Fingerlings recently debuted their newest line, the two-toned monkey, and after missing out on the first Fingerlings craze, I jumped at this one to see what kind of monkeying around WowWee was doing in the toy department.
What is a Fingerling?
A Fingerling is a small robot that fits in the palm of your hands and can hang from your finger. They started out as monkeys but they’ve since branched out into Unicorns and Sloths.
Fingerlings are the latest toy craze that caused a viral sensation only seen with the Furby and Barbie. Stores couldn’t keep them in stock and suppliers weren’t able to fill the need. People were so desperate they were paying over $50 on eBay for the little things that retail for $15.
What can it do?
- Fart
- Blow kisses
- Sleep
- Sing
- Interact with other Fingerlings
- Grip to the side of things like notebooks, spoons, pens
WowWee has come out with playsets to host your Fingerling parties and more importantly, keeping them off the floor. If you’re into Knex, you can easily build something cool to hold them with little effort.
What can you do with it?
This has been the tricky part for me. I’ve seen children simply hold them and I’ve seen others treat them the same way some children treat dolls or pets. The commercials show them hanging from backpacks and spoons.
I guess it’s a toy that is limited only by your imagination. So what can you do with it? Whatever you want that doesn’t break the laws of physics I guess.
An adult’s perspective…
When it comes to fidget toys, Fingerlings have the fidget spinner beat, being about the same price but with more sensory rewards.
The impressive thing about what WowWee has done with Fingerlings is they took a simple idea of a finger buddy and added animatronics usually only found in larger robotic toys. I see the Fingerlings as a less furry version of a FurReal pet. The bright colors and the wide variety of choices make it any kid friendly as well as gender neutral.
The best part about the toy is that he’s not loud and obnoxious so you can take them anywhere and not get ticketed for a noise complaint (unlike some of the other robotic toys out there). The only improvement I can see would be for the ears to react.
Are they worth it?
If these little guys were priced over their retail $14.99 mark, I’d say they’re not worth the hassle because part of their charm is the price for what you get. I just can’t see these guys being worth the $50 price tag some people on eBay have put on them.
Much like the ZhuZhu pets, Furby, and the previous hot toys before them, Fingerlings are a viral craze and viral crazes always die down at some point. My question for WowWee is…how are they going to follow this one up?
What do you think about the Fingerling craze? Let us know in the comments!
Disclaimer: GeekMom was given a review sample.
