Australia’s Border Force has been asked to seize fake NeeDoh toys, as its manufacturer takes extraordinary steps to stop a barrage of dupes copying the global children’s squishy toy craze from flooding the local market.The gel-like cubes, dumplings and assorted fruit – all “squishies”, which kicked off from the original and most popular brand, NeeDoh – have children obsessed. Parents are baffled. But with viral popularity comes increasing scrutiny. What’s in the toys? Are they safe?Melbourne sisters Vanessa (left) and Audrey are obsessed with squishies. Eddie JimSeveral children globally, including a 10-year-old Australian girl, have reported serious injuries from squishies exploding and burning them, and now NeeDoh’s manufacturer is facing a US class action alleging it failed to warn consumers about the risks of the toys when exposed to heat.This masthead can reveal that Schylling, the US company that manufactures NeeDoh, and its licensed Australian distributor, William Valentine, have approached Australian Border Force, raided factories in China and issued cease-and-desist letters to retailers selling fakes as they try to stop an influx of fake squishies coming in “thick and fast”.Schylling’s ultimate owner, listed US-based private equity company Gladstone Investment Corporation, also invests in an American defence company that says: “The United States and its allies must be ready to fight and win – anywhere, anytime.”They went ‘absolutely mental’Squishies have probably been around since humans learnt to work with the sap of the rubber tree. In a simpler age, kids filled balloons with rice to make malleable balls. Now, thanks to the modern chemical industry, squishies come in all shapes and varieties: blue, green, soap, chicken. Schylling, the 51-year-old Massachusetts-based toy maker, launched NeeDoh in 2017, and the toy sold reasonably well.Then, in January, “it just went absolutely mental,” recalls Adele Dyson, owner of Adventure Awaits in the northern Victorian town of Numurkah. “We sold a thousand units in like two days.”In early 2026, Schylling released an advent-calendar-style multipack – and the toys suddenly became viral hits.“Everyone is just obsessed with them,” says Katie Hennessey, a Brisbane-based 18-year-old who has amassed more than 200,000 followers on TikTok with posts showing her unboxing squishies. “I don’t know why – they come in so many fun textures, shapes and colours. You want to collect all the different textures … which just makes it really fun.”Dyson says “every single primary-aged kid or teenager, they want one, and they are harassing their parents, the stores, the staff to get one. It is next level. Some of the messages we have received have been out of control – begging for NeeDohs.” She’s had people come to her shop from as far as Darwin trying to get NeeDohs.Schylling has been struggling to get new stock out to retailers. A pop-up on its website says it has closed its own online store. “Demand for NeeDoh and our other products is exceptionally high right now, so we’re taking a short pause on new orders.”Jumping on the trend, other brands produce squishies too, including Smooshos Mystery Dumplings and Mushykinz Jelleez, which are also popular.Google search volume for NeeDoh is up 2800 per cent on 2025, and “squishie” is up 5000 per cent. Some schools have had to ban the toys because kids were spending too long trading them, says Hennessey.And when a pallet last arrived at Dyson’s shop, it sold out online in four minutes, despite a limit of one per customer.”We got a whole barrage of emails from parents saying ‘I’ve got three kids … my daughter is dying of cancer, send me NeeDohs’,” says Dyson. “One kid sent me 50 messages in one day: ‘give me NeeDoh. I have to have it’.” While NeeDohs remain elusive, Schylling and its Australian distributor, William Valentine, have gone to great lengths to halt dupes from undercutting their brand and sales.An email sent in June to retailers stocking NeeDoh, seen by this masthead, said: “Counterfeit product and websites are coming through thick and fast for NeeDoh.”Business owners were told Schylling and William Valentine are “running a three-pronged approach” to stop the flood of dupes.Viral videos of children unboxing their squishies have made them a phenomenon. Sitthixay Ditthavong“Schylling is working closely with their Chinese trademark attorney and the Chinese consulate to do factory raids on any offenders,” the email states.“Last month they conducted raids on 11 counterfeit factories in unison, confiscating millions of fake units, machines, cash and in turn shutting down the factory in the process.“This one is obviously a game of whack-a-mole due to the sheer scale of factories in China.”As well, retailers were told a “notice of objection form” is being lodged with Australian Border Force.“I’m currently lodging documentation with Australian Customs which allows them to seize goods at the Australian border for any importer other than us,” the email states. “This should also drastically slow down any of this product reaching the stores.”There are also plans to send “cease-and-desist” letters to stop retailers from selling fake NeeDoh products, and Schylling has urged business owners to dob in any outlets doing do.Counterfeit NeeDoh products are flooding the market.Matt WillisShopping centre maniaAt Mint My Desk in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, worker Kai Takakura said squishies have become popular due to TikTok.“A lot of younger people come here and ask me about the squishies, and then recently dumpling squishies are really popular,” she said. “It’s a blind box, so … let’s say, [the] customer wants to get pink, but when they open it, it’s not pink, so they want to buy more until they get a pink one.”It’s a similar story in Preston, in Melbourne’s north, where Kid Stuff employee Emily Oppedisano said the squishies craze started at the end of last year.“[NeeDoh products] were constantly selling out. They were selling out within two hours when we got them in,” she said.She said there is a limit of one or two squishies per person, as children come through the doors and ask when stocks will be replenished.Kids Stuff workers Shivani Kalra (left) and Emily Oppedisano (right) report NeeDoh stocks have been sold out for two months. Ruby AlexanderAlexander Mazniovski, 11, was buying a squishy from Toyworld at Northland shopping centre in Preston with his dad Tony Mazniovski this week. “They are fun to play with when you’re bored. They are all over social media,” he said.His dad said the toys are also a “calming tool”, particularly for his other son, who has autism. “They serve more than one purpose,” Mazniovski said. “They serve him well when he is overloaded with different emotions.”Alexander Mazniovski, 11, buys a squishy from Toyworld with his dad Tony, who says the toys can be used as “calming” tools.