HELEN BRADSHAW, REPORTER: It’s 2017 and Instagram user, @lulus.mallows has no idea that what she’s about to find in Walgreens could be worth hundreds by 2021.
LULU, SQUISHMALLOW COLLECTOR: I was a freshman in college and so no money. I saw this giant frog. And I was like, “please, can we get this?” He was like, “no, not right now”, you know, back then we had to, like, just beg our parents for everything. So I was like, “Okay, let me, let me come back another day.” And I kept on begging him like, “can we go back to Walgreens, can we go back to Walgreens?” And eventually, weeks later, he was like, “yeah,” and the shelves were still full of them. You don’t find that any more. That’s like impossible to find.
BRADSHAW: The frog in question is a Squishmallow: the stuffed animal taking the world by storm. With more than 800 different types of Squishmallows hitting the market since their release three and a half years ago, the plushy animals have become a sensation. But there’s a price to all that fame: price gouging.
LULU: There’s always been reselling and price gouging, but it’s never been what it is today. I remember in 2018 or 19, my friend and I went to Five Below, and we saw somebody with an entire cart of just one type of Squishmallow. So it’s always been a thing. And then you’ll find it for sale for 30 bucks online. But the difference is that now they sell it for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 as opposed to 20 or 30. And people are like, “well, that will always exist. People always want to resell and you know, you need to understand that some people have no other option to buy and blah blah, blah.” Yeah, I get that, but like I said it used to just be 20 bucks. That’s a reasonable price. You know, you paid someone for their time I totally get that. But now you can’t go into a store and find them. You can’t go into a store more than like five minutes after it’s announced. They sell out in like, actual minutes. There was a Five Below down the street. My friend told me “hey, come on over.” It was gone by the time I got there. Stores sell out in one minute online. It’s just ridiculous. And then they are up for sale for hundreds of dollars. You can’t get them anymore. I don’t know. It’s really weird. I don’t know what’s going on. And at this point, I feel like Squishmallows have become like a class restricted thing.
BRADSHAW: Nowadays popular Squishmallows like Malcolm the Mushroom, Trinity the Triceratops and Stacy the Squid are listed for upwards of $100 on eBay and ultra-rare ones like Jack the Black Cat for hundreds more. Their popularity has skyrocketed. Senior Manager of Public Relations at Jazwares, the parent company of the Squishmallow creators, Rachel Lobeck wrote an email that the orders for spring, summer and fall 2021 are three times the amount they were for the same period in 2020. So what’s the appeal? According to Lulu, they’ve been helpful to many in a year with so much chaos and loss.
LULU: I know a lot of it has to do with people’s mental health and that it brings them a lot of comfort. I guess for me, it’s somewhat like that because I like to collect but I know for everybody else, it is, it is a major comfort thing, their texture or just looking at them having them around, it just brings people happiness.
BRADSHAW: And with the rise of popularity of the stuffed animals. collectors like Lulu have been able to find a sense of community with others who are passionate about finding and sharing their own Squishmallows. The brand itself is embracing the sense of community too. Lobeck wrote that they are moving to include nonbinary plushies to make sure that they can represent the passionate, supportive and inclusive community of Squishmallow fans. We don’t know how long the Squishmallow craze will last. But one thing’s clear. These little plush animals have made a dark year brighter for collectors like Lulu.
LULU: I think, I think, it’s just because they’re cute and who doesn’t like anything cute and cuddly. And like I said, I think it does a lot for people’s mental health and their happiness. And we all really need something like that.
BRADSHAW: For WNUR news, I’m Helen Bradshaw.
produced and reported by Helen Bradshaw
photo courtesy of Squishmallows Facebook
