Fingerlings (toy)

Fingerlings monkey toy from 2017, designed after the pygmy marmoset

Fingerlings is a toy line released in 2017 by WowWee. The toy is a robotic creature that wraps around a finger and reacts to touch and sound with actions like blinking and blowing kisses.[1] Fingerlings Hugs are larger plush toys that have the same interactivity.

In the 2017 Christmas season Fingerlings were a hit, and so called "Grinch bots", named after a fictional Dr Seuss character who "stole Christmas",[2] bought out Fingerlings on online retail sites to resell for higher prices. Following this, legislation was proposed in the United States to ban the bots.[2]

Features

Fingerlings are capable of over 40 different sounds and reactions, including singing, blinking, burping, and farting. With built-in microphones and motion sensors, they react differently depending on how you interact with them.[1] The original lineup was designed to resemble the pygmy marmoset, an animal that Sydney Wiseman, WowWee's brand manager and niece of the company's owners, has been "obsessed" with since childhood.[3]

History

Fingerlings were released in the UK and Canada in the spring of 2017. They launched in the United States in August 2017, where they exploded in popularity. WowWee created exclusive products for major retailers—a glitter-covered monkey for Amazon.com, the sloth for Walmart, and a unicorn for Toys "R" Us.[1] Later Fingerlings releases include creatures like pandas and dragons.[4]

In 2018, WowWee released Fingerlings Hugs for the Holiday season. The interactive plush toy is much bigger than the original Fingerlings, but have the same interactivity. The Fingerlings Hugs monkeys have long arms that kids can wrap around themselves.[5]

Controversy

The toy became the #1 toy for Christmas 2017.[6][7][3] Online shopping bots, known as "Grinch bots", rapidly purchased bulk orders of Fingerlings from retail websites and sold them on secondary marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.com for a much higher price.[8]

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer noticed the trend and stated, "Grinch bots cannot be allowed to steal Christmas, or dollars" and proposed legislation that would ban bots on retail sites, expanding the existing Better Online Tickets Sales Act (BOTS Act), which already prohibits bulk purchasing concert or theater tickets.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Montag, Ali (25 December 2017). "Can't figure out Fingerlings? This season's hottest holiday toy craze is actually a pretty sophisticated robot monkey". CNBC. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Raphelson, Samantha (5 December 2017). "'Grinch Bots' Attempt To Steal Christmas By Driving Up Toy Prices". NPR.
  3. ^ a b Corkery, Michael (9 December 2017). "How the Fingerling Caught On (Robot Grip and All) as 2017's Hot Toy". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Pandas and Dragons". Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  5. ^ "Hugs - WowWee Fingerlings". WowWee Fingerlings. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  6. ^ Montag, Ali (16 December 2017). "Fingerlings are selling out everywhere—here's how a 28-year-old engineered the viral toy frenzy". CNBC.
  7. ^ White, Martha C. (September 8, 2017). "Meet Fingerlings, the Adorable Robot Monkeys Poised to Be the Holiday Season's Hottest Toy". Money. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017.
  8. ^ Thompson, Derek (14 December 2017). "The Most 2017 Story of 2017". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 February 2018.