By Justice Brown
Every year a new fidget toy becomes popular among Gen-Z. Kids rush to the toy aisle of every store to find the new Squishmallow releases, limited edition Needohs, and glitter Dumplings. Surprisingly, adults take part in squishy hunting too. People have been camping out at stores such as Five Below, Target, and Walmart waiting for employees to open the store so they can get their squishies.
A new wave of random toys seems to happen every few years. But what is the hype? Why do people love them? Yes, they are fun and satisfying as stress relievers, but the extent people go to get them could be considered overconsumption.
The first time I noticed the start of small fidget toys becoming popular was in 3rd grade with fidget spinners. Fidget spinners were originally designed as a stress reliever to enhance focus and manage anxiety. Fidget spinners are usually colorful and come in cool neon or galaxy patterns. They were very enjoyable until they became a distraction and teachers would start confiscating them.
This is also similar to Dumpling squishies. They are squishy toys that can be used as stress relievers but also come in fun colors and designs. Dumplings also have a very rare dumpling in every collection that is very hard to find. Instead of enjoying the squishy toy for what it is, people enjoy the gambling aspect of not knowing which one you will get but hoping to get the limited edition ones.
If you scroll on TikTok you will most likely see a video of someone showing off their massive squishy collections or a haul of the 10 dumplings they bought. One downside of the overconsumption of squishies and other random toys is that if you open the packaging and do not receive the one you want, more plastic packaging is wasted.
Purchasing a lot of these squishies is also not a good financial decision considering it is more of an item that you only need to own one or two for its purpose. Squishies are fun toys that all ages seem to enjoy; however, they should not be overconsumed. People should also try not to fall into every fun trend that they do not need.
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