Target can’t keep this $5 decoration on shelves – a limited edition of the cute ornament sparks huge hunts

Target stores are struggling to keep their $5 foam and polyester birds on shelves as fans scramble to get the limited-edition items.

Customers, known to fans as “Birbs,” have been fighting over the new collectibles as soon as they went on sale at 3 a.m. ET – in a frenzy similar to the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Fans then brag about their findings on social media – and join Facebook and Reddit groups to share their tips.

Theresa Hoffman, a 24-year-old assistant professor of mathematics from upstate New York, makes TikTok videos about the birds, evaluating new collections and showing off some of her custom pieces, such as a Father’s Day bird and a crayon-themed bird.

Target is struggling to keep its $5 foam and polyester birds on shelves

She has also added others to the collection.

“At every job I’ve worked at, I’ve gotten people addicted to the birds, and that’s why former bosses still write to me today and say, ‘Let me know when the new birds come out,'” she said.

Target began selling the birds in 2012 and now releases new birds for different occasions.

Small bird tree decorations, advent calendars and accessories with bird motifs are also sold there.

Hoffman has now purchased 75 of the birds, while Jackie Kaelble, a 37-year-old marketing communications manager from St. Paul, Minnesota, creates “birdscapes” in her living room for her collection of more than 150 birds.

Her summer birds are currently having a party in the Barbie pool, near which there is a hot dog stand.

The “Birds”, as they are called by fans, are released sporadically throughout the year on various occasions.

Kaelble is so fond of the birds that she got a tattoo of a 2021 Valentine’s Day model above her knee – a strawberry bird named Poppy.

Alyssa Fine, a second-grade teacher in Madison, New Jersey, also has 62 birds that she uses as a storytelling tool for her students.

“At a time when people are worried that kids might be missing out on some of it because of their addiction to technology, it’s been really fun to let their creativity flow and just let them do what they want,” she said of her students.

The ritual became so popular at the school, Fine said, that she and other teachers went “bird watching” to see what they could find at Target.

She says she now has to fight the urge to buy more.

“My current rule – especially now that I have one for every month of the year – is that I can’t buy another one unless it’s cuter than the one I already have,” she said.

Fans will be waking up at 3 a.m. ET to purchase the new collectibles as soon as they go on sale

Jill Sando, executive vice president at Target, says the birds’ decade-long popularity is “another example of the creativity, playfulness and magic our internal product design team brings to its work.”

Jill Sando, executive vice president at Target, says today that the birds’ decade-long popularity is “another example of the creativity, playfulness and magic that our internal product design team brings to its work.”

She noted that more select pieces will be introduced throughout the year, “including a new reunion collection to be unveiled soon.”

But Connor Clay, a 24-year-old content creator, says part of the hype surrounding the birds is “people seeing how others struggle to get them.”

“It makes others want to have them too.”

This year’s Halloween collection has disappointed some collectors because of the missing beak

But this year’s Halloween birds, which first hit the market in July, have disappointed some collectors.

The birds usually wear clothes but still have beaks.

However, all members of this year’s collection feature cartoon-like mouths, leading to what one fan dubbed “mouthgate.”

“It’s OK to be upset that all birds have mouths,” says DeAnna Allen, a 30-year-old dog sitter from Jacksonville, Florida, who has purchased 86 birds since late 2020.

“We don’t even have the option to buy one that doesn’t have a mouth.”

Some fans have undergone “bird surgery” to remove the mouths, but Allen said she doesn’t think she would do that.

Still, she said, “I think it’s reasonable to be disappointed with the birds this season.”