As our TV screens become awash with toy ads at this time of year, it seems all the real action is happening over on YouTube.

While plenty of toy manufacturers have cottoned on to the value of getting their brand seen on the video channel, it is the toy reviews from independent creators that have captured the imagination of children and the public alike.

One channel in particular is that of DC Collector. In October, it was the most popular YouTube channel of any category, dethroning gamer PewDiePie – 352m views that month – who usually tops the rankings by some distance.

Those pink nails have garnered so much attention online that the New York Times went to great efforts to reveal the reviewer’s identity.

The new queen of YouTube is – according to their August scoop – 21-year-old Brazilian Melissa Lima, who lives in Westchester County, New York.

Closer to home, at the Web Summit earlier this month, the president of Fullscreen – a video content producer – revealed that part of the reason he came was to track down a toy reviewer from the midlands in Ireland.

The father-and-son duo, known as Arcadius Kul, has racked up an impressive 300m views on its channel so far.

DC Collector’s popularity, and that of Arcadius Kul, is testament to the fact that viewers are looking to reviews, how-tos, and unboxing content as part of their research into toy products. While children are watching and following their contemporaries on YouTube, youngsters like themselves who are creating exactly the type of videos other kids want to watch.