Source: Wow! Stuff/The Toy Book

The old-school outdoor air rocket is getting an upgrade for 2023.

At The Toy Association’s 2023 Preview event in Dallas, Wow! Stuff quietly showed off a new innovation that it’s set to unleash at retail next year. HYPR Rockets feature a trio of kid-safe, soft-tipped rockets that are launched by stomping on the included air pad. While it’s based on a classic play pattern, a patented switch system offers kids the choice of launching their rockets in Turbo Mode or standard mode.

“The category is firmly established and the play pattern is just great, but there has been little innovation here for many years,” says Kenny McAndrew, head of product development at Wow! Stuff. “When we watched kids choose their favorite outdoor toy to play with from all the well-known brands the majority ended up hogging the air rockets. Each kid tried to out-distance their friends.”

Related: Stay on the Pulse of Play with ‘The BIG Toy Book’ in 2023

According to McAndrew, the space race posited a challenge: What would happen if kids could boost their rocket’s performance? That led to the development of the Turbo Boost switch.

Wow! Stuff says that its HYPR Rocket 500 is “The fastest, farthest flying toy rocket in its category.”

Retailers interested in stocking the HYPR 500 ($19.99) or Duelling HYPR 500 $29.99 should contact sunny.walia@wowstuff.com for more information.

The HYPR Rockets are set to lift off this spring.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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