallows was the fact that they were a little harder to get.”

That changed in 2019 when Sunrise, Fla.,-based toy manufacturer Jazwares acquired KellyToy. Now Cho can walk into most big-box grocery and drugstores and see her designs for sale — a feeling she describes as “just incredible.” The plush toy is now available in Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Five Below, TJ Maxx, Hallmark, independent toy stores and more.

It was during the pandemic when Squishmallows really expanded, according to Byrne. Children found them soothing, and parents didn’t mind picking one up during a grocery haul thanks to its reasonable price.

“There’s a real comfort in squishing them,” he said, noting how parents told him of the toys’ calming effect during the pandemic, when many children were overwhelmed with anxiety.

It’s not uncommon for toy sales to do well during economic and social turmoil, Zahn said, adding: “Plush has been one of those categories since the beginning of the modern toy industry.”

But Squishmallows are different from other modern plush toys in their unusual attraction among adults.

The toys “let people collect deep into characters,” he added.

Each Squishmallow has a name, a “squish date” for when they were born and a detailed backstory. There’s Winston, an aspiring chef owl; Leonard, a vegetarian lion who loves to nap; Tatiana, a dragon who has dance-offs with friends and goes to the library; and Lalinda, a polka-dot giraffe pop star.

The fandom around Squishmallows is fervent. Enthusiasts often organize meetups where they hang out and trade Squishmallows. They follow Squishmallow influencers, track new squad releases and licensing deals, and trade information on the Squishmallows subreddit. Many are involved in local Squishhunting Facebook groups, where fans flag new inventory drops at local stores.

The community also skews older. The toy industry has coined it “kidulting,” when adults seek out products that remind them of their youth.