He's little, furry and red...and very cute but would you have guessed that 10 years ago such a sweet and innocent looking toy caused havoc throughout northern America?
Tickle me Elmo was introduced into the US ten years ago in 1996, a child's toy made by Tyco.
Based on Elmo the Muppet character from Sesame Street, when squeezed he would reply, "hug Elmo" and then shake and laugh, much to the delight of many children.
Of course the children were delighted, who at such a young age wouldn't be by such a cute looking thing? Elmo quickly became the "must have toy" in 96 and due to short supply shops soon hiked the prices up. Christmas was soon arriving and Elmo mania had set in. Children's parents actually fought with other parents to grab one of these amazing toys that people's kids were fast becoming so attached to. Parents lost their minds, spent crazy money and sometimes even resorted to physical violence. One clerk from a Wal - Mart store suffered horrific injuries of which included a broken rib and having the crotch ripped from his jeans.
In 1997 other tickle me dolls were introduced on to the market such as, Tickle Me Big Bird and Tickle Me Cookie Monster, but as could have never been guessed these toys never achieved any where near as much sales or fame as Tickle Me Elmo. These toys are rare and still in demand today.
In the fall of 2001 Elmo's stopped laughing....instead five of the special tickle me Elmo's announced to their squeezers that they had won a prize. The grand prize was $200, 000!
The American Toy Fair in 2006 has seen the announcement of the new Elmo doll called Tickle Me Extreme and arrived on store shelves on September 19th 2006. But Elmo mania doesn't stop there! With the release of Tickle me Elmo Extreme a guy in Tampa, Florida was actually robbed at gunpoint, he was told it was either his life or the Elmo doll. So it's my guess that if you have one of these dolls laying around the house that it could actually prove to be quite a lucrative object for you to sell or even to keep in the future.
EBay and Amazon have regularly been swarmed with this rare character mostly selling at least for triple the usual price of $35 due to the rarity of them. There are websites that do sell these toys and have some pretty abundant numbers in stock so if you want to beat the rush this time round, or at least keep your health intact then I would suggest that you take my advice and purchase online.
Grab your Tickle Me Elmo TMX online. Check out the latest Retired Webkinz, and other great resources when you go online shopping
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