It’s small and fluffy and red… and very cute, but would you have imagined that 10 years ago such a sweet and innocent toy wreaked havoc across North America?

Tickle me Elmo was introduced to the US ten years ago, in 1996, as a children’s toy made by Tyco.

Based on Elmo, the character from the Sesame Street Muppets, when squeezed he would respond, “hug Elmo” and then shake and laugh, much to the delight of many children.

Of course, the children were delighted, who at such a young age would not be delighted with something so cute? Elmo quickly became the “must-have toy” in ’96, and due to supply shortages, stores soon hiked prices. Christmas soon arrived and the Elmo mania had set in. The kids’ parents actually fought with other parents to grab one of these amazing toys that people’s kids were quickly becoming so attached to. The parents lost their minds, spent a lot of money, and sometimes even resorted to physical violence. A Wal-Mart store clerk suffered horrific injuries including a broken rib and the crotch of his jeans torn off.

Other tickle me dolls such as Tickle Me Big Bird and Tickle Me Cookie Monster were introduced to the market in 1997, but as you could never have guessed, these toys never achieved as much sales or fame as Tickle Me Elmo. These toys are rare and are still in demand today.

In the fall of 2001, Elmo stopped laughing…instead, five of the special Elmo Tickle Me announced to their juicers that they had won an award. The grand prize was $200,000!

The American Toy Fair in 2006 saw the announcement of the new Elmo doll called Tickle Me Extreme and it hit stores on September 19, 2006. But the Elmo mania doesn’t stop there! With the release of Tickle me Elmo Extreme, a boy in Tampa, Florida was held up at gunpoint, told it was the life of him or the Elmo doll. So I guess if you have one of these dolls around the house, it might actually turn out to be quite a lucrative item to sell or even keep for the future.

eBay and Amazon have been regularly hit with this rare character mostly selling for at least triple the regular price of $35 due to its rarity. There are websites that sell these toys and they have quite a copious amount in stock, so if you want to avoid the rush this time, or at least keep your health intact, I suggest you take my advice and shop online.