Looking for the hottest toy of this holiday season? It's not the Hatchimal this year, unlike last Christmas.
It's a little monkey puppet called a Fingerling.
The sign on the shelf at a nearby Target store said "Limit 2 Fingerlings per guest." Too bad you can't find even one.
This little $14 interactive finger puppet has become almost impossible to find. "You can't find them anywhere, so good luck to everyone that's looking for them," one mom told us.
So we went on a quest to find some.
At Target, we found that sign taunting shoppers with "Limit 2" when all they had was empty shelf space.At least they had imitation Hatchimals in stock.
At Walmart, no Fingerlings either. But we did find a paintable "poop emoji" toy, just what your 5 year old needs.
At Toys r Us, meantime, clerks told us to check back in the morning. We found one mom there who got one last week.
Parents offer tips and advice
Frustrated, we asked parents on Facebook to share their secrets for finding them.
Stacy Miller said "just suck it up and buy on eBay. There are people who are not trying to make a fortune."
Leah Field's advice: "I check Amazon almost daily. Once one becomes available, they will release each color periodically throughout the day."
Shannon Barnard agreed, saying "check Amazon every day. They are releasing them in waves and limited them to 1 Per order some people cant buy them and turn around and sell them for double. I have been able to order 3 at $14.99 each."
Should you pay a premium?
No luck? You can find them on eBay for $40 to $400, though before you overpay, you may want to remember this advice from Dina Sanders, who has some friends whose kids already have them.
"Truthfully what I've heard is that the kids play with them for a week and then they throw them away, or they get lost, or something eats them," Sanders said.
Let's assume she was talking about the dog eating the toy, not her kids.
If you are going crazy, and thinking of spending 5 times the original price to get one, just remember last year's Hatchimal craze. Parents spent hundreds to get the hatching eggs, and now most sit in the bottom of closets, collecting dust.
As always, don't waste your money.
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