When Holiday Toys Attack

Remember the Cabbage Patch Riots of 1983? How about the Tickle Me Elmo Fiasco of 1996?

MentalFloss has helpfully provided a round-up of "5 Dangerously Popular Holiday Toys," complete with video.

At various times in our nation's history, there have been toys that capture the public's imagination. The desire for said toy becomes so intense that folks will do anything – ANYTHING – to get it for their children. They become blinded by desire, and sometimes that desire can turn to rage. Or, if not rage, the spending of far too much money on eBay.

I don't think that there is a toy out there this season that has achieved this level of frenzied consumerism, but it's possible that there is and my kids aren't into whatever it is. Anyone looking for something that they haven't been able to find? Let us know in the comments.

Anyway, here are The Toys That Once Made Parents Hearts Pound:

1. Cabbage Patch Kids (1983)
I personally never got into these dolls at all, and never understood their appeal. But I was in the minority. Stories of people spending hundreds of dollars for one of these odd-looking mushy dolls that did nothing except come with adoption papers were rampant. What I never knew was that Coleco, the company that made the dolls, created fake hospitals where the Patch Dolls were "born" in order to entice toy buyers. It worked, but a little too well – check out this video of people literally attacking store managers and other customers just to get one of what the anchorwoman calls "dumpy little dolls." Ah, good times. Bonus: 80's hairstyles.

2. Tickle Me Elmo (1996)
I've never liked Elmo. To me, he took over one third of Sesame Street and relegated show business veteran Grover to a supporting role, something I will never forgive him for. (For more about Elmo's creulty to Grover, check out this site.) Clearly little kids love the little red monster (who himself loves only his crayon and his goldfish), so toys were inevitable. But who could have predicted the craziness that ensued when Tickle Me Elmo showed up? Luckily, I didn't have kids yet or I might have been trampled trying to obtain an Elmo for my kids to tickle. Hm. Something about that sentence seems wrong.

The others are the Furby, which was an early interactive toy that I personally just found irritating; Beanie Babies, which were as much a grown-up collector thing as they were a toy for tots; and the Wii and PS3. This last one I think MentalFloss missed the boat on. Yes, the PS3 was briefly a hard to get item, but a high price, a limited amount of games and the availability of the much cheaper but still fun PS2 combined to throw a wet blanket onto consumer desire. The Wii is still tough to find; I know of two parents who are trying to get one right now. And the Wii Balance Board, or Wii Fit, is sold out everywhere. Of course, parents aren't trampling each other in an attempt to get one, they're just overpaying on eBay. That, my friends, is progress.

For some less stressful and more current gift choices, check out Babble's Ultimate Gift Guide.

Source: MentalFloss