Puzzles and Kids Toys Flying Off Shelves Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has folks at home looking to keep their minds sharp and their kids busy … and now puzzles and toys are becoming all the rage.

Honchos at Hasbro tell TMZ … the toy-making giant is seeing a huge demand for Play-doh and Nerf, plus games for the entire family to play together … but it’s nothing like the attention being cast on Peppa Pig.

Hasbro’s decision to scoop up the rights to Peppa Pig last August is already paying off big time … PP is now officially the most-watched series on demand in the world, with more than 30 BILLION YouTube views, plus another 84 million downloads on smartphone apps.

As you know … folks have A LOT of time on their hands now with “shelter in place” orders becoming commonplace in America and across the globe.

Puzzles are also making a dramatic comeback as a preferred choice for entertainment … puzzle makers tell us their products are selling like hotcakes.

Serious Puzzles tells TMZ … they’re seeing record sales of jigsaw puzzles since March 13, when schools started closing due to the outbreak. We’re told sales are up 300% and most folks are gobbling up 1,000-piece and 500-piece jigsaws. The top themes — collections and collages, animals and birds, vintage nostalgia.

Puzzle Warehouse, the largest puzzle distributor in North America, tells TMZ … they’re setting new sales records every day, it’s busier than Christmas time and half of their inventory has already been cleaned out. PW says sales are up 600% from this time last year and they hired about 20 workers to help out in the warehouse.

Here in Los Angeles, Miracle Mile Toy Hall says they’re seeing a mad rush for puzzles, board games, Legos and art kits. They’ve already sold out of 1,000-piece puzzles, and they are down to their last few jigsaws. The big seller — the eeBoo Women’s March Puzzle.

And, how’s this for another blast from the past … FAO Schwarz tells us they’ve seen a sales increase for indoor toys across all categories.

Now, if we could just solve the coronavirus vaccine puzzle.