'Kuroba! The Series' Toys Hitting Big Box Stores in Time For the Holidays

A social media-driven animated series has led to the launch of a toy line that is finding its way to Target, Walmart, and more in time for the holidays.

This holiday season is being taken over by social media. For years, toy companies have been sending samples to prominent YouTubers and other social media influencers in order to get featured and reviewed in time for the Christmas shopping season. This time around, though, you are seeing familiar faces like Ryan from Ryan's Toy Reviews in the fliers for Walmart and Target stores.

Oh, and there's Kuroba.

Kuroba (which also just broke into Walmart) is the latest riff on low-stakes kids' "battles" like rock/paper/scissors or Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, and has found its way to mainstream retailers like Amazon and big box stores in time for the holiday season.

You can check out the way the toys work in the video above.

With clear Asian influence and friendly looks to almost all of the characters, the little plastic critters likely remind '90s kids of the first time they encountered Pokemon, back before it became a national phenomenon and older collectors stated taking it very seriously.

Playmates, famous for their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license, are introducing Kuroba to the world, and a big part of that was rolling out a new animated series, which debuted on YouTube in July.

Forty episodes of the new animated action-comedy series from Bento Box Entertainment's kids and family division began airing this summer, with more new content still on the way.

Kuroba! collectible battle toys are aimed at an audience of young girls (ages 6-9), who are less frequently targeted by "battle" or action-themed toys than other demographics. An international roll-out of the line is being planned for 2019, once the holiday focus in the U.S. has run its course.

Here's the official rundown of the series: "Three distinctly different best friends answer the call of the Kuroba, the cube-like creatures secretly behind all of nature, to become the first Kuroba Keepers of their generation. The mission of our Kuroba Keepers is to balance humankind and nature with the help of Kuroba. Mari, Tara, Reina along with Emberfox, Pegaplant and Octoboss are the centre of every Kuroba adventure."

You can find more information on the toys at the official Playmates/Kuroba website.

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