Hatchimals Are Hot Toy This Holiday Season

The electronic eggs are in demand and hard to come by

One of the hottest toys this upcoming holiday season is called the Hatchimal. It is so in demand that consumers have been going to extreme measures to get their hands on one, including ones in New England.

At the Target in Westwood, Massachusetts, the toy was nowhere to be found on Tuesday.

The electronic eggs that hatch into furry creatures not only have kids clamoring for them, but adults as well.

"You go to get them and they're sold out," said shopper Denise Howard of Norwood, Massachusetts. "About a month and a half ago my daughter started asking for it and then my son."

Spin Master, the company behind the toy has been marketing Hatchimals for a year. They slowly released details until finally a month ago when they revealed what's inside the egg — a furry Owlicorn.

"A lot of kids are very determined to grab it," said Hakeem Bowman, who works in the toy department at Target.

On social media, hundreds of desperate parents have been sharing their pleas, begging for information on where to get one.

Brian Correia, the store team leader at the Target in Westwood says it's possible to find the toy in a store but consumers have to have some persistence.

"Availability has been limited because the demand has been very high," Correia said. "We had a few that came in this morning and we had a line outside guests that were waiting to purchase them for their children and they were gone almost immediately."

Correira says the best thing to do is check a store's inventory early in the morning. If it shows they're in stock, get there before the doors open.

Hatchimals are retailing at a suggested price of $59.99. But if you buy one online from a re-seller, prepare to pay four to five times that original price.

Consumer Craig Stephenson, of Canton, Massachusetts, said the toy craze reminds him of when people were trying to buy Furby's in the late 90s.

"Some time ago with the Furby, I had a friend who took advantage of the parent's desires to have these for their kids and he made me wait outside a Wal-Mart on Black Friday until they opened to purchase a Furby, and then he would turn around and sell them to desperate parents at a profit," Stephenson recalls.

Contact Us