About three weeks ago, Ta Da! toy store owner Michael Richman received a shipment of a squishy toy called NeeDoh. It consisted of over 500 pieces of the toy in shapes including cubes, ice cream cones, pizza slices, gummy bears, cake slices, popsicles and more in varying textures that return back to its original shape after they’re squished.
Within 10 minutes of posting about the new arrivals on social media, Richman said the store was full of customers of all ages, all of whom were limited to buying one or two of the toy. Soon after that, Richman said a line quickly formed out his front door in Stuyvesant Plaza and down the sidewalk. The store sold out of the squishy toy in just over an hour after restocking.
“Every time we get them, the time (they sell out) keeps getting cut and cut,” Richman said. “The fact that we’re in June and this craze started in January says a lot.”
Richman has been stocking NeeDoh at his store for around a decade, but it wasn’t until this past January when the squishy toy started to quickly sell out at his store — within weeks, then days, then hours as months went on. It’s in high demand not just at Richman’s store but at toy stores across the nation. The product — which Richman said cost between $5 and $16 — has taken social media by storm, and children and adults alike are desperate to get their hands on the gel-like, dough-like squishy toys…