{"id":159662,"date":"2026-04-07T18:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/159662\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:17:14","slug":"need-o-the-needoh-pittsburghers-are-on-board-with-the-newest-toy-trend-mostly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/159662\/","title":{"rendered":"Need-O the NeeDoh: Pittsburghers Are on Board With the Newest Toy Trend \u2014 Mostly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Needoh<\/a><\/p>\n

AN ASSORTMENT OF NEEDOHS AND OTHER POPULAR SQUISHY TOYS IN A TARGET BASKET | PHOTO COURTESY OF CRYSTAL BRAY<\/p>\n

First, there were Cabbage Patch Kids and Neopets. Then, there was Labubu. Now, a new contender has entered the retail arena to assert itself as the newest toy trend in 2026.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called NeeDoh.<\/p>\n

The squishy sensory toy comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, although the square ones \u2014 dubbed \u201cnice cubes<\/a>\u201d and \u201cnice bergs<\/a>\u201d \u2014 are the most popular. From teenie \u201cGroovy Globs<\/a>\u201d to the noodle-shaped \u201cMac \u2018N\u2019 Squeeze<\/a>,\u201d the soft and stretchy toys have taken the Internet by storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Videos on social media showing NeeDoh restocks <\/a>have garnered tens of thousands of views, and \u201cNeeDoh hunting<\/a>,\u201d or cruising from store to store in search of the squishy blobs, has become a viral trend<\/a> for content creators of all ages.<\/p>\n

The craze has led to long lines<\/a> outside of shops across the country, including many in the Pittsburgh area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has definitely been an adventure,\u201d says Beth Ann Vernon, manager at Hobby Express, a toy store in Cranberry Township. \u201cIt\u2019s been amazing seeing so many new customers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January, Vernon says the store placed an order for 1,500 NeeDohs, expecting them to last for at least the next six months. But instead of taking the two weeks it normally takes to receive the shipment, it took seven weeks; by the time they arrived, the NeeDoh craze was in full bloom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe posted on Facebook and Instagram we had them available, limit 2 per person,\u201d Vernon says. \u201cWe knew we wanted to limit them to make sure we could spread them out to as many people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a line of people waiting for us to have them ready to sell, then there was a line waiting when we opened the next morning,\u201d she says. \u201cWe sold through the 1,500 in less than two days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dragonfly Castle, a longstanding toy shop in Lawrenceville, may not have seen the long lines outside, but they have been getting calls. Lots of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Owner Nan Dowiak estimates that about 99% of the phone calls her store has received in recent weeks have been asking about NeeDohs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting, she says, because the toys aren\u2019t new. They\u2019ve been around for years, sitting discretely on her shelves and selling only occasionally \u2014 mostly to people in their 20s or 30s looking for a fidget toy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first buyers were young adults, and even a good friend of mine who enjoyed them as a stress-relief toy,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then the younger kids started getting interested in them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dragonfly Castle sold the last of its NeeDohs about two weeks ago, Dowiak says. She placed an order last month to Schylling, the company that makes and sells NeeDohs, for more of the squishy cubes and the wide range of other toys she sells from the brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Usually, shipments take about two weeks from \u201corder placed\u201d to \u201cpackage delivered,\u201d but they still haven\u2019t arrived as of April 3, Dowiak says, echoing the shipping woes Hobby Express experienced earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Dowiak called the company, they told her she was in the queue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other toys I buy from them, I didn\u2019t have in stock for Easter,\u201d she says. \u201cThat makes me grumpy.\u201d<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t only specialty toy stores that are seeing a bump in NeeDoh-related traffic, for better or for worse. Big box stores like Target and Walmart have also been receiving phone calls, seeing long lines and grappling with disappointed customers when the popular toy inevitably sells out, workers say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get multiple calls for them every day,\u201d explains an employee at a Pittsburgh-area Target who wishes to remain anonymous. \u201cThey sell out in hours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Needoh<\/a><\/p>\n

A SIGN ON THE WINDOW OF HOT TOPIC IN ROSS PARK MALL | PHOTO BY OLLIE GRATZINGER<\/p>\n

At the forefront of the NeeDoh surge are self-professed \u201cNeeDoh hunters\u201d like Crystal Bray, who has become a regular at her local Target stores.<\/p>\n

The Cranberry resident has been on the hunt for about a month and currently has more than 50 pieces between her and her four daughters, she says. Bray explains that her journey began when one of her daughters asked for a NeeDoh, and she obliged.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it came, she wanted more, but once I went to the stores, the shelves were empty,\u201d she says. \u201cThe stores started to tell me that they sell out as soon as they\u2019re placed on the shelf. For me, that meant, \u2018Challenge accepted.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trick, she says, is being persistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCall the stores. Not just one phone call, but multiple times per day,\u201d she says. \u201cAsk about trucks. Get their restock times. Most important, get to the stores before they open and stand there.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what she did.<\/p>\n

Bray was one of the handful of NeeDoh hunters at the Target in McCandless early Wednesday morning. Bray, along with her oldest daughter and about six other people, were lined up outside of the store at 7:30 a.m., primed and ready for when doors opened at 8 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the time came, they ran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At first, they were met with another empty shelf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, a worker comes with boxes and asks us to form a line,\u201d Bray says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She made it out with a decent haul of glittery nice cubes and textured fuzz balls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed finding hard-to-find toys. It\u2019s been a few years since a fad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Needoh2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SOME OF CRYSTAL BRAY\u2019S NEEDOHS | PHOTO COURTESY OF CRYSTAL BRAY<\/p>\n

Almost all viral toys are popularized on social media sites like TikTok, according to Samantha Connell, associate editor of The Toy Insider<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to come across products like NeeDoh regularly, and soon enough, your entire feed will feature the toy,\u201d she says. \u201cAfter engaging with a handful of TikTok videos or Instagram posts, social media users might feel like they\u2019re missing out and start the process of building their own collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that the videos of folks going NeeDoh hunting can also add to the popularity of the item; when people see others doing something that looks fun or trendy, they might decide to go on the same adventure to get a piece of the action \u2014 and the clout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also a certain thrill when looking, and eventually finding, your desired NeeDoh product,\u201d Connell says. \u201cPart of the fun for some social media users is tracking retailers through online videos and getting a small rush when they see the item on the shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost all viral toys have a few things in common, too. Recent trends, Connell says, have featured an unboxing, a sensory element or a collectability factor. Some products, like NeeDoh and Labubu<\/a>, have all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to integrate this toy into everyday life, especially because it\u2019s quiet, doesn\u2019t require intense focus and is budget-friendly, so you can continue building your collection,\u201d Connell says.<\/p>\n

But not everyone sees the novelty of these trends in a positive light.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attempts to crowdsource information on social media were met with mixed reviews. Some users explain the benefits of NeeDoh toys among nervous or neurodivergent children<\/a> at UPMC Children\u2019s Hospital of Pittsburgh, for example, and others say it has helped them build memories with their families<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others, however, condemn the trend as overly commercial or just plain annoying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing my part by not bothering to look up these things,\u201d another user wrote<\/a> on the same subreddit. \u201cThe sooner they stop being \u2018viral,\u2019 the sooner nobody has a reason to write about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Folks also point to some dangerous misinformation that\u2019s spreading online about the toys; some posts by popular content creators have suggested that microwaving the NeeDohs can make them more pliable and squishy, but microwaving the toy can actually cause it to explode, and the boiling gel inside can cause severe burns. Last year, PEOPLE Magazine reported<\/a> that a 7-year-old from Missouri ended up in a medically-induced coma with severe burns after copying videos she saw online.<\/p>\n

Another 9-year-old boy in Michigan <\/a>ended up with severe burns on his face in February after copying the microwave trend. Loyola University Medical Center told local TV stations that the boy\u2019s case is the fourth they have seen this year involving NeeDoh toys.<\/p>\n

There is also a thriving resale market for toys, which has been the case with just about every popular item, from sneakers<\/a> to concert tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On average, most NeeDohs retail for around $5 to $10, depending on the size, shape and shop at which they\u2019re purchased. At Five Below, some NeeDohs only cost between $1 and $3. But on websites such as Ebay<\/a>, Facebook Marketplace<\/a> and StockX<\/a>, they\u2019re selling for three times that price \u2014 at least. Some posts on StockX are asking for more than $220<\/a> for a set of three NeeDohs. On Staples\u2019 website, the same toy<\/a> is listed as out of stock, but priced at only $11.99 per cube.<\/p>\n

For Bray, and for many NeeDoh hunters like her, it isn\u2019t about making a profit through reselling, or even about building up an impressive collection. Instead, she says it\u2019s about the \u201cthrill of the hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI started because it\u2019s fun,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s creating memories for my kids.\u201d\t<\/p>\n