Fidget spinners burst (or spun. Fidgeted?) onto the scene in a meteoric fashion. It was impossible to avoid them. Kids were playing with them at school, on the bus, at home, everywhere. They’re one of those toys we’ll look back on and remember as a cultural phenomenon on the level of pogs, devil sticks and Koosh balls. Like most trends, they’ve kind of disappeared a bit from forefront, but they haven’t gone away completely. They’re just adapting.
Fidget spinners have proven successful in the retail and promo space. They’re easy to imprint, they’re used all the time and they’re pretty easy to manufacture. Some entrepreneurs have taken that foundation of success and built from it to create new fidget-themed items.
One entrepreneur took his fidget spinner product on Shark Tank, resulting in investor Barbara Corcoran forking over $50,000 for his project, citing the toys’ therapeutic characteristics for kids with learning disabilities as her main influence.
If I were to make a list of my top entrepreneurs, most have a learning disability. #fidgetland #fidgetnowfidgetforever @fidgetland
— Barbara Corcoran (@BarbaraCorcoran) October 9, 2017
The company, Fidgetland, uses the traditional fidget spinner construction as a springboard, but uses interlocked rings and pieces to appeal to both children and adults. It makes items specifically for kids at school (thanks to silent construction) and comes in a variety of shapes and designs for different fidgetability. (We are creating words now, deal with it.)
Since it received Corcoran’s investment, Fidgetland has sold more than 50,000 products and made more than $500,000 in revenue, according to CNBC.
While some designers have focused on creating fidget spinners that move simply beyond the traditional (can we say traditional for a product a year old?), three-pointed construction. Some have moved on to adding new capabilities, like telephone calls.
That’s right, a fidget spinner phone totally exists.
Hong Kong-based Chilli International created a fidget spinner phone back in September. It features a 1.4 inch screen, comes in six colors, and has 32MB of internal memory, which users can expand to 8GB with an SD card. According to The Verge, it also has Bluetooth capabilities and a web browser.
It’s also only $20, but it’s only on sale in India right now. They have popped up on Amazon, though.
So, are we past the fidget spinner craze yet? Not even close.
For promotional products professionals, this is a good time to start looking to the future. The fidget spinners that we all know have only been around for a short time. But, it’s never to early to innovate and adapt.
