shades fills you in

Ever heard of Squishmallows? They’re stuffed animals from the company Kellytoy that are -- you guessed it -- squishy. They were first released in 2017, but thanks to TikTok, they’ve exploded in popularity

And it’s not just TikTok -- there’s a subreddit dedicated to any and all things squish, with around 50k members

This TikToker has *quite* a lot of them

Users on #Squishtok have so many, that they’ve developed methods of organizing their squish

Their popularity even sparked “squish swaps” -- where people get together IRL to sell and trade squish

Some of them are super valuable. In fact, one Squish is selling for $1.8k

And like most corners of the internet, there are bullies and scammers in the Squishmallow fandom, reports Input Magazine

How do certain Squish become “rare”, and others don’t? This TikToker explains it’s pretty much all thanks to #Squishtok hyping up certain Squishmallows

And it’s not just kids that are buying them. The Daily Aztec -- the San Diego State University newspaper -- writes that Squishmallows have invaded their campus

HerCampus thinks the young adult women who collect Squishmallows are healing their inner child -- and embracing their femininity

Fast Company writes that Squishmallows are aiming to be the next Hello Kitty, bringing the “kawaii” culture overseas from Japan to the U.S. market

Kim K’s daughter, North, also loves Squishmallows. And of course, she has an impressive collection to boot