Features
Squishmallow Mania
By: Jen Ginsberg Updated May 15, 2026
Emily Faroni’s life changed when she got a Squishmallow cat for Valentine’s Day.
Emily now has accumulated over 580 Squishmallows that range in size anywhere from two to 24 inches. Her bedroom is covered in Squishmallows. The smaller ones are lined up on the shelves on the wall like soldiers in a row. The larger plump stuffed animals cover her entire queen-sized bed.
“I just fell in love with it,” she said. “I thought it was the cutest thing. Once I started seeing Squishmallows all over the place I would buy the ones I thought were cute and then it turned into a collection.”
Emily isn’t the only one captivated by these stuffed animals. Collected by children, teens, and adults, Squishmallows have captured the hearts of many, similar to Beanie Babies and Webkinz.
The stuffed animals have gone so viral that celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga have featured their own collections on social media. Kellytoy created Squishmallows (aptly nicknamed ‘Squish’ or ‘Squishes’) in 2017 and was acquired by Jazwares shortly after in 2019. There are over 3,000 Squishes to collect, which creates a rich environment for enthusiasts who avidly post about their findings on social media. The stuffed animals range anywhere from $3-80, with rare ones reselling for over $1,000. Squishes come in themed collections and range in everything under the sun — from animated characters in your favorite childhood movie to food and animals.
Courtesy: Emily FaroniErin Hickson has over 140 Squishmallows that she displays on her TikTok, where she has over 60,700 followers.
“As an adult, I don't play with stuffed animals the same way as when I was a kid so it’s kind of my way of being interactive with them,” Erin said. “I make fun little videos with [the stuffed animals] or take photos of them. I also love posting about them, because I find people who love Squishmallows too and make friends and it’s a whole community.”
Most of her videos consist of her going “Squish hunting” and showing the Squishmallows she sees when shopping. Erin enjoys showing the viewers the Squishes she owns because to her it feels like she is talking to a friend about what she got. Sometimes, her comment section will inform her of a Squishmallow restock in one of her local stores, and that makes the next hunt that much sweeter.
Squishmallow collectors noted that it is not just the Squish at the end of the journey, but also who you take the journey with.
“[My mom and I] would go to Five Below and they would have a huge bin of a bunch of different Squishmallows, and we would get a new one that we thought was cute,” Emily said. “It’s kind of turned into our own little tradition. I looked forward to hanging out with my mom because we would both pick out the next addition to my collection.”
Every other Sunday, Emily and her cousin would go “Squish hunting” — they would drive together to all of their local Squishmallow haunts to see if the stores had any new merchandise.
“It was our way to connect and bond during a time where you, like, basically couldn’t see anybody,” she said. “I’d drop everything and go [to the stores] with her.”