Flush of inspiration: Toymakers’ ideas hit the fan

Flushin’ Frenzy from Mattel is on display at Toy Fair in New York on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. Reflexes and a toilet plunger combine to make a plastic poop fly. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK — Toymakers have gone to the toilet for their latest creations.

Mattel, a company best known for its clean-cut Barbie dolls, is set to release a game called Flushin’ Frenzy that sends a brown plastic poop flying into the air.

Rival Hasbro, whose water-squirting game Toilet Trouble was a hit last year, stuck with the potty humor this year and released Don’t Step In It, a game where players are blindfolded and have to avoid stepping in poop that’s molded out of a clay-like substance.

Toy analysts and experts say the potty-related toys are hitting stores now because of the popularity of the poop emoji, which has also made it more acceptable for parents to buy poop toys for their kids. At the New York Toy Fair this weekend, toymakers showed off poo-shaped action figures, squishy toys and other creatures from the toilet.

“Yeah, poop is a theme,” says Juli Lennett, the toy analyst at market research company The NPD Group. “Kids think it’s funny.”

Sticky the Poo, a squishy likeness with eyes, clings to walls and ceilings when thrown. The company behind it, Hog Wild, also sells a rainbow version called Sticky Unicorn Poo. Its Sticky the Plunger is sold separately.

There’s poo for collectors, too. Flush Force, by toymaker Spin Master, sells 150 nickel-sized mutant critters that kids can collect. Poopeez makes tiny squishy collectibles with character names such as Pooji, Skid Mark and Dumpling.

Poopeez are aimed at boys aged 7 years old and up, says Ashley Mady, who created Poopeez and works for toy company Basic Fun. But she thinks the appeal will spread.

“We really believe poop is for everyone,” she says.