The Easy-Bake Oven, the iconic children’s baking toy of the 1960s, is back for the holiday season with items like hotcakes.
“Few brands have the iconic status and enduring appeal of Easy-Bake and Playskool,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of global licensed toys and games at Hasbro.
The toy oven that lets kids safely bake treats like cakes and cookies at home has been brought back by Just Play in partnership with Hasbro. Ovens are sold exclusively at Walmart.
When it was first introduced in 1963, the Easy-Bake oven used a conventional light bulb as a heat source to bake goods – and included packaged mixes and small pans. First marketed by Kenner, it sold 500,000 units in its first year, and today has sold over 30 million. Six decades later, with reports of ovens being sold out at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, its popularity appears to have not waned.
Online listings also show stock levels at “very low”.
The beloved classic has been given a modern new look, with colorful ‘splash lights’, a built-in timer, upgraded cooking tools and new combinations with updated flavours. Kids mix ingredients on small baking pans, press them into Easy-Bake ovens with special tools. When the cakes or cookies are finished, push them back.
The toy is now heated using a miniature heating element and retails for $44.97.
In a September press release announcing the partnership, Just Play and Hasbro also announced the return of Freezy-Bake ice cream, which lets kids make their own frozen treats — retailing for $34.97.
“These brands are central to the Hasbro collection – 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.
Sunny Lauridsen, senior vice president of brand strategy and marketing at Just Play, added: “Easy-Bake and Playskool are brands that families have loved for generations.
Parents and gift givers will remember the joy of playing with the products of these brands as children and now they can share this experience with the children in their lives.
In 2006, the Easy-Bake Oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
