As someone who covers toys for a living (and cohabitates with two toy collectors), I’m basically on the mailing list for every toy catalog in existence. And when I got the 2026 Gift Guide from Five Below, my first thought was: Are they trying to recreate the early-2000s-style Black Friday rushes? I know all things Y2K are back in style, I just didn’t think that would apply to Black Friday line-up-at-the-door-before-they-unlock-it crowds.
For starters, these NeeDoh-filled Candy Canes are worth a trip to the store in and of themselves. NeeDoh and other squishies have been the hottest gifts for kids this year—and also the hardest to acquire. We’ve seen the NeeDoh Nice Cube, the NeeDoh Gumdrop, and the impossible-to-find NeeDoh Advent Calendar go in and out of stock countless times already this season, to the point where even the NeeDoh website has given up on taking orders. These NeeDoh Candy Canes come with five “Groovy Globs” (i.e., spheres of vibrantly colored squishies). If that doesn’t make them the perfect stocking stuffers, I don’t know what is.
And about that NeeDoh Advent Calendar—the one that’s available to purchase on Amazon by invitation only? I can’t guarantee that it’ll ...