Here are the top selling toys at Liverpool's World Museum Shop on its 5th anniversary

World Museum reveals its gift shop bestsellers and celebrates five years of much-loved toys, books, stationery, and gifts.

Since opening its doors in 2017, the gift shop at World Museum has offered visitors a whole host of fun, educational and unique gifts for children (and adults) of all ages. An on-going commitment to sourcing ethical and sustainable products plus pocket-money priced items ensures there is something for everyone to take home and cherish.

The star of a recent photoshoot at World Museum, the Best Years knitted striped T-rex and orange Diplodocus remain hugely popular while sales of plush toys have grown 30% despite low visitor numbers and two years of closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. World Museum Shop has sold a staggering 3,000 plush toys since introducing an eco-friendlier version of the classic toys, which are made from recycled plastic bottles.

Karen O’Connor, Director of Commercial Enterprises at National Museums Liverpool said:

“The shop at World Museum has always been a popular destination for visitors so we were delighted to create this beautiful new shop five years ago which includes a large display area for plush toys. We are constantly sourcing new and exciting products that reflect the museum’s collections for visitors to take home and treasure as a memory of their visit, although there are definitely some firm favourites.”

Top three bestselling and most popular products at World Museum shop:

Marbles (176,219 sales)

Mineral lumps (33,886 sales)

Knitted Dinosaurs (2,600+ including 600 striped T-rex and 480 orange Diplodocus)

Alongside the gift shop anniversary, National Museums Liverpool is also celebrating its ongoing partnership with independent toymaker, Best Years which specialises in sourcing and creating ethical toys. The first supplier to introduce the world to the much-loved knitted and crochet dinosaur collection, Best Years remains committed to sourcing ethical products from skilled toy makers who receive fair pay and flexible working conditions as standard.

National Museums Liverpool hopes many more generations of children will follow in the footsteps of five-year-old Juliet who officially opened World Museum shop in April 2017 accompanied by her nana Sally. Juliet chose her own plush toy on the day, a rainbow-coloured peacock which she named ‘Hannah’ after one of the World Museum staff.

Sally said: “We are still frequent visitors to the museum and Juliet really missed them over the pandemic. One of the nicer aspects of finally returning to post Covid times has been being able to come back and revisit the places where she has so often been happy.”

Profits from gift sales help to support National Museums Liverpool venues, activities, and programmes, which benefit millions of people each year.

For the gift that keeps on giving, National Museums Liverpool membership gives recipients exclusive access to venues and events, plus other treats throughout the year. Membership gifts start from £30 for an individual annual membership and £45 for a family membership – giving unlimited access to major exhibitions and member discounts in cafés, shops, and online shop, as well as invitations to special members-only exclusive events including private out-of-hours experiences.