The Saga of Buying a Snow Glow Elsa Doll

Have you guys heard of Snow Glow Elsa? If you don't have a daughter between the ages of three and nine, I'm guessing the answer is no. But if you do have a little girl, the answer is probably more along the lines of: "YES!! Why? Do you know where to get one??"

You see, Snow Glow Elsa is the hot holiday toy for girls this year. So how is it different than one of the (million) other Elsa dolls? It says a bunch of different Frozen-related phrases (in both English and Spanish, no less), sings the Idina Menzel version of "Let It Go," and does it all in a sparkly, light-up dress. Girls want it and they want it bad.

Trouble is, it's selling out everywhere and is becoming basically impossible to find. 

I got a peek at SG Elsa at a holiday toy preview earlier this fall, so I knew it was going to be hot--and I knew my daughter would ask for one. So, a few weeks ago, we bought two in Target--one for one of the little girls in our adopt-a-family and one for my daughter. After we got them home though, we realized that one seemed to be broken. (Most likely just dead batteries, but no way to tell without opening it and who wants that kind of disappointment on Christmas morning?!) So we wrapped up the working one to donate, and put the broken one aside thinking I'd take it to Target at some point and exchange it.

Of course I totally forgot to actually go and exchange it.

Fast forward to this week. I walked into Target, finally returned the broken Elsa, and headed over to the toy section to pick up a new one. Of course...there were none. There were regular Elsas. There were Annas. But not a SINGLE Snow Glow. I grabbed one of the red-and-khaki-clad employees and asked if they had any in the back. I believe her response was, "HAHAHAHAHAH!" So that would be no.

I pulled out my phone and searched online. Target.com, Walmart.com, ToysRUs.com, and every actual Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us store remotely close to us was sold out. I started to panic.

My mom still tells the story of a Christmas back in the '80s when Cabbage Patch Kids first came out and every kid wanted one. They were sold out everywhere, and this was (way!) before anything like eBay. Then, apparently there was a suburban rumor that a Toys R Us in the area was getting a shipment. So one night, she waited in line outside with a million other desperate moms and dads, screaming: "I just need one with brown hair!! ONE WITH BROWN HAIR!!" 

And that Christmas, brown-haired Erica Lynne became mine.

Standing in Target this week, I had a sickening feeling that Snow Glow Elsa was about to become my Cabbage Patch Kid. This was about to become something that I would be telling my kids about twenty years later. 

So I did what any desperate mom would do. I called my mom. My parents started canvasing the D.C.-area Targets immediately. Meanwhile, I ran back to the customer service desk and asked frantically whether the broken Elsa was still there. It was. So I bought it back. The cashier looked at me like I was insane. But whatever. I figured it would be my safety Elsa just in case we couldn't find a working one.

An hour later, when I was in the car heading home, my dad emailed. He had found (and bought) one in Maryland. Crisis averted. Mom and dad to the rescue again. Cabbage Patch, revisited.

This is Christmas once you're a mom, people. Merry Stress-Mas!

If you still need your own Snow Glow Elsa, hope is not lost. It turns out Amazon still has some (though most seem to be at jacked-up prices), and eBay has them (though, again, you'll pay for your procrastination). 

And of course, I'm now the proud owner of two Snow Glow Elsas. And the mute one's yours if you want it.

[UPDATE! Looks like Toys R Us just got them back in stock! Limit two per customer though, so put those get-rich-on-Ebay fantasies to bed, people.]