The Woolworths Ooshie and Coles Little Shop craze has taken over the Southern Highlands.
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Children, parents and avid collectors have converged on the supermarket giants and are busy snapping up as many of the plastic toys as they can get their hands on.
Woolworths and Coles are appealling to three audiences - collectors, kids and their parents
- The Sellblock staff
Staff at The Sellblock in Bowral said while the store specialised in popculture collectables, the supermarket toys were a whole different ballgame.
Leya and Cam said people tended to sell whole collections at pawnshops or online and they were not the sort of thing that came through the store.
"People generally hold onto [the supermarket toys] for years and sell them or they just get thrown out," they said.
"People want top dollar.
"Woolworths and Coles are appealling to three audiences - collectors, kids and their parents."
The collectables are popular with young and old alike.
Southern Tablelands tradesman Hayden was a late comer to the collectables craze.
The bricklayer started collecting Lion King Ooshies after he discovered them during his grocery shop a week ago.
He now has a growing collection of more than 16 Ooshies, or emojis as he calls them.
"It's just a bit of fun," Hayden said.
Meanwhile, four-year-old Eric from Moss Vale has a collection of more than 50 Ooshies.
His mother Lauren said it took some effort to count them all.
The Woolworths Lion King Ooshies are selling on Gumtree, Ebay and other sites for thousands of dollars.
A sunset Simba is currently selling on Gumtree for $40,000, whether this amount of money is attainable is yet to be seen.
A Katandra West farmer chopped up a prized-Woolworths Ooshie on live television, after copping abuse trying to sell it online.
Melissa Portingale and Stephen Black posted an ad on Facebook selling a rare Simba Ooshie, the first ever made.
They were asking for $5000 for the The Lion King toy, originally saying they would use the money to pay for water for their farm, but after threats and online abuse they destroyed the collectable.
Some members of the Southern Highlands community have expressed concern over the environmental impact of the plastic toys.
Woolworths programs manager Sarah De La Mare said the company sought to create a fun and exciting shopping experience for Australian families, while also being mindful of environmental responsibilities.
"We're passionate about the circular economy, and have established a partnership with TerraCycle to turn any pre-loved Ooshies into plastic pellets. The pellets will be used to make outdoor products such as garden beds, decks, fences and benches," Ms De La Mare said.
"The bag the Ooshies come in is also made of FSC material and can be recycled via kerbside yellow bins."
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