A Dickens of a Time for Shoppers

The fur is flying this holiday season as shoppers elbow one another to get their hands on the latest popular plaything: a fuzzy, talking electronic ball with big eyes and floppy ears known as Furby.

Furby is the latest in a long line of hot toys--Sesame Street Tickle-Me Elmo, Nintendo 64 video games and Cabbage Patch Kids--that has sent otherwise normal parents around the bend in their quest to put smiles on their kids’ faces. KARIMA A. HAYNES asked two shoppers what they are willing to do, or have done, to snap up hot-selling toys.

DENA FROST / Services representative, Physical Therapy Provider Network, Reseda

I am pursuing Angel Bear Holiday Beanie Babies. I have been looking for them at Nordstrom, Imaginarium, Hallmark stores, the Indoor Swap Meet in Canoga Park and other specialty stores. The Angel Bear was released a few weeks ago, and they have been very hard to get. I really want this one because it represents the holidays and because of the spiritual side to it.

I am attracted to them. I guess I get caught up in the hype that they might be worth something one day, but I don’t know why, because I will never sell them. I’m too attached to them. There are people who keep the protectors on the tags, put them in acrylic boxes or in curio cabinets. They will not let anyone touch them. They treat them like they are museum displays. But I let my son play with them. I don’t make a big deal about it.

I have my aunt in Seattle looking for the [Angel Bear]. If she hears about Beanie Babies going on sale at Nordstrom or somewhere, she will jump into her car and go to see what the shipment is. If they are Beanie Babies she has already, she will get back in her car and go home. She even got me a Glory Bear.

Those bears are really popular. It’s a Fourth of July bear. It has stars and stripes, a flag and a heart on it. [Department and toy stores] sell them for $4.95. But secondary markets--like private collectors and specialty shops--sell them from $25 to $80. They [Glory Bears] are not even retired; that’s when the company won’t produce them any more.

I will eventually get the Angel Bear. My friends want to send me to Beanie Baby Anonymous. It’s like an obsession. I just have to have it.

It’s not only Beanie Babies. Last Christmas, I was looking for the oversized Piglet [a plush doll based on “Winnie the Pooh”].

My son is absolutely in love with Piglet, and I buy everything I can with Piglet on it. It cost $39.95. I had to have this for him.

I went to Toys R Us; they were sold out. I went to Kay Bee Toys. I couldn’t find Piglet anywhere. My friend went to Toys R Us in Camarillo and got it for me. My son was ecstatic on Christmas.

When I see his expression, it makes it worth it.

If I couldn’t get a specific gift for him, he probably would forget about it because he would be so overwhelmed with the other things he did get. . . . He is not the kind of kid who would throw a temper tantrum.

ROBIN SIEGEL / Homemaker, Van Nuys

About 10 years ago, my daughter wanted a Cabbage Patch doll. It was the craze back then. They had waiting lists at Toys R Us. Then they would get a few in, and if you were lucky, your name might get called.

The Cabbage Patch doll my daughter particularly wanted had her middle name, “Nicole.” It was a squat doll with a balloon face, and I think it was smiling, I’m not sure.

I called about five stores. I went to Kay Bee Toys, Toys R Us and other department stores. I was in a mad search for it.

What drove me to do it? The need for my child to have complete satisfaction and utter joy by having this doll.

At Toys R Us, they basically said that they did not know when they would get them in. They said [the dolls] were back-ordered from the factory. When a shipment came in, the store had to divvy them up with other stores.

I didn’t know what was coming in: Would it be only boy dolls? Girl dolls with black hair or blond hair? We wanted the Nicole doll. That was what we were looking for.

This was a Christmas gift. This is a case where Santa can do no wrong. I just had to get it.

On Christmas Day, she was very excited; it made her whole Christmas. I said to myself, I’m glad Christmas is over.

My daughter is 17 now and she still has that doll.