MrBeast, the world’s largest YouTuber, just dropped a line of toys called MrBeast Lab. The streaming star, with hundreds of millions of subscribers, launched previous forays into fast food and candy.
Now comes action figures. But a line of toys geared toward kids couldn't come at a worse time for the channel.
One YouTuber reviewing the toys called it "ironic" that MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, released the toys in the face of serious allegations against former members of his channel’s inappropriate and illegal relationships with minors.
“The timing of him launching this toy line is so ironic it teeters on being a parody of itself,” said YouTuber Keelvin in a video titled ‘I Bought Mr. Beast's New AWFUL Toys.’
Donaldson maintained a squeaky-clean, wholesome image throughout his rise up the YouTube ranks, carefully cultivating a reputation as a philanthropist and family-friendly entertainer.
But over the past few weeks, he’s faced heavy criticism for the behavior of employees on his channel. In late July, Donaldson cut Ava Kris Tyson loose from his channel after messages from Tyson’s Discord leaked, allegedly showing her sharing links to “loli” pornography and interacting inappropriately with minors on the server. Donaldson was a member of the server and interacted with Tyson on it.
Donaldson said he’d only become aware of the serious allegations about Tyson “over the last few days,” in a statement he released on July 24. “I am disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts,” he said. “I’ve seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel, and any association with MrBeast.”
At the beginning of August, Tyson was also accused of pressuring a former employee into sexual acts.
The allegations against Tyson prompted further online investigations into Donaldson’s empire. In a series of videos posted by a former employee who goes by DogPack404, he details allegations of unethical behavior at the channel, as well as a disregard for the behavior of some of his employees.
In DogPack404’s second video, he interviewed Jake Weddle, a standup comedian who used to write for MrBeast. Weddle discussed an employee at the channel who was nicknamed “Delaware.” According to Jake Franklin, who goes by Jake The Viking and was a frequent fixture on the channel from 2018-2020, Delaware is his brother-in-law and is a registered sex offender.
Delaware, who appeared in numerous MrBeast videos in 2018 and 2019, pled guilty to raping an 11-year-old when he was 16, Franklin said.
Donaldson hasn’t spoken publicly about the allegations.
A global toy company from Australia is behind Donaldson’s toy line. The line includes action figures; collectible “Micro Beasts,” figures you get from shaking a tube full of bubbly blue water; and “Mutators,” which glow in the dark and come in packaging that turns transparent after interacting with a similar tube of mystery liquid.
The toys are geared directly at children, according to the site’s FAQs.
In Keelvin’s video, he makes frequent cracks about Donaldson going ahead with the toy line given the timing.
Down in the comment section, posters jumped in, similarly bewildered that Donaldson would release the project.
“It’s rather disgusting that after hiring predators that he would release a toy line,” wrote one commenter.
“I literally saw some of these MrBeast toys at my local Walmart and thought ‘Why Would MrBeast release toys while in a lot of huge controversy’ then came home to see this video in my home feed,” added another.
A press release from the company near the end of June announced that the toys would be available in the U.S. in July and other countries throughout the fall, though reviews of them are now just coming online.
The company didn’t immediately respond to questions about the release and if it was aware of the controversy around the channel.
“Maybe not the best time to release products specifically for children considering, well, the many things that are happening right now,” wrote another commenter.
Other people called it “ironic,” that Donaldson was getting into manufacturing disposable plastic toys given some of his philanthropic work is with Team Seas, which cleans up plastic in oceans.
“These toys will inevitably go into nature. He’ll likely contribute more to pollution than his organizations can keep up,” wrote the commenter.
Outside of the controversy, YouTube is filled with shorts and videos of kids playing with the toys, and there aren’t too many complaints there.
YouTuber Nerdmazing, whose channel features extensive reviews of action figures, was impressed by the Mr. Beast Lab Mutators Chrome Edition action figure, highlighting the packaging and its glow-in-the-dark elements.
“Definitely a piece to keep for any Mr. Beast fan,” he said. But he also said the figure could have better articulation, particularly in the mouth. It’s static out of the box but is shown roaring on the toy’s packaging.
On Amazon, some negative reviews have already started to roll in.
“Who would have thought? This figure is nothing more than a cash grab, just like the feastables that taste horrible,” posted one reviewer about the Apex Beast Tiger Collector Figure. “The figure is super low quality and ugly to boot. Articulation is awful, it’s clunky and it stinks for some reason like chemicals.”
“Over priced and flimsy item,” added another who reviewed the same toy on Aug. 17. “Save your money.”
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