This Year’s ‘Hottest’ Toy Is Inspired By Those Weird YouTube Unwrapping Videos

Your kid is definitely going to want this

Those weird YouTube videos are officially inescapable. If you’re a parent, you know the ones I’m talking about — those surprise “unboxing” videos. They feature grown adults with freshly-manicured hands opening toy after toy and are geared toward toddlers and young children because they all love this stuff.

It was only a matter of time before someone found a way to market these videos and accompanying toys even further, and voila! Here we are, with the holiday season upon us and the year’s hottest toy is the “L.O.L. Surprise! Big Surprise.” It’s a giant, egg-like thing with 50 layers of tiny toy “surprises.” Which essentially means parents everywhere will be paying three figures for 50 layers of junk. ‘Tis the season!

They’re priced anywhere from $69.99 at Target to $118 on Amazon and they are going fast.

This toy in particular is one of the first to be inspired by those weird “unboxing” YouTube videos, and it was specifically created for the target demographic viewers — our kiddos.

“Frankly, we were seeing these videos everywhere and thought, why not just bring an unboxing toy to these kids?” Issac Larian, founder and chief executive of MGA, the company that designed the L.O.L. Surprise! told The Mercury News.

Remember when you were a kid and you’d be watching your favorite cartoons or TV shows, and the commercials were actually awesome because they showcased each and every toy of your dreams? I can vividly recall sitting and watching my Nickelodeon shows and racking up a mental list of items I’d be asking Santa for during commercial breaks (shoutout to the Lite Brite/Teddy Ruxbin era).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaW1666FQpq/?hl=en&taken-by=lolsurprise

Now thanks to the Unboxing Era, advertising and the main show have combined into one big, sensory-overload ploy to get our kids to bug us for these toys. They’re way more interesting and addictive to watch than a 30 second spot in between Nick Jr. shows. The L.O.L. Big Surprise in particular stands out because rather than chasing down a bunch of tiny, figurine-like toys, they’re all in one giant Russian nesting doll-esque creation of holiday craziness.

“At MGA we’ve had many, many big hits, but this is by far the biggest I’ve ever seen,” Larian said. “A lot of times, we have products that work in the U.S., but don’t work in Germany or Russia or Korea. The thing about the L.O.L. Surprise is that it is in demand everywhere.”

Of that we have no doubt. Each “surprise” contains 50 layers to get through, so kids have no idea what they’re getting until they’ve opened each layer. At the heart of it all are a bunch of limited-edition collectibles kids can share, trade, or stick in a bin of water and cover in bath paint or whatever their little hearts desire. You can find them on Amazon, or at a Toys R Us or Target near you.

To parents everywhere: Godspeed this holiday season.