The holidays are almost upon us, and parents are already struggling to get the hottest toys for their kids. This is an age-old phenomenon: a certain toy becomes extremely popular, sometimes for reasons we don’t understand, and the toy becomes extremely scarce. Probably the most well-known example is Tickle Me Elmo, in 1996. The unexpected success of the doll led to parents fighting in the aisles of toy stores, and scalpers selling it for hundreds of dollars. But there are many more examples of toys that became notoriously hard to buy before the holidays. Ebates put together an infographic of some of them, starting in 1983, and it makes for an interesting infographic. Check it out below. Do you or your kids own any of these hard-to-get toys?
