My earliest parent memory of this phenomenon was "Cabbage Patch" dolls...I remember my wife's fervor and determination to get one for our daughter for Christmas...since that time names like "Pokeman...Nintendo...Beani Babies...Furby...Hatchimals"...come to mind...however...its still summer...therefore these things weren't even on my radar.
So needless to say I was a bit taken back when my wife told me that "for date night"...we were heading to a store at a mall to pick up some monkey toy she had called and had set aside for a grandchild's Christmas gift....I asked her "what is this all about"? That's when I was introduced to the world of 'Fingerlings"....
Its a $15.99 monkey toy that makes funny sounds when touched or looked at...can hold onto one's finger...and comes in a multiple of colors...my wife learned about them from a mother's website she is part of that seems to talk about everything but the children clothes they are supposed to be selling...needless to say...even though its only August...these things were already sold out on many websites...already being hocked on EBAY...
Even crazier...out of all the colors...a few were already becoming "rare"...of course that's the color my wife had set aside...in fact...come to find out...she had already picked up a few others...including having a few friends go to stores near them to buy them for her since these particular ones can't be gotten online....
Even better...turns out my wife decided she wanted to match my success with crypto currency and actually had 20 boxes hidden upstairs containing these creatures...
Well...not wanting to discourage a solid business venture...I encouraged her to stay on it and add to the inventory...so as of today...we are the proud owners of 50 Fingerlings...of course the hope is...they go bananas ...become scarce and we unload for a nice little profit...
And if it doesn't go as planned....if the powers to be decide they will actually manufacturer enough to meet the demand or its a phenomenon that doesn't catch on...we will give them away to local charities looking for toy donations at Christmas time...
Meanwhile...I will go back to my coins..."What's that honey? They came out with a unicorn one that already sold out?"....Yikes...better sell some crypto....