D’Angelo Adams was on the hunt this past spring. He was searching for a sparkly NeeDoh called a Dream Drop. D’Angelo hoped Target would have it. But when he and his mom got to the store, the toy was sold out.

“People really, really want them,” says D’Angelo.

The 10-year-old from Indiana isn’t the only kid searching for NeeDohs. The squishy toys have been around since 2017. But interest in them exploded in recent months. Before long, some NeeDohs were hard to find. The simple toy had become the latest fad.

D’Angelo Adams was on the hunt this past spring. He was looking for a NeeDoh. It’s called a Dream Drop. D’Angelo and his mom went to Target. But the toy was sold out there.

“People really, really want them,” says D’Angelo. He’s a 10-year-old from Indiana.

He isn’t the only kid looking for NeeDohs. The squishy toys have been around since 2017. But interest in them blew up in recent months. Before long, some NeeDohs were hard to find. The toy had become the latest fad.

Toy fads are nothing new (see “Gotta Have It!”). But social media has changed how quickly they can spread. With NeeDohs, millions of people watched videos of the colorful toys being squished. As excitement grew online, it spread in real life too. Kids talked about NeeDohs at school. Stores sold out quickly. Parents scrambled to find them. Experts say that’s not surprising. The harder it is to find something popular, the more people want it.

“When you have that same toy as somebody else, you are part of that community,” says Jennifer Lynch. She is a toy expert.

Toy fads are not new (see “Gotta Have It!”). But social media has changed how quickly they can spread. Millions of people watched videos of NeeDohs being squished. Excitement grew online. Then it spread in real life. Kids talked about NeeDohs at school. Stores sold out quickly. Parents scrambled to find them.

Experts say that’s no surprise. When a popular item is hard to find, people want it more. “When you have that same toy as somebody else, you are part of that community,” says Jennifer Lynch. She is a toy expert.