'The craze has spread like wildfire': Holiday shoppers hunt for elusive Fingerlings

Some parents in the Ottawa area say they've beensearching long and hard to find Fingerlings ahead of Christmas this year, dealing with empty shelves at many retailers and huge online markups.

Fingerlings are small, plastic animals that wrap around children's fingers. The interactive toys include more than 50 animations, according to a description on the Toys "R"Us website.

Kelly Anne Hunt, a mother of three fromArnprior, Ont., said that when she saw three of the toys for sale on Amazon, shescooped them up immediately.

The family ended up with three extra toys after her sister-in-law had the same idea, Hunt said.Instead of returning them, she said she decided to see if she could sell them online.

She posted a simplemessage on a localArnprioryardsaleFacebook page and within five minutes, she said, all three toys had buyers.

"I was quite surprised," Huntsaid."I knew that they were a hot item, but I didn't know they were that hot."

High online prices

Thepopularity of the toys has led to wildly inflated prices on selling platforms like Amazon andKijiji.

It's like a mad craze, it's ridiculous.- Erin Field, Barrhaven parent

On Amazon, authenticFinglerlingsare listed for as much as $97. The normal retail price is around $20.

Erin Field, who lives inBarrhaven, saidshe's been searching for the toys for three weeks with little luck.

When she finallyfound them in stock at a localToys "R" Us, she posted a Facebook messageon aBarrhavenareapage,alerting other parents.

"I've gone to every measure you could possibly do," she said. "I've signed up for email notifications, gone around to Toys "R" Us, Mastermind Toys ... It's like a mad craze, it's ridiculous."

Field said that despite the frustration, her community has really pulled together to help other parents find the toys.

"Nobody wants anyone else's kid to be disappointed," she said.

Fingerlings scarce in Ottawa

Calls to Walmart, Toys "R" Us and Mastermind Toys locations in theOttawa-Gatineauarea onDec. 2 proved nearly fruitless, with only twostores the Walmart in Billings Bridge Shopping Centreand Toys "R" Us in Orlansreporting they had thetoys in stock.

A spokesperson for Mastermind Toys wrote in an email that Fingerlings "have been a huge hit" and are "selling quickly as soon as they hit the shelves."

Customer service employees at several Toys "R" Us locations said any toys shipped in were usually gone from shelves in less than a day, and sometimes within only a few hours.

"I think if you don't have kids, you don't even know what a Fingerling is," Hunt said."But the craze has spread like wildfire."