Easy-Bake Oven, the iconic children’s baking toy from the 1960s, has been relaunched for the holiday season with items already selling like hot cakes.
“Few brands hold the iconic status and enduring appeal of Easy-Bake and Playskool,” said Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of Global Licensed Toy and Games at Hasbro.
The toy oven, which allows kids to bake treats including cakes and cookies safely at home, has been brought back by Just Play, in collaboration with Hasbro. Ovens are being sold exclusively at Walmart.
When it first launched in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven operated using a normal light bulb as a heat source to bake the goods – and included packet mixes and small pans. First marketed by Kenner, the product sold 500,000 units in its first year, and today more than 30 million have been sold. Six decades later, its popularity has seemingly not dimmed, with reports that ovens have already sold out at Walmart stores and Sam’s Club.
Online listings also show stock levels at “very low.”
The beloved classic has been relaunched with a new retro-modern style, colorful “sprinkle lights,” a built-in timer, upgraded baking tools and new mixes featuring updated flavors. Kids mix the ingredients on the small baking pans, push them into the Easy-Bake ovens with special tools. When the cakes or cookies are finished, they are pushed back out.
The toy is now heated using a miniature heating element and retails at $44.97.
In a September press release announcing the collaboration, Just Play and Hasbro also announced the return of the Freezy-Bake Ice Cream Maker, which allows children to make their own frozen treats – which is being sold for $34.97.
“These brands are centerpieces in Hasbro’s portfolio – true cultural touchstones that have inspired imagination, creativity, and joyful play for generations. We’re excited to reintroduce them alongside Just Play with fresh, imaginative twists that speak to today’s families,” Bowman said.
“Easy-Bake and Playskool are brands that families have loved for generations,” added Sunny Lauridsen, Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Marketing at Just Play.
“Parents and gift-givers will remember the joy of playing with products from these brands when they were children, and now they can share that experience with the kids in their lives.”
In 2006, the Easy-Bake Oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
