The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2019
A Christmas with no single craze: five toys that appeared on the 2019 lists, from a doll that grows out of a flowerpot to a virtual pet that came back from the 1990s.
November 3, 2026 · ZABI LLC
If you went looking for the toy that defined Christmas 2019, you would not find it. CBS MoneyWatch, in late November, quoted a senior editor of The Toy Insider saying there was no single gigantic standout that year or the year before, only a scattering of smaller gifts that made people say wow. The same report noted that nothing in 2019 matched the frenzies of Tickle Me Elmo or the Cabbage Patch Kids.
The numbers were soft too. The NPD Group counted US toy sales down 4 percent on 2018, a year whose first half had been boosted by the Toys R Us liquidation. The shoppers who did turn up came late: Cyber Monday week out-sold Black Friday week for the first time in NPD's tracking, and Christmas week itself grew by 40 percent. It was a year of small enthusiasms and last-minute baskets, which suits a list like this one. For the year before, see Christmas 2018; for the one after, Christmas 2020.
The five
Documented on: Money's 2019 Hot 20 (from The Toy Insider); the brand also led NPD's doll growth
L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Fashion Dolls
MGA's L.O.L. Surprise! won Toy of the Year at the Toy Association's awards in February 2019, according to the company's own announcement. By the 2019 holiday season the brand had a new line: the O.M.G. dolls, which The Toy Insider described as a debut collection of four big sister dolls, each with surprises to unwrap. Money put them in its ages 5 to 7 group.
NPD said fashion dolls were the top dollar-growth class of the 96 it tracks, led by L.O.L. Surprise! and its O.M.G. dolls. Adobe's figures, quoted by CBS, also named L.O.L. Surprise! OMG Swag among the year's hot items. If you know the line, you know the format: layers of packaging, a small reveal at each. If you do not, it is the unboxing film played out on the carpet, with the parent as the one who stays to pick up the wrapping.
Documented on: the 2019 DreamToys list; Frozen led NPD's property growth
Disney Frozen 2 "Into the Unknown" Elsa Doll
Frozen 2 opened in cinemas on the weekend before Thanksgiving 2019, and Fortune reported that it set a record for an animated film's opening worldwide. The toy aisle had been waiting. NPD named Frozen and Toy Story as the top properties for growth that year, and the DreamToys list included Jakks Pacific's Elsa doll, filed under movie magic, along with other Frozen 2 toys.
The more interesting detail is where licences stood in the toy market. In the DreamToys announcement, an NPD analyst said that licences drive toy sales and made up 23 percent of the market so far that year. The Elsa doll is the plainest example of how that works: the character does the selling, and the doll is the souvenir of a trip to the cinema. It needs no explanation to the person unwrapping it, which counts for something on Christmas morning.
Documented on: the 2019 DreamToys list and Money's 2019 Hot 20
Blume Dolls
Skyrocket's Blume arrives as a small pot. Add water and a doll grows out of it; you do not learn which of the characters you have until it blooms. Money lists 22 collectible dolls and puts them in its ages 5 to 7 group.
CBS cited Adobe's figures naming Blume among the year's hot toys, and Ypulse reported in December that the dolls had spent three weeks at the top of Amazon's best-seller list. The same article placed Blume alongside L.O.L. Surprise! and Hatchimals as part of the surprise-collectible trend. It is a gift with a built-in small ceremony, which probably explains it. Since the doll inside is a surprise, check what the listing says about which characters are included.
Documented on: the 2019 DreamToys list and Money's 2019 Hot 20
Rizmo
TOMY's Rizmo is an interactive creature that grows up in three stages, from baby to kid to adult. It does not grow by itself. According to The Toy Insider, each change needs about 35 music points, at least 15 of which come from teaching it songs, and whoever is playing has to sing the songs, because playing music does not count. When it is ready, it asks for clapping and cheering.
That is rather a lot for a toy to ask, and it is what set Rizmo apart from a passive toy: to grow it, you had to join in. Adult Rizmo sings back songs it learned earlier. Two practical points from the same article: a quieter volume setting exists, and replacing the batteries does not wipe its progress. Read the age guidance on the listing, because sources differ on the minimum.
Named by CBS MoneyWatch as a throwback to watch; listed in The Toy Insider's 2019 throwback trend
Tamagotchi On
The black-and-white Tamagotchi appeared in 1996 and was a craze by 1997. CBS wrote that, at its peak, one sold every 15 minutes, and that some schools banned them. Its virtual pets could eat, play and die, and over its lifetime more than 82 million were sold. In 2019 Bandai America brought out the Tamagotchi On, due in stores at the end of July.
The new one has a full-colour display, a bigger screen and Bluetooth, so that one pet can visit another, and owners can breed two characters. It also has a day care mode, which lets a busy person pause the game without the character dying. That last addition hints that the maker had grown-ups in mind as well as children. The Toy Insider listed it under its throwback trend for 2019, which is the polite way of saying that the parents had owned one first.
What the year tells us
Three of these five are built around a reveal or a reaction to a film, and two ask the owner to look after something. A year without a craze was a year in which the toys on the lists were small, a bit odd, and aimed at particular households. If you have the older Furby story in your own family, Tamagotchi On is a gentler relative.
Sources
Where the facts in this post come from. Rankings and lists belong to the people who published them; the selection and the stories are ours.
- Hot holiday toys: no breakout hits, but a handful of wow gifts, CBS MoneyWatch — No single standout toy in 2019; Blume, O.M.G., Tamagotchi named as hot
- The top 20 toys of the 2019 holidays, according to experts, Money (The Toy Insider Hot 20) — Hot 20 list: O.M.G. dolls, Blume
- DreamToys 2019: the top 12 toys for Christmas, Toy Retailers Association (via Bastion UK) — DreamToys 2019 list, who selects it
- Frozen, Toy Story, Marvel and Star Wars feature in 2019 DreamToys list, Bastion UK — Frozen 2 Elsa doll on DreamToys; licences share of market
- US toy market sees sales dip 4% in 2019, Mojo Nation (NPD Group) — Sales down 4%, Cyber Monday and Christmas week, fashion dolls, Frozen and Toy Story
- L.O.L. Surprise! by MGA Entertainment wins Toy of the Year, PR Newswire — Toy of the Year award, 15 February 2019
- Skyrocket's Blume dolls, Ypulse — Blume: how it works, three weeks at the top of Amazon's best-seller list
- Rizmo, The Toy Insider — How Rizmo grows, music points, volume, batteries
- Tamagotchis make a comeback with larger, full-colour version, CBS News — Tamagotchi history and features of the Tamagotchi On
- The Toy Insider experts reveal top holiday toy trends of 2019, PR Newswire — Throwback trend lists Tamagotchi On; Rizmo, Blume trends
- Frozen 2 opening weekend, Fortune — Frozen 2 opened the weekend before Thanksgiving 2019