Squishmallows are taking over the toy-collecting market. Springfield collectors share why

Carefully tucked behind panes of glass, more than 300 cute, colorful and cushy animal-stuffed toys — turquoise cows and orange axolotls among them — fill Hailey Porter's home office, which also serves as her Squishmallows sanctuary.

Porter, 31, is one of countless millennials who collect Squishmallows, a brand of rounded, stuffed toys that represent different characters, often animals and inanimate objects. First released in 2017 by Kelly Toys (now owned by Jazwares), Squishmallows have taken over the toy-collecting market, which has deemed them the Beanie Babies for millennials and Generation Z.

Like Beanie Babies or the Webkinz toys popular in the early 2000s, each Squishmallows toy has a name and individualized biography, which can encompass traditional animal characteristics or more elaborate backstories. There's Cam the Cat — the brand's mascot, who enjoys jumping in and out of boxes — and on the other end of the spectrum, Isolde the Onion, a public defense lawyer. Squishmallows has also released pop culture-relevant collections, like Disney, Pokémon, Sanrio and Star Wars.

Porter began acquiring Squishmallows about three years ago and her collection has steadily grown since. She told the News-Leader she has 358 Squishmallows, ranging in size from 3.5-inch keychains to 24-inch pillows.

Why are young adults leading the Squishmallows craze?

Matt Laughery, 26, has been collecting Squishmallows since around 2017, when the brand launched. Today, his collection includes more than 100 plush toys. Initially, Laughery thought Squishmallows were just for babies, but his opinion soon changed.

Besides the "thrill of the hunt," which can come with any collector's item, Laughery said he enjoys the soft, sensory texture of Squishmallows, which is particularly satisfying for neurodivergent or disabled folks. Laughery said he specifically uses his bigger Squishmallows for back support.

Porter said one of the reasons why she loves Squishmallows is because they're for everyone, no matter the demographic.

Over the years, the brand has released several Squishmallows with disabilities, like Dobrilla the Bigfoot who rolls around in a wheelchair, Steele the Shark who was born deaf and Barika the Bearded Dragon who is colorblind.

Squishmallows also has more than 130 different non-binary characters, who use they/them pronouns or no pronouns at all.

While young adults may be making headlines with their large collections, Squishmallows are popular with children, too.

Eleven-year-old Jessica Strickland began collecting Squishmallows two years ago and has around 100 sitting comfortably in two toy hammocks in the corner of her bedroom. Strickland saves up her allowance and does odd jobs for her neighbors in order to expand her collection.

Porter said she recognizes that some people may find Squishmallows collecting strange, especially when folks identify adult toy collectors with the stereotypes depicted in television shows and movies, but she wants to break that stigma.

"Some people find comfort in this," Porter said. "Monday through Friday I work from home, so I sit here, in this office all day; I work in corporate America ... I don't want to be sitting in purgatory. I'd rather be surrounded by fun things, bringing color and life and excitement."

Hefty investments

Porter estimated she has spent between $3,000-5,000 building her collection, a figure that isn't uncommon. The Washington Post published a story in June about a 27-year-old Squishmallows collector in Maryland who spent more than $2,000 on his 400-piece collection. And an 18-year-old in West Virginia told The Guardian in 2022 that her 350-plus collection cost her over $3,000.

On average, retail prices for Squishmallows start around $10 for keychains and reach up to $100 for 24-inch pillows. But rare Squishmallows, ones that were limited releases, can list for as much as $2,000 on eBay.

Porter said her rarest Squishmallows toy is likely her 12-inch Bimbi the Clown, which had a limited release last year for Halloween. Porter said Bimbi's retail value was about $30, but due to its limited availability, is selling for between $170-500 on eBay.

Laughery said his rarest Squishmallows toy is Otto the Grim Reaper, a black ghost-figured character with a skull face, holding a scythe. Otto was exclusively released for Halloween in 2021. On eBay, Otto's price ranges anywhere from $20 to over $100, depending on the toy's size.

As for Strickland, she couldn't put a price on how much she's invested in her Squishmallows collection, but her rarest toy is Devil Belana, a Halloween edition of Belana the Cow outfitted with red wings and devil horns. Strickland's mother, Kristen, said she and her husband bought the toy on eBay for around $50.

Like any collectable, there are folks interested in purchasing Squishmallows for the sole purpose of reselling.

"Unfortunately, it's a problem within the community: resellers coming in, trying to swipe everything off the shelves and obviously to double, triple and quadruple the price to resell," Porter said. "It makes it not so fun for actual collectors, so it's a bummer, but it's something that every community has to deal with."

Laughery said the practice of purchasing all of the Squishmallows at one store or swiping all of those available from a specific, limited collection, is known as "shelf clearing." This is frowned upon in the Squishmallows community.

If he does resell Squishmallows, Laughery said he charges market value or "just a few dollars more" to cover gas, if he is delivering.

The Squish community

As with other collectibles, an entire community has formed around Squishmallows. Porter and Laughery connect with other collectors in Springfield through the private Facebook Group, "Springfield, MO Squishmallow Hunters." Created in 2021, the group's goal is to help collectors connect, trade locally and let each other know what stores have Squishmallows in stock. The Facebook Group strictly prohibits shelf clearing or price gouging. As of Wednesday, the group has more than 960 members.

While much of the Facebook Group's dialogue is online, about every three months some of the members gather for in-person events. Kayla Brown Ray, one of the group's members who has a collection of about 80 Squishmallows, said in-person events are typically held in the Chesterfield Village parking lot. Attendees may swap or sell their Squishmallows with others.

"Just to be able to socialize and talk with people with the same interests is always amazing and healthy for you," Ray told the News-Leader. "Plus of course, all the Squishmallows you can potentially trade for."

Another way Porter enjoys connecting with Squishmallows collectors is via Instagram. Porter manages a Squishmallows-dedicated Instagram account, @haileys.squish, where she posts photos and videos of her new collectibles and custom creations. Porter's Squishmallows account has over 4,000 followers.

There's also a subcommunity of Squishmallows collectors who focus their time and energy on creating custom merchandise.

Some of Porter's most popular custom designs are those in which she changes the pre-existing color patches on a toy, creating new, unique characters. For example, if Porter purchases a cow Squishmallows toy with pink patches of color on its body, she may sew over the pink with green fabric. Porter said she purchases mochi minky fabric for these projects, which is similar to the stretchy, plush fabric used to create Squishmallows. These custom designs usually cost between $50-60 for an eight-inch Squishmallows toy, Porter said.

Porter has also created a Squishmallows lamp by squeezing small, keychain-sized Squishmallows into the base of a clear lamp, a Squishmallows pet bed and Squishmallows holiday stockings. The brand has released holiday stockings in the past, but Porter's take a different approach. While official Squishmallows stockings feature a handful of different characters in holiday attire, Porter disassembles an entire Squishmallow for hers to reconstruct into a stocking shape.

Where can you purchase Squishmallows?

Walmart, Target, Walgreens, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Marshalls, Hallmark, Hot Topic, Kohls, Five Below, Costco and Box Lunch and FYE in Battlefield Mall are some of places in Springfield that Porter, Laughery and Strickland list as favorites when shopping for Squishmallows.

Strickland's mother, Kristen, laughed when admitting that one of the main reasons her family purchased a Costco membership was for their daughter to shop for Squishmallows.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Are Squishmallows the new Beanie Babies? Here's what to know