The new 2023 Amazon holiday toy catalog is here, and it’s like a mashup of the iconic Sears catalog and Highlights magazine. It even includes a sheet of stickers for children (and adults) to play with.
The catalog hit our mailbox today (October 2nd), and the 9.5″ x 7.25″ was easy-to-hold and, at about 3/16’s of an inch thick, was chockful of toys to entice the young ones. And it had a story line to go with it.
The catalog again features a cartoon fox (you can purchase the plush version on Amazon, of course), and the theme this year: “Amazon’s Holiday Dash,” featuring four racers: the fox, an owl, a raccoon, and a bear.
Each character contributes to the story throughout the pages, and a fifth character makes a surprise entrance (no spoiler alert as to who wins the race). The catalog also includes games: a maze, scavenger hunt, word search, word jumble, connect-the-dots, and coloring-book page.
When we wrote about Amazon’s holiday mailing in 2021, we noted that many people had compared it to the Sears catalog. This year elicited the same response on social media (including references to JCPenney, Montgomery Ward catalogs as well).
BH (@6pintsofkramer) tweeted:
“Me walking in with the mail: “Why is Amazon sending me a printed toy catalog in 2023.”
<3 year old walks up and takes the catalog from my hand>
“Oh yeah.”
Parents were also discussing their children’s reaction on Reddit, with one parent writing they could hear their wallet “alternating from screaming and sobbing in the background” as their 4-year-old excitedly paged through the book. That led to parents sharing advice on how to manage their children’s expectations about holiday gifts.
Last year, Amazon and Walmart featured Roblox in their catalogs, as we noted in this article.
This year on a “Now Trending” page, Amazon featured Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (an 8″ plush 4-pack). Like the paper catalog itself, what’s old is new again.
Update 10/2/2023: An Amazon spokesperson told us this is the sixth annual Holiday Kids Gift Book.
Ina Steiner
