If you drove past SC Toys on Tuesday morning, June 30, and saw a line wrapping around the corner,
you may have wondered what everyone was waiting for.
The answer? A squishy sensory toy called NeeDoh.
About 100 people lined up before the Hastings toy store opened, hoping to get their hands on one of the toys before they sold out.
NeeDohs come in different shapes, sizes and colors — and for some collectors, certain versions are harder to find than others.
One customer explained, “They’re so different, like colors and like size and shapes, so some of them are rare, some of them … they only come into stock every so often.”
Young customers shared with KDWA that they like to trade NeeDohs with their friends.
And parents approved.
One parent said, “My kids do NeeDoh trades with their friends, so they all get together and they all … well, squishy trades we’ll say, they bring them and they all trade.”
Another parent said, “It’s so much better than like being on the TV or being on the screen. Yeah, like I’m glad they’re like out doing this.”
Most NeeDohs sell for between $3 and $12. But because shipments are limited, customers say some people buy them just to resell them online for much higher prices.
That’s why SC Toys limited purchases to two per customer.
“So, what happened before limits, resellers would come in and buy all of them, and then they would sell them. Let’s say they’re eight bucks each … they’d sell them for like 30 or 45 dollars or whatever, and that’s the only way you can find them because they’re gone.”
For many kids, though, the appeal isn’t collecting or resale. It’s simply the way they feel.
Vivienne, a young shopper, said, “I like them because they’re trending right now, and I just like how … they squish and everything, and they’re very nice, and to cure stress.”
After the rush ended, SC Toys owner Barb Hollenbeck said the store stayed busy even after the shelves emptied. Customers continued calling to ask if any NeeDohs were left.
The store opened at 10 a.m., and by 1:15 p.m., every NeeDoh had been sold.
Barb Hollenbeck explained, “We had a NeeDoh drop today, and for those that don’t know what a drop is, is when I get a shipment of NeeDohs … they’ve been so scarce that when I have them for sale, people line up to get in line to get their favorite NeeDohs. … I had 155 sales that processed 1,036 pieces of NeeDoh.”
Hollenbeck shared about some of the NeeDohs that sold in a flash.
“So, some of the newer ones are the pizza, the Nice Sickle — which is like a popsicle, the Dream
Drop, and then most of the other ones have been around a while, but since this whole explosion of NeeDoh interest, all of the old ones are new again. So anything that has the NeeDoh brand on it just gets sucked up really fast.”
Hollenbeck says the NeeDoh toy actually debuted back in 2017. But it wasn’t until January of this year that the toy suddenly exploded in popularity.
She says she’s already placed more orders, but because the manufacturer is so backlogged, she never knows when the next shipment will arrive.
Hollenbeck pointed out, “Prior to this shipment, I hadn’t seen NeeDohs since April, so I kept saying I was in a NeeDoh drought, and now it’s been busted, but now we’ll go back into a drought.”
When another NeeDoh drop is scheduled, Hollenbeck will announce it on SC Toys’ Facebook and
Instagram pages.
Even though the NeeDohs are gone for now, shoppers can still find plenty of other favorites at the store, including Wacky Tracks, Wigglitz, Ty and, of course, Sugar Squeezy squish toys and much more.
[Click the soundbite to listen to the report.]