Cute Calico Critters Craze Continues To Grow
I will admit—cute things are my weakness. If a company slaps an adorable little face on a product, chances are I will buy it.
Calico Critters or Sylvanian Families as they are called outside of the United States, are a line of collectible anthropomorphic animal figures from Japan. Usually standing at around 2.5 to 3 inches tall, the little animals wear 1950s inspired clothes as they explore the beautiful Calico Village.
They have maintained an interesting history since their debut in 1985, even though their store closed down in March 2023. However, thanks to social media the lovable critters have built a robust community.
Hashtags such as #calicocritterstiktok have endless video collections, memes and stop motion videos starring the famous critters. One such account, @sylviandrama on TikTok, boasts thousands of views with their comedic short stories.
What is it about these vintage inspired animal families that has sparked an internet community? Probably what the Calico Critters represent. On their official website it states, “The underlying theme is giving, friendship and happiness.” This is apparent in the amount of details that goes into each Calico Critter family.
Since the Calico village is designed to cater to each critter’s hobbies and interests, as well as each critter having a unique name, family, job and outfit, every purchase is a gateway into a new world. In addition, there are so many animals that you are bound to find at least one of them to be cute. Each set has so many tiny accessories that the attention to detail is appreciated in such a fast-paced world.
It is fun to see people of all ages get excited for the tiny critters. This fad might have some valuable lessons to those collecting Calico Critters. The message of Calico Critters is timeless. Not everything has to be trendy because quality and effort is timeless.
Although they no longer have their own physical store, Calico Critters still do well at places such as Target, Walmart and Barnes & Noble.
Hopefully the message behind the Calico craze resonates with collectors as they learn from the tiny figurines to stop and smell the roses.
