The line wraps around the building at RedFive Toys and Collectibles for its “Squishy Saturday” events.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
EAST LONGMEADOW — Many know that the stress ball has been a go-to tool for handheld relaxation and mediation since its inception in 1988, but a new trend has taken over the market and East Longmeadow’s RedFive Toys and Collectibles, 55 Maple St., has kept up with the demand with its “Squishy Saturday” events.
“Squishy toys,” such as Massachusetts’ own NeeDoh products by Schylling, grew to popularity in the United States around 2017 and have experienced a secondary resurgence through TikTok-driven trends this year.
They have a similar texture and form to a stress-ball and can be used in the same ways to help reduce stress and anxiety, but come in a variety of shapes, colors and designs, such as a stick of butter, block of cheese or a banana.
Uses can also be unrelated to therapeutic means. Trends like the viral “mystery dumplings,” a blind-box sensory toy with surprise colors, have brought children and adults together in flocking to stores to find the authentic product. The trend can be compared to searching for a favorite player in a pack of baseball cards and the excitement that comes from finally finding it.
With the resurgence, many stores sell out of its stock as soon as doors open. RedFive founder and owner Brian Rushby said the store tries to keep up on every fast-moving toy craze. This trend skyrocketed during a production break in factories, immediately leading to a high demand and low supply.
“We’ve had [NeeDoh] in stock for like five years, so it’s nothing new for us,” Rushby said. “It was holding its own and then this past Christmas it sold, and we’re like ‘you know what, maybe NeeDoh just needs to be a stocking stuffer thing and maybe we don’t need to carry it all year round. We didn’t place any orders this spring, and then the squishy craze happened, then Chinese New Year happened and during Chinese New Year, all the factories shut down for a month … there was no product to ship right when the squishy trend really blew up so that’s why NeeDoh became hard to track.”
Rushby said he orders any squishy toy on the market, which led him to bringing in 500-600 units a week to sell products people said they wanted and to keep up with the popularity.
Squishy Saturday is used as the big product rollout, and he said a trend spreads like wildfire once it gains popularity on TikTok.
“The first Squishy Saturday came and went and it was crazy,” Rushby said. “We started hustling to get more product and then we did another Squishy Saturday. I don’t even know how many we’re up to now. Once Saturday is done, the hustle goes to find new products for the next Saturday. When we do have NeeDoh products, which are few and far between, the last time we had it, we had a line wrapped around the building and the register didn’t stop ringing for four straight hours. It was absolutely bananas. It was four hours of person after person after person.”
Rushby said he’s seen first hand that these products do help with stress and anxiety, and that stress in children might be more prevalent than ever.
“I posted on Facebook about doing this and somebody was like ‘for what, a stress ball, kids don’t even have stress,’” Rushby said. “My wife and I were like ‘what?’ They have just their daily in and out stress, then there’s peer stress and now there’s social media to that stress. Kids are a lot more tuned into the world than they used to be when I was growing up. I have a 17-year-old daughter talking to me about political issues going on around the world. When I was 17, I was riding skateboards. I didn’t know what the heck was going on in the world, so I think these kids are just inherently more stressed than they used to be.”
He said adults tell him that they keep the items on their desks at work and use them to take their minds off of stress.
“Whether we’re talking about a child or an adult, I think everyone’s just stressed more and they’re finding comfort in these sensory items,” Rushby said. “If that’s what’s happening in adults and kids, help cope with the world better, then we’re here for it. Whatever helps everyone have a better day. We’re all about supporting that journey and trying to keep that stuff in their hands. We have clickers, fidget rings and sensory stickers, worry stones and all these things to help those kids and adults who need a little bit more of a sensory distraction to help get them through the day.”
Rushby said everybody who attends has a great time and keeps a happy and bubbly mood even when standing in the sun and waiting in line. He added that he will hold Squishy Saturdays as long as the trend continues and sell authentic products without going over MSRP.
Those interested in attending Squishy Saturday can visit RedFive’s Facebook page, @RedFiveToysandCollectibles or @redfive_toys_and_collectibles on Instagram. More information on the store or other products can be found at redfivetoysandcollectibles.com.
