Barbie Dreamhouse, Legos or Fortnite? Here’s the most popular toys bought online in each state

The most popular toys in each state. Click to expand. (Courtesy Reviews.org)

WASHINGTON — As the holidays near, more and more people are likely to skip the thicket of in-person shopping and go online. And each state, as well as D.C., has its own favorites.

The website Reviews.org compiled a list of the most popular toys bought online in each state, and the District, Maryland and Virginia produced three top toys without a whole lot of overlap. Doride Uvaldo, of Reviews.org, said the most popular playthings do have one thing in common, though.

In D.C., the most popular toy in terms of online sales has been the Barbie Dreamhouse; in Virginia, it’s Lego Minecraft. In Maryland, Fortnite action figures take the top slot.

In each case, Uvaldo told WTOP, they’re based around figurines and building. “Figurines are just that classic thing that kids really gravitate towards.” From Barbie to Lego, she said, “kids just really like things that they can relate to or want to be like. … You can pretend to be something that you’re not, and kids really gravitate toward that.”

Fotnite hasn’t been around long, but Uvaldo said it’s caught on everywhere, likely “because it’s a free game and it’s multi-platform … it’s something that’s really accessible and really cool.”

Uvaldo said she compiled the list by finding the most popular toys in the last three months of Google Shopping, then she used Google Trends to find which was most popular in each state.

Last year, she said, toys based on “The Lego Ninjago Movie” were the top online sellers in Maryland and D.C., while the Magna Doodle — similar to an Etch-A-Sketch — was the top choice for Virginia.

Uvaldo was surprised at the variety of Lego toys that are still popular: Between Lego Minecraft, Lego Friends and Lego Technic, some form of Lego was the top seller in 14 states. She attributed it to their ability to “cross over with popular culture a lot, and they make their own movies.”

She was also surprised by the popularity nationwide of the Hula Hoop, introduced in 1958. “It’s also kind of a classic,” Uvaldo said; “it’s very cost-effective.” It’s also a family-related activity, so people generally buy more than one at a time, she said. There’s also the pet factor: “Trying to get your dog or cat to jump through a hoop.”

Still, toys based around building are durable top choices. “Children like to pretend, and they like to build. They really like to exercise their creativity.” Most of the most popular toys, she added, “revolve around kids being able to play and build things.” That curiosity doesn’t go away, either: “They’ll keep using the same Legos for so long.”

The top 5 for Virginia: