Toy companies are speeding up their production processes to chase viral trends—but smaller brands are beating out industry giants. MGA Entertainment’s L.O.L. Surprise was 2017’s top seller according to NPD, leaving traditional winners in the dust. However, they’re trying to catch up. Hasbro’s “Quick Strike” team is picking up on social media trends and turning them into toys—they developed Fantastic Gymnastics based off of water bottle-flipping videos in just 11 weeks. Mattel has also created a small team with a similar purpose. (WSJ)
